August 2014

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August 9: Dr. Samuel Miller

9 August, 2014 in August 2014 by archivist | No comments

The Best Laid Plans of Men

The following is excerpted from The Life of Samuel Miller and provides an interesting glimpse into Dr. Miller’s literary pursuits. He was a most prolific author, despite the unfulfilled plans detailed below. Still, it is interesting to mull over what additional riches might have been left to posterity.


Dr. Samuel MillerFrom the very commencement of his ministry, his life long, Mr. Miller’s mind was teeming with projects of wri­ting and publishing. Perhaps no man of like cultivation and opportunity, breathing too an infected atmosphere, especially after once experiencing the sensations of being “put to press,” has ever escaped this cacoethes scribendi. And the wisdom of such men must be looked for in their not executing, rather than in their not projecting: we must judge the deed instead of the will. About the time which we have now reached in his history, Mr. Miller’s thoughts seem to have been particularly busy with schemes of book-making. Possibly the religious works which he designed were to be a professional balance to his literary under­takings. The following extracts from his note-book exem­plify what we mean :—

‘This day, August 9, 1800, resolved, through divine assist­ance and direction, to keep in view, and as soon as possible to execute, the plan of writing and publishing the following reli­gious works:—

I. A set of Sermons on Regeneration.

II. A volume of Letters to the Young Men of my Charge.

III. A volume of Letters to the Young Women of Do.

IV. Brief View of Scripture Doctrines.

V. Two volumes—Select Sermons.’

A few pages further on, in the same note-book, he writes, ‘For a striking extract for my proposed work on the Lord’s Supper, see &e., &c.’

Not one of these projects was ever fulfilled, unless the second and third, partially, in some of Dr. Miller’s after writings for the young. In fact, the scheming literary brain seldom overtakes one in ten of its avant-couriers. And, in the present instance, a heavier undertaking soon weighed every energy down to a more sober working frame. Then, providential circumstances, rather than mere taste, gave shape and substance to the book-making of many years.

[excerpted from The Life of Samuel Miller]

Words to Live By:
To translate the author’s last statement, above, Dr. Miller was compelled in his writing to address the many issues and problems of the Church in his day. As a true pastor, he could not stand silent, but neither could he afford the leisure of writing out of self-interest.  Beloved, are your plans surrendered to the Lord? Do you realize that not everything you may want to accomplish needs to be accomplished? Do you realize that God may well have greater plans, unforeseen by you, yet plans that will undoubtedly be to His greater glory?

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August 8: Dr. Harold Samuel Laird

8 August, 2014 in August 2014 by archivist | No comments

It has been my experience that there are just a few men who, when spoken of, are remembered with the utmost respect and veneration. Dr. Harold Samuel Laird was one such man. In 1987, Dr. Paul R. Gilchrist, who was at that time serving as the Stated Clerk of the PCA, wrote the following memorial upon the death of the Dr. Laird. Dr. Gilchrist’s final summary comments are particularly in keeping with every estimation that I have heard of Harold Samuel Laird over the years. 

In Memoriam: Harold Samuel Laird

lairdhsby Paul R. Gilchrist.

Dr. Harold S. Laird quietly went home to be with the Lord on August 25 at Quarryville Presbyterian Home, PA, at the age of 96. He was one of those valiant Presbyterians who stood for “the faith once delivered to the saints.” With J. Gresham Machen and others, he was tried by his presbytery in the liberal UPUSA (Northern Presbyterians) for dis­obeying the General Assembly mandate to disband the Independent Board for Pres­byterian Foreign Missions which they had established in 1934 for the proclamation of the Gospel. Dr. Laird also had been a founder of Westminster Theological Seminary in 1929. When the General Assembly of 1936 upheld the convictions of Machen, Laird, and five others, they banded together and formed the Presbyterian Church of America (later renamed the Orthodox Presbyterian Church).

