Presbyterian Church in America Celebrates Fifty Years in the Tri-Cities of Tennessee
Written by Frank J. Smith |
Saturday, October 21, 2023
In June of this year, the PCA General Assembly celebrated its jubilee. Locally, the half-century milestone was marked by a service conducted on October 13th by Westminster Presbytery, the regional body of ministers and churches. Covering southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee, Westminster Presbytery has long had a reputation for its staunch adherence to the standard Presbyterian doctrinal standards–the Westminster Confession of Faith, Westminster Larger Catechism, and Westminster Shorter Catechism.
A special event was held recently in the Tri-Cities, commemorating the establishment of a group of Presbyterian churches.
Fifty years ago, a new denomination was born, as numerous churches and ministers separated from the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS). Known informally as the Southern Presbyterian Church, the PCUS, by 1973, had become liberal in its theology. Concern over that liberalism prompted about five percent of the mainline denomination to withdraw and to form a new branch of the church, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
The PCA began with 260 congregations and 41,000 members, virtually all of them in the South. Today, it has more than 1900 organized churches and missions and close to 400,000 members, spread throughout the United States and Canada. It is the largest conservative, Bible-believing Presbyterian denomination in the country.
Significantly, the denomination has continued to profess belief in the inerrancy, infallibility, and inspiration of the Bible; the virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary atonement, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ; salvation by faith alone and grace alone; and justification based upon the imputation of Christ’s righteousness alone. The PCA also maintains standard Biblical ethics, as witnessed by its commitment to traditional marriage and to preserving the life of unborn babies.
In June of this year, the PCA General Assembly celebrated its jubilee. Locally, the half-century milestone was marked by a service conducted on October 13th by Westminster Presbytery, the regional body of ministers and churches.
Covering southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee, Westminster Presbytery has long had a reputation for its staunch adherence to the standard Presbyterian doctrinal standards–the Westminster Confession of Faith, Westminster Larger Catechism, and Westminster Shorter Catechism.
The October 13th event was held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Kingsport, Tenn. Several of the founding fathers of the Presbytery spoke. A common theme was the crisis of conscience that each one faced, and the opposition and challenges that resulted from their resolve to separate.
Delivering the keynote address was Rev. Larry Ball, a retired minister who had served for a number of years as the Stated Clerk and who enjoyed a long ministry in Kingsport. Mr. Ball recounted the history of the Presbytery, and also stressed the need to remember God’s acts lest future generations forget.
The other speakers were Rev. Pete Hurst, who in 1974 became the first pastor of the host congregation in Kingsport and also served in Alabama and Virginia; Rev. Sidney Anderson, who became a missionary in Nigeria and the Czech Republic; and Dr. Frank J. Smith, who was a ministerial candidate in 1973 (the first one in the PCA) and whose father was the first Stated Clerk of the Presbytery.
The evening was characterized by joy, reflection, poignancy, and anticipation of what the next fifty years might hold.
The service is available on Westminster Kingsport, the host congregation’s YouTube channel.
Frank J. Smith is Pastor of the Atlanta Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCNA), Atlanta, Georgia.
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Alistair Begg Encouraging a Woman to Attend Her Grandson’s Gay Wedding and to “Bring a Gift”
If the ceremony is not a Christian one, what is it? What are they swearing to and by? If there’s a god involved in any way you’d better be careful what you’re getting yourself into. Now here, if the service is “Christian” it is a shameful presentation of heretical and anti-Christian sentiment performed by some supposed church. And if not ostensibly Christian it is for the purpose of the celebration and approval of an unholy union. The Christian is an accomplice to a fraud.
Heard about Alistair Begg encouraging a woman to attend her grandson’s gay wedding and to, “bring a gift”.
Here’s his reasoning:
“Well, here’s the thing: your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything. And it is a fine line, isn’t it? It really is. And people need to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. But I think we’re going to take that risk.” Begg
So he considers it a better witness to call into question a life of promoting holiness, faith and fidelity than to create the possibility of being perceived as critical or judgemental. He hopes you can catch them off guard.
I understand, Christians hate being perceived as critical or judgemental.
But there are bigger things.
We all understand that the Christian has a deep and pervasive duty to show love, grace and mercy to others. We don’t compromise this principle.
But here, the love of a grandparent is shaped by a truer and deeper love than can be preserved through misdirection. The grandparent does not actually “approve” of the wedding, nor can they. They are bound by Christ in Christian love not only in what they approve – but in what they disapprove.
One of the ways parents and grandparents continue to nurture and witness to their offspring (and yes, morally, grandparents are still “parents” of their grandchildren) even when they are old enough to make their own decisions is through their approval or disapproval. It might have no weight in contemporary culture but God is wiser than the culture. He is faithful to those that are faithful to him.
