It is increasingly difficult to think of Christmas as remembrance of Jesus’ birth amidst the gifts and other aspects. The day involves fusing the sacred and secular and such efforts immediately or eventually simply do not work out well because Scripture comes in conflict with the world. I think the world has turned Christians from he who was “veiled in flesh, the Godhead see” to a cute baby that is nothing more than that. If we are to continue Christmas, the emphasis should be the supernatural work of God in the incarnation, God and man in two distinct natures and one person.

In the book review that follows, B. B. Warfield summarized the development of Christmas practices over the centuries and their prominence in his day. Even though his concluding comments are forceful, Warfield was not against Christmas as a seasonal celebration but instead thought it was an unnecessary addition to Scripture’s ecclesiastical calendar which cycles every seven days on the first day of the week. I have seen a Christmas card expressing seasonal sentiments of greeting and good will sent by him to his Princeton Seminary colleague J. Gresham Machen. The illustration on the cover is a snow-covered village. He must have accepted Christmas as a seasonal celebration, possibly as a national holiday of good will or a time to remember friends and family. The closing lines of the review show that marketing and gift giving were as common in Warfield’s day as they are now. He compares Christmas to the Roman holiday Saturnalia which is important because it ocurred in December and merged into the flow of practices that developed into Christmas as the ancient church centuries passed to the medieval.
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A Presbyterian missionary to Africa told me several years ago that Africa is large with peoples of many cultures and languages distributed over its varied topography that provides a spectrum of climates from Cape Town to Casablanca to Cairo. Africa is a mission field that is complex with unique challenges. The nearly 800 pages of the book are indicative of the size of the continent and two-hundred years of Presbyterian missions history. The twenty-six authors unite to provide through their varied experiences and scholarship a panorama of Presbyterian history in Africa.

BOOK NOTICE–On January 1, 1824 the Presbytery of Kaffraria was organized the first presbytery in Africa. In celebration of this bicentennial A Survey of Presbyterian Mission History in Africa: Historic Beginnings (c.1790s to c.1930s) is the first of a two-volume set by Barnabas Academic Publishers. Volume two is scheduled for publication in 2024. The editor, J. C. Whytock, has taught church and missions history at colleges and seminaries across Africa more than twenty years and his work includes An Educated Clergy, 2007, as well as contributions to The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization, 2012, and A Companion to The Reformation in Scotland, 2021. The book cover shows a reproduction of a painting by Thomas Baines of the intimidatingly large tree Baobab; it was painted while the artist travelled with Dr. David Livingstone on his Zambesi Expedition in 1858.
Following a forward by Ronald Munyithya, retired church pastor and lecturer in Biblical Studies at Mukhanyo Theological College, the text is divided into four parts including 13, 9, 3, and 7 chapters respectively. The first part considers the historic beginnings and developments in western and southern Africa; the second part addresses the same subjects for western and central Africa; then the third part looks into the Nile corridor in the northeast part of the continent; and the fourth part ponders assorted topical studies. Some of the chapter titles from the four parts are—African Presbyterian Sung Praise–Principles, Early Psalters and Hymnals; Presbyterian Developments in Kenya; History of Presbyterians in Rwanda; Presbyterian Ethiopianism in South Africa and Malawi; Old Princeton Seminary & the Missionary Imperative, which includes an article about Princeton alumni that served in Africa; Jewish and Muslim Missions in Northern Africa; The History of Early Presbyterianism in Sudan; legacies of African American Missionaries of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission; Beginnings of Presbyterian Work in German Kamerun, c.1879–c.1940; and Revival and Exile: The Madeirans, A Story of Influence on the Fringe.
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From the beginning of his New York ministry, Miller was not despised for his youth but instead proved an exemplary colleague. The local Reformed ministry included not only Miller’s pastoral colleagues at Collegiate, but also John M. Mason (Associate Reformed) as well as Reformed Dutch pastors John H. Livingston and William Linn. It was really a golden opportunity for Miller to serve the Lord with such experienced colleagues. He often spoke in other churches and delivered lectures before societies. Miller expressed his opposition to slavery and promoted gradual emancipation when he spoke to his fellow members of the New York Society Promoting the Manumission of Slaves in 1797.

Samuel was born Reformation Day, October 31, 1769, in Dover the eighth of nine children and the fourth son of John and Margaret (Millington) Miller. Margaret was the daughter of an English sea captain who abandoned the uncertainties of sailing the seven seas for living on the good earth as a planter in Maryland. John Miller was minister of the Presbyterian churches in Smyrna and Dover Delaware and the household lived on a hundred-acre farm. During the division of the Presbyterians into Old and New Sides, 1741-1758, he was a member of the Old Side Presbytery of New Castle. The Sides are not the same as the Old and New Schools. The Sides divided over interpretation and application of the Adopting Act of 1729 concerning subscription to the Westminster Confession. An associated issue was itinerant evangelists conducting revival meetings within presbyteries of which they were not members. The Old Side believed in full subscription to the Confession while the New opposed subscription or believed in a greatly limited commitment to its summary of doctrine. The Old Side held to strong church judicatories governed by presbyters that directed their churches with a thorough commitment to the Westminster Standards and presbyterian polity.
