Joseph Mathews Legacy

Joseph Mathews was the Director of the Ecumenical Institute and Institute of Cultural Affairs from 1963-1977. Most files shared here were donated by the Institutes to the Wesley Theological Seminary in 2009.  We are grateful for a partnership with the Seminary and the E.Stanley Jones Foundation to have this story shared with the world.

1932 – 1950

In this paper, How My Theology Has Changed in the Last Decade (December 19, 1946), Mathews lays out three periods of his life during the decade:

• Pre-War Period – his studies at:

  • • 1932  Lincoln Memorial University

    • 1935  Asbury College (one year)

    • 1937 Biblical Seminary, New York, NY (Broadway Temple Church)

    • 1938 Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, New Jersey

    • Christian Idea of God (outline), 1940s

    • Union Theological Seminary, New York New York

• War Period – WWII Preaching Mission

• Post-War Period

  • • Following the war, Mathew studied at Union for nine months when he wrote about his changing theology.

    • Dissertation Draft, including Table of Contents and Introduction, Yale University 1948

    • Dissertation on John Wesley:  Chapter 1: The Human Constitution, Chapter 2: The Life of Love, Chapter 3: The Knowledge of Faith, Concluding Remarks

    • Letter to H.R. Niebuhr Proposing Publishing a HRN book of essays, August 31, 1051

Perkins Theological Seminary

1960     Christian Faith and Life Community with Jack Lewis

• South Caroline Methodist Student Conference brochure, Joseph Mathews speaker, October 1960

1963    Ecumenical Institute Director

EI started from a resolution of the World Council of Churches in 1954.  Walter Liebeck (sp) sold EI his three-story home in Evanston where six families lived for one year.

1963 EI moved to 5th City

1972. ICA given the Kemper Insurance Building and it became the ICA International Conference Center.  

1977     End of Life Reflections, September 7, 1977