Harold S. Laird was born on August 8, 1891, in New Castle, PA. He studied under the giants of the faith at Princeton Theological Seminary: Robert Dick Wilson, B. B. Warfield, C. W. Hodge, and J. G. Machen. He received the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Wheaton College in 1938. In 1965 he was elected moderator of the 142nd Genera! Synod of the Reformed Pres­byterian Church in North America, General Synod which merged with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church that year to form the RPC,ES (which joined the PCA in 1982).

Harold Samuel LairdDr. Laird was best known as an outstanding preacher of the Gospel, a loving and tender pastor, and a contender for the faith. He was always vitally interested in world missions and the theological education of pastors and missionaries. He served seven churches in the Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia area for 40 years.

It can truly be said of him that he walked with God. All who heard him pray came into the presence of God. His life verse — “Seek first the kingdom of God and His right­eousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33) — was evident through his godly spirit. Through all his tri­als, he ever remained content in the provi­dence of God. To the very end, his cheerful countenance was a blessing and inspiration to all.

We salute this valiant servant for the faith — as he moves from the church militant to the blessedness of the church victorious.

Life Chronology:
8 August 1891 – Birth
1914 – Graduation from Lafayette College, with the B.A. degree
1917 – Graduation from Princeton Theological Seminary
1917-1919 – Pastor of the Arlington Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, Maryland
1919-1924 – Pastor, Henry Memorial Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA
1924-1927 – Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Lewiston, PA
1927-1933 – Pastor, Presbyterian Church of Collingswood, NJ
1933-1936 – Pastor, First & Central Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, DE
1936-1957 – Pastor, Faith Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, DE
Honorably retired
1982 – Ministerial credentials transferred into the PCA
25 August 1987 – deceased. Dr. Laird was a member of the Susquehanna Valley Presbytery (PCA) at the time of his death.
Honors awarded Dr. Laird during his lifetime included:
1938 – Doctor of Divinity degree awarded by Wheaton College
1965 – Moderator of the 142nd General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America

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August 7: The Advisory Convention (August 7-9, 1973)

7 August, 2014 in August 2014 by archivist | No comments

Let Everything Be Done Decently and In Order.

When some 260 churches decided to leave the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (aka, Southern Presbyterian Church), to form the Presbyterian Church in America, that move was not simply formed on a whim or at a moment’s notice. For nearly thirty years, beginning in 1942, efforts by theological conservatives were unrelenting in trying to turn the mother Church back to unswerving orthodoxy.

At last, with the PCUS about to merge with the UPCUSA, it was clear that the time had come to leave. Committees were formed and plans were laid for the establishment of the new denomination. A “Convocation of Sessions” gathered in May of 1973, and this convention in turn authorized the meeting of an “Advisory Convention,” whose purpose was to finalize plans for the meeting of the first General Assembly.

The following letter, under the signature of founding father W. Jack Williamson, explains the process and the thinking behind these plans.

June 15, 1973

Beloved,

We salute you in the precious Name of Jesus Christ and invite you to attend the Advisory Convention for the Continuing Presbyterian Church, Asheville, N. C., August 7-9, 1973.

The Advisory Convention was called by a Convocation of Sessions, assembled in Atlanta, on May 19, 1973. The brethren there officially represented over 260 local congregations and more than 70,000 Southern Presbyterians. In an adopted statement, entitled “The Reaffirmations of 1973,” the Convocation committed itself to the rebirth and continuation of a Presbyterian Church, true to the Scriptures, to the Reformed Faith, and obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.

The Advisory Convention is expected to call for a General Assembly which will formally organize a reborn Presbyterian Church.

It now is clear that a large number of Christians in our Southland sincerely believe that God has called them to form such a continuing church in 1973. They believe that there is an irreconcilable separation between those who hold different idealogies within the Presbyterian Church in the United States. They are convinced that unless two be agreed they cannot walk together. Because God has led them to move, they do so with determination and resolve, but with many tears and profound sorrow for the necessity that is laid upon them.