Samuel’s early education in preparation for college was with two older brothers under the direction of his father. He then entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1788. The university was during its years before Miller attended influenced by Francis Alison, a leader of Old Side Presbyterians. Mark Noll described Alison as “an Old Side stalwart” (Princeton & the Republic, 40). Alison’s work at the university was influential extending 1752-1779 with his positions including master of the Latin school, rector of the academy, teaching moral philosophy, professor of Greek and Latin, and vice provost. But at the time Miller attended the provost was John Ewing, pastor of First Church, Philadelphia. Ewing was taught in Alison’s New London academy then graduated the College of New Jersey (Princeton, New Side). Had Samuel been encouraged to go to University of Pennsylvania by his father because of its Old Side history during Alison’s years anticipating his continued influence through his students? Possibly, but Ewing’s views were not so rigorous as Alison’s. Young Miller, he was nineteen, graduated with high honors July 31, 1789 after only one year of attendance. As salutatorian he delivered a Latin oration against the lack of concern for educating women in his time. Note that this was the year after the United States Constitution was ratified and he was speaking of equality for women regarding education. Degree in hand, he returned to Dover.
Dover would always be home for Samuel Miller because he enjoyed the family farm and country life. John tutored his brilliant son in theology in preparation for the ministry. Licensure involved a multi-step process. He began trials at Rockawalkin Church in Somerset County, Maryland, April 20, 1791, delivering his doctrinal sermon from 1 Corinthians 15:22—
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
The weighty doctrine of federal headship correlates the fall and sin with its defeat through the perfect righteousness and atoning work of the resurrected Christ. The next step for licensure was in June, followed by further examinations during the fall meeting in October to complete the process. He was tested regarding personal piety, Latin, Greek, rhetoric, logic, natural and moral philosophy, as well as divinity. At the October meeting he delivered what was described as a “popular sermon.” During this same meeting Samuel’s recently deceased father was remembered for his forty-three years of ministry to his congregations and for the presbytery.
The usual procedure for continuing his study of divinity would have been to find a local minister and pick up where his father’s instruction ended, but in November, Miller made his way west to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Carlisle was a community settled and developed by Scotch-Irish Presbyterians; it was a western enclave for Presbyterians who felt disenfranchised by the Eastern elite. He made the move with approval of his presbytery to study with Charles Nisbet (1736-1804), the president of Dickinson College. Nisbet could speak nine languages, was a member of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and a defender of rigorous Calvinism. Nisbet had recommended John Witherspoon for the College of New Jersey Presidency. Miller commented in his biography that in the evenings for two or three hours he would meet in Nisbet’s home to inquire
on whatever subject I might desire information, whether in Theology or Literature, ancient or modern, I had but to propose the topic, and suggest queries, to draw forth everything that I wished. (Life, 1:58; “I” has been substituted for “he”)
Nisbet’s knowledge was encyclopedic. Miller had expected Professor Nisbet to be cold and distant, but instead he found the Scotsman and his family affable and hospitable. Nisbet was as important doctrinally for Miller, other than his father, as was William Graham for his future colleague at Princeton Seminary, Archibald Alexander. When Nisbet died in 1804, the search for a replacement led to Miller, but he turned it down. Miller would publish in 1840, Memoir of the Rev. Charles Nisbet, D.D., but when he was asked to edit Nisbet’s lectures for publication, he turned down the request.
In 1792 Miller was invited to candidate for a church on Long Island, but when he stopped for a visit in New York he was invited to preach in a church. That fall, he was issued a call by a unanimous vote of the Collegiate Presbyterian Church of New York to join ministers John Rodgers and John McKnight.
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In presbytery meetings if someone was needed to finish populating an ordination commission or take a seat on a committee, Scotty was often willing to help. He always had a word of encouragement for other ministers and provided wise assistance to many pastors during his numerous years of ministry. He was a kind and patient man.

When we met I was told that everyone called him Scotty because of his homeland. He looked the part with his thick white hair, matching bushy moustache, glint in his eyes, and ever-present smile. If he had been Irish, I would say he had a leprechaun-like quality about him. During a conversation I made the mistake of calling him Scotch which elicited a polite but emphatic response, “Scotch is a drink; people from Scotland are Scots.” I purposed not ever to make that mistake again. His wife Ruth was always cordial as she showed guests needlework and trinkets from her homeland Sweden scattered throughout their home. I never asked them how a Swede and a Scot managed to get together, but they were a loving couple that were hospitable to all and faithful in ministry together.
One time my wife and I were dinner guests of Scotty and Ruth. As we waited for the meal, I was seated in the living room chatting with Scotty when I viewed his study through a pair of glass doors, so I asked if he would show it to me. Setting in front of his desk was a nice wood book case with glass doors where he shelved his prized antiquarian titles. It was a nicely done piece and it was obviously made by hand. The touch of handicraft was observed in a few smidgens of misalignment and some saw kerfs that had passed their stop marks, but it had a wonderful patina with its surfaces colored by time and touch. Scotty informed me that his father had built the case many years ago in Scotland. When Scotty was a lad and the family finished eating dinner, the table was cleared so his father could turn it into a joiner’s bench for sawing, planing, chiseling, and fitting panels and joints to create furniture for the house, extended family, and selling to others.
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[Paragraph regarding the first Thanksgiving] Our harvest being collected our governor sent four men fowling together so we might rejoice together in a more special way after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. In just one day the hunters killed as much fowl as if their hunting party had been larger. The fowl fed the company almost a week at which time, among other recreations, we drilled with our fire arms. Many of the Indians joined us including Massasoit, the greatest king, and some ninety of his men. We all entertained and feasted together for three days. The Indians went out and killed five deer which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, the captain, and others. 

