Collection

Moore, John V. Papers

Span Dates: 1964-1976
Bulk Dates:
Volume: 0.23 cubic feet

Description

John V. Moore preached a gospel that reached out to everyone within the communities he served. Moore’s papers reflect his honest, thoughtful viewpoints. These documents contain perhaps the earliest public rethinking on the issue of homosexuality in the Methodist church. This thought process is manifested in the form of three sermons preached at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church. The serrmons get extensive coverage in a number of regional and national newspapers during the first half of 1965. A firestorm of strong opinions on both sides of the issue quickly ensued which a sample can be found here, especially in the correspondence and clipping files. The addresses and papers were created at least a decade later from the 1965 sermons which represent Moore’s evolving thinking on homosexuality for a larger discussion within The United Methodist Church.

Hist/Bio Note

John V. Moore (1919- ), American Minister, was born to Manning Sydney Moore and Winifred Elaine Buxton on September 6, 1919 in Pueblo, Colorado. The Moore family also had three other children, Manning Jr., Louise Elaine, and Robert B. After graduating from Poly High School in 1937, John headed to Stanford where he received a B.A. degree in 1941. From there he headed to Upstate New York to attend Colgate Rochester Divinity School in order to prepare for the ordained ministry within the Baptist Church. Moore decided to spend his middler year at Berkeley Divinity School before returning to Colgate Rochester in order to finish his Masters of Divinity degree by the Spring of 1944. Upon graduation, the local church beckoned to Moore where he served as an associate pastor at the First Baptist Church, Sacramento, California, from 1944 to 1946. The next ministerial stop was the Himrod Avenue Baptist Church in Youngstown, Ohio. John spent almost two years in Youngstown until leaving on the last day of 1948. At this point came a major career shift with Moore becoming a clergy member of the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the Methodist Church. Del Paso Heights Church in suburban Sacramento was his first appointment which lasted till July 1952. The bishop then appointed him to the Hayward Methodist Church until 1958. From Hayward, his next appointment came in the form of the Trinity Methodist Church, Chico. Moore stayed at Trinity until 1962 when he was moved to San Francisco to be the senior minister of Glide Memorial Methodist Church in which this collection reflects. By July 1966, the bishop appointed Moore to the California Aggie Christian Association at the University of California Davis campus, where he served as campus minister until 1972. Moore’s star continued to shine within the California-Nevada Annual Conference when he was named the Bay View District Superintendent for one quadrennium. After spending all of his Methodist career in California, he was then appointed to the Reno First church located in Nevada from 1976 to December 30, 1980. Moore’s final appointment saw him back in California as pastor of First United Methodist Church in Sacramento from 1981 to 1986. After forty-two years of active ministry retirement beckoned and John settled into his new life by July 1, 1986. This, however, did not last long because the annual conference called on himtime and again to serve as the interim pastor for three charges, namely First United Methodist in Modest, Davis United Methodist and Merced United Methodist.

Finding Aid

A finding aid is available online.
https://catalog.gcah.org/publicdata/gcah2772.htm

Location

This collection is located at the United Methodist Archives at Drew University.
https://www.drew.edu/library/special-collections-archives/umahc/

Collection

Moore, John V. Papers

Description

Hist/Bio Note

Finding Aid

Location

Tags