Papers of Torrey Maynard Johnson - Collection 285

Billy Graham Center
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Papers of Torrey Maynard Johnson - Collection 285

[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, in most cases, available online, only this description of them. Nor are they available for sale or rent. The tapes of the oral history interviews and the microfilm in this collection may be borrowed through interlibrary loan. ]

Brief Description of This Collection

Title Page and Restrictions

Biography

An Essay on the Contents of the Collection (Scope and Content)
Series I: Oral History Interviews
Series II: Correspondence

Subseries A: 1948-1962
Subseries B: 1951-1967
Subseries C: 1969-1983
Subseries D: 1978-1994
Series III: Youth for Christ

Subseries A: Early Period and Johnson's presidenc
Subseries B: Post 1948
Series IV: Sermons
Series V: Midwest Bible Church
Series VI: Torrey Johnson Evangelistic Association
Series VII: Bibletown Community Church
Series VIII: Miscellaneous

Lists of Audio Tapes, Films, Oversize Materials, Periodicals, Phonograph Records, Photo Albums, Photographs, Slides (Lantern), and Video Tapes in This Collection (Location Records)
Audio Tapes
Films
Microfilm
Oversize Materials
Periodicals
Phonograph Records
Photo Albums
Photographs
Slides (Lantern)
Video tapes

List of the Contents of Boxes of Paper Records in This Collection (Box List)
Series II: Correspondence

Subseries A: 1948-1962
Subseries B: 1951-1967
Subseries C: 1969-1983
Subseries D: 1978-1994
Series III: Youth for Christ

Subseries A: Early Period and Johnson's presidency
Subseries B: Post 1948
Series IV: Sermons
Series V: Midwest Bible Church
Series VI: Torrey Johnson Evangelistic Association
Series VII: Bibletown Community Church
Series VIII: Miscellaneous

***

2002 Memorial Web Page for Torrey M. Johnson Sr.

*

Transcript for T1

Transcript for T2

Transcript for T3

Transcript for T4

Transcript for T5

Transcript for T6

Transcript for T7

***

Collection 285

[February 14, 2008]
Johnson, Torrey Maynard; 1909-2002

Papers; 1919 -2001; n.d.

51 Boxes (51 DC); Audio Tapes, Films, Oversize Materials, Phonograph Records, Photographs, Photo Albums, Lantern Slides, Videos (25.447 cubic feet)

Brief Description

Correspondence, oral history interviews, scrapbooks, sermons, minutes, reports, photos, posters, newspaper and magazine clippings, brochures, audio recordings, video recordings reflecting Johnson’s life as an influential American Protestant from the 1930s through the 1990s. Besides documenting Johnson’s pastorates of Midwest Bible Church (Illinois) and Bibletown Community Church (Florida), his leadership of Youth for Christ International, and his activities as an independent evangelist, the collection contains information on the theological, organizational, and social development of American Evangelicalism in the last half of the 20^th century.

Restrictions

Correspondence of Billy Graham in folders 5-6, 14-5, 20-1, and 27-2 have been removed for the lifetime of Rev. Graham. The microfilm reels containing these folders are not available during the lifetime of Rev. Graham.

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTS TO TAPES T1-T7 IN ARE AVAILABLE.

Biography

Full name		Torrey Maynard Johnson, Sr.
Birth		March 15, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Death		May 15, 2002
Family
	Parents	Father: Jacob Martin and Thora Matilda (Evensen) Johnson
	Siblings	Five brothers and sisters
	Marital Status	Married Evelyn Nilsen, October 30, 1930
	Children	Ruth (Faircloth)(1933), Torrey Maynard, Jr. (1938?), Arleen (Yoder) (1943)
Conversion		January 1927, during a meeting in Pierce Chapel, Wheaton College
Ordination		May 24, 1930, as a Baptist
Education
		Samuel P. Chase and Thomas Waters Elementary Schools, Chicago
	ca. 1926	Carl Schurz High School, Chicago
	1926-1930	Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, graduated with a B.S.
	1927-1929	Northwestern University's Dental School, the McKinlock campus in Chicago (Johnson has intended to become an oral surgeon, but changed his mind when he felt a call to the ministry after his conversion.)
	?-1936	Northern Baptist Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, graduated with a B.D., completed course work for doctor’s degree, but did not do dissertation
Career
	1926-1930	Operated his own ice business in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, during the summer, earning his college tuition
	1930-1931	Pastor of Messiah Church, 2930 Flourney Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
	1931-1933	Traveling Bible teacher, young people’s leader, evangelist
	1933-1953	Founder and pastor of the Midwest Bible Church, 3469 N. Cicero Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. The church grew from 26 to1000 members during his pastorate and had a campus of ten buildings
	1935	Began to preach frequently on the radio
	1936-1940	Instructor in New Testament Greek , Northern Baptist Seminary
	1941	Began the Chapel Hour radio program on station WAIT and was on the air regularly with a variety of programs, including Songs in the Night and Midwest Church of the Air
	1943	Johnson served as Midwest representative of the newly-formed National Association of Evangelicals
	1944	Johnson was one of the founding members of the National Religious Broadcasters; on November 15-17, a group of regional Youth for Christ leaders met in Detroit created Youth for Christ International, with Johnson as chairman of the temporary executive committee.
	1945	A meeting of representatives of YFC met July 22-29 to create a permanent structure for the organization. Johnson was elected president
	1945-1948	Served as first president of Youth for Christ International. Johnson was the leading organizer of the national and soon international movement, speaking around the country and leading missions to Europe in 1946 and 1947. Johnson resigned in 1948 and was succeeded by Robert A. Cook.
	Ca. 1950	Incorporated the Torrey Johnson Evangelistic Crusade, Inc., which he continued to maintain for the rest of his life
	1950-1967	Active as an independent evangelist, mostly in the United States, but also held meetings in other parts of the world
	1967-1982	Pastor of the nonsectarian Bibletown Community Church and President of Bibletown, which held Bible conferences and concerts in Boca Raton, Florida
	1982-ca. 1993	Actively involved in the planning and development of the Willow Valley Manor, a retirement community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Served as chairman of the board starting in 1982.
	1985-1993	Chairman of the board of Windsor Park Manor, a retirement community in Wheaton, Illinois. (Originally called Cambridge Park Manor, renamed in 1987).
	1982-2002	During the last decades of his life, Johnson was especially active as a fund-raiser and speaker for Youth for Christ, International, and attended several international meetings of the organization, as well as serving on its advisory board.
Other significant information
	He was named Torrey because of the admiration his father had for the work of Reuben Archer Torrey, prominent evangelist of that period. The Johnson family lived in Humboldt Park and several other Chicago area locations, and were members of the Evangelical Free church. They also owned a cottage in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, where they spent the summer months. While at Wheaton College, he was active in the sports program and elected to the Scholastic Honor Society. He was president of the Wheaton Alumni Association 1936-1940. Johnson was also a member of the board of directors or on the advisory council of many Evangelical and Fundamentalist ministries, including All Nations Evangelistic Fellowship, American Association of Jewish Evangelism, the American Messianic Fellowship (Chicago Hebrew Mission), American Indian Crusade, Bob Jones University, Bryan College, Greek American Missionary Association, Hindustan Bible Institute, Inc., the Ken Campbell Evangelistic Association, The King's College, Light Bearers Association, and Slavic Gospel Association. He was a member of Pi Gamma Mu (National Social Science Honor Society), a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London, England, and listed in Who's Who in America.
	1945	Johnson received two honorary degrees: a D.D. from Wheaton College, and an Hum.D. from Bob Jones University.
	1949	Johnson was awarded an honorary LL.D. from Northwestern Schools, Minnesota.

Scope and Content

[Note: In the Scope & Content section, the notation “folder 2-5" means “Box 2, Folder 5"]

This collection is divided into eight series. Series I consists of oral history interviews taped with Rev. Johnson in 1983 and 1984. The others are Johnson’s files as they were at the time of his death in 2002. The archivist maintained the order in which the files were found where this was possible. It seemed there had been some moving around of files over the years. For example, the Chicago Conventions Campaign folder would seem to have been at one time with the Torrey Johnson Evangelistic Crusade files in Series V, but was not filed with the correspondence. Similarly, almost all of the correspondence from Johnson’s years with the Midwest Bible Church and the Bibletown Church was kept with the correspondence, rather than the separate sets of files for each of those churches.