The letter that follows this introduction was sent by Edward Winslow from Plymouth Plantation to George Morton in December 1621 as part of what came to be published by Morton with other material as A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation Settled at Plimoth in New England, 1622, henceforth abbreviated A Relation. The book is specifically identified as having been published by “G. Mourt” at the end of its “To the Reader” section, thus the true identity of Mr. Mourt has been debated given the difference in spelling between Morton and Mourt. The issues involved in Mourt’s identification are addressed by H. M. Dexter in the edition of A Relation he edited for publication in 1865. The ship carrying Winslow’s work to England was the Fortune which had recently arrived in Plymouth. The letter and other material in A Relation were likely taken to England by Robert Cushman and given to George Morton. It is a wonder that A Relation made it to England because the Fortune was seized by the French as it neared the English coast and robbed of anything valuable, but it was later released after a short time of capture. One particularly valuable and bulky part of the cargo was clapboards hewn from the rich forests of America and there were some casks filled with pricey beaver and other pelts.
Edward Winslow was born in 1595. He married Elizabeth Barker and at the time of their arrival in Plymouth they were guardians for a little girl named Ellen who was the sister of Richard More. The family also had two male servants named George Soule and Elias Story. Winslow was educated in an Anglican school. He was a printing apprentice, however, he did not complete his training before leaving England for Holland to reside with other separatists. He worked in printing in Leyden with fellow separatist William Brewster until they boarded the Mayflower for Plymouth. Elizabeth Winslow died shortly after arrival in Plymouth. Edward then married Susanna White who was a widow and the mother of the first child born in the colony, Peregrine White. Winslow was a governor of Plymouth Colony and highly influential for the success of the community. He died aboard ship near Jamaica in 1655.
George Morton would arrive in Plymouth in July 1623 aboard the Anne with his wife Juliana Carpenter Morton and their five children—Nathaniel, Patience, John, Sarah, and Ephraim. Morton received seven acres in the land division of Plymouth in 1623. But the difficulties of New England life quickly took its toll on Mr. Morton as it did so many other colonists because he died in June 1624.
The letter provides an interesting overview of life for the first year of Plymouth Plantation. Most importantly for this article there is a paragraph about the first Thanksgiving, but do not look for the word because it is not in the letter.
As compared with other early seventeenth-century authors, Edward Winslow is not one of the better writers. The following text has been modernized and the more cumbersome lengthy sentences have been broken into shorter statements. Also, the paragraphing has been modified. In one location an ellipsis, three periods in a row, will be found in the place of about four lines of text which I could not understand sufficiently to compose in a coherent form. There are many ambiguities in Winslow’s text at least partially due to his composing it for a friend whom he assumes knows certain facts, issues, and events which are mysteries to modern readers. In several locations I have turned to paraphrasing and completely rewriting sentences for the sake of clarity. Some archaic terminology has been explained in [ ].
Sources for this introduction include the Plimoth Plantation website and William Bradford’s journal as cited in last years article on Thanksgiving. The edition of A Relation edited by Dexter was located in PDF on Internet Archive; Winslow’s letter is on pages 192-203 of the PDF, which are pages with the dual numbering of 60 & 131 through 142 & 65 of the original book as scanned to PDF (when you see the PDF you should understand what I mean). Note that there have been several editions of A Relation over the years including abridged versions which Dexter mentions in the introduction to his edition, and he has observed that some editions are not very well done.  Dexter includes in his extensive footnotes a list of the passengers who arrived in Plymouth on the Fortune. 
The original Plimoth (Plymouth) Plantation is a living museum which can be visited to experience the world of Winslow and the colonists. The village provides a wonderful experience through its buildings, grounds, and interpreters. At a separate location near Plymouth Rock there is a replica of the Mayflower which may lead visitors to revise their understanding of how large a vessel needs to be before it can be called a ship.
The images of both Edward Winslow and the title page of A Relation were located in The Story of The Pilgrim Fathers 1606-1623 as told by Themselves, their Friends, and their Enemies, which was written by Edward Arber, published in London in 1897, and found in digital form on Internet Archive.
A LETTER SENT FROM
New-England to a friend in these parts [England],
setting forth a briefe and true Declaration
of the worth of that Plantation;
As also certaine useful Directions
for such as intend a Voyage
into those Parts.
——————————-
Loving and old Friend, although I received no letter from you by this ship [Fortune], yet forasmuch as I know, you expect the performance of my promise which was to write unto you truly and faithfully of all things. I have therefore at this time sent unto you accordingly referring you for further satisfaction to our more large relations [the rest of A Relation]. You shall understand that in the short time we few have been here, we have built seven dwelling houses, four buildings for the use of the plantation, and have made preparation for several others. We sowed last spring some twenty acres of Indian corn and some six acres of barley and peas. According to the manner of the Indians, we fertilized our ground with herrings, or rather shads, which we have in great abundance and catch with great ease near our homes. Our corn did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn and our barley was fairly good, but our peas were not worth gathering. We feared that they were sown too late. They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom.
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If ministerial candidates were being taught by some educators that Jesus’ words in John 17:17 were in fact not true, then the future of the denomination as a confessional church faithful to Scripture and the great commission was in question. The concerned Presbyterians made their case through preaching, special informational meetings, and publications increasing their number sufficiently to take action because the divergent views could not continue to coexist in one body. Leaders of the concerned Presbyterians organized the Advisory Convention of the Continuing Presbyterian Church to meet in Asheville, North Carolina, August 7-9, 1973. An important action by the Advisory Convention was calling the first general assembly for the Continuing Presbyterian Church.

This year is the semi-centennial of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Fifty years is a long time with many members having entered the denomination over the years while others alive in 1973 have passed on. To remember the founding, some of the early history of the PCA is provided below. Pictured in the header is a broadside composed in 1973 by Ruling Elder J. Ligon Duncan, Jr. It appears to be a document that was laid out on a table at a gathering so individuals could sign it, but this was not the case. However, before continuing with the story of the broadside, the question of the relationship of the National Presbyterian Church to the PCA must be answered. For several years there were members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) that were increasingly dissatisfied with the position of their denomination regarding the doctrines of Scripture and issues associated with its interpretation and application. Along with this was minimalization or neglect of the teachings of the Westminster Standards subscribed to by all church officers. With reference to Scripture, one signer of the broadside told me that when he confronted one of his professors in a denominational seminary asking him while pointing to a Bible, “Is this the Word of God?,” that after circling around an answer finally said “No.” This was one professor; not all the professors in the seminaries took his position. If ministerial candidates were being taught by some educators that Jesus’ words in John 17:17 were in fact not true, then the future of the denomination as a confessional church faithful to Scripture and the great commission was in question. The concerned Presbyterians made their case through preaching, special informational meetings, and publications increasing their number sufficiently to take action because the divergent views could not continue to coexist in one body. Leaders of the concerned Presbyterians organized the Advisory Convention of the Continuing Presbyterian Church to meet in Asheville, North Carolina, August 7-9, 1973. An important action by the Advisory Convention was calling the first general assembly for the Continuing Presbyterian Church.
It was a cloudy but dry nearly seventy-degree evening when commissioners gathered December 4, 1973 in an earlier sanctuary of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The Advisory Convention had selected Ruling Elder Jack Williamson of First Church, Greenville, Alabama, convener for the meeting. He was an accomplished Christian jurist who ruled well in his church and was an important contributor to the connectional judicatories as well as the continuing church movement. Respect for him yielded election by acclamation to moderate the first assembly. Also elected by acclamation to continue their temporary positions were Teaching Elder Morton H. Smith as stated clerk and Ruling Elder John Spencer as recording clerk. Notice that the assembly elected a ruling elder for moderator with two of the three assembly offices held by ruling elders. It is an acknowledgement of the two office view of church leadership—the elders function in a ruling or teaching capacity and they work together with the diaconate in its mercy ministry. For the most part, at least through the nineteenth century, the history of American Presbyterianism shows that moderators were ministers, as were clerks. For example, minister-educator-founding father John Witherspoon was moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) in 1789, but due to ill health he quickly passed the gavel to John Rodgers; when the Presbyterians in the southern states in 1861 formed the church that would become the PCUS, the minister-educator Benjamin M. Palmer was the moderator. Thus, the new church showed its commitment to rule by elders as Moderator Williamson called the commissioners to order at 7:30. One particularly important item of business was selection of a better name for the church than Continuing Presbyterian Church. Three names proposed were—Presbyterian Church of America (previously used briefly by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church), Presbyterian Church in America, and the name that went on to be selected, National Presbyterian Church. In addition to name selection were decisions concerning the governance and direction of the new church such as presbytery boundaries, general assembly committees, inter-church relations, the adoption of doctrinal standards, the examination of ministers, and supplying insurance for ministers. Also, the broadside was included in the Inter-Church Relations committee report given by its chairman, Teaching Elder G. Aiken Taylor. The draft broadside was adopted with the title “A Message to All the Churches of Jesus Christ.”
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Early in May the Battle of the Coral Sea had taken place, after which the Japanese moved their forces to attack Midway. Included in the massive fleet were four heavy aircraft carriers. It was the second day of battle, June 4, as events unfolded, Iverson and his gunner Private First-Class Wallace Reed climbed aboard their SBD-2 [Scout Bomber Douglas-2] Dauntless dive bomber and joined fifteen other planes to engage the enemy. Iverson selected his target which he described as having “two rising suns on the flight deck—fore and aft” indicating the carrier was the Hiryu…When the weary duo climbed out of the plane Reid surveyed their SBD-2 counting 219 hits from bullets, but only one of the bullets concerned Iverson, the one that passed close enough to cut the cable to his throat microphone.

Shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, Marine 2nd. Lt. Daniel Iverson, Jr., was ordered from San Diego to Hawaii as the machinery of American militarization and manufacturing might were thrown into high gear to defeat Japan. Dan’s stay in Hawaii was brief because early in January he sailed aboard the sea-plane tender U.S.S. Thornton for Midway. Midway is a two-and-a-half square mile atoll located 1,300 miles northwest of Honolulu that provided an airfield and submarine base half-way between San Diego and Japan. It was crucial that Midway be defended successfully to protect Hawaii and prohibit invasion of the United States. As Dan looked out over the waves from the Thornton, little did he or any of his colleagues know what was in store for them on the postage-stamp island named Midway.
Dan’s background was no more unusual than many of the individuals that joined the war effort. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina, November 11, 1916, the son of Daniel and Vivian Fraser (Thorpe) Iverson. His mother was from Savannah and would come to enjoy a long life passing away at 103; his father had recently been installed pastor of St. Matthews Presbyterian Church after supplying its pulpit during his Columbia Seminary studies. He left St. Matthews in 1919, then after two brief calls in North Carolina, the Iversons moved to Miami, Florida, 1926. Dan’s father was the organizing pastor of Shenandoah Presbyterian Church which grew to include numerous families in the congregation that provided many young people for Dan to befriend with his engaging smile. He graduated Miami High School in 1934. Davidson College was the next step for him, and when it was time for his senior photograph for the yearbook in 1938, the staff instead included a picture of him smiling as he casually descended some wooden stairs. The yearbook editors’ caption noted that Dan “quipped with the professors,” “held down a forward position on the basketball team”, and “added a clowning touch” on campus. He returned to Miami to work for Equitable Life Insurance Company but then enlisted to become a Marine pilot in November 1939. Two months earlier Hitler had launched his blitzkrieg of Poland resulting in its occupation, so possibly Dan signed up for service realizing his country was headed for war. He was trained to fly in Pensacola and was given his wings in October 1940.
Once Dan arrived at Midway, he settled in to a pilot’s life logging hours in the air and fulfilling other duties while waiting for something to happen, and it did. Early in May the Battle of the Coral Sea had taken place, after which the Japanese moved their forces to attack Midway. Included in the massive fleet were four heavy aircraft carriers. It was the second day of battle, June 4, as events unfolded, Iverson and his gunner Private First-Class Wallace Reed climbed aboard their SBD-2 [Scout Bomber Douglas-2] Dauntless dive bomber and joined fifteen other planes to engage the enemy. Iverson selected his target which he described as having “two rising suns on the flight deck—fore and aft” indicating the carrier was the Hiryu (Miami News, 7/29/42). He pushed the stick fully forward beginning his steep plunging through heavy anticraft fire while pursued by two Japanese Zeros. At an altitude of 800 feet he released his bomb, but it fell just to the side of the carrier. Pulling out of the dive the two Zeros were still in tow firing at the SBD-2 until Iverson was able to lose them in the clouds. It is remarkable that he and his colleague survived. The Marines did not sink the Hiryu but despite what appears to have been a pointless attack by the Marine flyers, they had caught the enemy by surprise creating confusion that contributed to a break in formation and challenges for the Japanese command. Returning to base were only eight of the sixteen planes that engaged the enemy; five of the planes required considerable repair work. Iverson had to cautiously land his plane on one wheel, with a damaged wing, and without hydraulic controls because the system had been damaged by enemy fire.
When the weary duo climbed out of the plane Reid surveyed their SBD-2 counting 219 hits from bullets, but only one of the bullets concerned Iverson, the one that passed close enough to cut the cable to his throat microphone. He was awarded the Navy Cross and Reid was given the Distinguished Flying Cross. When the Battle of Midway ended on June 6, it had been primarily a naval conflict that inflicted considerable damage against the Japanese forces with four carriers, a heavy cruiser, and more than 320 aircraft destroyed while the United States suffered the loss of a carrier, destroyer, and 150 aircraft. The victory at Midway severely affected Japan’s ability to wage war and is considered the turning point for the Pacific theater of World War 2. Young Iverson now had battle experience under his belt and would go on from Midway to other assignments.
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The new presbytery held its first meeting June 26, 1973 with Rev. Ross Bair moderator and Rev. Donald Esty stated clerk. The churches included: Covenant in Ft. Lauderdale, Coral Springs (Now First Church) in Coral Springs, Spanish River in Boca Raton, Seacrest Boulevard in Delray Beach, Lake Osborne in Lake Worth, Faith Church in Wauchula, and in the Miami area were Granada, Kendall, Trinity, LeJeune, Pinelands, and Shenandoah. The total communicant membership of the presbytery was nearly 6,000 with Granada the largest congregation having 1,413.

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) has its origin predominately in the southern states. You cannot get any farther south than Key West, Florida, but anyone that has driven down the peninsula knows life in the lower state is different from that in the panhandle and the central region. South Florida is a haven for retirees from colder climates as well as a multi-ethnic mix of peoples from Central and South America and the Caribbean islands. Not only does one hear English, but also Spanish, Portuguese, and Creole (language of Haitian immigrants). What is likely not known is the importance of the churches of South Florida Presbytery to the PCA and particularly the influence of one church in Miami.
In September 2019 the building on Southwest 8th Street in Miami, Florida, formerly used by Shenandoah Presbyterian Church, had been sold and was razed to make room for new high rise buildings. The congregation had been organized in 1927 but was dissolved by South Florida Presbytery of the PCA in 1998. Dissolution resulted from difficulty adapting to ministry in the dramatically changed parish because over the years Spanish speakers moved into what became the Calle Ocho community. Shenandoah was organized under the ministry of Rev. Daniel Iverson as Miami was rebuilding following a devastating hurricane in 1926 that killed 372, injured over 6,000, and made portions of the rapidly growing city rubble. Times of death and destruction can be used by the Holy Spirit to show individuals the frailty of life, lead them to question its meaning, and direct them to comprehend the effects of sin and the fall not only in the creation with its whirlwinds but also within themselves.
It was a prime time for Pastor Iverson to begin a congregation in a rented facility that grew to fill in later years the impressive property that was razed (an earlier church burned down). He retired from Shenandoah in 1951 but it appears he continued ministry as a presbytery evangelist.
Shenandoah started mission churches during Iverson’s ministry. He conducted a home Bible Study that seeded First Church, Miami Springs, with him participating in founding LeJeune Presbyterian Church and another church in Alta Vista. He was the organizing pastor of Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church beginning services in a restaurant called the Jamaica Inn with organization taking place June 19, 1955. Daniel Iverson died at the age of 86 on January 3, 1977 in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

The process for founding the PCA’s Gold Coast Presbytery (now South Florida Presbytery) began Sunday, June 3, 1973. In an interview reported the next day in The Miami News article, “Presbyterian Churches Here Vote to Quit,” Pastor Robert Ostenson of Granada Church in Coral Gables said that the first five churches had decided to leave and form a new denomination with his own congregation garnering a unanimous vote of 737 communicant members in attendance. Religion editor Bob Wilcox went on to comment that of particular concern for the departing churches was the “liberal-conservative rift” with the liberals wanting to “temper” the teaching of the Westminster Confession of Faith regarding “the absolute sovereignty of God” and its affirmation of “the infallible word of God.” Up for consideration at the impending General Assembly of the PCUS (the denomination from which the churches were separating) were revisions that would weaken the system of doctrine in the Confession. Note here that events leading to the founding of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1936 had included concerns about revising the Confession by the PCUSA.