We honor and respect those who, in good conscience differ with us. We pledge our love as brothers in Christ to all those who know Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, but who in this present situation follow a different course of action. We thus commit ourselves to continued fellowship with all men of good will and like conviction of the truth — all for the Glory of God and the unity of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We enclose an information sheet concerning credentials and registration procedures for the Advisory Convention. If you desire to walk with us into the reborn Church, we invite you to be present.

Please join with us in fervent prayer for the universal Church which consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion and is the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ and the house and family of God.

Yours in His service,

The Organizing Committee for a Continuing Church

W. Jack Williamson  Chairman, Pro Tem

 

AdvisoryConventionLetter1973

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August 6: Rev. Walter S. Scott [1865-1937]

6 August, 2014 in August 2014 by archivist | No comments

The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 and continued on for about ten years. Appearing on the pages of the Presbyterian Survey in 1915, there was this introduction to a brief article on Presbyterian missions to the Mexican people:

“Among the hundreds of thousands of Mexican people who have peacefully invaded our borders, and have come to make their permanent home in our country, there is no more important center than San Antonio. Apart from the thousands who are transiently here for safety and sustenance incident to the military and industrial troubles in the Republic of Mexico, we have a large permanent Mexican population which is steadily growing. Because they speak the Spanish language only, it is impossible to serve them by the ordinary Home Mission forces. A separate force and equipment must be provided, as distinct as if located in a foreign land.

“For ten years we have had at San Antonio a Presbyterian work for the Mexicans. It was established by Rev. Walter S. Scott, and has been served at different times by two Mexican pastors, Rev. Abram Fernandez and Reynaldo Avila. . . .”

scott_walter_1865-1937Walter S. Scott, the first person ordained in Texas as an evangelist of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (aka, Southern Presbyterian) to Mexican Americans, was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, on August 6, 1865, to Walter and Mary (Pirie) Scott. The Scotts had moved from Texas to Mexico during the Civil War and raised their son to be bilingual. The family returned to San Antonio in 1878.

Strongly influenced by the evangelical teaching of Melinda Rankin, who at that time was operating a foreign mission station in Monterrey, Scott decided to seek opportunities to fulfill his childhood ambition of missionary service. Although he never completed a formal theological education, the Presbytery of Western Texas ordained him in 1892 as “an evangelist to the Mexican people” because of the exceptional nature of his ministry and his ability to speak Spanish fluently. Using San Antonio as home base, Scott visited small towns in South Texas, where he held revivals and organized churches. Statistics in 1902 showed eleven churches, eleven Sunday schools, twenty-five elders, and 618 communicants in the region. Five years later there were seventeen churches, nearly 1,000 communicants, and four ordained Mexican-American ministers. In 1908 the Synod of Texas (PCUS) approved the formation of the Texas-Mexican Presbytery, which continued to be that denomination’s focal point of Mexican-American missions, until its dissolution in 1955.

However, Scott’s ministry was not without problems. Personality clashes between him and Robert C. Campbell, a fellow missionary leader, led to repeated financial and jurisdictional problems and did considerable damage to the Texas-Mexican Presbytery after 1908. Scott’s personal life also caused him problems. His marriage in 1889 to Mary Case of San Antonio was unhappy despite the birth of three children. His frequent and lengthy trips to South Texas missions led to a separation in 1911 and a bitter divorce in 1916. During his years in the mission field Scott was based in San Marcos (1892-1904), San Antonio (1905-12), Taylor (1914-20), and Waco (1921-37). He organized churches and Sunday schools in Central Texas until the Great Depression curtailed missionary activities. In 1935 the Advanced Field, a missionary jurisdiction established by Scott in Taylor, was absorbed by the Texas-Mexican Presbytery, and Scott became a member of that body. He retired the same year and died in Temple, Texas, on December 7, 1937. Many Mexican-American congregations trace their origins to Scott and his pioneering ministry.

Words to Live By:
God is not hindered by our sin. He can use us for His glory in spite of our shortcomings and failures. That fact gives us no room to be complacent with sin in our lives, but at the same, when all is said and done, the Lord will accomplish His purposes, for His glory. It was a common saying among the Puritans, “Better to suffer the greatest adversity, than to commit the least sin.” Would that all of us, as God’s people, would live our lives in an exceptional way—exceptional for obedience to His Word and exceptional for holiness, mercy and love.

