SPEERS, THEODORE CUYLER, 1899-  .
Sermons, 1937-1959, n.d.

MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 172

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CITATION: Theodore Cuyler Speers Sermons, MSS 172, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University. 

Theodore Cuyler Speers was a Presbyterian minister at Central Presbyterian Church in New York City.  He served in World War I, and attended Princeton University and the Union Theological Seminary.  He was ordained in June, 1925.  He was married to Margaret Stoddart.  Speers also wrote The Power of the Commonplace and The Church and Healing.  He died in 1964.

This collection contains a total of 298 sermons and 1 loose page.  All but three of the sermons are by Speers.  The sermons span 1939 to 1959.  The bulk of the sermons are from 1947-1951 and seven are undated.  Most are final drafts, while some are edited drafts of excerpts of sermons.

Sermon topics include Easter, Advent and Christmas, Palm Sunday, Armistice Day, Speers' reflections on serving in World War I, VE Day and the meaning of victory, World War II, patriotism, hope, ecumenism, salvation, women and religion, forgiveness, history, and Abraham Lincoln.  Of note are several series of sermons delivered for Lent and Easter or Advent including "The Meaning of Protestantism" (Lent, 1947), "The Gospel According to Christ's Enemies" (Lent, 1948),  "Jesus Came to Be" (Advent, 1948), "Translating an Old Faith for a New Age" (Lent, 1949), "Perennial Problems of Faith" (Lent, 1950), and "The Advent Imperishables" (1950).

Two of Speers 295 sermons were preached at other churches.  An untitled sermon was preached at the Union Thanksgiving Day Service at Christ Church (Methodist) on November 25, 1948, and "America Day" was preached at The Dominion-Douglas Church, Westmount, Montreal, Canada, on October 16, 1949.

The remaining three sermons were written or preached by Donald B. Reitz, assistant pastor of Central Presbyterian, and Henry Sloane Coffin of Union Theological Seminary.

CONTAINER LISTING

BOX    FOLDER      DESCRIPTION                     DATE

1      1           Sermons                         1937-1946
1      2                                           1947
1      3                                           1948 Jan-May    
1      4                                           1948 Sept-Dec 
1      5                                           1949 Jan-June 
1      6                                           1949 Sept-Dec

2      1                                           1950 Jan-June   
2      2                                           1950 Sept-Dec 
2      3                                           1951
2      4                                           1952
2      5                                           1953
2      6                                           1955

3      1                                           1956
3      2                                           1957
3      3                                           1958
3      4                                           1959
3      5           Material by others              n.d.