Marriage of Jews by Protestant Minister Stirs Arguments at Harvard

The disclosure that a Jewish couple had been married in Harvard University’s controversial Memorial Church by a Protestant minister with a rabbi present, at the suggestion of University officials, sparked a new debate this week-end over whether the church should be used for services of faiths other than Christian.

The latest formal development in the dispute was a petition submitted Friday by a group of faculty members to Dr. Nathan M. Pusey, Harvard President, asking that he relax the traditional policy of permitting only Christian services. Previously the debate had been confined mainly to stories, editorials and letters in the Harvard Crimson, the undergraduate daily newspaper.

The incident of the Jewish couple, who had sought to be married in the church by a rabbi only, was first reported in an article in the Crimson by William W. Bartley 3rd, a graduate student in philosophy. A University spokesman said subsequently that the couple had not been denied use of the church but rather “encouraged” to have the marriage performed by a Protestant minister with a rabbi present. No names were revealed in the disclosures.

Memorial Church, which commemorates Harvard’s war dead, was dedicated in 1932 after funds were solicited with the understanding that the building would be non-denominational and that it would be administered by a “board of preachers representing as far as possible all the Christian communions included in the undergraduate body.” Leaflets circulated during the dedication period charged the church was “meaningless” because Harvard men of all faiths had died in military duty for the United States.