E&R Church. Commission on Higher Education.

At the time of the merger of the Evangelical Synod of North America and the Reformed Church in the United States in 1934, provision was made for a Committee on Educational Institutions to carry on the work of similar committees in the two denominations. This committee worked from 1934 to 1938 to support the academies, colleges, and seminaries of the new denominations and to urge individuals and churches to continue their financial support. In creating the constitution and by-laws of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, provision was made for the formation of the Commission on Higher Education. The Commission first met in 1939 and assumed the duties of the former Committee on Educational Institutions. The Commission's responsibilities were stated by the General Synod of the E & R Church: "The function of this Commission shall be to study and determine the Church's program of Higher Education, to cultivate closer relationships between the educational institutions themselves and the church, and to maintain and develop the principles and ideals of the Christian religion in the educational institutions of the Church." To carry out its responsibilities the Commission provided programs for the regional synods, published informational brochures on the education institutions of the Church, encouraged students to consider attending denominational colleges and seminaries, published regular articles in the Church paper, The Messenger, and worked with the schools to better understand the relationship with the Church and with local churches, the role of the church related college in society, and ways in which the schools might cooperate in recruitment and curriculum development.