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January 9: Henry Augustus Boardman

9 January, 2013 in January 2013 by Wayne Sparkman | No comments

A Young Pastor Caught in the Middle

boardman01The Old School/New School division of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.  officially took place in 1837. But the controversy had been roiling along for many years prior, and by the time that  Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia was organized, in 1829, the controversy was really coming to the fore. The first pastor of the church was Thomas A. McAuley, a New School man who managed to steer the new church into the only New School Presbytery within the Synod of Philadelphia, all to the dismay of the Rev. Ashbel Green and the other Old School men in Philadelphia, who had such hopes for the new church.

But Rev. McAuley only stayed for four years before leaving for greener fields (he went on to found Union Theological Seminary in New York). And in God’s providence, Henry Augustus Boardman was graduating from Princeton right about that same time. Boardman had been born in Troy, New York on January 9, 1808, graduated from Yale and then Princeton, but thought he would prefer being the pastor of a rural church. Instead, he was urged to supply the vacant pulpit at Tenth, and despite some misgivings on his part, finally accepted the call to serve there as pastor.

In a published history of Tenth Presbyterian Church, Allen Guelzo tells the story of the challenges that immediately confronted Boardman as he became the new pastor of the church :

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Not that all the qualms in Boardman’s stomach were thereby stilled. There remained the unsettling business of Tenth’s attachment to the New School Second Presbytery. That business was made even more unsettling when on the eve of his ordination and installation the Synod of Philadelphia finally lost its patience with the New Schoolers and ordered the Second Presbytery dissolved. Since this drastic action could not be made final until the General Assembly met the following May, the New Schoolers held onto a brief stay of execution. But that left Boardman in the unhappy predicament of having to seek ordination at the hands of a presbytery that was virtually an outlaw organization; nor could he wait until the following May to see where the chips would fall, since his ordination and installation had been set for November 8, 1833.

Once again, he began to question whether he ought to join a presbytery under such suspicion and when he had such little sympathy with its tenets. “Unquestionably,” wrote Boardman, “it was a controversy which involved both the purity of our faith and the integrity of our ecclesiastical polity. Two incompatible systems of doctrine and two no less irreconcilable theories of ecclesiastical authority and policy” were at stake. In Boardman’s mind, there was no hope of compromise “between those who training had made them decided and earnest Presbyterians and others who had adopted our standards in a loose and general way.” Nor was it, he observed, “a mere war of words, It took hold upon the central truths of the Gospel, such as original sin, the atonement, regeneration and justification.”[1]  Nevertheless, Boardman decided to go ahead with the ordination, a move that was to set a precedent for later pastors of Tenth Church who found themselves with similarly difficult choices. In time, his decision proved wise. Boardman was able to sever Tenth’s connections with the New School Presbytery, and in 1837 the General Assembly removed the thorn of New School Presbyterianism from Boardman’s side by moving to lop all New School Presbyteries off its rolls. Not until 1869 were Old School and New School Presbyterians reunited.

[1] Boardman, Henry A., Two Sermons Preached on the Twenty-fifth and Fortieth Anniversaries of the Author’s Pastorate. Philadelphia: Inquirer Book and Job Print, 1873, p. 31.
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[Excerpted from Making God’s Word Plain: Tenth Presbyterian Church, 150 Years (1829-1979).   Philadelphia, PA: Tenth Presbyterian Church, 1979, pp. 45-46.]


Words to Live By: Scripture does not promise an easy path in life for the Christian. If anything, we are promised conflict (2 Tim. 3:12). But we also have clear promises of God’s wisdom, as well as the charge to be at peace with all men, so far as we are able. (Rom. 12:18). Through diligent study of the Bible, godly counsel, and prayerful trust in God, we can find our way through life’s challenges.

Note: Our Through the Scriptures and Through the Standards sections have now been replaced by RSS feeds which appear at the top of right-hand column, and also at the bottom of each blog age.

