Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Bay Area Laymen's School of Religion
- Dates:
- 1962-1969
- Creators:
- James, Muriel M. and Leslie, Robert C. (Robert Campbell), 1917-2006
- Abstract:
- The collection contains a short history, newsletters, and brochures for the Laymen's School of Religion, which operated in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1959 to 1969. Following an extension school format, the school offered topical courses (Youth and the New Morality, for example) with a religious emphasis taught by seminary professors and other academic and experienced persons.
- Extent:
- .1 linear feet (1 folder)
- Language:
- Languages represented in the collection: English
- Preferred citation:
-
Bay Area Laymen's School of Religion collection, GTU 2004-11-01. Graduate Theological Union Archives, Berkeley, CA.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection includes a short history by Robert Leslie and brochures and newsletters from the Laymen's School of Religion.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Laymen's School of Religion held classes in local parishes and in seminaries that were part of Graduate Theological Union from 1959 to 1969. Teachers and members of the board of directors included a members of the faculty from the GTU consortium.
Robert Leslie provided a brief history of the school:
"The greater San Francisco Bay Area has long been a center for creative work in dealing with interpersonal relationships. One of the most significant organizations of importance for the religious community was the Laymen's School of Religion, organized and directed by Muriel James, B.D., Ed.D., who had spent a part-time internship at the PSR Pastoral Counseling Serivce. The School provided classes meeting for two hours in three si-week terms for several years beginning in 1959. It was designed as an extension school "where concerned laymen and clergy" could meet for serious study of the nature and relevance of the Judeo-Christian faith, for deeper understanding of themselves, and for more adequate expression of their faith in the contemporary world."
"In March 1969, the School announced that in the past 10 years, 487 courses had been offered, scheduled for three terms each year, and held within a radius of 74 miles of Berkeley. In addition, numerous workshops, special events and seminars were held with over 7000 persons participating."
The director, Muriel M. James, received a BD from Church of Divinity School of the Pacific and a PhD in Education from UC-Berkeley and was also an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She later became well-known as a student of Eric Berne and as an author and practitioner of Transactional Analysis.
- Acquisition information:
- Compiled by Robert Leslie, professor emeritus, the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, Calif.
- Physical location:
- Small Collections Box 16, folder 2, 2/D/3
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Religious Education of Adults.
Archives.
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 2013
- Date Encoded:
- Machine-readable finding aid created by David Stiver. Date of source: December 13, 2013.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright has not been assigned to The Graduate Theological Union. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Graduate Theological Union as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
- Preferred citation:
-
Bay Area Laymen's School of Religion collection, GTU 2004-11-01. Graduate Theological Union Archives, Berkeley, CA.
- Location of this collection:
-
2400 Ridge RoadBerkeley, CA 94709, US
- Contact:
- (510) 649-2523/2501