To learn more about this collection please see the finding aid link found above, and/or visit the College and Lutheran Church Archives to use these primary sources.
Office of Church Relations. Collection of the Office of Church Relations, 1987-Ongoing. GACA Collection 179. 1 Hollinger box and digital media.
ABSTRACT:
The Office of Church Relations collection contains materials created by this office at Gustavus Adolphus College. This includes the Gustavus Spire, a publication for communicating with affiliated congregations, beginning in the 1980s, and minutes and memorandum from the Committee on Church Relations from 1985. There is also information pertaining to the Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations, consisting of annual convention programs, membership and delegate handbooks, and some audio cassettes and digital video. Gustavus Adolphus College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
The Office of Church Relations, coordinator of the Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations, serves to support the connection between the college and the church.
“Gustavus is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) which participates in the governance of the college through an Association of Congregations. The Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations consists of approximately 500 ELCA churches that meet annually to elect the college's Board of Trustees. The office of Church Relations coordinates the Association convention and provides many Resources for Association members.”
*Taken from Office of Church Relations website, October 2010
“The ELCA merger of 1988 brought together nearly 30 Lutheran colleges and universities previously governed by the ALC and LCA under a variety of arrangements. When the new denomination was formed, each college was asked to choose one of three groups to approve their trustees; the National Church Convention, a regional Synod convention, or an Association of Congregations convention. Gustavus, of course, chose the latter option, and in 1989 the Association of Congregations was formed.
Currently there are over 500 members of the Association, the largest of its kind in the ELCA. The Association of Congregations elects the board of trustees at its annual convention in April, and its congregations serve as the college's primary connection to the church.”
*Taken from the Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations website, October 2010
The Gustavus Spire is a newsletter for the Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations. It serves as a means for communicating with pastors and lay people of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations in hopes of increasing Church relatedness to the college, defining their common mission, and giving information and short news items that would be of interest to parishes. This publication is different from The Gustavus Adolphus College Spire.
During 2011-2015 the Office of Church Relations was a sub-office within the Center for Servant Leadership.