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September 10: Rev. Carl McIntire

10 September, 2012 in September 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

Attempt to Bind the Conscience Sadly Successful

I suppose it was a solemn scene in man’s eyes when the Special Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of New Jersey met on September 10, 1935.  But in God’s eyes, surely God’s Spirit was grieved when this judicatory met to bind the conscience of a minister of the Lord Jesus for the sole reason that he had disobeyed a mandate of the General Assembly regarding his membership in an Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions.  And yet that was the censure of this presbytery regarding the pastor of the Collingswood Presbyterian Church, namely, the Rev Carl McIntire.

There had been six charges against this minister.  But aided by his counsel consisting of Hon. James E Bennet and the Rev. H. McAllister Griffiths, Carl McIntire was acquitted of three of them.  They were: rebellion against the brethren in the church in lawful counsels, commands, and correction; conduct unbecoming a minister; and advocating rebellion against the constituted authorities in the church.  In these three, he was declared “Not Guilty.”

However, in three others, he was convicted as guilty.  They were: disapproval, defiance, and acts in contravention of the government and discipline of the church; not being zealous and faithful in maintaining the peace of the church; and violation of his ordination vows.

We have to remind ourselves again that Carl McIntire’s error, as was J. Gresham Machen’s, and others was that they dared to organize an Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions which believed in sending out only Bible-believing missionaries of the cross.  Further, that they dared to obey God rather than man, in disobeying the Mandate of the General Assembly in 1934 to cease their participation in and support for said Independent Board.

But the proverbial die was cast.  Carl McIntire was suspended from the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. until he resigned from that Independent Board and gave evidence of repentance to the Presbytery of New Jersey.  If appeal was made to this ruling, then they would suspend their judgment though they held to their authority to not do so.The appeal of their decision was made on September 19, 1935 to the General Assembly.

It is interesting that one member of the Commission, Hon. Samuel Irebell, disagreed from the judgment, stating that the weight of the evidence presented was on the defendant’s side and not on the Commission’s side.

Words to live by:  What was going on here in the New Jersey Presbytery was occurring all over the land with the members of and supporters for the Independent Board of Presbyterian Foreign Missions.  When one stands up for the Word of God against unbelief, unbelieving man will try to squash your testimony. If he cannot do that, then you may suffer expulsion from the visible church.   But be faithful to God, His Word, the Great Commission, and the Reformed Faith, and He will honor you at the last, if not here, then certainly hereafter in heaven.

Through the Scriptures: 2 Chronicles 33 – 36

Through the Standards: The second petition of the Lord’s Prayer according to the Larger Catechism

WLC 191  — “What do we pray for in the second petition?
A.  In the second petition, (which is, Thy kingdom come,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate: and the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him  for ever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.”

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August 12: Princeton Theological Seminary

12 August, 2012 in August 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:     

Eighteen Twelve was a Very Good Year

It was clear that something had to be done.  Princeton College was not being the source any longer for Presbyterian ministers, and for that matter, any ministers.  The school had turned into a secular school for careers, like law, politics, and education.

The reason for this was varied,  Some saw the problem in the new president, Samuel Stanhope Smith.  It wasn’t that he had no qualifications for the presidency.  He himself was a graduate of the college.  He had started what later became Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.  He had tutored under his father-in-law John Witherspoon as the Vice-President of Princeton, when the latter was unable physically to do it.  So he had all the academic qualifications.

Of more troublesome however were questions about his lack of Calvinistic distinctives.  It seemed that they were in word only as there were suggestions of an emphasis on free will in man plus scientific suggestions in place of supernatural miracles.  Add to that a student rebellion, the trustees were beginning to have questions on his ability to solve these challenges in the right way.

With 400 vacant pulpits in the Presbyterian Church, the sentiment began to build for a separate theological seminary separate from Princeton College as early as 1800.  By 1805 and 1808, each General Assembly was being besieged with calls for more ministers, on the mission field and in the congregations of the land.  An overture to decide what kind of school was sent to the presbyteries.  While hardly overwhelming for any one choice, by 1811, over $14,000 had been raised for the prospective seminary.  Any professor would have to subscribe to the Westminster Standards, and the Form of Government of Presbyterianism.

