This collection has been taken from the files of the Dean's Office and made a separate collection due to the unique place of the series and its material in the history of the GTU. File folders 1 - 9, 1976-85, were separated from GTU 89-10-1, Office of the President and Dean. Claude Welch, 1971-82. File folders 10 - 19, 1986-94, were removed from Dean Judith Berling's current office files. The series will continue to be taken from current dean's files and accessioned as a separate subgroup. The lectures are given in November. However, due to scheduling problems in 1983, that year's lecture was postponed to March 1984. The following two years were also given in March (file folders 8 - 10). In 1986, there were two lectures, one given in March, the other in November to return the series to the original November schedule. The file folders contain copies of the lectures -- either copies of the original manuscript, or later published versions. In 1981 (file folder 6), there was no lecture manuscript. Robert Goeser only used notes, and did not keep them. Also included in the folders may be flyers announcing the lecture, correspondence, event planning materials, and programs which include student academic distinctions.

The Graduate Theological Union Annual Faculty Lecture was inaugurated in 1976 during the tenure of Claude Welch as GTU President and Dean at the suggestion of the Community Affairs Committee of the GTU Consortium Council (Minutes, 6/2/76: GTU 89-10-1, Box 3, ff 24). It was "established by the GTU to honor distinguished scholars on the faculty, and to allow the community an opportunity to hear the results of their scholarship." (Brochure, file folder 1) The lecturer is to embody the ecumenical spirit of the GTU in her or his writing and teaching. Schools may nominate persons not from their own schools. Nominations are sent to the Council of Deans, which makes the final selection. The name was changed to the Graduate Theological Union Distinguished Faculty Lecture in 1988. Also in that year, the GTU began to honor GTU students who had received academic distinctions during the year. Following that, a Faculty Publications Fair was added to acknowledge GTU faculty publications released during the year.

Copyright has not been assigned to The Graduate Theological Union. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Graduate Theological Union as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Collection is open for research.