Leonard A. Stidley Papers

Most of this collection consists of Stidley’s sermons ranging from 1929 until 1950. A good majority of these sermons were delivered during his time at the Church of All Nations and Neighborhood House. Within each file there are small strips of paper with dates and titles for each sermon. “CHOAN” is used to indicate that the sermon was delivered at the Church of All Nations. Some of the processed files below feature multiple dates. This indicates that Stidley delivered the sermon more than once and usually at different churches. For example: Stidley may have delivered a sermon at CHOAN in 1935 but also delivered as a guest speaker at two or three other churches. The strips of paper almost always indicate the churches he delivered sermons at. Though I have not included that information in the following list, it may be helpful to have that info as well as the texts he preached for each sermon in a spreadsheet in future processing.

This particular collection would be of interest to anyone studying the response of the church to the Great Depression. Stidley preaches about this extensively and often mentions what the church in New York’s response should be. Of note, is a letter from FDR from 1935 asking clergy to write to him progress reports relaying how their congregants are doing after the implementation of Social Security and other Public Works Programs. Stidley responds to this letter in a sermon titled, “An Open Letter to the President”. This collection may also be valuable to someone studying race relations in the church during this particular time. Stidley was proactive in talking about race relations and lessening hatred from racial discrimination in the church. This collection is also of note for anyone tracking the Social Gospel movement in America as one can see how social and economic issues were becoming more intertwined in sermons, liturgies, and theological statements that were spoken behind pulpits each Sunday. Stidley would sometimes deliver sermons with no biblical text and be strictly commentating on social issues. The sermon he delivers on the incoming “technocracy” is an example of this. Finally, considering Stidley’s involvement at Oberlin and his time as Dean there, makes this collection significant for anyone tracking the history of that institution and its future as it merged with Vanderbilt University Divinity School in 1966.

The series “homilies/sermons” is used for all of these files and consists of sermons he delivered at churches, college chapels, and for community events. The series “speeches” denotes any speech he gave for any groups or forums in the community on a wide variety of topics and usually not centered on a biblical text as a sermon would be. Many of these speeches deal with the importance of religious education (often shortened to “R.E.” in his speeches) and are delivered to groups like the Family Forum and the local YMCA. The series “communion liturgies” denotes any short homily that Stidley delivered centering on communion during the service. The series “liturgies” is for any documents that layout what is said in a church service or indicate the series of events in a given church service. The series “bible study” denotes any series of lessons Stidley delivered on biblical passage or book at a church. The series “lesson/education Series” is any religious themed series he may have led at a church or at a local university. For example, he led a series for a university he worked at on depiction of Mary in art. The series “Broadcast Sermons” are for any short sermons that Stidley delivered on local radio stations for religious programming. The series “info, materials, and notes” are for various notes and pamphlets for events or speaking engagements he took part in.

**Note** Many of the listed sermons contain more than one date. This indicates that the sermon was delivered multiple time and at multiple churches. Multiple dates may also indicate that sermons are grouped together as a series or related by topic.