Elmer Edwin Burtner Papers

1.0 cubic feet

This collection contains sermons, manuscripts, correspondence, and biographical material on Elmer Edwin Burtner. The largest part of this collection is sermons which document his ministerial career as a Congregationalist and a Church of the United Brethren in Christ pastor. There are approximately 375 sermons. Most are not dated. The sermons have been grouped by text reference, topic, title, and fragments. Topics that Burtner addressed in his sermons included the Bible, Christians in the world, church work and the nature and criticisms of, communion and Christmas, evangelism, missions, education, youth, interchurch relations, the ministry, pastoral subjects, temperance and prohibition, and World War I. The sermons on the Bible were preached at the College Church in Westerville, Ohio, during the fundamentalist controversy of 1921-1922. They attracted widespread attention in the church.

There are five manuscripts written by Burtner on religious topics. "The Immanence of God" is 112 handwritten pages. "The Problem of Evil" is seventy-one typed pages. Both papers may have been written by Burtner while he was attending school. He also took continuing education classes with N. E. Cornetet at Otterbein College. Burtner wrote three papers for these classes. The topics of these papers are Gideon, Nehemiah, and Hebrews.

The correspondence contains a single letter written in 1914 on prohibition. It is addressed to the "Congregationalist" and discusses the prohibition views of Dr. Washington Gladden. This letter is decidedly for prohibition and against liquor trafficking.

The biographical materials include a marriage certificate, a memorial tribute, and a family photograph. The marriage certificate is from his 1910 marriage to Maude Truxall. The memorial tribute entitled, "Memorial to a Man of God," is sixty pages and contains biographical information, testimonials to his life and work, and sermons by Burtner. It was prepared by a committee of the Wagoner Memorial Bible Class of the United Brethren Church in Westerville, Ohio. Finally, there is a black and white photograph of Burtner and his three brothers, Otto, Weldon, and Luther.

Materials in this collection have been organized by record types. Sermons were divided by book of the Protestant Bible, topic, title, and fragments. Sermons that had clear text references were arranged by book of the Bible and then by chapter and verse. Burtner grouped many of his sermons together by topic, and the original order of his topical sermons has been maintained. Sermons in this category are arranged first by book of the Bible, including chapter and verse, and then alphabetically by sermon title. Titled sermons are those that contain no text reference. These are arranged alphabetically. Finally, those sermons that were partials and incomplete were grouped as fragments.

There are no restrictions regarding this collection.

Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.

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Additional material on Burtner is located in the Biographical Files of the Library Division. Included in these two files is a family history prepared in 1961.

When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Elmer Edwin Burtner Papers, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.

Prepared by Kristen Turner and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivists