Did you know, that in a manner of speaking, the official archives of the Presbyterian Church in America—the PCA Historical Center—began with a devastating fire?!

Let me explain. The PCA Historical Center began its existence in January of 1985. At that time the PCA did not have central offices for its agencies, so the president of Covenant Theological Seminary, Dr. Will Barker, offered to host the newly founded archives. The PCA had just a few years before received another denomination—the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod (RPCES)—and with that merger, Covenant College and Covenant Seminary both became PCA schools. It made sense to put the Historical Center at the Seminary, too, because the RPCES archives were already there.

But back to that fire: The RPCES was itself a merger of two denominations, a merger which took place in April of 1965. One wing of that merger was the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, so named between 1961-1965. Prior to that it had been named the Bible Presbyterian Church, Columbus Synod [1956-1960]. This was the larger portion of a split of the old Bible Presbyterian Church [1938-1955]. The other side of the merger creating the RPCES was the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod [1833-1965]. This group was also one portion of a prior split, the other side being the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. That latter group is still with us, and they are the denomination that operates Geneva College.

“So where’s the fire?”

I’m getting to that (It takes patience to be a Presbyterian!): The General Synod, or “New Light” RP’s were a denomination that began shrinking in numbers during the last part of the 19th-century and the first part of the 20th. At their low point, there were only nine General Synod churches. Then, around the 1940’s and 1950’s, with the addition of some new pastors, they began to plant new churches. By the time of that 1965 merger, there were twenty-eight RP, General Synod churches. One of their oldest churches was located in Duanesburg, New York. It had been founded in 1795 [and still exists today, as a member congregation of the PCA]. The pastor of the Duanesburg church was one of the older RP pastors. It was he who almost single-handedly held the little denomination together in the first half of the 20th-century, serving as Stated Clerk and editor of a small denominational magazine, The Reformed Presbyterian Advocate.

Rev. Chesnut finally retired as pastor in 1942, but he could already see the Lord’s blessing and that the little denomination was actually starting to grow again. That meant it was important that future generations should know their history; they needed to know where they came from as a denomination; they needed to be reminded of the convictions, hopes and prayers of their founding fathers. If these things were preserved, then they would have a guiding standard for the future. And so Rev. Chesnut devoted much of his retirement years to building an archives for the General Synod group. He put out a call to other members of the denomination, soliciting donations of various materials. Notices like this began to appear in their various publications:

We have added some more valuable material to our collection of books and other literature, and added more case room and are now ready to receive antiques or valuable historical matter for the benefit of the coming generation. Have you anything to spare that would soon be lost, or valuable to the church for future reference? It will be in safe keeping for years to come. What we want, may be of no value to you, but very valuable to others in later years.

Slowly the collection began to develop. As added materials arrived, they were carefully stored away at the Duanesburg church by Rev. Chesnut. Then it was all lost in one night, when fire destroyed the church building. Rev. Harry Meiners, pastor of the church at the time of the fire, gave this account:

It was early evening, December 16, 1951. We were just getting our Sabbath evening supper on the table when Miss Bertha Wilber and Miss Charlotte Knowles burst into our front door with the exclamation: “Did you hear the fire siren? Our church is afire!” I believe I made the fastest trip from home to church that I had ever made.
When I arrived the fire was just breaking through the west windows and the firemen were fighting the flames. My first thought was to save something, especially having in mind the Historical Repository. As I opened the front door and tried to go in, the smoke drove me back and made it impossible to go in to get anything. Two other men had previously tried to get in, but were prevented by smoke.
A few minutes later the fire company ran out of water. In the country the trucks carry a tank of water and whenever possible pump water from a well or fire-pond. Neither was available near the church, so after the water supply in the tanks was exhausted there was nothing more that could be done. Firemen, church members, neighbors could only stand helplessly watching it burn. Our church, built in 1837, which we loved so well and had started to redecorate, was burned to the ground. There was nothing left standing but the chimney we had erected a short time ago.
As I left the scene to break the news to Dr. Chesnut, I went with a heavy heart. I was afraid the news would be a very great blow for him. But I was wrong—he encouraged me and immediately began talking about building a new church. His words: “Don’t be discouraged, Mr. Meiners, and tell the people not to be discouraged. With God’s help we can do anything,” are still ringing in my ears.

