Seminex (Seminary in Exile) Papers
Scope and Contents
This collection documents the activities of Seminex, also known as Seminary in Exile. It includes campus newspapers, newsletters, correspondence, pamphlets, position papers, booklets, and other miscellaneous items as well as some material from the Seminex 25th Anniversary celebration held in 1999.
This collection includes information on Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), Jacob Preus, Evangelical Lutherans in Mission (ELIM), Association of Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC),
New Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh Strategy, and Denominational Ministry Strategy (DMS/DMX)
Dates
- 1972 - 2006
Biographical / Historical
“Seminex” is an abbreviation for Concordia Seminary in Exile (later Christ Seminary-Seminex) that existed from 1974-1987 after a schism in the LCMS. Seminex was formed due to the ongoing Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversary that was dividing Protestant churches in the United States. At issue were foundational disagreements on the authority of Scripture and the role of Christianity.
In 1973, President John H. Tietjen (1928-2004), was accused of tolerating the teaching of "false doctrine" at Concordia Seminary and directed to purge the faculty, which he refused to do. The students and faculty protested the order and started Christ Seminary-Seminex (Seminary-in-Exile) in 1974, with Tietjen becoming Seminex president in 1975. The "walkout" resulted in 1976 in the formation of the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC), a predecessor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), which Rev. Dr. Tietjen also helped to form in 1987-1988. Christ Seminary-Seminex was dissolved in 1989.
Extent
2.6 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Processing Information
This collection was originally processed and described in by Edwina Landry in May 2012 and reviewed by Roberta Brent in September 2012. The finding aid was reformatted and updated by Sheila Joy in May 2019. Ms. Joy added information pertaining to the collection’s provenance, history, scope and content, and processing note.
The original processor’s container list was retained. It includes tables for each of the 6 boxes. Each table is divided into sections that describe the folder number, item number, suborganization it relates to, title of record, author of record, and date of record.
Contents in box 5 folder 5 was received from Rev. Gerry Rickel on August 23, 2019, Accession #G2019.052. The personal materials are related Rev. Rickel and the walkout and formation of Seminex.
- Title
- Seminex (Seminary in Exile) Papers
- Author
- Edwina Landry and Roberta Brent, September 2012 Updated by Sheila Joy, May 2019
- Date
- September 2012
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Personal Papers and Manuscripts Collection, Seminary Archives, United Lutheran Seminary Library, Gettysburg, PA Repository