John B. Lindner Papers

Collection

Call Number: RG 208

Scope and Contents

This collection documents selected activities of John B. Lindner, focusing on his ecumenical and interfaith work during the 1980s and 1990s. It provides a valuable record of the "on-the-ground" operations of organizations and programs that sought to advance and document ecumenical work.

Series I documents Lindner's work on the National Council of Churches US/USSR Church Relations Committee from 1983 to 1988. Memos, reports, and audio-visual materials document the work of the committee and the trips to Russia and visits from Russian church figures that it sponsored. Background material provides an overview of US/USSR church relations.

Series II focuses on the preparation of a video and book on the history of the ecumenical student Christian movement in America. The video was prepared for a national student gathering sponsored by the Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministry in 1990. The book,"By Faith: Chrsitian Students among the Cloud of Witnesses" (1991), was edited by John B. Lindner, Alva I. Cox, Jr., and Linda-Marie Delloff. Numerous former leaders and participants in ecumenical student Christian movements were contacted to provide reminiscences, essays, and consultation in preparation of "By Faith." See also the Alva I. Cox, Jr. Papers (YDSL Record Group No. 179).

Series III documents Lindner's work on the International Coordinating Committee of the Frontier Internship program. This material provides a valuable complement to documentation of the Frontier Internship in Mission program found in the Margaret Flory Papers (YDSL Record Group No. 86).

Series IV relates to Lindner's work in preparing the 1980 Middle East Policy Statement of the National Council of Churches in the U.S.A. while Series V documents Lindner's work in the area of ecumenical formation.

Series VI contains writings, sermons, and talks by Lindner. Additional writings and talks can be found amongst the topically arranged documentation in Series I - V.

Dates

1949-2016

Creator

Lindner, John B.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of John B. Lindner, 2008-2013, 2018

Arrangement

I. National Council of Churches US/USSR Church Relations Committee
II. "By Faith" Project
III. Frontier Internship in Mission Program
IV. National Council of Churches Middle East Policy
V. Ecumenical Formation
VI. Writings, Sermons, Talks
VII. Personal Items and Memorabilia

Extent

4.5 Linear Feet (11 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/divinity.208

Additional Description

Overview

This collection documents selected activities of John B. Lindner, including his work with the National Council of Churches US/USSR Church Relations Committee, the "By Faith" project to prepare a video and book on the history of the ecumenical Christian student movement in the US, the Frontier Internship in Mission program, and projects related to Middle East policy and ecumenical formation.

Biographical / Historical

John B. Lindner received a B.S. degree from Youngstown State University in 1970 and an M.Div from McCormick Theological Seminary in 1975. A minister in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., he spent over a quarter century providing leadership for international, ecumenical/interfaith programs of the PCUSA, the National Council of Churches (NCCCUSA) and the World Council of Churches (WCC). He served as writer for the NCCCUSA's Middle East Policy and directed its program of US-USSR Church Relations. He served the WCC as director of planning and development for the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey. Lindner served as Director of the Department for External Relations and Associate Dean for External Relations at Yale Divinity School from 2002 to 2013. Lindner is co-author of "By Faith: Christian Students Among the Cloud of Witnesses" (1991, Friendship Press) a history of the ecumenical Christian student movement in the US and co-issue editor of a special issue of the journal Theological Education (vol. 34, autumn 1997) on "Ecumenical Formation: A Methodology for a Pluralistic Age. The Case of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey".