Billy Graham Center
Archives
Papers of Vergil Glenn Gerber - Collection 577
[Note: What follows is a description of the documents in this collection which are available for use at BGC Archives in Wheaton, Illinois, USA. The actual documents are not available online, only this description of them. Nor are they available for sale or rent.]
*****
Collection 577
[October 28, 2002]
Gerber, Vergil Glenn; 1916-
Papers; 1966-1984
12 boxes, Audio Tape, Photographs, Slides (4.62 cubic feet)
Brief Description. Correspondence, manuals, newsletters, reports and other materials relating to
the Gerber's work as teacher, writer, and leader in church growth studies and Evangelical
missions. The collection also contains information on Evangelical missions in the 1970s,
especially in Latin America.
Restrictions: None
Biography
| Full name |
Vergil Glenn Gerber |
| Birth |
February 6, 1916, in Fort Wayne, Indiana |
| Family |
|
Parents |
Christopher Adolph and Anna Laura (Wonser) Gerber |
|
Marital Status |
Married to Dorothy Lois Bee, May 31, 1941 |
|
Children |
Richard Lawrence (1943), Ruth, Judson, Jared, Janna |
| Ordination |
Minister of the Conservative Baptist Association of America, 1942 |
| Education |
|
1935 |
Diploma, Fort Wayne Bible College |
|
1938 |
B.Mus, Taylor University |
|
1946 |
B.Div.,Northern Baptist Theological Seminary |
|
1969 |
M.Div, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary |
|
1972 |
D.D. Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary |
| Career |
|
1943-44 |
Assistant pastor, Tremont Temple, Boston, Massachusetts |
|
1944-48 |
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Perry, New York |
|
1949-54 |
Conservative Baptist missionary to Ecuador and Argentina |
|
1955-65 |
Conservative Baptist missionary to Costa Rica and Mexico |
|
1955-? |
First executive director of LEAL (English title, Evangelical Literature
for Latin America). Among other publications, he started Verbo, a
evangelistic magazine used in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking
countries |
|
1966 |
Coordinator of the Congress on Church's Worldwide Mission, held in
Wheaton, Illinois |
|
1967-1969 |
Missions Secretary, Conservative Baptist Home Mission Society |
|
1967-? |
Executive secretary of the Evangelical Committee on Latin America
(ECLA), a joint committee of the Evangelical Foreign Missions
Association (EFMA) and the Interdenominational Foreign Mission
Association |
|
1969-1981 |
Executive director of the Evangelical Missions Information Service |
|
1981 |
Retired |
| Other significant information:
Editor of Missions in Creative Tension: the Green Lake '71 compendium (1971); Discipling
Through Theological Education by Extension : A Fresh Approach to Theological Education in
the 1980s (1980)
Author of God's Way to Keep a Church Going and Growing (1973) (also called A Manual for
Evangelism/Church Growth)
Recipient of the Epsilon Chi award from the Accrediting Association of Bible Institute and
Bible Colleges |
Scope and Content
Series: Papers
Subseries: Three: A. Individual church growth seminars; B. General correspondence files; C.
Conferences and Reports
Arrangement: Alphabetical within subseries
Date Range: 1966-1984
Volume: 4.6 cubic feet
Boxes: 1-12
Geographic coverage: Worldwide, special emphasis on United States and Latin America
Type of documents: Correspondence, manuals, reports, newsletters, conference papers
Subjects: Church growth, Evangelical Protestant missions
Series: Papers
Subseries: A. Individual church growth seminars
Arrangement: Alphabetical by the name of the country
Date Range: 1966-1984
Volume: 2.6 cubic cfeet
Boxes: 1-7
Geographic coverage: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil,
Burundi, Cambodia, Cameron, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Ghana, Great Britain, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti,
Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Liberia, Malaysia,
Malawi, Mali, Madagascar, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New
Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa,
Spain, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad, Upper Volta,
Uruguay, Venezuela, Zaire, Zambia
Type of documents: Correspondence, course materials, statistics, reports
Correspondents: Several leading Evangelical church leaders and missionaries from most
countries where the workshops were held
Subjects: Church growth and evangelism in most parts of the world
Notes: These files contain materials about the planning, holding and evaluations of the individual
evangelism/church growth workshops that Gerber led in many countries around the world.