As other churches in South Florida voted to leave, the tally was ten by June 5. In December when the National Presbyterian Church (renamed PCA the next year) met for its First General Assembly two other churches had been added with twelve making up what became South Florida Presbytery. The new presbytery held its first meeting June 26, 1973 with Rev. Ross Bair moderator and Rev. Donald Esty stated clerk. The churches included: Covenant in Ft. Lauderdale, Coral Springs (Now First Church) in Coral Springs, Spanish River in Boca Raton, Seacrest Boulevard in Delray Beach, Lake Osborne in Lake Worth, Faith Church in Wauchula, and in the Miami area were Granada, Kendall, Trinity, LeJeune, Pinelands, and Shenandoah. The total communicant membership of the presbytery was nearly 6,000 with Granada the largest congregation having 1,413. Other churches were interested in leaving the PCUS but in some cases could not do so because they had loans from the denomination that would come due if they left.
The Miami Herald, June 23, 1973, provided information about the churches separation from the PCUS in a three part article. The first summarized events thus far and presented the theological and economic aspects of the division. The second section provided four reasons for remaining with the PCUS as expressed by Rev. John Huffman, and the third section stated four reasons for leaving. Representing the argument for leaving was Ruling Elder Kenneth Keyes of Shenandoah Church.
The first reason to leave included theological topics such as ministers being ordained that denied the virgin birth. This theological reason may be familiar for some readers since J. Gresham Machen wrote a book on the virgin birth as he faced similar circumstances with the PCUSA in the 1920s. Another issue addressed by Keyes was ministers holding to universal salvation and denying the necessity of redemption through Christ. He also criticized “Ethical humanism and biblical higher criticism which minimize the authority of the Word of God.”
The second reason was an economic one. Keyes was concerned that if churches wanting to leave the denomination waited too long they might not be able to keep their property because of a proposed merger between the PCUS and the UPCUSA (PCUSA). If this union was accomplished Keyes and others believed church properties would be held by the denomination and not the congregation because it was the policy of the UPCUSA.
Keyes does not mention the spirituality of the church as he expressed the third reason, but it is the appropriate category. He was concerned about “pronouncements and social action [that] presents serious questions of constitutionality.” That is, the work of the church is concerned with spiritual issues, and he was troubled that increasing involvement of the denomination in political and social issues would detract from gospel ministry.
The fourth reason for separation was his belief that educational materials published by the denomination presented nonbiblical concepts on sex, marital fidelity, abortion, divorce, remarriage, and drugs. He believed that “at the grass-roots level” the PCUS was committed to “historic Christianity,” but contended that those in control of the denomination were out of touch with the majority of church members. How often do church members and citizens of nations express concern that their leaders are out of touch with the people? For Elder Keyes, the only alternative was a new church.
In this semi-centennial year of the PCA it is good to remember those who worked to establish a confessional denomination dedicated to the infallible Word and the Great Commission. Of the original churches in South Florida Presbytery, Covenant withdrew from the PCA; Trinity and Shenandoah were dissolved; and LeJeune merged with Granada. The other churches continue in South Florida Presbytery except for Spanish River which is in Palm Beach County within the bounds of Gulfstream Presbytery, organized 2005. Even though Shenandoah Church is gone, the legacy of its leaders like Teaching Elder Daniel Iverson and Ruling Elder Kenneth Keyes continues in the PCA.
Dr. Barry Waugh attends Fellowship PCA in Greer, SC. This article is used with permission.
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When a Christian supports the church, it includes participating in its ministry with time, talents, and skills. A tithe, or even a tithe plus, placed in the plate, bag, or box does not exhaust the meaning of “support.” As the Apostle Paul has said, the church is a body with each member fulfilling a necessary part of its life. So, when one professes faith in Christ or is received by transfer from another church and vows are administered, it is important to realize that supporting the church means being a disciple not only with dollars and cents, but also with time and talents. Vow four is a call to be involved in the work of the church because not only money, but also many hands, make light work of a congregation’s ministry.

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) requires those professing faith in Christ to affirm five vows indicative of their covenant with God and his Church (Book of Church Order 57:5). The vows acknowledge an individual’s sinfulness and need for God’s mercy, trust in the Son of God as savior from sin, purpose to live submitted to the Holy Spirit in obedience, concern to support the work of the church, and willingness to submit to the government of the Church. It may be thought that these vows date from the earliest days of Presbyterianism, but this is not the case. The article that follows provides a history of the development and use of vows in the branch of American Presbyterianism from which the PCA was established and it considers the context and influences creating an environment conducive to their adoption and use.
As Presbyterians increased in number in America and congregations were organized it became necessary to establish in 1706 the first presbytery which was named “The Presbytery.” The Presbytery provided a hub of connection for the many scattered churches so presbyters could deliberate common issues and provide collective leadership for their congregations. Continued growth and additional presbyteries led to formation in 1717 of “The Synod.” Twelve years later, The Synod subscribed to the Westminster Confession of Faith and its associated catechisms, however Westminster’s Directory for the Public Worship of God was not subscribed to, but it was instead recommended for use; it was “unanimously” judged “to be agreeable in substance to the Word of God” and “to all their members, to be by them observed as near as circumstances will allow, and Christian prudence direct” (Klett, 195). Westminster’s Directory did not include vows of membership.