So, those things that were lost in the Duanesburg fire, had they been saved, would eventually have come to be part of the RPCES archives, and then later, with the Joining and Receiving of the RPCES in 1982, would again have become part of the PCA archives in 1985.

And that’s why I said that, in a manner of speaking, the PCA archives began with a devastating fire. It’s also why I’ve always got my eye out for any materials from the old Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod, things which might be appropriate to preserve at the PCA Historical Center.

Words to Live By:
On December 23, following the fire, Rev. Meiners preached before his congregation from the text of Philippians 1:12—”But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel.” And so he concluded, “This is our prayer, that our calamity will be a means in God’s hands to further the Gospel of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.”

As Christians, we must pray in this way, even though we perhaps only rarely know why the Lord allowed somethings to happen they way they did. As to archival collections, we work to preserve these things for so long as the Lord will allow. They are not forever, but for so long as we have them, they stand as a testimony to how the Lord has been at work among this small portion of His Church. In all things, may God be glorified!

The Duanesburg Reformed Presbyterian Church has been a member of the PCA since the 1982 Joining & Receiving, when the RPCES denomination was received into the PCA.

On December 15, 1866, under the sponsorship of the East Alabama Presbytery, a commission from New Harmony Presbyterian Church near Waverly organized a Presbyterian church in Opelika.  Facing the hardships of Reconstruction, the new church in a town of 500 relied on supply preachers for several years, holding worship services in the Baptist church.  By 1871, the congregation was in a position to call her first pastor, the Rev. Claudius Augustus Baker (brother of the famed Southern evangelist, Rev. Daniel Baker of Georgia).  Rev. Baker’s tenure was blessed by the Lord, and in 1871 the congregation moved to a new location on the corner of Calhoun and Tallapoosa Streets (now Second Ave and North Ninth).  By 1876, membership had increased to 66.  From 1887 until his death in 1893, Rev. Baker also supplied the pulpit of the Auburn Presbyterian Church one Sunday each month.

For more than a century, Presbyterians in Opelika have stood for the foundational Christian tenet that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the very Word of Almighty God, verbally inspired and without error.  Their overarching commitment to evangelical truth stated in the doctrines of the Protestant Reformation compelled two-thirds of the congregation to change its affiliation in 1973 (now the Presbyterian Church in America).  That year, under the leadership of the Rev. John Holmes, the church moved from its downtown location to the present site at India Road. The sanctuary was dedicated in February 1974, and the church was named Trinity Presbyterian Church to underscore the central Christian doctrine of the triune nature of the One True God

Historically, Presbyterians have been known for their scholarship, their desire to grasp theology at its richest levels, and their success in teaching their children and the covenant community in general.  Understanding the importance of education based on the objective truth revealed in the Holy Scriptures, the congregation founded Trinity Christian School in 1978 and Covenant University Fellowship in 1982 at Auburn University (later renamed Reformed University Fellowship).  Located on our 26 acre campus, Trinity Christian School is east Alabama’s only classical Christian academy, ministering to families from Lee, Macon, Russell, and Chambers Counties.  There are approximately forty-seven (47) churches from nineteen (19) denominations represented in the student body.  In 2001, a high school was added, and by God’s grace the school continues to flourish.

Today the Lord continues to bless Trinity and her various ministries.  The congregation founded Trinity Christian School in 1978 and Covenant University Fellowship in 1982 (later renamed Reformed University Fellowship) at Auburn University.  The past decade has seen the addition of a high school ministry and major improvements to the facilities and grounds.  Following a devastating fire in 2013, Trinity consecrated a new sanctuary and church facility in September of 2015.  Trinity remains committed to the central importance of the Word, sacraments, and prayer as God’s primary means to bring us to faith and grow us in grace. We invite you to join us as we worship the living God.

