E&R Church. Office of the President.

The Rev. Dr. George Warren Richards (1869-1955) was the first, part-time president of the Evangelical and Reformed Church serving from 1934 until his retirement in 1939. While serving as president, Dr. Richards was also President of what is now Lancaster Theological Seminary and its professor of Church History. He was a keen ecumenist, attending many national and international conferences which eventually led to the founding of the Federal (later National) Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. This interest led him to open conversations with his counterpart in the Congregational Christian Churches General Council. His tenure as president also saw the beginnings of the organization of the Evangelical and Reformed Church after its formation in 1934. This process included merger of the various boards, agencies, commissions, committees, finances, and the beginning of committee work to write a constitution, a liturgy, and a hymnal for the new denomination. For records of Dr. Richards' tenure as president, see his manuscript collection, ERHS Ms.Coll. 013. The Rev. Dr. Louis W. Goebel (1884-1973) was the second and first full-time president of the Evangelical and Reformed Church. He served from 1938 to 1953. During this period the administrative procedure and structure of the new denomination were formed and precedents were established where none had existed. The work of the Study Committee (1950-1953) was instrumental in strengthening the church structure. Dr. Goeble's instinct for ecumenicity (he was among those who organized the World and National Councils of Churches) accounted for his ready response to the approaches of the Congregational Christian Churches. The Rev. Dr. James Edgar Wagner (1900-1985) was the last president of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (1953-1961) and co-president of the United Church of Christ from 1957-1961. The period of Dr. Wagner's presidency covered the time of the negotiations for union between the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches. Interest in closer relations between the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches dates back to the late 1930s, when Drs. George Warren Richards (president of the E & R Church) and Douglas Horton (his Congregational Christian counter part) began conversations. These files show both the eagerness and the reluctance for union. Included is material from the various Congregational Christian anti-union groups and subsequent law suits which tried to halt the union. Negotiations with the Magyar Synod were also taking place at this time. The day-to-day business of the denomination is reflected in correspondence, reports, and statements from the president's office. There is also material from years after the merger, when the Evangelical and Reformed Church continued to exist as a legal entity largely for the purpose of disbursing funds which still belonged to it.