Fast forwarding six decades, American Presbyterians experienced sufficient growth to convene in 1789 the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA). That same year the first edition of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church was published containing the Westminster Confession and catechisms, Form of the Government and Discipline, Forms of Process, and Directory for the Worship of God. The Directory published by the PCUSA is different from the directory composed by the Westminster Assembly, but the influence of Westminster can be seen in the organization, topics, and some portions of the text. The PCUSA Directory is more concise than Westminster’s, it includes paragraph enumeration, and it added a chapter on the singing of Psalms along with other changes. The following is the entire text of the 1789 chapter titled, “Of the Admission of Persons to Sealing-Ordinances,” which for twenty-first century readers means admission into communicant or church membership.
Sect. I. CHILDREN, born within the pale of the visible Church, and dedicated to God in baptism, are under the inspection and government of the Church; and are to be taught to read, and repeat the Catechism, the Apostles Creed, and the Lord’s prayer. They are to be taught to pray, to abhor sin, to fear God, and to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. And, when they come to years of discretion, if they be free from scandal, appear sober and steady, and to have sufficient knowledge to discern the Lord’s body, they ought to be informed, it is their duty, and their privilege, to come to the Lord’s Supper.
Sect. II. The years of discretion, in young Christians, cannot be precisely fixed. This must be left to the prudence of the Eldership. The officers of the church are the Judges of the qualifications of those to be admitted to sealing ordinances; and of the time when it is proper to admit young Christians to them.
Sect. III. Those, who are to be admitted to sealing ordinances, shall be examined, as to their knowledge and piety.
Sect. IV. When unbaptized persons apply for admission into the church, they shall, in ordinary cases, after giving satisfaction with respect to their knowledge and piety, make a public profession of their faith, in the presence of the congregation; and thereupon be baptized.
There is a distinction between admitting covenant children into communicant membership and admitting “unbaptized persons.” Presbyterians emphasized the responsibility of children to come to terms with their covenant baptism and grow in knowledge of the Lord sufficiently, as Section I expressed it quoting Scripture, “to discern the Lord’s body” (1 Cor. 11:29). The terminology used is that of the covenant child’s duty and responsibility to partake of the Lord’s body and blood in faith. That is to say, is the baptized child going to continue in the covenant, or is he or she going to become a covenant breaker. The “Eldership” determined the admissibility of the baptized to the Lord’s Supper, apparently without them coming before the congregation, but the unbaptized were to make their profession of faith before the congregation and then be baptized. No vows for becoming a communicant member of the church are included in the Directory for Worship in 1789.
Nearly fifty years later, 1837, there was a major division of Presbyterians resulting in two Presbyterian Churches that were known popularly as the Old and New Schools. The Old School-New School division is important for the founding of the PCA because at the time of the division, the Presbyterians in the South were predominately Old School. An edition of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church published just before the division, 1834, provided instruction concerning church membership but like the 1789 edition, it did not have membership vows.
In 1861, there was another division of Presbyterians as a result of the Civil War. The Old School churches in the Union through the Gardiner Spring Resolutions required allegiance of the PCUSA churches to the Union and their continued work to preserve the Union. This, the churches in the Confederacy could not do, so the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America (PCCSA) was formed. About half-way through the war, the PCCSA united with the southern New School Presbyterians to become one general assembly. Shortly thereafter a committee was appointed to revise the Old School Directory for Worship. The war ended in 1865 with the committee having not reported regarding the progress of their work. The PCCSA changed its name to the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS). Attempts to revise the Directory continued sporadically until 1879 when a new committee was appointed for the work. Despite good intentions, it took fourteen years to complete and adopt the finished Directory. The next year, 1894, the first edition of the Directory with membership vows was published, but it included only four of the five vows that would come to be used by the PCA.
The vow missing is the one regarding support of the church’s ministry and work, which reads, “Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?” It was added to the PCUS Directory during an extensive revision of the Book of Church Order that was published in the edition of 1929, however, it was not added as the last vow but rather the fourth resulting in the relocation of the previous fourth to the fifth position. After thirty-five years, since the 1894 edition, the PCUS found it necessary to include a vow regarding church members supporting the ministry of the church, which raises the question, what prompted the revision?
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Owning Scripture was not only pricey but possession could lead to imprisonment or execution. Fourteenth-century forerunners of the Reformation such as John Wycliffe of England and one of his followers in Bohemia, Jan Hus, were persecuted for providing Bibles in the common language of their people. In the case of Hus, translation work contributed to the heresy case against him resulting in his execution at the stake. In the next century, William Tyndale was hunted down wherever he set up his printing press as he moved from place to place to clandestinely provide Scripture in English. He was eventually caught, strangled, and burned at the stake for publishing the Word in the vernacular.

The Latin sola Scriptura means “Scripture alone,” which is the cornerstone sola because understanding the meaning of “Christ alone,” “Grace alone,” “faith alone,” and “to God’s glory alone” requires harvesting information from Scripture alone. Some of the key personalities of church history such as Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox were all influenced first and foremost by Scripture as it revealed justification by faith. For Augustine, it was Romans that confronted him with his promiscuous and sinful life; for Luther, the understanding of the meaning of faith was brought to light using Galatians and Romans; for Calvin, the Psalms were essential because they provide “an anatomy of all the parts of the soul;” and for Knox it is believed his key passage was the Lord’s High Priestly Prayer in John 17. As these reformers read the Word, the Holy Spirit illumined their understanding of its message of grace and justification so they could embrace the gospel and grow in sanctification. Sola Scriptura requires acceptance of the Bible as God’s revealed will through, as the Westminster Confession 1:6 would say in a century, “the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word.”
