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May 28: PCUSA/UPCNA Merger (1958)

28 May, 2014 in May 2014 by davidtmyers | No comments

Union of  Presbyterians

Ordinarily when you read of an event which brought together two separate bodies of Presbyterians, you would rejoice over the union.  But when you read of a conservative body of Presbyterians uniting with a liberal body of Presbyterians, one tends to be sad.  And yet the latter is what happened on this day, May 28, 1958 when the United Presbyterians Church of North America united with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The new denomination arising from this union was named the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA).

We have in these historical devotionals spent enough time on the decline of testimony of the historic Christian faith which the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. has had since the early part of the last century. What you may not know is the history and  testimony of the United Presbyterian Church of North America.

It was almost to the day of this union in 1958 that two Scotch-Irish Presbyterians joined together in 1858 to make up the United Presbyterian Church of North America. Those two bodies which made up that union were the Seceders or Associate Presbyterians and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. They had in the old country of Scotland left the Church of Scotland, and then immigrated over to what later became America. The latter Associate Reformed Presbyterians had come from a union of the Associate Presbytery and Reformed Presbytery in Pequea, Pennsylvania, on June 13, 1782 (see historical devotional for that date). The primary strength of membership lay in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.

What is even more important than these facts is to sum up their faith and life.  With their Scotch-Irish roots, they held to the Westminster Confession of Faith and catechisms as their subordinate standards, exclusive psalmody, Sabbatarianism, being a part of the abolitionist movement, and strong Protestantism. While the psalmody was abandoned in 1925, this church still held to a conservative Calvinism.

All this is then perplexing as to why they voted to merge into the liberal Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. almost one hundred years later in 1958.  In less than ten years, the wider body would replace the historic Westminster Standards with the Confession of 1967, relegating the former to a book of confessions.

Words to Live By: All of us need to carefully examine what we will gain and what will be lost in uniting together with others. Our associations matter. Not just who our friends are, but what we read, watch, and listen to, not to mention all the many social, religious and political groupings that we may be involved with, all these things bring influences that affect us far more than we may realize. Which is why prayerful, consistent time in the Word of God is so important, as a anchor against anything that might seek to sway and divert us away from honoring our Lord and Creator in all that we say and do.

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May 26: Witherspoon’s Letter to Washington

26 May, 2014 in May 2014 by davidtmyers | No comments

First General Assembly Writes George Washington

witherspoonJ_03Back on May 21, we wrote about the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church which met in Philadelphia in 1789.  It is interesting that part of their corporate decisions as a church was to send a letter on May 26, 1789 to President George Washington.  Its author of Dr. John Witherspoon, president of the College of New Jersey, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

After referring to President’s Washington military career and his unselfish surrender to the popular will of the people, it reads, “But we desire a presage even more flattering from the piety of your character. Public virtue is the most certain means of public felicity, and religion is the surest basis of virtue.  We therefore esteem it a peculiar happiness to behold in our chief magistrate a steady, uniform, avowed friend of the Christian religion; who has commenced his administration in rational and exalted sentiments of piety, and who in his private conduct adorns the doctrines of the gospel of Christ, and, on the most public and solemn occasions, devoutly acknowledges the government of Divine providence.

WashingtonGeorgeIt goes on to say “the example of distinguished characters will ever possess a powerful and extensive influence on the public mind; and when we see in such a conspicuous station the amiable example of piety to God, of benevolence to men, and of a pure and virtuous patriotism, we naturally hope that it will diffuse its influence, and that, eventually, the most happy consequences will result from it.  To the force of imitation we will  endeavor to add the wholesome instructions of religion.  We shall consider ourselves as doing an acceptable service to God, in our profession, when we contribute to render men sober, honest, and industrious citizens and the obedient subjects of a lawful government.  In these pious labors we hope to imitate the most worthy of our brethren from other Christian denominations, and to be imitated by them; assured that if we can, by mutual and generous emulation, promote truth and virtue, we shall render a great and important service to the republic, shall receive encouragement from every wise and good citizen, and above all, meet the approbation of our Divine Master.

In conclusion, the Assembly said, “we pray Almighty God to have you always in His holy keeping. May He prolong your valuable life, an ornament and a blessing to your country, and at last bestow on you the glorious reward of a faithful servant.”