The collection contains very little material from Johnson’s early life, up until 1933 when he became the first pastor of the Midwest Bible Church. After that, his ministry and public life is very well documented in these papers, although there is very little for very end of his life.

Series: I. Oral History Interviews.

Arrangement: Chronological by when the interview was taped.

Date Range: Interviews were taped 1984-1985. Events on the tapes cover ca. 1909 through 1960.

Volume: .14 cubic feet

Geographic coverage: United states, especially Chicago area; Belgium, United Kingdom, Philippines

Type of documents: Oral history interviews conducted by BGC Archives staff. Archives has tapes and transcripts

Subjects: Johnson’s life and ministry, early history of Youth for Christ, development of Protestant Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism in the mid-twentieth century, American evangelism, Paul Rader and the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle, appraisals of several Fundamentalist and Evangelical leaders, religious broadcasting, Wheaton College in the 1920s and ‘30s

Notes: Rev. Johnson was interviewed by Robert Shuster at the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois, on October 23 and December 13, 1984, and on February 13 and August 14, 1985. See audio tape location records for additional information.

T1 (90 minutes, click to link to the transcript of this tape). Introduction; reasons for parents’ emigration from Scandinavia; home in Humboldt Park; Evangelical Free Church membership; C. T. Dyrness; father’s occupations as ship pilot, painter, salesman; name changes among immigrants; father's personality; father’s coffee business; evangelistic meetings in 1918 (Paul Rader, Billy Sunday, Harry Ironside); Paul Rader's abilities; YFC origins in Rader's vision and Dyrness' missionary program; Bob Pierce's use of Johnson's slogan for World Vision; Rader's use of radio; work of David and Bob Gillespie and HCJB; more on Rader and his influence on Johnson; influential teachers: Oscar Larson; Carl Gunderson; assurance of salvation, January, 1927, age 17, in Wheaton College’s Pierce Chapel; Evan Welsh's role in Johnson's public commitment after evangelistic service; elementary and high school years (Carl Schurz); college tricks; swimming competitions; Williams Bay; Norwegian-Swedish relationships in America; Swedish language churches; work with non-Christian tinsmiths and resulting strength of Johnson's convictions; college jobs; choice of Wheaton because of friendship between Dyrness and Charles Blanchard; desire to be a dentist and oral surgeon; James Oliver Buswell; Johnson's presidency of Wheaton Alumni, 1936-1940; incident of dispute outside class window; incident of alarm clocks in chapel; origins of the College Code; outstanding records of class members in the 1930s; lunch with Buswell; controversy in the Presbyterian Church and Buswell's involvement

T2 (43 minutes, click to link to the transcript of this tape). More on Buswell - singing voice, walks, wood-chopping, Calvinist convictions, and preaching, Charles Blanchard and Wheaton’s financial bases, Buswell's recruiting of new students, raising of academic standards, additions in Graduate School of Christian Education and Theology majors; hopes to become a Seminary; favorite professors (Dr. Cole, Dr. Edith Torrey, Dr. Buswell, Ed Coray, Evan Welsh); Martin Luther Long; Leonard Lewis; influence of roommates, Frank Olson, John Kampp, Oscar Hofstra; Evan Welsh; Excelsior and Beltonian Literary Societies; Welsh's spiritual leadership qualities; Mr. DeVelde, Tom Kellogg; spiritual life at Wheaton; Percy Crawford and musical evangelism; innovative techniques; Paul Rader's influence on Charles Fuller, Percy Crawford; reactions to Rader's style of evangelism; social life at Wheaton ("tricks", events, societies, freshman hazing; snipe-hunting, dates; dismissal of student for kissing two girls, eating clubs; Elliott Coleman); Wheaton during the Depression; study at Northwestern's Dental School; inner conflict and surrender to God's leading; return to Wheaton College; Paul Allen; Carl Anderson; tract ministry at football games; Dr. Titus Johnson and ministry in Africa; styles of evangelism; Buswell and the Presbyterian controversy; new era atmosphere at Wheaton and innovation in spiritual leadership

T3 (80 minutes, click to link to the transcript of this tape). Founding of National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) - initial meeting in Chicago, Carl McIntire, Harold Ockenga, American Council of Churches, Bob Jones, Sr., John R. Rice, William Bell, reasons for forming NAE, non-participation of Southern Baptist Convention and the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod Lutheran, National Council of Churches did not speak for all Protestants, exclusion from radio time, chaplaincies, representatives in Washington, D.C., J. Elwin Wright and Ralph Davis, Johnson as Midwest representative of NAE, Harry Ironside and Dr. Harry Hager; Herbert J. Taylor (original committee member of Chicago's YFC, involvement in other organizations, Christian Life magazine and Robert Walker, abilities and personality), Youth for Christ in New York City and Chicago; reservations of Herbert Taylor about using Chicago Stadium; radio programs (Church of the Air, Songs of the Night; Midwest Bible Church); Paul Rader's Back Home Hour as predecessor for Johnson's radio ministries; Billy Graham's and Songs in the Night; Robert Van Kampen's; George Sweeting and Moody Church's involvement with the program, Chapel Hour, Midwest Church of the Air newsletter; business manager William Erny and treasurer's jobs for YFC, encouraging responses; broadcasts for YFC over WCFL, Lake Michigan boat broadcasts, Chapel Hour broadcasts; National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) - reasons for founding of NRB, bias against "gospel" broadcasting, uncertainty about Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rulings for Christian broadcasts, "ghettoizing"; broadcasting's captivity to polls, commercial requirements, Graham's Crusades and use of non-network stations; the founding of Youth for Christ - George Beverly Shea and Lacey Hall, Jack Wyrtzen's rallies in New York City, selection of Orchestra Hall, Chicago, first rally, 1944, and participants, sermon by, Dr. Houghton's reaction (Moody Bible Institute) and change of mind, success of meetings and reasons, Chicago Stadium meeting, Ernest Wadsworth's advice, use of Moody Memorial Church for continuing meetings until Orchestra Hall again available, Voice of Christian Youth in Detroit, Percy Crawford, Jack Wyrtzen, Billy Graham

T4 (80 minutes, click to link to the transcript of this tape). Role of YFC in bringing various evangelical groups together; Canon Tom Livermore; Myron Boyd; Johnson's moderate attitude; influences by Moody, Paul Rader, nondenominational approach; Shuster's reading of Time magazine article, 1946; criticism of Christian Century; variety of styles and preaching content in Evangelical past and in YFC; William Randolph Hearst and his support of Graham and YFC; Palermo brothers; Andrew Wyzenbeek; Charles Templeton (YFC activities, later agnosticism, Jack Shuler and Templeton, Templeton's sermons and Scriptural references; effect of his education on his faith); Billy Graham (pastorate in Western Springs, work in YFC, attendance at Florida Bible College, decision against taking military chaplaincy, first full-time YFC staff member, beginnings of overseas campaigns; preaching focus); Jack Shuler; early supporters of YFC; students from YFC recruited by Bob Jones, Moody Bible Institute; preaching series at Chicago Roller Rink; reactions of senior preachers to greater response at YFC Saturday night rallies; Bob Pierce; Johnson's initial contacts with Pierce in Chicago; jobs for YFC; work in Seattle; travels in China and beginnings of World Vision as a result; Paul Maddox; Maddox as Graham's counselor; George Wilson; Beatenberg as the first international YFC conference; more on Wilson; Gregorio Tingson; Jim Vaus; Bob Cook; Merrill Dunlop; Tingson at YFC rallies

T5 (5 minutes, click to link to the transcript of this tape). Tingson's career with YFC and preaching abilities; blank spot in tape; protectionism as a problem in cooperating with some; YFC successful cooperation experiences in many countries

T6 (67 minutes, click to link to the transcript of this tape). Frank Phillips and YFC (tape fades for five minutes); Phillips’ part in founding World Vision; Phillips’ and Billy Graham's 1950 Portland campaign; his part in forming YFC; J. Edwin Orr (background, YFC in Great Britain, speaking at Moody Church, characteristics as a preacher); Eric Hutchings (YFC in Manchester, England; his background, as a speaker, work in Britain and Belgium; evangelistic crusades in U.S, different types of evangelistic speakers, personal qualities of a campaigner); Stephen Payne; Paul Rees (YFC in Greensboro, NC, radio ministry; abilities as a one-night speaker; Europe in the 1940s); the 1948 YFC Congress in Beatenberg, Switzerland; YFC’S goal to evangelize the world in their generation; importance of Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis in the early history of YFC; YFC as a movement of the Holy Spirit; immaturity and adventurousness of early leaders; advantages of immaturity; Canon Tom Livermore; Billy Graham's first experiences preaching in Great Britain; Americans as evangelists and British as Bible teachers; why Billy Graham went back to Britain for evangelistic crusades; Livermore's importance to YFC; examples of his advice and help; the 1954 Billy Graham London campaign; Bob Evans; founding of Greater Europe Mission; Jack Wyrtzen (opposition to YFC, Wyrtzen was Johnson's choice for president of YFC; things YFC staff learned from Wyrtzen, differences in their attitudes toward organization); Ted Engstrom (YFC in Grand Rapids, MI; Jack Shuler's and Billy Graham's meetings in Grand Rapids; Engstrom as administrator in YFC; World Vision; his qualities); generational conflict between younger and older evangelists; help from older leaders such as V. Raymond Edman, John Brown, and Louis Talbot; Helen “Ma” Sunday; YFC annual meetings in Winona Lake, Indiana; Ma Sunday's influence in YFC; Hubert Mitchell (his style, background and qualities; ministries in Los Angeles and Chicago)

T7 (29 minutes, click to link to the transcript of this tape). Johnson’s leave from pastorate while with YFC; Bob Cook as his assistant pastor; reasons for his decision to leave YFC and return to his church; choice of Bob Cook as his replacement; if Billy Graham had been president; reaction to Johnson's resignation; Cook's contribution to YFC; Campus Life Clubs; Lifeline Program for juvenile delinquents; YFC's emphasis under Johnson's leadership; YFC's role as a catalyst; developments in YFC under Ted Engstrom; reasons why early founders of YFC left; the later YFC didn't have as much emphasis on preaching; meeting with Dawson Trotman in 1945; the Bible verse that frightened Graham; changes in Trotman's views on mass evangelism and taking offerings; his development of the follow-up program for Graham's crusades; Frank Phillips and Billy Graham; YFC a work of the Holy Spirit using dedicated people

Series: II. Correspondence

Subseries: A. B. C. D. (difference is solely geographic, although there is some overlapping in dates)

Arrangement: Alphabetical by folder title

Date Range: 1948-1987

Volume: 9.4 cubic feet

Boxes: 1-24

Geographic coverage: Mostly the United States, but many letters from YFC workers, evangelists and missionaries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Latin America

Type of documents: Letters, newsletters, a few attachments such as photographs, articles and newspaper clippings

Subjects: Evangelistic campaigns in the United States and elsewhere, YFC activities, Midwest Bible Church, Bibletown Community Church, Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism in American society, social and political events in American society from the 1940s to the 1980s

Notes: The letters in this series seems to have been Johnson’s master correspondence files, although there are many letters in the other series and most letters in other series are not duplicated here. Johnson’s correspondence covers most aspects of his life, including his pastorates, his evangelistic campaigns, his activities as a well-known Christian leader. There is at least one letter from most other well-known Protestant Evangelical and Fundamentalist leaders, as well as many from less well-known pastors and Christian workers. The correspondence is largely about Johnson’s speaking engagements, his pastorate of Midwest Bible Church and Bibletown Community Church, and reports from other ministries. Theological, political and social events of the period are often touched on, such as presidential election campaigns. There are also letters to and from people becoming evangelists or missionaries who wrote to Johnson asking for advice and assistance, reports from missionaries in various parts of the world, much correspondence about YFC, reports from rescue missions, letters to supporters of his ministry, some counseling materials (Einar Christnesen), and references for young people known to Johnson who were applying to Christian schools The notes under “Exceptional Items” for the various subseries can only touch on a very few sample items. Researchers will need to search through the files themselves to find all materials relevant to their topics.

Subseries: IIA

Date Range: 1948-1962 (mainly 1948-1960)

Volume: 4.6 cubic feet

Boxes: 1-12

Correspondents: Floyd Ankerberg, William Ayer, Carl Armerding, Hyman Appelman, Bill Bright, R.R. Brown, Larry Baird, F. Carlton Booth, Norman Camp, Walter Carpenter, William Culbertson, Zacharias Carles of the Spanish Christian Mission, Chicago Gospel Tabernacle, C. Christiansen (a missionary in South Africa), John Conlan, Victory Cory, Norman Cummings,

Conservative Baptist Seminary (Vernon Grounds), Robert Cook, Peter Deyneka Sr, Jack Daniels,

Enock Dyrness and the Quarryville Presbyterian Home, Robert Evans, Howard Ferrin, Robert Finlay, G. Allan Fleece, Tom C. Fair, Esther Finley (missionary to French West Africa), P. Kenneth Gieser, Billy Graham, Armin Gesswein, Carl Gunderson, Marcus Gih, Gordon College (Johnson was a trustee), Henry Hutchins, Edison Habegger, George Hare, Vance Havner, Donald Hoke, Samuel Hsiao, H.A. Ironside, Iran Interior Mission (Charles Feinberg), Elmer Johnson, Bob Jones, Jr, , Vincent Joy (Central Alaska Mission), Jimmie Johnson, Rufus Jones, Bob Jones, Sr., Fred Klug, The King’s College, Alex Koval, Mel Larson, Lance Latham, T. Leonard Lewis, Thomas L. Livermore (British YFC), Harry Larson (Honey Rock), Anna Leinsz, Roger Malsbary, Hubert Mitchell, Moody Bible Institute (Henry Kraakevik), J. Palmer Muntz, Robert Munger, A. Paul McGarvey (missionary to Japan), Arthur W. McKee, Roy McKeown, T. B. Nottage, Edith F. Nader (missionary to Japan), H. Wilbert Norton, Harold J. Ockenga, Stephen Paine, the Palermos, Frank C. Phillips, Bob Pierce, Hugh F. Pyle, Lee Roberson, Paul Rood, Dick Reed (ELWA in Liberia), John R. Rice, Merv Rosell, Alan Redpath, Ray Schulenburg, Jack Shuler, Paul B. Smith, Oswald J. Smith, Walter Smyth, Eva Stuart-Watt, George Sweeting, O. E. Sanden, Harry Saulnier, Wilbur Smith, Everett Swanson, Louis Talbot, Corrie ten Boom, Dawson Trotman, Clyde Taylor, H. J. Taylor, Herb Tyler, Charles Templeton, Lorne Sanny, Ebenezer Vine (Regions Beyond Missionary Union), Norman Voth, Harry Von Bruch, Leland Wang, Evan Welsh, George Wilson, Gray Wilson, Walter Wilson, Wally White (Chicago Gospel Tabernacle), Charles Woodbridge, K. Paul Yohantis (Greek American Missionary Association), Pat Zondervan

Notes: The correspondence is this subseries is mostly from the period of Johnson’s presidency of YFC, the latter part of his pastorate at Midwest Bible Church and the beginning of his period as an independent evangelist.

Exceptional items:

Folder 1-3: Correspondence with the American Association for Jewish Evangelism

Folder 1-5: Correspondence with the American Indian Crusade (led by H. Thomas Claus)

Folders 1-6 and 3-3: Correspondence with the American Messianic Fellowship (originally known as the Chicago Hebrew Mission) one of several evangelistic organizations which Johnson served as a board member

Folder 1-7: Letter from Wheaton Bible Church suggesting Torrey as possible candidate for pastor

Folder 3-3: Letters relating to the Chicago Convention Campaign which was a 1952 evangelistic meeting held in Chicago during the same period and on the same site where during the Republican and Democratic conventions were held

Folder 4-2: Correspondence with W. Howard Davis of the Bible Rescue Mission of Chicago

Folder 5-3: Correspondence with the Fuller Quartet a vocal group that group that sang at some of Torrey’s meetings and on The Old Fashioned Revival Hour

Folder 5-6: Correspondence with Gordon College and Divinity School in Massachusetts which Johnson served as trustee

Folder 6-5: The file of Honey Rock Fellowship correspondence contains information on the early days of the Christian camp in northern Wisconsin when it was a project of Midwest Church and when it became a department of Wheaton College

Folder 9-4: Correspondence with the Oriental Gospel Association

Folder 11-2: Slavic Gospel Association (including correspondence with Peter Deyneka)

Folder 11-11: Information of the Midwest Church’s protest when the United States exchanged diplomatic representatives with the Roman Catholic church

Subseries: IIB

Date Range: 1951-1967 (mainly 1958-1966)

Volume: 2.2 cubic feet

Boxes: 12-18

Correspondents: Myron Ausburger, Dan Ankerberg, Myron Boyd, R. R. Brown, Ida-May v. Buck (The Little Bible Ministry), Russ Busby, C. Ellit Carver, Sam Browning (Christian Approach to Alcoholics), Douglas Coe, John Conlan, Thomas Cosmades, William Culbertson, Bill Curry, William Detweiler (The Calvary Hour), Peter Deyneka, Sr., Franklyn Dyrness, V. Raymond Edman, Robert Evans, T. C. Fair, Bob Finley, David Foster (chalk artist in England, British YFC), Charles Fuller, David Otis Fuller, Frank Gaebelein, Bill Gothard, Billy Graham, Armin Gesswein, Stuart Hackett, Carl Henry, Don Hoke, Wesley Hartzell, Eric Hutchings, Hilding Halverson, Thorleif Holm-Glad, Fred Jarvis, Bill Jackson, Howard Kensit, William Kerr, Peter King, Kenneth Kantzer, Noel Lyons, T. L. Livermore, Harold Lindsell, Joseph Larson, T.G. Mangham (missionary to Vietnam), Lester Martin (World Home Bible League), David Morken, Ralph Mitchell, E. Barry Morre, Jimmie McDonald, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ed Obinger, Jack Olson (Airmail From God), Paul Tetticord, the Palermo brothers, Wendell Phillips, Ford Philpott, Wesley Piper (missionary to Peru), Paul Peterson (Eastern European Mission), Emerson Pent, Earl Poysti (Trans World Radio), Aram Philibosian, Alan Redpath, Paul Rees, John R. Rice, Orion T. Rhodes, O. E. Sanden, Jesse D. Sickler, Everett Swanson, George Sweeting, Wilbur Smith, J. Stratton Shufelt, Karl Steele, Louis Talbot, Gregorio Tingson, Corrie ten Boom, W. Cameron Townsend, Ernst A. Tippett, Robert Van Kampen, Ebenezer Vine, Jim Vaus, Hal Webb, Evan Welsh, George Wilson, T. W. Wilson, Walter Wilson, Neil Winegarden, Sherwood Wirt, Eugene R. Witmer, J. Elwin Wright, Winona Lake Bible Conference, Francis Youngren, P. J. Zondervan

Notes: The correspondence in this subseries is mainly from Johnson’s period as an independent evangelist.

Exceptional items:

Folder 14-5: The file of Billy Graham correspondence contains letters relating the growing protest from American Fundamentalists over the participation of mainstream liberal Protestant churches in Graham’s evangelistic meetings

Folder 16-2: Harry Madsen’s correspondence contains commentary on the 1960 presidential campaign, especially concerning John Kennedy’s Catholicism

Folder 18-2: Correspondence with the Slavic Gospel Association

Subseries: IIC

Date Range: 1969-1983 (mostly 1970-1981)

Volume: 1 cubic foot

Boxes: 19-21

Correspondents: John Ankerberg, Floyd Ankerberg, Ken and Shirley Antone, Werner Burklin, Cliff Barrows, Bethel College, Sam Browning, Zeral Brown, Leonard Buckland, Robert Cook, Lee Childs Carver, David Breese, Tom Claus (CHIEF), John Conlan, Walter Dinsdale, William Drury, Ira Lee Eshleman, David Enlow, Elim Bibleworld, Billy Graham, Donald Hoke, Christopher Lyons, NAE, National Prayer Breakfast, Northern Baptist Seminary, Northwestern Schools, H. J. Ockenga, the Palermos, Emerson Pent, Prison Fellowship (Charles Colson), Paul Rees, Renaissance (Ken Campbell, Canadian version of Moral Majority), Bryan C. Stiller, Paul Toms, Wayne and Arlene Thomas, World Wide Pictures, W. Cameron Townsend, Trans World Radio (Paul Freed), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Kenneth Meyer), Herb Tyler, WCFC-TV (Channel 38), Wheaton College, Andrew Wyzenbeek, Pat Zondervan

Notes: The correspondence in this subseries is mainly from the period of Johnson’s pastorate at Bibletown Community Church.

Exceptional items:

Folder 20-3: Institute of Holy Land Studies

Folder 20-7: Material from the Midwest Bible Church, with which Johnson stayed in touch after leaving its pastorate

Folder 20-9: Information about Johnson’s induction into the National Religious Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame

Folder 20-12: Correspondence with Ken Campbell about Renaissance, a counterpart in Canada to the American Moral Majority organization

Folder 21-1: Material about the radio program Songs in the Night, Samaritan’s Purse and Franklin Graham and the Slavic Gospel Association

Subseries: IID

Date Range: 1978-1994

Volume: 1.4 cubic feet

Boxes: 21-24

Correspondents: Carl Applequist, A. Harold Anderson, Edgar Bundy, Stanley Berntson, David Burnham, Charles Colson, Douglas Coe, Horace Dean, Peter Deyneka, Jr., John DeBrine, Donald DeVos, John Dyck (Janz Team ministries), Paul Eselman, Allen Emery, Jr., Ted Engstrom, Paul Freed, Victor Glavach, Burton Goddard, David Gotaas, Francis Grim (South Africa), Jim Groen, Franklin Graham, Morrow Coffey Graham, E. Brandt Gustafson, Bill Hybels, John Haggai, Hilding E. Halverson, Jack Kreidler, Wilfred Larson, Mel Lorentzen, Edwin Lutzer, Harold Lindsell, Roy LeTourneau, Tom L. Livermore, Roy McKeown (World Opportunities International), Meryle Dolan Evangelistic Association, Chet C. Merriam, William Mitchell (Bibletown member), John H. Norris, Harold John Ockenga, Lawrence W. Powell, Reachout Evangelism (Ken Weaver), Garth Rosell, Merv Rosell, Burton Reed, Paul Smith, Charles W. Spicer (Overseas Council), Ray Schulenberg, J. Stratton Shufelt, Andrew Wyzenbeek, George Wilson, Evan Welsh, P. J. Zondervan

Notes: The material in this subseries is mainly from the period of Johnson’s retirement.

Exceptional items: Folder 24-7 contains notes, letters, programs, etc., of the late-‘80s to the early- ‘90s, illustrating Johnson’s continuing involvement in a wide variety of Christian ministries almost up to the end of his life. There are several notices of funeral services of long-time friends.

Series: III. Youth for Christ material

Subseries: A. Early Period and Johnson’s Presidency; B. Post 1948

Arrangement: Folder titles by Johnson were retained. Loose materials or materials in unlabeled folders were given titles by the archivist. Folders are grouped together by content. Within each group, arrangement is alphabetical, then chronological.

Date Range: 1944-2001

Volume: 5.5 cubic feet

Boxes: 24-37

Geographic coverage: United States, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Philippines, China, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, reports and information from YFC programs in most parts of the world

Type of documents: Letters, reports, newspaper clippings, minutes of board meetings, programs, planning documents, brochures on events and programs, financial reports, annual reports

Notes: Johnson’s involvement with Youth for Christ was one of the major themes of his life from 1944 on, and YFC information can be found in all the series in this collection. However, the substantial amount is in series II. Series A contains material from the formation period of YFC and Johnson’s leadership from 1944 until 1948. Series II contains material documenting his continuing involvement with YFC after 1948 as a board member, speaker, fund-raiser and encourager. Both sections include many, many reports from YFC programs all over the United States and other parts of the world.

Subseries: IIIA. Early Period and Johnson’s Presidency

Arrangement: Alphabetical, by folder title

Date Range: 1944-1951 (mostly 1944-1948)

Volume: 2 cubic feet

Boxes: 24-29

Geographic coverage: United States, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Congo, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Scotland, South Africa, Venezuela

Type of documents: Letters, reports, minutes, newspaper clippings, brochures, press releases, programs of meetings

Correspondents: James L. Anderson, George Chandler, Daniel Chang, Theodore Choy, Charles T. Cook, Robert Cook, Willy Diezeil, Robert Evans, Billy Graham, J. Brown Hendry, Eric Hutchings, James Henry Hutchins, Bob Jones Sr and Jr, Edgar Lacey, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Ruth Kerr, H. G. Martin, David Morken, Hubert Mitchell, Stephen Olford, J. Edwin Orr, Emerson Pent, Alan Redpath, William Bell Riley, Herbert W. Rumsfield, Walter Sauer, Gregorio Tingson, Saturnin Wasserzug, Reginald F. White, Jack Wyrtzen

Subjects: Origins of Youth for Christ in the United States; evangelistic work among young people and teens; organization of mass evangelistic rallies in the late-1940s, the development of YFC organizations in other countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America; American attitudes toward Europe at the end of World War II

Notes: The files deal mainly with Johnson’s part in organizing YFC in its very early days in the United States and other countries. There are extensive files on the planning and program of the 1945 Memorial Day rally in Soldier Field in Chicago (folder 27-14) and of the first YFC World Congress in Beatenberg, Switzerland, in 1948 (folders 24-11, 25-1, 29-3). Between those two events were Johnson’s trips for YFC to Great Britain in 1946 (folders 25-3 to 25-9, 26-2) and to Germany in 1947 (folders 26-5 to 27-1). Billy Graham, Chuck Templeton, and J. Stratton Shufelt accompanied Johnson on the British trip. For both of these trips there are several files that document the trip itself and the continuing contacts and YFC organizations that grew out of them. Folder 27-11 contains correspondence with Bob Jones, Sr., and Jr. about the possibility of Bob Jones, Jr., going on the British trip in 1946. The letters and reports also contain information on conditions in Europe immediately after World War II and the increasing American involvement there. Other files in this subseries contain letters, programs, minutes and other documents relating the activities of YFC evangelists in many countries, especially the United States (folders 24-7, 24-8, 25-2, 25-10, 26-1, 26-4, 27-3 to 27-5, 27-8 to 27-10, 27-15, 27-19, 28-3, 28-8 to 28-10, and 29-1, among others; see folder 28-4 for the programs of many YFC meetings in the United States), the annual YFC business meeting and rally at Winona Lake Indiana (folders 28, 529-4), and positive and negative reaction to the YFC movement in the country at large (folder 25-12, 29-2). Of especial help for the history of the development of YFC are the executive council minutes in folder 28-5.

Exceptional items:

Folder 25-10: Correspondence on Robert Cook’s growing responsibility in the movement, also a 1948 letter in which Johnson lists his reasons for resigning as president of YFC

Folder 26-5: Johnson’s correspondence with Rev. Martin Niemöeller (German pastor and leader in the German resistance to Hitler)

Folders 26-6 and 27-13: Material on the involvement of US military chaplains in the development of YFC programs in other countries

Folder 27-2 contains a few letters between Johnson and Billy Graham describing Graham’s travels in 1944 and 1945 on behalf of Youth for Christ. There is also Graham’s account of the 1947 meetings in Birmingham, England and a brochure from 1950 giving an account of Graham’s 1949 meetings in Los Angeles by one who attended.

Folder 28-6: Evangelist William Bell Riley’s offer to Johnson of the presidency of Northwestern Schools upon his (Riley’s) death with Billy Graham as his chief assistant

Folder 29-5 contains a letters with Johnson’s disassociation of YFC from Gerald Winrod Harry Springer and his associates

Folder 29-6 contains materials on contacts between YFC and Jack Wyrtzen’s Word of Life movement one of the inspirations for YFC

Subseries: IIIB. Post-1948

Arrangement: Alphabetical, chronological. There were many piles of loose items which were put into chronological files by the archivist

Date Range: 1944-2001 (mostly 1974-2000)

Volume: 3.6 cubic feet

Boxes: 29-37

Geographic coverage: Worldwide, especial the United States, Canada, China, Philippines, Sri Lanka

Type of documents: Minutes, budgets, brochures, newsletters, newspaper clippings, correspondence, memorabilia including programs

Correspondents: Carl Applequist, Werner Burklin, Roger Cross, Peter Deyneka, Jr. (1992), William Drury (1985), Ted Engstrom, Ajith Fernando, Gerry Gallimore, Jim Groen, Ian Grant, Evon Hedley, Bernard Holmquist, Shan Kellar, Jay Kesler, Bruce Love, Roy McKeown, Al Metsker, Clyde W. Moore, David W. Schultz, Earl Schultz, Jr., Tedd Seelye, Sam M. Sherrard, Paul B. Smith, Greg Tingson, Stephen Wang, Jean-Jacques Weiler, George M. Wilson, Jim W. Wilson, T. W. Wilson (1999), Sam Wolgemuth, Dean Yoder

Subjects: YFC-USA and YFC International’s administration and ministry, especially in the last two decades of the twentieth century, the early history of YFC, the development of YFC in various countries around the world.; Johnson’s activities as a YFC speaker, fund-raiser, and board member, leadership transitions within YFC, the development of Youth for Christ International as a coordinating group for the national organizations

Notes: These files trace Johnson’s continuing involvement in YFC after he resigned his presidency in 1948. There is very little material from 1948-1980. More can be found in other parts of this collection about speaking engagements of Johnson’s for YFC during those years. However, there is voluminous materials for the 1980s and 1990s. These include correspondence with leaders of YFC organizations on a local, regional, and national level as well his involvement as a board member in YFC International. Johnson’s frequent speaking engagements and fund raising efforts for YFC are also reflected in the material, such as his speaking tour of South Africa in 1986 (folder 31-2). Johnson attended most of YFC’s triennial international conferences, so most of these are also well documented in his files. The meetings were held in 1968 in Kingston, Jamaica; in 1971 in Nicosia, Cyprus; in 1974 Les Diableret, Switzerland; in 1977 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; in 1980 in Birmingham, England; in 1984 in Hong Kong; in 1987 Manilla, Philippines; in 1990 in Nairobi, Kenya; in 1993 in Chicago, USA; in 1996 in Taipei, Taiwan; and in Azusa, California, USA. From 1985 through 1999, there are many letters, reports, minutes of meetings, program and grant proposals and similar materials that Johnson received as a board member of YFC International (folders 33-7 through 36-2). These files are a very rich source of data for the activities and plans of the YFC movement worldwide.

Exceptional items:

Folder 29-7: In 1954 YFC staged a “This is Your Life” event to commemorate Johnson’s early leadership. This folder contains the script for the event as well as congratulatory letters from YFC staff Johnson’s family, friends, and co-workers.

Folder 30-6 contains an interesting 1982 letter about YFC work in China immediately after World War II. (See also folder 33-4.)

Folder 31-4 contains a 1988 letter from Viliamu Mafo’e of the YFC in Western Samoa.

Folder 32-3 contains programs for the memorial services held in 1991 for Robert Cook and Hilding Halvarson.

Folders 32-13 through 33-2 contain the planning materials for the 1988 YFC Reunion held in Chicago.

Folder 33-6 contains a miscellany of historical materials about YFC’s early days. There are early documents, such a program from the 1945 Solder Field Rally, but most of the items are letters, clippings, and manuscripts written after the fact about YFC history. Some deal with whole organization, others with individual YFC clubs, such as the one in Kenosha,Wisconsin. The folder also contains a letter about Chuck Templeton’s participation in a church service at the People’s Church in Toronto honoring YFC.

Series: IV. Sermons and Speeches

Arrangement: Alphabetical

Date Range: 1934-1979

Volume: 2.5 cubic feet

Boxes: 37-42

Type of documents: Sermon notes, sermon transcripts, clippings of material to be used in sermons

Subjects: Angels, Christmas, baptism, Mother’s Day, books of the Bible, Christian theology, Christian life, sin, salvation, Jesus Christ, authority of Scripture, talks on the Christian life for teenagers

Notes: These were materials that Torrey apparently kept for reference and reuse. Most files contain only brief outlines or fragments of sermons, although folders 41-5 and 42-1 contain complete texts. Most are Johnson’s own sermons, although there are many texts from other preachers as well. Each of the folders 39-23 to 41-4 contain notes that were kept together as a group in Johnson’s files, without title or description. Many of the other notes were arranged by the book of the Bible that provided the major text and this arrangement has been kept, although the archivist put them in alphabetical order rather than the book-of-the-Bible order it had been in. There are a few folders that have sermons grouped by subject, such as folder 41-4, on water baptism. (This actually contains pamphlets on the subject which Johnson apparently used as reference.) Some of the outlines might have been for classroom lectures that Johnson heard as a student. There is no folder 38-8. The folder were misnumbered. Because this error is also on the microfilm version of the papers, it was corrected.

Exceptional items:

Folder 37-3 contains a notebook with a list of sermons of Johnson’s sermons which have been transcribed (although the BGC Archives does not have a copy of these transcripts) as well as a variety of other notes and lists apparently related to Johnson’s evangelistic ministry and a list of theological books, perhaps from his library.

Folders 42-2 through 42-4 contain the texts of talks on the various aspects of the inerrancy and authority of Scripture. These are all by people other than Johnson and may have been talks given at a theological conference. Among the speakers were: Gordon Clark, Oswald Hoffman, David Allen Hubbard, Arthur F. Holmes, Kenneth Kantzer, John Warwick Montgomery, Leon Morris, Roger Nicole, M. Eugene Osterhaven, J. Barton Payne, Merrill Tenney, Edward Young.

Series: V. Midwest Bible Church Materials

Arrangement: A group of miscellaneous items arranged by year, followed by a set of folders in alphabetical order. (Arrangement supplied by archivist)

Date Range: 1935-2000

Volume: 1.25 cubic feet

Boxes: 42-44

Geographic coverage: Chicago, Illinois

Type of documents: Minutes, annual reports, church bulletins, handbills, anniversary booklets, correspondence, attendance records, correspondence

Subjects: History and development of Midwest Bible Church, Johnson’s leadership as pastor, Youth for Christ, the Great Depression, the World War II home front, evangelistic work in Chicago

Notes: The records in this section, although somewhat sketchy in parts, give a good picture of the life of the Midwest Bible Church during the pastorate of Johnson (who was also the church’s founder). Because Johnson stayed in touch with the congregation, there is also information on the history of the church for the half century following his departure. The records from the 1930s through the 1950s give a good picture of an independent Fundamentalist/Evangelical church in a large Northern city, with emphasis on the church’s doctrine, fellowship and evangelistic outreach.

Among the typical documents are the church’s annual reports (folder 43-10), constitution and by-laws (folder 43-12), the summer camp for children and adults (folder 42-5 through 42-8), fund raising prospectuses for a new buildings (folder 42-8, 43-8), magazine and newspaper clippings about events at the church (folders 42-8, 42-15, 43-4, 43-14, 44-9), membership directories (folders 43-4, 43-15), worship bulletins folders (folders 42-15 through 43-1), a funeral service for a longtime member (folder 42-13), papers of the board of elders (folders 42-14), the church’s magazine (folders 42-12, 43-13), form letters sent out to announce various church events and needs (folder 44-3), doctrine instruction material used of children over 12 and new members joining the church (folder 44-8), pastor’s newsletter (folders 42-16, 43-1, 44-3), the annual missions conference (folder 43-3), a description of the church’s development and support of missionaries (folder 44-5), and attendance records for church services and Sunday school (folder 43-11).

There is also a good deal of celebratory material in the folders on the occasion of the dedication of the new church building in 1940 (folder 43-14), the tenth anniversary of the church’s founding (folder 42-11), the twentieth anniversary of the church’s founding and Johnson’s resignation as pastor (folder 43-3), the fiftieth anniversary of the church (folder 43-6), and the sixtieth anniversary of the church, including notes for the talk Johnson gave (folder 43-7). Midwest Bible also had an active radio ministry. During Torrey’s pastorate, two radio programs were started - Chapel Hour and Songs in the Night. The church’s radio department was called the Midwest Church of the Air. Folder 44-9 contains various documents on the history and development of the radio programs, including a brief histories of Songs in the Night written on its thirtieth and fiftieth anniversaries in 1973 and 1993 and a newsletter from the brief period of Billy Graham’s leadership of Songs in the Night. Folder 44-6 contains issues of the newsletter Midwest Messenger, which was apparently sent to listeners to Chapel Hour and also perhaps to church members who were serving in the armed forces during World War II. The newsletter contains information about the church, the radio program, and the early days of Youth for Christ in Chicago. It also is interesting for what it shows about the home front during the war.

There is also a great deal of information about Johnson’s pastorate at Midwest in the scrapbooks covering the years 1933 to 1943 in the Photo Album File and in the early correspondence in Series II.

Exceptional items:

Folder 42-11 contains some interesting documents relating to sugar rationing in the United States during World War II

Folder 42-12 contain reprints of articles by J. Edgar Hoover on youth-related topics, such as juvenile delinquency, what sort of vacation a boy should take, and problems of youth

Folder 43-2 contains Johnson’s 1952 letter of resignation as pastor of the church.

Folder 43-9 contains some material from the church in 2000; there is also a printout of an e-mail from the elders of Willow Creek Church, responding to criticism of them for inviting President Bill Clinton to their Leadership Summit.

Folder 44-1 contains documents about complaints that Bill Erny brought before the church board concerning Johnson’s involvement in Youth for Christ. The charges were all apparently dismissed.

Folder 44-2 contains correspondence and other documents relating to Johnson’s participation in a conflict over the custody of a child between her parents and the Evangelical Welfare Agency

Folder 44-4 contains a great deal of correspondence with Thorlief Holm-Glad, a Norwegian pastor and evangelist that Johnson and MBC helped support and who they sponsored on his visits to the United States

Folder 44-7 contains several significant documents from the National Association of Evangelicals in the early-1950s including minutes of executive committee, press releases, and information on military chaplains. It is not clear why this material is here, since Johnson was not a member of the executive committee.

Series: VI. Torrey Johnson Evangelistic Crusade, Inc. Materials

Arrangement: Most of the files are arranged by year, although there are a files of generic materials at the end that are arranged alphabetically by folder title. Material was roughly in chronological order, but the exact arrangement was supplied by the archivist.

Date Range: 1943 -1981

Volume: 1.6 cubic feet

Boxes: 45-48

Geographic coverage: United States, Canada, Israel

Type of documents: Correspondence, handbills, sermons, newspaper clippings, programs for services, instruction sheets on how to organize evangelistic meetings, schedules

Correspondents: Carl Anderson, William Berntsen, Robert A. Cook, Robert Cooley, Gary Dausey, Donald Hubbard, Al Metsker, Tal McNutt, Vernon Mortenson, Harold Ockenga, Harold Penrose, Frank Phillips, John R. Rice, Paul B. Smith, T. W. Wilson

Subjects: Johnson’s evangelistic ministry, especially in the 1950s and ‘60s, the early years of Youth for Christ, the theological and organizational basis of American Fundamentalist and Evangelical evangelistic meetings, American urban and suburban life in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Notes: Probably sometime in the early-1950s, Johnson organized the Torrey Johnson Evangelistic Crusade, Inc., (TJEC) to serve as legal entity through which his evangelistic meetings were organized. This series contains materials relating to Johnson’s many speaking engagements at individual churches, conferences, special evangelism meetings and evangelistic campaigns. Most of the folders from 45-8 through 47-7 contain one or more of Johnson’s prayer letters, which he sent to people on his mailing list to inform them about his recent activities and future plans. Box 45 of TJEC materials includes several folders from the years before Johnson had a formal organization, most notably from Johnson’s YFC years. Apparently Johnson used the TJEC drawer to keep many, although not all, of the folders dealing with speaking engagements apart from his pastorates. Folder 48-6 contains a partial listing of his speaking engagements from the mid-‘60s to the late ‘80s, along with some material from the 1950s. There is almost no financial information in the series.

The researcher should also remember that there is a great deal of information on evangelistic meetings and other activities in the yearly scrapbooks Johnson kept about his activities (photo albums I through XII and XVI) and in the correspondence in series II.

The folders in this series contain specific information on dozens of communities where Johnson held meetings, in some cases just a scrap of a newspaper clipping, in other cases many, many documents of different types. Among the cities/regions for which there is information are:

Oakland, California (1950, folder 45-6); Peoria, Illinois (1951, folder 45-7); Walla Walla, Washington; Fort Dodge, Iowa; Anchorage, Alaska; Warren, Ohio (1953, folder 45-8); Denver, Colorado; Kennewick, Washington; Albany, Oregon; Lebanon, Oregon; Lethbridge, Alberta (1954, folder 45-9); Upper Bucks County, Pennsylvania (1955, folder 45-10); Vancouver, Washington; Palatine, Illinois (1956, folder 45-11); Olympia, Washington (1957, folder 46-1); Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Liverpool, England (1958, folder 46-2); Portland, Oregon; Ocean City, New Jersey; York, Pennsylvania; Toronto, Ontario (1959, 46-3); Rockford, Illinois; Dixon, Illinois; Seattle, Washington; Bellingham, Washington (1960, folder 46-4);

San Diego, California; St. Petersburg, Florida; Tampa Bay, Florida; Rock County Wisconsin; Spokane, Washington; (1961, folder 46-5); Anderson, Indiana; Minot, North Dakota (1961, folders 46-5 and 46-6); Youngstown, Ohio; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Korea (1962, folder 46-7); Brazil (1963, folder 47-1); Rockford, Illinois; Portland, Oregon; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1964, folder 47-2).

TJEC was apparently started to provide an ongoing base for city-wide evangelistic meetings, involving several churches and/or Christian organizations in a community. The folders from 1950 to 1965 (folders 45-1 to 47-3) contain correspondence of many different types from the campaigns Johnson led during these years, usually with Hilding Halvarson as his song leader. (See also folder 3-3 and Photo Album X for information on the 1952 Conventions Campaign with Jim Vaus.) There are also numerous documents from other types of speaking engagements, which became predominant after the mid-‘60s. There are relatively few examples of the messages that Torrey delivered at the evangelistic campaigns, except for extracts of his sermons in newspaper clippings (such as those in folder 46-6) and some transcripts (folders 45-5, 45-6, and 45-8). There is also little statistical information , except for what can be found in folder 48-5. (There are, in folder 48-3 contain an interesting set of returned questionnaires, apparently from people on Johnson’s mailing list, giving their opinions on what they would like to see in an evangelistic meeting and what they saw barriers to such meetings were.) There is much more information on how the meetings were organized, churches involved, the meetings publicized and ushers, choirs and counselors prepared. (folders, especially in folder 46-5, 4-6-7, and 48-1.) Folder 48-1 also contains samples of the way that other evangelists, such as John R. Rice and Frank Phillips, organized meetings. Amy Anderson was Johnson’s secretary for years and folders 45-9 through 46-3 include her correspondence with Johnson while he was on the road. These letters describe activities at the office, plans for future speaking engagements, repots on contributions, etc. These give a good picture of Johnson’s activities in the late 1950s.

Folders 47-3 through 47-17 mainly contain correspondence about a wide variety speaking engagements, usually at individual churches or Bible conferences, after the mid-1960s. Folders 46-4 and 47-3 contain information on tours Johnson led to the Holy Land, reflecting the commitment of American Evangelicals to Israel (see folder 45-7 for the script of a slide tape presentation, not by Johnson, which is a sympathetic view of the new state of Israel. The Archives does not have the slides that go with the script). Folder 47-10 documents the First World Congress on Missions, organized by the Dr. Ralph Winter of the U.S. Center on World Mission; Johnson had planned to speak at the meeting, but was unable because of illness. Other folders include information on speaking engagements at Biola’s annual Torrey Bible Conference (folder 47-10), the New England Fellowship of Evangelicals (folder 47-12), the Taiwan Missionary Fellowship (folder 47-13), Northwestern College in Minnesota (folder 47-13), the People’s Church of Toronto (folder 47-13), Gordon Conwell Seminary (folder 47-17), and The King’s College (folder 47-17). There is also information on other evangelistic ministries, such folder 48-2, which contains brochures about the work of Eric Hutchings, Hyman Appelman, and Charlie Turner or folders 45-1 and 45-2, which have information on Jack Wyrtzen and Word of Life or the material on Jim Vaus and H. Thomas Claus and the American Indian Crusade in folder 45-7.

Exceptional items:

Folder 45-2 (1944) contains material about the citywide Chicago rallies YFC held, including the Chicago Stadium contract and greetings from the governor Dwight Green and the mayor of Chicago Edward kelly

Folder 45-4 (1946) contains information about various YFC rallies around the United States and the world, especially the European tour, including many telegrams from well wishers in the United States

Folder 45-5 contains material about Johnson’s 1947 tour of Europe, including England, Holland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Greece, Italy. There is a good deal of material from his speaking engagements in Germany, usually to US servicemen.

Folder 45-8 contains a sermon by Johnson about the report of Dr. Alfred Kinsey on contemporary American sexual behavior (Billy Graham’s reaction to the same report can be found in Collection 191, T192)

Folder 45-11 contains a brochure on the work of Lester Burton of the Christian Service Brigade in Costa Rica

Folder 46-1 contains a pamphlet, with a forward by Johnson, about Sam Browning, executive director of the Christian Approach to Alcoholics

Folder 46-2 contains a large brochure about Rex Humbard’s Cathedral of Tomorrow

Folder 46-4 includes a program for that year’s Winona Lake Bible Conference program (other folders contain programs from other years)

Folder 46-7 contains the fiftieth anniversary booklet of the Cedar Lake Bible Conference;

Folder 47-2 contains a program for the memorial service of Paul E. Carlson, a missionary who had been murdered during the civil war in the Congo and an audit report for Compassion, Inc.

Folder 47-3 has material about Johnson’s visit to Vietnam in 1965

Folder 47-5 contains an invitation to the 25^th wedding anniversary of Doug Fisher, pastor of the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle

Series: VII. Bibletown Community Church and Conference Center Materials

Arrangement: Alphabetical by title. Most of the folder titles are original, a few were assigned by the archivist

Date Range: 1953-2000

Volume: .8 cubic feet

Boxes: 48-50

Geographic coverage: Boca Raton, Florida

Type of documents: Reports, brochures, minutes of meetings, church bulletins, newspaper clippings, correspondence, membership directories

Correspondents: Donald Andrews, Carl Bihl, David Breese, Milton Hill, Neil Macaulay

Subjects: Bibletown Community Church and Conference Center, American Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism in the 1960s through the 1980s

Notes: In 1967 Johnson retired as an independent evangelist to become pastor of the Bibletown Community Church and President of the church’s conference center. The materials in this series document his leadership at Bibletown from 1967 to 1982. There are also a few documents from the history of the institution before and after his pastorate. Constitutions and proposed revisions to the constitution from the 1970s and ‘80s are in folder 49-3. Johnson’s initial call and welcome to Bibletown is documented in the correspondence in folder 49-4. Documents relating to his retirement are in folder 52-2. Minutes and reports from the church’s board of elders and board of trustees of the church are in folders 48-8 to 48-12. The trustee board seems to have been created in the 1970s and discontinued by 1984. During that time the trustee were responsible for the financial and temporal affairs of the church, with the elders responsible for the spiritual welfare of the church. Some of the church’s annual reports from the last half of Johnson’s leadership are in folder 48-7. Membership directories, including lists of staff and some information on and pictures of ministries of the church are in folder 49-8. Bulletins from weekly church services, mostly from 1981 and 1982, are in folder 49-1. Programs for thirty years of the Bibletown conference, mainly winter conferences, are in folder 48-13. These were planned as a combined Bible conference and vacation for laymen in the church and brought people from all over the country. The programs give some idea of the interests and theology of Evangelicals in this time period. A sample of the packet given to registrants at the conferences can be found in folder 50-3.

Exceptional items:

Folder 49-5 contains Johnson’s correspondence with young people from the church who were attending Christian schools or going into the ministry and their letters to him. They provide a glimpse into Johnson’s pastoral ministry, as opposed to his evangelism work or administrative leadership.