In the nineteen seventies All in the Family was a popular television situation comedy. Inevitably at some point during each episode politically conservative Archie would become involved in an argument with his politically liberal son-in-law, Michael. In one program the two were wrangling over a theological issue when nebulously Christian Archie looked to the top of the television for the Bible, but it was not there. He asked his infinitely patient but shrill voiced wife Edith where she put the Bible. She informed him that it had been moved to the top of the refrigerator. Location of the Bible on top of these important home devices may have been intended to show that the Word held some relative importance, but it instead shows that even though nearly every household in the United States had at least one Bible at the time, they were items of decoration more than books to be read.
The common availability of Bibles currently would have been appreciated at the time of the Reformation because Bibles and books in general were scarce. The movable type printing press had been available for less than a century, so publishing was expensive and purchasing a New Testament or whole Bible was a pricey undertaking. Some historians estimate that a tradesman in England in the sixteenth century might have to spend a month’s wages for a New Testament.
Owning Scripture was not only pricey but possession could lead to imprisonment or execution. Fourteenth-century forerunners of the Reformation such as John Wycliffe of England and one of his followers in Bohemia, Jan Hus, were persecuted for providing Bibles in the common language of their people. In the case of Hus, translation work contributed to the heresy case against him resulting in his execution at the stake. In the next century, William Tyndale was hunted down wherever he set up his printing press as he moved from place to place to clandestinely provide Scripture in English. He was eventually caught, strangled, and burned at the stake for publishing the Word in the vernacular. Lives were sacrificed for the translation and distribution of Scripture. If Wycliffe, Hus, and Tyndale could return to visit their homelands today they would likely be encouraged by the availability of the Word, especially with digital Bibles accessible on a variety of devices, but they would also be discouraged by the common indifference to and ignorance of Scripture.
This Reformation Day would be a good time to establish a plan for reading Scripture. The Bible can be read in a year and there are reading schedules available for such a method, but maybe it would be better to read it through in two to allow for better understanding. The book of Proverbs lends itself to daily reading with its thirty-one chapters working out to one a day for a thirty-one-day month; some individuals read Proverbs every month in addition to their other daily Bible passages. However, familiarity with Proverbs may lead to friends avoiding you because every time something proverbial happens you say a verse or two of Solomonic wisdom addressing the situation. Generally, it is better to read the books consecutively and many of the books in the Bible are not only consecutive but chronological, however Acts may make more sense when it is preceded by the reading of Luke. Luke and Acts are a set that tell the history of Jesus and the post-ascension Apostolic ministries.
Avoid what R.C. Sproul described in his book, Knowing Scripture, as “lucky dipping,” which involves closing your eyes, flipping the Bible open randomly, planting your finger on a page, and then opening your eyes to read the verse touched. Scripture is not a pious Ouija Board for guidance mysteriously directed by the Holy Spirit. Some would say that lucky dipping provides God’s special message for the day, or a revelation of the Divine will for a particular problem, but most likely many dips would be required to get a message that made any sense and its interpretation would be subjective and forced. Systematic Bible reading provides the opportunity for the Spirit to speak through the passages read daily while prayer for guidance can address the particular concerns you have at the moment.
Commentaries and study guides have their place and can be very helpful for understanding Scripture, after all, the Ethiopian eunuch needed Philip as his commentator-preacher to explain Christ from Isaiah 53:7, but unless you are well disciplined with a good chunk of time for your study, simply read God’s Word. As you become more familiar with the Bible, you can study it better after accumulating data from your reading.
One of the reasons Catholicism has kept the Bible in Latin for centuries is because its leadership believes Scripture is too difficult for the average person to understand and interpretation is required. Reading Scripture can be intimidating especially as one ventures through genealogies, Levitical law, and the challenges of prophetic imagery, but remember the Word is God’s revelation, not his concealment. The vast majority of Scripture is plainly understandable; the theological term is the perspicuity of Scripture—Scripture is clear, lucid.
If you are just beginning your Bible reading program and do not know where to start, then begin with the Gospels. For brevity start with Mark; for beauty and detail read Luke; for the particularly Jewish aspects such as fulfillment of prophecy read Matthew; and for detailed information about the passion of Christ read John. However, any of the gospels is straight forward in its message, after all they are the good news and clear language facilitates conveying the Gospel message.
Read to see the forest, not the trees. Do not get bogged down with, “Why did he say that?” or “How much value in dollars is a drachma?” or “Why are Paul’s sentences so long?” Read the passage through and write your questions in the margins of your Bible—some Bibles have enlarged margins and digital ones have note recording features—when your read the passage months or years down the road your accumulated data from the intervening time of Bible reading could provide the answer to your earlier inquiry. When you can answer your own questions after further reading, it shows that you are learning the Word. Remember too that repetition is the mother of memory, so the continued practice of reading the Bible through contributes to better understanding.
The Bible should not be taken for granted, nor should it be left on the television for the appearance of piety, nor on top of the refrigerator for storage. Over the years many have suffered and died to provide the Scripture to successive generations. The Bible is God’s revealed written will and it is necessary for knowledge of Him and understanding His expectations for His people. The Bible not only teaches all that is needed for knowing, glorifying, and enjoying God, but it also testifies to itself—“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105); “Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth” (John 17:17); “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8); and “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).
Dr. Barry Waugh attends Fellowhip PCA in Greer, SC.
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