A reflection worth reconsidering, time and again, any day of any month or year.

Making God’s Name Holy —

We begin on this day of December 14, by considering our Confessional Fathers  explanation of the familiar petitions of that which is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. Question? Do you really understand Christian, what you are saying when you utter the Lord’s Prayer during your worship service or during a private moment?

Shorter Catechism answer 101 teaches us that “in the first petition, which is, Hallowed by thy name, we pray that God would enable us, and others, to glorify Him in all that whereby he makes himself known, and that he would dispose all  things to his own glory.”

After drawing near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, indeed as the children of God to our heavenly Father, believing that He is able and ready to help us, we begin with this upward direction of adoration. Hallowed be Your name, we pray.

The word “hallowed” is the same root as “holy,” or “sanctify.”  Set Your Name apart in our hearts, heavenly Father. Enable us to glorify You in creation, in providence, and in redemption. In everything whereby You make Yourself known, may we daily give you all praise and glory. “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (KJV)—so the Psalmist commands in Psalm 96:8, 9. Remember, from that magnificent first catechism answer, this is our chief and main duty in life, to “glorify God.”

Then since He is in control of all things, and nothing occurs outside His powerful sovereignty, we pray that He will by His upholding, directing, and governing all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, dispose everything to His own glory.

Words to live by:  Make it a challenging spiritual exercise to cause the Name of God to be set apart in all that you do in life. Indeed, make it a challenging discovery to find  how God has set apart His own name in His divine actions on this earth. Either spiritual exercise will add to your spiritual growth. Seek to magnify the name of God in a world which doesn’t care to even acknowledge His existence, and watch to see how God will bring opportunities for witness to your unsaved family and friends. Let us set the Lord always before us. Hallowed be Thy Name.

ALEXANDER HENDERSON’S TEXT — GLASGOW, DECEMBER 13, 1638.

The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Psalm 110:1.

Before me lies a manuscript history of the memorable Scottish General Assembly of 1638, open at the sermon which Mr. Alexander Henderson, the moderator, preached from this text at the excommunication and deposition of “the pretended Archbishops and Bishops of this Kingdom.” Behind this Assembly lies the story of the tumults at Edinburgh when King Charles I ordered the introduction of a Romanizing Liturgy; and the renewing of the covenants at Greyfriars, February 28th.

The heart of the sermon of Mr. Henderson is that Christ is he only Lord and Head and King of the Church. The ground of this dominion is the will and word of God declared here and many other places, such as, Dan. 2:44; 7:13; Luke 1:33. God hath given Christ the dignity of sitting at His own right hand. Let us for whom He hath suffered so much but acknowledge His Lordship. And then the beams from the sun of righteousness will give light and heat to our souls in answer to His blessed advocacy. The Church is to seek that form of worship and of government that her Lord hath given her and to rely wholly on Christ’s immediate presence with her.

Christ is to reign at the Father’s right hand until every enemy is made His footstool. In the time to come His great glory and triumph shall be manifest. But today He calls us to maintain His Lordship, especially in His Church. As His faithful bride she is called to a holy jealousy in seeking a worship, a government, and a work that are wholly of His ordering. As in the days following this memorable assembly let us see that at the tent of every captain of the army of Covenanters there is “fleeing” a banner with this inscription:
“FOR CHRIST’S CROWN AND COVENANT.”—W.C. Robinson.

How One Church Came To Be

In August of 1986 a group of families began meeting together in a home; these families were concerned about doctrinal issues in their denomination and in their particular church. They were particularly concerned about the move away from the Bible as the standard for faith and practice. Many churches and individuals known by these families had left their denomination for the Presbyterian Church in America(PCA), which had been formed in 1973 due in part to doctrinal concerns within increasingly liberal presbyterian denominations. At their particular church, a move to the PCA had been considered but was voted against by a narrow margin. These families wanted to start a church that was committed to the authority and infallibility of Scripture, to the Reformed faith and confessions, to missions, and to taking a stand against abortion.