Folder 49-6 contains programs from celebrations of the church’s jubilee in 1975

Folder 49-2 contains newspaper clippings that document the church’s active outreach ministry, Johnson’s leadership, and the serious fire the church suffered in 1976

Folder 49-7 contains some histories written about the church and conference ground, as well as brochures for the Bible conference from the 1950s and other miscellaneous historical items

Folder 50-1 contains materials from the dedication of the church’s new conference center in April 12, 1981 (Palm Sunday). Billy Graham and his associates held an evangelistic rally on that day as part of the celebration.

Series: VIII. Miscellaneous Materials

Arrangement: The materials in this series were originally almost all loose and unfoldered. Materials were arranged by subject by the archivist, who also assigned most of the folder titles.

Date Range: 1928-2001

Volume: .4 cubic feet

Boxes: 50-51

Geographic coverage: United States, especially Chicago area

Type of documents: Correspondence, reports, newsletters, certificates, programs, academic papers, minutes

Correspondents: Kenneth Campbell, P.J. Cullerton, William E. Currie, Enock Dyrness, V. Raymond Edman, Ralph Gade, Charles W. Koller, Theodore Mercer, Vaughn Shoemaker, Marlin H. Thomas, Robert C. Van Kampen

Subjects: Johnson’ life, ministry and theological development, Wheaton College history, Evangelical Christian evangelistic outreach, including outreach to Jews, the development of Christian retirement communities starting in the 1980s

Notes: The materials in this collection are a grab bag of loose material, mainly from the beginning and end of Johnson’s adult life

Exceptional items:

Folder 50-4 contains reports, minutes and other materials from the American Association of Jewish Evangelism, Johnson served on the board for many decades. He also served for many years on the American Messianic Fellowship (originally the Chicago Hebrew Mission), some material for which is in folder 50-4. There is other material from Johnson’s involvement with these organizations in other parts of this collection, including series II and V.

Folder 50-7 contains program materials from the 1986 International Conference of Itinerant Evangelists (also known as Amsterdam 86) which Torrey and Evelyn Johnson attended.

Folder 50-8 contains a biography of Johnson written as a research paper by a Wheaton College graduate student.

Folder 50-9 contains reports and correspondence about the academic program and development of Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. Johnson served on their national advisory board.

Folder 50-10 contains letters about the 1930 laying on of hands on Johnson (to confirm him in ministry), Christmas cards received from members of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and plans for an anniversary celebration of the life of the Palermo brothers.

Folder 50-11 contains theology papers prepared by Johnson and his classmates when he was studying for a Doctorate of Theology degree at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1960

Folder 50-12 contains Johnson’s 1936 thesis on “The Ethics of Paul,” done as part of the requirements for a Bachelor of Theology degree at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary

Folder 50-13 contains reports, minutes, correspondence and other documents from the Ken Campbell Evangelistic Association (also known as the Campbell-Reese Evangelistic Association) and Renaissance International, two related Canadian-based organizations. Johnson served on the board of the organization. The folder includes material on the evangelistic work of Campbell and also of Anita Bryant.

Folder 50-14 contains a list of the first officers and board members of National Religious Broadcasters (NRB)

Folder 50-15 contains Johnson’s 1942 application to become an Chaplain in the United States Naval reserve, with endorsements from a variety of people, including V. Raymond Edman and Vaughn Shoemaker

Folder 50-16 contains a certificate of ordination by the state of Wisconsin, acknowledging that Johnson had filed credentials in the city of Elkhorn, Wisconsin

Folder 51-1 contains various materials from Johnson’s 75+ year involvement with Wheaton College. There is a 1928 Homecoming program, a student newspaper from 1940 about President James Buswell’s resignation, documents relating to the 1945 honorary doctorate Johnson received, program from the 1956 commencement of Johnson’s daughter Ruth, papers on Noah’s flood given at an Evangelical Theological Society meeting held at Wheaton, reports of the College’s Scholastic Honor Society, articles about Johnson which appeared in the alumni magazine, a program from the 1989 commencement at which Johnson received the alumnus of the year award, and brochures about the renovation of Blanchard Hall in the late-1980s and early-1990s.

Folders 51-2 (Willow Valley Manor, Lancaster, Pennsylvania) and 51-3 (Windsor Park Manor, Carol Stream, Illinois) contain materials about two Christian retirement centers, both of which Johnson played a major part in getting started. The files document the history of both centers (Windsor Park was originally called Cambridge Park Manor), their services and development, and have biographical information on Johnson.

Provenance

The tapes in Series I were given to the Billy Graham Center in October and November 1984, and in February 1985. The rest of the material in the collection was received from the Johnson family in 2002 and 2003.

Accession: 84-123, 84-154, 85-17, 85-104, 87-55
August 14, 1985
Frances L. Brocker
J. Nasgowitz

January 22, 1990, revised
J. Nasgowitz
L. Beloz
March 8, 1993, updated Robert Shuster
K. Baisley

Accession: 02-57, 03-33
August 9, 2004
Bob Shuster
J. Aernie
E. Kuehn
T. Thompson

LOCATION RECORD

Accession: 84-123, 84-154, 85-17, 85-104, 02-57

Type of Material: Audio Tapes

The following items are located in the AUDIO TAPE file.

Reel/ Cass

Speed

Length in Minutes

Sides

Contents

Dates

T39	c	--	ca. 60	2	Copy of phonograph records P1-P4	ca. June 1952
T40	r	3.75	170	2	Northern Baptist annual conference on evangelism, held at Northern Baptist Seminary in Illinois. Side 1: (Approximately 90 minutes) Presentations by Torrey Johnson and Kyle Haselden. Johnson spoke on the goal, need for, and dynamics of evangelism. He also reminisced briefly about his time at Northern Baptist Seminary as a student. At the end of the session, the speakers commented on each other’s presentations and on the social responsibilities of the evangelist. They also talked about the Vietnam conflict Side 2: (Approximately 80 minutes) Open forum on the Gospel in the Secular Age from the same conference, with speakers Jitsue Morikawa, W. Alfred Diman, Arthur Farrell, John Kiwiet, Kyle Haselden, and Torrey Johnson. The debate was over the liberal and conservative meaning of evangelism and the mission of the church.	March 1, 1966
T8	r	3.75	100	2	Radio broadcasts of services from Bibletown Community Church of Boca Raton, Florida, where Johnson was pastor. Side 1. (Approximately 80 minutes) Palm Sunday Service (April 15). The sermon is on marriage. Side 2: (approximately 20 minutes) Easter Sunday service. Each side are suffering from bleed through of the audio from the other side.	April 1973
T9	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Getting the Job Done.	February 17, 1974
T10	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: America, Are You Listening?	November 3, 1974
T11	c	--	--	2	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Israel and Egypt in the Word of God.	September 7, 1975
T12	c	--	--	2	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Bodily Sickness and Divine Healing.	October 10, 1975
T13	c	--	--	2	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Why Are Prayers Unanswered?	January 25, 1976
T14	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Bible Teaches About Baptism.	May 23, 1976
T15	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: The Acid Test.	February 24, 1977
T16	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Daniel, The Future.	April 17, 1977
T17	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: 1 Peter Ch. 3.	April 9, 1978
T18	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: I Believe in the Love of God.	September 3, 1978
T19	c	--	--	2	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Missions.	March 3, 1979
T20	c	--	--	2	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: What Saving Faith Includes.	July 8, 1979
T21	c	--	--	2	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: The Scripture the President Did Not Use.	April 20, 1980
T22	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Abortion.	May 18, 1980
T23	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Jesus Is Precious.	August 3, 1980
T24	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: The Joy of the Christian Life.	January 18, 1981
T25	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: A Great Woman.	May 10, 1981
T26	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: A Changing Congregation.	November 22, 1981
T27	c	--	--	2	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: The Bible - God’s Miracle Book.	January 10, 1982
T28	c	--	--	1	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: Peter’s Last Words.	January 24, 1982
T29	c	--	--	2	Service at Bibletown Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida. Sermon by Johnson: The Great Commission.	February 2, 1982
T30</

Billy Graham Center Archives

Papers of Torrey Maynard Johnson - Collection 285

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