The Religious Education Association is an Association of Professors, Practitioners and Researchers in Religious Education. The Religious Education Association that was founded in 1903 by William Rainey Harper is only half of today’s REA. In 1970 the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education (APRRE) was born from an earlier section of the National Council of Churches. In 2003 REA and APRRE joined to form REA:APPRRE. Though we often call this association “REA,” it is really a synthesis of both earlier bodies.
If you want to know more about the history of REA and APRRE, here are a few resources:
- A brief history of the REA and a set of historical documents celebrating its first 100 years.
- A not-so-brief history of APRRE by Chuck Melchert and Randy Litchfield.
- Our Wikipedia article (which contains links to short biographies of many past leaders)
- Documentation of the reorganization of REA and APRRE into a single organization in 2003.
- The records of REA at Yale University Divinity School Library and its addendum.
- The records of APPRE at Yale University Divinity School Library and its addendum.
- Listing of the past leaders of REA and APRRE.
- An earlier version of this website retired in 2011.