First, a gay marriage isn’t a “marriage” – it is an anti-marriage, the deep internal meaning of which is rebellion toward God. It is a fist shaken at the heavens with nature bearing witness.
Second, a wedding is a church service (at least a Christian wedding). There are secular weddings and courtroom weddings and these have their place, but if it’s in a church in front of a minister that’s one of ours. And in ours, we are gathering as witnesses before heaven and earth to the goodness and perpetuity of this union.
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Shocked by Surprise
I am shocked at the surprise. Our world is experiencing the fruit of rejecting God and his standard. I hope that the world sees the absolute insanity that this godless worldview produces, and the inconsistency of thought that is required to express outrage at injustice and evil. The God of the Bible loves justice and all that is good, and hates injustice and evil. The Christian is outraged by injustice and has a worldview that affirms this outrage.
An Honest Worldview
In 1882, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “God is dead… And we have killed him.” From this thesis, Nietzsche advocated for a complete rejection of all morality that originated from any outside source, especially from this “dead” God. If God is dead, then to follow his rules is nonsense. If God is dead, then every man can be a god unto himself. Every person must reach within himself alone to order his way, master his will, and pursue his desires as far as possible. The man doesn’t need just will-power, he needs the will-to-power. He must strive to dominate and achieve all. The man who accomplishes this is the Übermensch, the Superman.
Nietzsche’s writings have been around for over 100 years, and although he had a greater influence in Europe, the ideas of Nietzsche have become more and more popular in our “post-God” society. I appreciate that Nietzsche is not afraid to be honest with his worldview. If there is no God, then there is no reason to follow rules set in place by any particular deity. If there is no Lawgiver, then there is no law. And if there is no one to whom we are accountable, then we are free to pursue our own passions without consequence. The moral standard is destroyed, and there is neither good nor evil, right nor wrong.
I respect Nietzsche for taking his worldview to its logical conclusion. Most atheists will deny God and His standards while still trying to enforce a moral code of sorts. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make sense if there is no standard. What is the foundation of morality? Is it society? Is it morally acceptable to kill and rape women if your society says that it is ok? Do individuals set the bedrock for morality? I think that we all know that each individual setting their own moral standards would lead to constant chaos and conflict.. And if each person sets their own moral standard, then how can we speak of injustice? If every man is right, then no one can be wrong. Pedophiles can be praised since they have set their own standard and achieved it. What a terrifying world. And when atheists agree with what I’m saying, they prove that they are not really committed to the “godless” position. Nietzsche was at least honest with his atheism.
This is the mindset that has pervaded the world. “No God = No Standard. Morals are subjective, and truth is fluid. Run after your passions, follow your heart, and live for yourself. There is no eternity, so live for this life now.” Listen to the comedians, the musicians, and the politicians. Watch the movies and the tv shows. What is celebrated? Individualism. Revenge. Misogyny. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. Pride. Lust.
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The Massive Value of Unpaid Work
Written by J.K. Wall |
Friday, April 15, 2022
The most valuable things we do are unpaid. We live in the faith that by devoting ourselves to relationships—with God and with each other—God is using our labor to produce things of inestimable value. When we take a sabbath rest to worship, when we pray, when we take time for devotions and fellowship, that is the most valuable time we spend each day and each week. When parents make regular time for their kids, and grandparents for their grandkids, that is the most productive work they can do.Dan Doriani begins his 2019 book Work with a critical insight: the market economies we live in devalue work that doesn’t pay.
This is why, he says, it’s so hard for stay-at-home mothers, retirees and others to feel their work has significance.
My wife can relate. When I come home she’s eager to hear about my work—even the headaches—because I’m often the first adult she’s talked to all day. She’s worn out by her work—washing clothes, fixing meals, picking up after our kids—and by seeing it undone almost as soon as it’s done.
Stay-at-home moms can find hope in the long-term impact their work has on the hearts and minds of their children, but their surrounding culture—far more interested in material gains and visible progress—won’t do much to nurture that hope.
Our culture regards the material as more significant—in fact, more real—than the non-material. This isn’t a new development. Richard Weaver, in his book Ideas Have Consequences, traced the problem to a philosophical shift in the late Middle Ages, which declared that words and ideas actually did not correspond to universal, transcendent truths.
Over the following centuries, this shift produced a series of other changes that gradually replaced a cultural belief in universals—like God and goodness, beauty and truth, soul and spirit—with a cultural belief only in material things that can be perceived by our senses and sensory tools, like MRI machines. Weaver wrote, “Man created in the divine image, the protagonist of a great drama in which his soul was at stake, was replaced by man the wealth-seeking and -consuming animal.” This second story is still the one our culture tells us every day.
However, there is encouraging progress coming lately from an unlikely source: economists.
Among economists, there is a growing body of work that has shown that individuals who do not usually directly participate in formal labor markets, contribute informal labor by performing household services, volunteering, babysitting, counseling, mentoring and other activities.
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