On August 12, 1812, while the nation was already at war against Great Britain, people packed the town’s Presbyterian Church for the inauguration of Dr. Archibald Alexander as the first professor of Princeton Theological Seminary.   He had been chosen by the General Assembly.  He preached his inaugural sermon for the worshipers, including taking his vows regarding the confessional standards and the Presbyterian form of Government.  The seminary had begun, with three students.  It would soon pick up and begin to send out laborers into the fields, which were white unto harvest.

Words to live by:  Every reader of this historical blog should read the fine summary of Dr. David Calhoun’s two-volume work on Princeton Seminary, published by the Banner of Truth Trust in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  Filled with persons, places, and events from the founding of the school in 1812 to 1929, when it ceased to be a Reformed biblical seminary, this school was the pillar of orthodoxy for the Presbyterian Church.  When we forget the past, we lose hope for the present and the future.  When we study the past, we learn how to live in the present and the future.  You will not be able to put down the two books.  The contributor promises you that!

Faculty of the Princeton Theological Seminary, 1896: G.T. Purves, J.D. Davis, G. Vos, B.B. Warfield, W.B. Greene, Jr., J.H. Dulles, H.W. Smith, F.L. Patton, W.M. Paxton, C. Martin, W.H. Green, J. De Witt.

Through the Scriptures : Jeremiah 24 – 26

Through the Standards: The tenth commandment: sins forbidden

WLC 148 — “What are the sins forbidden in the tenth commandment?
A.  The sins forbidden in the tenth commandment are, discontentment with our own estate; envying and grieving at the good of our neighbor, together with all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.”

WSC 81 — “What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment forbids all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our nature, and all inordinate motions and affections to any thing that is his.”

Image sources : The Church at Home and Abroad, 19.4 (April 1896): 339.

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June 18 : Founding of Covenant Presbytery (PCA)

18 June, 2012 in June 2012 by Wayne Sparkman | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:  

Covenant Presbytery begins in 1973

Covenant Presbytery was one of the original sixteen Presbyteries constituted upon the formation of the Presbyterian Church in America, and it is specifically numbered as the seventh PCA Presbytery.

From the Minutes of the organizational meeting of the Covenant Presbytery (PCA), we read that the meeting was held at the First Presbyterian church of Indianola, Mississippi, at 10 AM on June 18, 1973. The host pastor, the Rev. John W. Stodghill, preached a sermon on John 17:1-26, titled “One in Christ.” Following this, the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was observed, conducted by Rev. Stodghill and assisted by ruling elders of the host church.

It was a humble beginning, with only two teaching elders and seven ruling elders numbered as official participants. Another eleven ruling elders were present as observers from other area churches and an audience of some forty-seven church members also attended. The meeting proceeded with the Rev. Stodghill elected as moderator and the Rev. Robert L. Mabson, pastor of the Eastland Presbyterian church, Memphis, TN, was elected as Clerk.

At this first meeting, the new Presbytery was careful to adopt a resolution stating certain foundational principles and in particular resolving:

  1. That we, the undersigned, do covenant together to form an association to be known as Covenant Presbytery; and,
  2. That this association shall have as its purpose to perpetuate the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as it is proclaimed in the Scriptures and declared in the Westminster Standards; and,
  3. That we, the undersigned, met in Indianola, Mississippi, at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 18, 1973.

An appended document defined the rights of particular churches, with noted attention to insuring the property rights of local congregations.

Also noted among the audience at that organizational meeting of the Covenant Presbytery were two seminary students, Mr. Tom Barnes, approved as temporary student supply for the Itta Bena and Morgan City churches and Mr. Edwin Elliott, approved as temporary student supply for the First Presbyterian church, Water Valley, MS and the Oak Ridge church, also of Water Valley, MS.

From those humble origins, the Covenant Presbytery has grown to now number fifty-three churches, making it one of the largest Presbyteries in the PCA. The Presbytery represents a total membership of nearly 9,000 communicant and non-communicant members.

