Record Group #013

Content Summary: A diverse collection of materials on the life and work of the institution, including official publications, faculty correspondence, Self-Study Papers, death notices for Dr. Robert G. Rayburn and news clippings on the death of Elizabeth Mackintosh.

Access: This collection is open to researchers.

Organizational History: Covenant Theological Seminary was established in 1956 by vote of the General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church, Columbus Synod (later renamed Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 1961-65). In 1955 the Synod had founded Covenant College, which was relocated in the following year to share with the Seminary a twenty-one acre campus in St. Louis County. By 1964, the two schools having outgrown this campus in Creve Coeur, the College was moved to Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Seminary remained on the Creve Coeur campus and by 1965 was operated under a separate board of trustees.

In 1965 a union was effected between the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (General Synod), to form the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. Covenant Seminary continued to serve as the denominational theological school of this church and so sought to represent both the 20th-century movement for a Presbyterian church that adhered faithfully to its historic confessions and the 17th-century commitment to Christ's kingship of the Scottish Covenanters. While the Seminary's main purpose is to prepare students for a variety of ordained ministries, primarily for its own denomination, nonetheless its student body has always included a large proportion of students from outside the sponsoring denomination.

The founding president of both Covenant College and Covenant Theological Seminary was Dr. Robert G. Rayburn [1915-1990], who, after resigning his position as President in 1976, continued on the faculty as Professor of Practical Theology. Dean of the graduate school of theology when the Seminary was established with Covenant College was Dr. J. Oliver Buswell, Jr. [1895-1977], whose theological teaching has left a lasting influence on the Seminary's instruction.

Collection Focus: Click here to see the 1960 Bagpipe articles on the donation and subsequent move of what is now the Administration Building at Covenant Theological Seminary.

Abstract:
001.4 - Official publications, faculty correspondence, Self-Study Papers, death notices for Dr. Robert G. Rayburn and materials on the death of Elizabeth Mackintosh.—[Span dates: 1967-1991]

002.1 - Student Council Minutes; Student and Faculty Directories; Student Photos; Blue Paper and Reports authored by Leonard Van Horn, 1967 - 1968; Ephemera. —[Span dates: 1957-1991]

002.2 - Financial Reports; Faculty Minutes; Faculty correspondence and syllabii; Death notice for Dr. J. Barton Payne; Seminary publications and promotional materials. —[Span dates: 1957-1992]

004.1 - Catalogs, Student Handbooks and Directories —[Span dates: 1956-2006]

004.3 - Budget reports; Balcon Estates Road Issue; Covenant Courier; Summer Institute for Urban Ministries; Miscellaneous correspondence; Newsclippings on the death of Elizabeth McIntosh. —[Span dates: 1977-1992]

004.4 - Alumni news; Bagpipe, 1956-1964; Thistle, 1959-1963; Tupos, 1960; Windbag, 1960's. —[Span dates: 1955-1967]

004.5 - Urban Ministries Institute; Self-Study Report; Proposed Campus Buildings.—[Span dates: 1956-1989]

018.4 - Photographs of faculty, staff and campus buildings —[Span dates: 1956-1990]

019.1 - Student directories & Handbooks.

100.1 - Abila Site; Westminster Christian Academy, 1978-2000.

133.3 - President's Office Files : Akin, Paul - Faculty Reruitment, 1977-1998.

134.1 - President's Office Files : Fellowship of Christian Athletes - Newsletters, 1966-1986.

134.2 - President's Office Files : Noé, Edward Terris - Tlustos, Dean, 1956-1999.

134.3 - President's Office Files : Van Groningen, Gerard - Reimbursements, 1975-1999.

135.1 - President's Office Files : Reimbursements - Presidential Search Committee, 1990-1999.

135.2 - President's Office Files : Recruitment - Coursework, 1982-1999.

135.3 - President's Office Files : Correspondence; Reports; Long Range Plan, 1956-1998.

136.1 - President's Office Files : Institute of Theological Studies - Board Reports, 1975-1999.

136.2 - President's Office Files : Calendars; Coursework; Illiana Presbytery (PCA); etc., 1988-1995.

136.3 - President's Office Files : Dr. Bryan Chapell; Alphabetical Folders : Correspondence, 1982-1999.