Usually the folder contains correspondence with the local sponsors, notes or handouts from the
actual meetings, and further correspondence about impact of the meetings and follow-up.
Oftentimes the files also contain material about the condition of Evangelical Protestant churches
in the country.
Exceptional items: Folders 1-1 through 1-3 contain information about workshops held in
Argentina and about Luis Palau evangelistic campaigns held in Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil in
conjunction with workshops. See also folder 9-25. Folders 5-1, 5-2 and 7-3 are for seminars
held in the United States. Folder 4-10 contains material about a workshop held during the 1974
Lausanne Congress.
Series: Papers
Subseries: B. General correspondence files
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1966-1984
Volume: 1.2 cubic feet
Boxes: 7-10
Geographic coverage: United States, Africa, Latin America, Asia
Type of documents: Correspondence, manuscripts, interview transcripts
Correspondents: Tokunboh Adeyemo, Irland Pereira De Azevedo, Roger Greenway, Lloyd
Kwast, Terry Hulburt, Kassoum Keita , David Liao, Donald McGavran, John Marrs, Juan Carlos
Miranda, James Montgomery, Ed Murphy, Victor A. Musa, Luis Palau, Pablo Perez, Fred
Polding, Daniel Sanchez, Waldron Scott, Edgardo Silvoso, Gerald Swank, Tite Tienou, Robert
Vajko, Ruperto Velez, Wayne Weld
Subjects: Church growth in different parts of the world, the Association of Evangelicals of
Africa and Madagascar, the Evangelical Committee on Latin America
Notes: Most of the material in the subseries is concerned with the planning and evaluation of the
evangelism and church growth seminars that Gerber led. There is correspondence with many of
the people who participated with Gerber in teaching the seminars and/or were involved in
translating the course materials in a variety if languages, including Arabic, French, German,
Greek, Hausa, Japanese, Italian, Kikongo, Kirundi, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portugese,
Quencha (Quichua), Sinhalese, Spanish, Temne, Thai, Urdu, and Yurba. Folders 8-8 to 9-10
include information on these translations. There is some information as well on Gerber's other
mission activities and efforts at cooperation between Evangelical missions.
Exceptional items: Folder contains notes, letters, magazine clippings and other materials
relating to specific church growth case studies in different parts of the world. Folder 9-1 contains
reports on the publishing activities of the ECLA, which eventually resulted in the formation of
the EMIS. Folder 9-2 contains four years of the prayer letter Gerber sent to supporters,
describing his activities. Folder 9-5 contains extensive transcripts of interviews of Gerber by
James Montgomery (as well as other documents) in which he describes the impact church growth
workshops he was leading. The interviews describe in detail the seminars held in various Latin
American, African and Asian countries, the condition of the Christian churches in those countries
and some of the prominent personalities. More formal reports on workshop attendance and
results are in folder 10-10. Folder 9-25 contains the manuscript of Edgardo Silvoso's book,
Harvest Evangelism, which suggests a method of combining mass evangelism with discipleship
training. The book was partly based on the experience of the Luis Palau campaigns in Rosario,
Argentina, and Uruguay. and Folders 10-7 to 10-9 contain correspondence and other documents
about the funding and personnel of the seminars.