In the Spring of 1987 a Steering Committee was formed and the group became a Mission of North Georgia Presbytery, PCA. The first eight members were received on August 23, 1987. Eight more members were added on December 12, 1987. Initially various men affiliated with Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship (PEF) provided preaching for the mission church. In November 1987 the meeting place was moved to the McDonough Women’s Club in downtown McDonough.

On September 18, 1988 the church voted to become incorporated and to borrow funds to purchase property at the intersection of White Drive and Highway 155 in Stockbridge. The church closed on the property on December 16, 1988. The Rev. Donald J. Musin became the first pastor of The Rock Presbyterian Church in May, 1989. He served as a part-time pastor. Also in 1989 one of the houses on the property was renovated to become the sanctuary.

In November 1989, the congregation moved to the new church building and became a particular church with approximately 35 members. The mission of the church was “to provide and serve the community with a friendly, conservative, evangelical, Bible-centered, Reformed church.”

The founding goals of The Rock were:

1. To be a church where the Bible is preached and taught, and where believers can fellowship, worship, and be built up in the faith.
2. To care for one another, as Christ cared for his church; attempting to integrate each with his gifts and needs to the body, leaving none out.
3. To be fervent in faith that believes everything in Holy Scripture; fervent in prayer, fervent in holiness of life and thought, and fervent in doing all things for the glory of God.
4. To have an outreach ministry to the unsaved, unchurched, sick, shut-in, handicapped, elderly and youth.
5. To encourage the reading, studying and memorizing of God’s Word, the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms for the gathering and perfecting of the saints.
6. To be involved in missions:
7. To give 10% of all offerings to the Mission to the World.
8. To increase to 50% of offerings for all missions.
9. To hold an annual missions conference.
10. To help plant other PCA churches in nearby areas.

In July 1990 the church completed the land purchase and now owned 8.5 acres and the two houses which sat on the property. Remodeling began on the second house for use as a pastor’s office and Sunday School rooms and was completed about March 1991. In the Fall of 1992, Rev. Musin accepted a position as President of the Atlanta School of Biblical Studies. After a pastoral search process of almost one year, The Rock called Rev. Mark Rowden as the first full time pastor of the church in October 1993. From 1994 until 2001, the church continued to meet in the renovated houses. The church became debt free in 1996.

In 2001 the Session approved the building of a new sanctuary. After a year of planning with architects and builders, the church broke ground on its new building in April 2002. By early 2003 the new sanctuary was complete and the church held its building dedication service on January 26, 2003. Also in 2003, the church hired its first music minister, Mr. Terry Himebook, who significantly expanded the music ministry of The Rock. During the summer of 2005 the Session decided to form a vision and strategic planning committee to develop new vision and purpose statements for the church and a plan for implementation over the next five years.

Rev. Mark Rowden served as pastor of The Rock from 1993-2005. In 2006, Grace Community Church, a PCA church in McDonough, GA considered a motion to join The Rock. In May, 2006, the Vision Committee presented the vision, mission, and purpose statements, which were approved and adopted by the Session and the Congregation. In the summer of 2006, Grace Community Church decided to split, with approximately half the members of the church joining The Rock in August, 2006. That joining included some members who were originally members of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, an historic Presbyterian church originating in Atlanta whose heritage and history is now joined with The Rock.

In 2007, the church called Rev. Chad Bailey as its pastor.  Also in 2007, the church completed its vision planning process by approving a strategic plan to guide the church in fulfilling its mission and achieving its vision.

Since 1989 The Rock has stood for Biblical, reformed doctrine and held firmly to the authority and infallibility of Scripture and the truths of the Reformed faith. As we continue our life and ministry together, we hope and pray that we will continue to fulfill the vision of our founders, serving our community with a friendly, evangelical, Bible-centered, Reformed church, even as we seek to:

Magnify the Lord our God
Mature together in Christ
Minister to others in His name
Make Him known at home and abroad
So that in all things Christ might be preeminent.

May it be so, and to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

From the History page of The Rock Presbyterian Church, Stockbridge, Georgia.