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The Standard collection, 1960-1992

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-5

Scope and Contents

The Standard collection spans 8 boxes and dates from 1960 to 1992.

The Correspondence series dates between 1957 and 1992 and spans four boxes. The dated folders date between 1964 and 1992. The Commendatory folders date between 1967 and 1992 and contain letters praising the Standard. The Critical folders date between 1964 and 1992 and contain letters of disapproval sent to the Standard. The Letters with Writers are to and from the Standard and authors of articles in the publication. The Editors sub-series holds letters to the editor and date between 1970 and 1992. Martin Erikson was an editor of the Standard, and the sub-series titled by his name dates between 1957 and 1958. Gordon Stromberg was a graphic designer, the subject of most of the letters in his file. The sub-series titled "Interaction Morgue" was taken from the original label on the donated folders, although it is possible it meant "Interaction Marquee". The letters in this sub-series are from 1962 to 1967 and include critiques, missionary correspondence, letters to the editor, but without a clear distinction other than their donated proximity.

The Glenn Goshon folder holds information on his evangelism in prison ministries for the Standard. The Jim Lemon folder contains marketing information for the Standard. The E.S. Lindblad folder contains his account of his trip from California to South Dakota in 1922. The Reuben Omark folder holds photographs of the Omark family and Hiroshi and Kazuko Saito, as well as correspondence and writings on Omark's work. The Richard Varberg folder holds photographs from the Varberg family, handwritten notes, writings about Varberg, and correspondence.

The Trustee Administrative Staff folder dates to 1986 and holds correspondence, staff lists, time logs, and memos.

The Inerrancy Controversy folders date to 1978 and 1979 and deal with the concept of Biblical inerrancy, some Standard editorials on the subject, and Stanley Hardwick of Bethel. The responses of the BGC, Bethel, and Clarence Bass are included in separate folders.

The John Piper articles folder contains editorials written by or about John Piper. The folder of letters about John Piper date primarily to the 1980s and are primarily by readers of the Standard regarding articles he wrote. The John Piper/ Mickelsen on Gender Roles in Church folder holds articles written by John Piper and by Alvera and Berkely Mickelsen debating the role of women within the church generally and at Bethel Seminary in particular.

The folder Women's Ordination in the BGC contains correspondence regarding opinions on the topic, a statement on Bethel's position, and information regarding the publication of the Midwest pastor's statement regarding women's ordination. The two folders titled Editorial on Women dates to 1991 and contains several published editorials and many correspondences to the Standard regarding these articles.

The 75th Anniversary folder dates to 1986 and holds articles celebrating the Standard's anniversary.

Two copies of Survey of BGC Members for the Standard date to August 31, 1988. The survey was done by Phoenix Marketing Group and contains statistics regarding the denomination and the Standard readership.

The Annual Meetings series contain information from the BGC Annual Meetings. The materials include pamphlets, notes, reports, and meeting minutes. Some folders are more specific to the Standard Council and other denominational communication guiding groups.

Most of the Mid-Year meetings were held at Yahara. These folders contain materials from the Standard Advisory Committee, the Standard Council, and other Standard specific information.

The Standard Council correspondence folder holds letters and notes from the council dating between 1980 and 1982. The Standard Committee folders date between 1983 and 1985, then 1989, and 1990. They mostly contain meeting minutes. The Standard Editorial Committee folders date between 1968 to 1973, also mostly containing meeting minutes.

The Honoraria folders holds payment requests for authors who wrote articles for publication. These date between 1966 and 1977.

The Evangelism Issue folder dates to 1984. It contains articles on evanglism and reproductions, as well as planning documentation for publications for a year of evangelism.

The New Standard and LQ folder is titled after its donated title. It dates to 1985. It holds handwritten notes, shopping catalogs, publishing information, operating funds budgets, and other materials.

The Newsline folder contains issues of the publication between 1987 and 1991.

The Article Reprints folders hold articles to be reprinted in the Standard, requests to reprint a Standard article, and permissions from other publications.

Two issues of other publications are kept in this collection, Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management from February 1989, and The Standard, a separate publication from Windsor, Missouri.

A Chosen Vessel is a book about G. Arvid Hagstrom. The folder contains an article about the book, as well as correspondence dating to 1955.

The Board of Publications folders hold minutes, agendas, and budgets dating to the early 1970s. There is also a bound booklet from a meeting held in 1971, which includes information about Harvest publishing.

The Board of Communications folders hold minutes, agendas, budgets, reports, and surveys. They date to the 1970s. One folder contains correspondence and reports by Dave Olson.

The BGC Executive Council folders date to 1989, holding meeting minutes, budgets, memos, task force meetings, and a report titled "Historical Review of Conference Finances and Related Information."

Four copies of a booklet titled "Courtship, Marriage and Family Life: A Guide for Planning a Church Program" was a report to the Board of Bible School and Young People's Work from 1960.

The BGC Marriage and Divorce folder holds minutes from the Committee on Marriage and Divorce, and articles and statements on the subjects.

The BGC Committee on Nominations folder contains the committee handbook, and an article on the committee from 1978.

The Five-Year Plan folder dates to 1982, and contains information about the BGC Board of Trustees, as well as the Standard Avisory Committee.

The BGC Conference Management Team folders date to 1990, containing information about the conference center, policies, meeting minutes, and correspondence.

The BGC Curriculum Development Committee folders contain meeting minutes, sub-committee minutes for the Sex Education Committee and the Special Adult Committee, and curriculum documents for Christian education.

The BGC Corporate Planning folder dates to 1989 and holds planning process documentation for church planting, pastoral effectiveness, financial contributions, and other initiatives.

The BGC Development Office folder holds a calendar of financial support for BGC offices for fundraising opportunities dating to 1990.

The Home Missions folders contain reports, financial information, Standard articles, correspondence, pamphlets. One folder is from the Indian Missions, which holds promotional materials for missionary work among American Indians.

The Poll- Baptist Name in Church folder holds the survey results regarding whether the word "Baptist" should be a part of a church's name. The survey dates to 1986.

The Bethel folders hold class list information from the seminary class of 1967, promotional material, student publications, financial development, correspondence, enrollment data, and other materials.

The North American Baptists folders hold mostly article clippings from various publications, but also correspondence and missions materials.

Several binders are kept in this collection, which include notebooks on words and language choices. Several scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, handwritten and typed notes. The Plan Book is held in a blue binder, with tabs labeled ideas, tasks, books, and articles. The binder "You expect more from The Standard..." includes newspaper mock-ups. The blue binder holds tabs labeled advertising, art, headlines, other features, correspondence, type, and promotion.

Dates

  • 1960 - 1992

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for researcher use.

Historical note

The Svenska Baptist Standaret was first published in 1911 as the first official publication of the Swedish Baptists in America, a by-product of Ungdoms-Starnan by Arvid Gordh. It combined with Nya Wecko-Posten in 1918, becoming the Svenska Standaret och Nya Wecko-Posten. In 1940, the paper was combined with The Baptist Evangel to become an English-language paper called The Standard. In 2003, the paper was renamed BGC World.

Extent

12 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

This collection is arranged by series, then chronologically, corresponding to the donated order.

Custodial History

It is unclear when this collection was donated to the History Center.

Title
The Standard collection, 1960-1992
Author
Rebekah Bain
Date
June 2024
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the The History Center: Archives of Bethel University and Converge Repository

Contact:
3900 Bethel Drive
Arden Hills MINNESOTA 55112 United States