Series: Papers
Subseries:C. Conferences and Reports
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1967-1980
Volume: .8 cubic feet
Boxes: 10-12
Geographic coverage: United States, Bolivia
Type of documents: Annual reports, conference papers and programs, policy statements
Subjects: The Evangelical Missions and Information Service; Christian use of television and
radio in Europe; the fiftieth anniversary of the Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association;
Evangelical missions in the 1970s, particularly in Latin America, China and the Muslim world;
missions standards of financial accountability; the 1974 International Conference on World
Evangelization; the relations between missions and churches in Bolivia, the theology of missions,
contextualization, Evangelicals and community development, the church under totalitarian
governments; recruiting college students to be missionaries; the place of women in missions; the
World Evangelical Fellowship
Notes: The section includes papers and other reports from conference and meetings of various
Evangelical groups attended by Gerber, including the European Evangelical Communication
Conference, the Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association, the 1974 International
Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne), InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Student
Missionary Convention (Urbana), , Puente (Primera Consulta Bolivariana de Iglesias y
Misiones); Trinity Evangelical Divinity School's Consultation on Theology and Missions; and
the World Evangelical Fellowship General Assembly. There are papers on a wide range of topics
by a many major Evangelical leaders.
Exceptional items: Folder 10-11 contains a script for a slide/tape presentation on evangelism
and church growth. However, this script is different from the one used on T1 and slides S1-S107. Folder 10-12 contains detailed annual reports on the work of the Evangelical Missions
Information Service. Folder 11-4 contains a draft of the IFMA's 1977 "Standard of Accounting
and Financial Reporting for Mission Organizations."
Provenance
The materials in this collection were given to the Archives of the Billy Graham Center by Vergil
Gerber in October 1984. Duplicate materials were returned to him and various editions of The
World Directory of Theological Education were passed on to the BGC LIBRARY (now Evangelism & Missions Collection of the Wheaton College Archives & Special Collections), as were issues of
the periodicals Africa Pulse, Asia Pulse, Chinese World Pulse, Emissary, Europe Pulse, Latin
America Pulse, Missionary News Service, Muslin World Pulse,Papel y Tinta, Pulse: Special
Report, Verbo.
Accession: 85-124
October 28, 2002
Robert Shuster
J. Aernie
LOCATION RECORD
Accession: 85-124
Type of Material: Audio Tapes
The following items are located in the AUDIO TAPE file.
| # |
R/C |
Speed |
Length |
Sides |
Contents |
Dates |
| T1 |
C |
|
28
min. |
2 |
Soundtrack for two parts of a slide/tape program on
Evangelism and Church Growth. The slides for parts I
and II are slides S1-S107 in this collection. The
soundtrack for Part I, the "Biblical Bedrock for Church
Growth" is on side A and is 13 minutes long. Part II, on
methods for evaluating church growth, is on side B and is
incomplete, starting at the fifth slide (T55). This
soundtrack is 15 minutes long. A beep is the signal to
move on to the next slide. N.d. |
N.d. |
*****
LOCATION RECORD
Accession: 85-124
Type of material: Photographs
The following items are located in the PHOTO FILE; request by folder title (in bold) at the beginning of each entry below.
CHURCH GROWTH-STUDY AND TEACHING. 68 b&w, 31 color. Snapshots of scenes at
the workshops on evangelism and church growth which Vergil Gerber organized and or led in
many countries around the world. Included are scenes from the workshops held in Argentina,
Bolivia, Burundi, Chile, Haiti, India, Korea, Nigeria, the Philippines, Rhodesia, Taiwan,
Tanzania, and Thailand. The pictures show the groups at the different seminars studying
together, attending classes and in informal situations. Besides Gerber, there are also images of
Paul Kiichi Ariga, Byang Kato, Donald McGavran, and Victor Musa. 1972-1976.
CONGRESS ON THE CHURCH'S WORLDWIDE MISSION. 87 b&w. Pictures of
speakers, scenes of the Congress, the delegates listening to presentations, book tables. Among
those pictured are Vergil Gerber, Wade Coggins, and Ralph Winter. 1966.
CONGRESS ON THE CHURCH'S WORLD WIDE MISSION. (Oversize) 1 b&w. Group
shot of all the attendees to the Congress, standing in front of Centennial Gymnasium on the
campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. April 1966.
EVANGELICAL MISSION INFORMATION SERVICE. 15 b&w, 13 color. Snapshots of
the staff of EMIS and layouts of their publications. There are many pictures of Vergil Gerber and
David Hofer. Ca. 1979.