For Further Study:
The records of the Texas-Mexican Presbytery (PCUS), 1861-1954, as well as a small manuscript collection for Rev. Scott are to be found preserved among the Seminary Archives at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, Texas.

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August 5: Mary Slessor

5 August, 2014 in August 2014 by davidtmyers | No comments

slessorMaryIn these United States, we are accustomed to seeing various historical figures from the early days of our country on our paper currency. From 1997 to 2009, the people of Scotland were used to seeing the picture of a Presbyterian missionary by the name of Mary Slessor on their ten pound bank-note. On one side of the bill, Mary Slessor was seen holding a child and literally surrounded by other children from that nation of Nigeria. On the other side of the legal tender, there was a map of her mission station in what is now eastern Nigeria. It is still legal tender in Scotland, even though her picture on the ten pound note has been replaced by someone else.

Mary Slessor was born into a family of seven children in 1848. Her father, who was an alcoholic, passed away, which left her mother struggling to support the large family. To help out, Mary, at age eleven, worked in the local mill. She is described by Dr. David Calhoun, professor emeritus of Covenant Theological Seminary, as “a tough, street smart girl, with striking blue eyes, red hair, and a flaming temper.” At age fifteen, with just a few short hours of sixty hours a week as a “mill-lassie,” she also taught a Sunday School class in her local Presbyterian church, supported a youth group composed of tough local kids, and became “an angel of mercy in miserable homes” in Dundee, Scotland.

As a result of the influence of her mother, who made available to the family the stories of missionary exploits from the Missionary Record magazine of the United Presbyterian Church, Mary received a call from the Lord to be a missionary in Calabar, Nigeria. Sailing on August 5, 1876 on the SS Ethiopia, she reached her target area.

After centuries of slavery in the area, human life was cheapened, tribes were divided, and the culture, such as it was, perverted. Especially was this so whenever African couples would bring twins into the world. One of the two children was looked upon as a child of the devil, but because no one would identify which one was demoniac, both were killed, or left to die in the jungle. Enter Mary Slessor into this whole scene. She literally rescued hundreds of these castaway children. One could not enter her missionary home without finding a dozen or so children in it.

Further, this missionary lady obviously believed the text of 1 Corinthians 9:22 where Paul writes, “I have become all things to all . . . so that I may be all means save some.” And so this Scot lady became African in all things, in eating their food, in dressing in their clothes, and learning their language. She wanted to become an African to win Africans to Christ!

It wasn’t long before the British government recognized her ability to minister to Africans. She was appointed a vice-consul – the first ever woman to be so appointed in the whole of the British Empire — by the new consul-general of her territory. David Calhoun states that she “could prevent battles, out-shout chiefs, and stop riots merely by walking into the middle of them.”

Weakened by fever throughout her life and service in the country, she finally succumbed on January 13, 1915.

Words to Live By:
Our focus has been on this remarkable servant of Christ, but consider how her mother, in circumstances less than ideal, influenced Mary’s life for the mission field. She did it by subscribing to a mission magazine which was reading material in her home. Other ideas would be the reading of missionary biographies to our children. Having visiting missionaries in your home for rest and recreation on their furlough would be a wonderful help for them and a vital example for your family. And certainly, when your covenant children grow into their teen years, participation on a short-term mission trip might indeed inculcate a mission heart all of their life. But most important, the frequent prayer of Matthew 9:38 ought to be practiced in the home, namely, “beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.:

For Further Study:
There is a chapter on Mary Slessor in the recent work by William W.J. Knox, Lives of Scottish Women: Women and Scottish Society. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006). Other works on her life and ministry include Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneering Missionary, by W.P. Livingstone (1915); The Expendable Mary Slessor, by James Buchan (1980); and Mary Slessor, by E. Robertson (2001).

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