Words to Live By:
Pray for this Presbytery and for the deliberations at General Assembly, as the Presbytery now comes before the 40th General Assembly this June 19-22, 2012 and seeks, under Overture 42, to incorporate churches from the dissolved Louisiana Presbytery :

OVERTURE 42 from Covenant Presbytery (to MNA)
“Expand Covenant Presbytery Upon Dissolution of Louisiana Presbytery”
Whereas, Louisiana Presbytery has initiated the process of dissolving as a presbytery; and
Whereas, Covenant Presbytery includes all of Arkansas excluding the counties of Miller,
Lafayette, Columbia, and Union, which are currently part of Louisiana Presbytery; and
Whereas, the Joining and Receiving Commission of Louisiana Presbytery has encouraged Covenant Presbytery upon their dissolution to receive these counties; and
Whereas, Covenant Presbytery has expressed a desire to see churches planted throughout Arkansas with a prayerful goal of one day planting a new presbytery in the state; and
Whereas, there are no existing churches or works in these counties;
Therefore, Be It Resolved that Covenant Presbytery respectfully overtures the 40th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America to redraw the boundary of
Covenant Presbytery to include the whole state of Arkansas upon the dissolution of
Louisiana Presbytery.
Adopted by Covenant Presbytery at its stated meeting.

Through the Scriptures: 1 Kings 11 – 13

Through the Standards:  Special and particular uses of the law to saved and unsaved

WCF 19:6
“Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified, or condemned; yet is it of great use to them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life informing them of the will of God, and their duty , it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts, and lives; so as, examining  themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin, together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of His obedience.  It is likewise to use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruption, in that it forbids sin: and the threatenings of it serve to shew what even their sins deserve; and what afflictions, in this life, they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law.  The promises of it, in like manner, shew them God’s approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof: although not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works.  So as, a man’s doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourages to the one and deters from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law; and not under grace.”

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June 2 : Archibald Alexander, First Professor at Princeton Seminary

2 June, 2012 in June 2012 by davidtmyers | 1 comment

 A Professor to Three Students

It has been in operation since 1746.  And the College of New Jersey had provided the church, and especially the Presbyterian Church in the United States many of its pastors and missionaries.  But with the advent of the eighteen hundreds, many of its graduates were preparing for different careers, like law, politics, and education.  Something had to be done to remedy this critical need of 400 empty pulpits in the denomination.

The proverbial ball began rolling when the Rev. Ashbel Green, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, gave a challenging speech before the assembled elders gathered at the May 1805 General Assembly.  In 1808, the Presbyterian of Philadelphia overtured that General Assembly  begin  a theological school.  Four years later, the Assembly voted to establish such a school and to locate it in Princeton, New Jersey. Later in that same Assembly, the elders in a spirit of prayer voted the Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander to be the first professor of Princeton Theological Seminary. The date was June 2, 1812.

Archibald Alexander had been prepared by the Holy Spirit for this important ministry. Blessed with an heritage of Scotch-Irish forefathers, and a father who was a Presbyterian elder, his family first settled in Pennsylvania before relocating to Virginia. Archibald was born in 1772 and by the age of seven, had learned the Shorter Catechism and was moving on to the Larger Catechism. He sat under the celebrated William Graham at Liberty Hall Academy, forerunner of Washington and Lee College. And yet with all of this training, Archibald was still unsaved. It wasn’t until he was sixteen that he was brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. More theological training took place which culminated in his ordination by Hanover Presbytery in Virginia in 1794 as a Presbyterian minister.

From there his ministry activities went from the rural pastorate, to Hampden-Sydney College as president, to a revival preacher in New England, delegate to the General Assembly, minister of a congregation in the large city of Philadelphia, and finally to the first professor of Princeton Seminary, at the age of forty.  At the beginning of this new and challenging ministry, he had three students in 1812.  But the number wouldn’t stay there very long.  Princeton Seminary had begun.

Words to Live By: Everything which occurs in your life is for a purpose, a purpose overseen by a loving Father. When you are enabled to see that biblical truth, your life, and how you view it, takes on a sacred calling. There is a good reason why the Apostle Paul commands us “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (ESV – 1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Through the Scriptures: Proverbs 4 – 7

Through the Standards: The sad possibility of falling but not out of saving grace

W.C.F. 17:3
“Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God’s displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.”

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