GERBER, VERGIL G. 29 b&w, 3 color. Variety of portrait photos and informal shots by
himself and with his family. Also a picture of Gerber with Ralph Winter, Donald McGavran, and
C. Peter Wagner on the campus of Fuller Seminary in Pasadena California. Pictures of Gerber
teaching church growth seminars and pictures of Gerber with Jack Frizen, Ben Armstrong and
Waldron Scott. N.d.
FORD, LEIGHTON. 1 b&w. Ford speaking at the Consultation on World Evangelization in
Thailand in 1980.
MCGAVRAN, DONALD M. 4 b&w. Candid shots of McGavran participating in church
growth workshops in Taiwan and elsewhere. Ca. 1970s.
PALAU, LUIS. 21 b&w. Pictures of Palau leading evangelistic campaigns in Mexico and
Argentina, including a picture of Palau at the opening of Eurofest, with Werner Burklin, Billy
Graham, and Festo Kivengere. 1969-1977.
SCOTT, WALDRON. 2 b&w. Portrait photos of Waldron Scott. N.d.
*****
LOCATION RECORD
Accession: 85-124
Type of material: Slides
The following items are located in the SLIDE FILE. All of the slides are in color, unless otherwise noted.
S1-S50. Evangelism and Church Growth. Part I: "Biblical Bedrock for Church Growth" 50
color slides. Part of a slide/ tape presentation intended to train pastors and church leaders in
how to evaluate their evangelism programs and effective grow and multiply churches. This part
describes how the principles of church growth are illustrated in the New Testament. This is a
different program from that of slides S51-S107. The Archives does not have a script this
program. Tape T1 includes the audio soundtrack. Produced by Mission and Services of the
Mennonite Brethren Conference. N.d.
S51-S107. Evangelism and Church Growth. Part II: 57 color slides. Part of a slide/ tape
presentation intended to train pastors and church leaders in how to evaluate their evangelism
programs and effective grow and multiply churches. There is a script for the in folder 10-11.
Tape T1 includes the audio soundtrack. Produced by Mission and Services of the Mennonite
Brethren Conference. N.d.
BOX LIST |
| Box |
Folders |
First Folder/Last Folder |
Dates |
| Series IA: Individual church growth seminars |
| 1 |
10 |
Argentina - Evangelism Church Growth Workshop / Brazil -
National Symposium on Church Growth, Oct 17-20 '77 |
1972-1982 |
| 2 |
13 |
Brazil/Great Britain Evangelism-Church Growth Workshop |
1972-1982 |
| 3 |
9 |
Guadeloupe - Evangelism-Church Growth Workshop/Federation
of Evangelical Churches of India |
1971-1980 |
| 4 |
15 |
Indonesia Workshop-1982/Madagascar Workshop |
1973-1981 |
| 5 |
17 |
Minnesota-Evangelism-Church Growth Workshop/Singapore-Evangelism-Church Growth Workshop |
1973-1984 |
| 6 |
14 |
South African Workshops/1972-1974 Venezuelan-Evangelism-Church Growth Workshop |
1972-1981 |
| 7 |
9 |
Second Venezuelan Workshop/Case Studies |
1967-1982 |
| Series IB: General correspondence files |
| 8 |
27 |
Evangelical Committee on Latin America / Norwegian
Language |
1966-1984 |
| 9 |
25 |
Brazil-Portuguese / Harvest Evangelism-Roseno - Uruguay
Tums Edefardo Silvoso |
1973-1983 |
| 10 |
11 |
Gerald Swank / Workshop script |
1969-1982 |
| Series IC: Conferences and Reports |
| 10 |
1 |
EMIS Annual Reports |
1970-1979 |
| 11 |
7 |
European Evangelical Communication Conference / TEDS 2nd
Consultation on Theology and Missions |
1967-1980 |
| 12 |
2 |
Urbana Conference / World Evangelical Fellowship General
Assembly |
1973-1980 |
Return to BGC Archives Home Page
Last Revised: 6/23/06
Expiration: indefinite