The teaching and ruling elders of this first general assembly saw in the first president of this country a Christian president. And so they wrote him on this day at the same time the first Federal Congress was meeting.

Also on this date:
26 May 1858 — The United Presbyterian Church of North America(UPCNA) was formed by union of the northern aspect of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church with the Associate Presbyterian Church. Their union was formalized in an assembly held in the Old City Hall in Pittsburgh, 26 May 1858. A century later, the denomination concluded its existence in 1958 when it merged with the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. to form the United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., on 28 May 1958.

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April 28: PCUSA Sues PCofA Over Name

28 April, 2014 in April 2014 by davidtmyers | No comments

You Can’t Say That!

Talk about Goliath against David.  This was the case on this day April 28, 1937 when the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America went to court against the Presbyterian Church of America.  They had been successful in winning the church properties of those ministers who had been suspended from their ranks.  They had been successful in evicting them from the manse or parsonage.  They had been successful in removing their life insurance policies.  Now they wanted their name.

Their argument was simple.  Plans had been under way for some time for a proposed union of the United Presbyterian Church of North America with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.  And one of the names floated for that proposed union was the Presbyterian Church of America.

MudgeLSThe principal witness for the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., was the denomination’s Stated Clerk, Lewis Seymour Mudge. Key to the whole case was the question of similarity of names as the sole basis for the suit against the Presbyterian Church of America.  Attempts by the latter group to show the doctrinal reasons for the new church were then met with objection after objection by the attorney for the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.

Witnesses for the P.C. of A. were a “who’s who” of its early leaders. Ministers Paul Woolley, Edwin Rian, and Charles Woodbridge all testified on April 28 and April 29. Professor John Murray tried to bear witness about the doctrinal differences between the two denominations, but was hindered by objections to his presence on the stand. He left, without testifying.

It took several months before the decision was handed down. But as the historical devotional for February 9, 1939 showed, the decision was made against the Presbyterian Church of America. Moderator R.B. Kuiper called for an earlier than usual General Assembly in that month of February, 1939, and the new name of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church was chosen by the  church.

When the union between the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America and the United Presbyterian Church of North America took place in 1958, their new name was the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA). In God’s providence, this gave the opportunity for the southern Presbyterians who left the Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1973 to choose the name, The Presbyterian Church in America, as their new name during their second General Assembly.

PCofA_4thGA_1938OPC_5th_1939Presbyterian Guardian managing editor Thomas R. Birch remarked at the close of his report in the May 29th, 1937 issue, “And once more . . . Gideon’s band of true Christians, the Presbyterian Church of America, has publicly taken its unflinching stand on the side of historic Presbyterianism and the principles of religious liberty for which the fathers fought and died.” His entire article concerning the injunction can be read online in the May 29, 1937 issue of the Presbyterian Guardian. Yet through further legal appeal, it was not until March 15, 1939 that the denomination officially changed its name to The Orthodox Presbyterian Church.  Mr. Birch wrote again at that time regarding the name change, “What’s In A Name?”, on page 47 of the March 1939 issue of The Presbyterian Guardian.

Words to Live By:  Jesus promised His followers that they would be brought up before the courts for the sake of their profession as Christianity.  This was one such example, and it will not be the last time in the history of the Christian church.  Yet God’s Word is sure.  Remain steadfast to the faith, and God’s reward will be ultimately yours in Christ.

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August 9: Gordon Haddon Clark

9 August, 2013 in August 2013 by archivist | 5 comments

A Christian Philosopher

ClarkGHA Google search on the name of Gordon Haddon Clark will bring up reference after reference  for you to read.  One of them is from the PCA Historical Center, where his manuscript collection is preserved; a biographical sketch is posted there as well.

Gordon Clark had the advantage, after his birth in 1902, of being reared in a Christian home, and indeed being the son of the manse.  His father, the Rev. David Clark, was a graduate of Princeton Seminary in 1887, where he had studied under the great Reformed thinkers of that era.  Not surprisingly then, young Gordon was raised in a home where the Westminster Shorter Catechism was taught.  In addition, with his father’s library at hand, he had the opportunity to read Reformed masters like Calvin, Warfield, and Hodge.  It was a providential training which would bear tremendous fruit in his later pastoral and educational work.

Dr. Clark served as a Professor of Philosophy first at the University of Pennsylvania and then at Wheaton College from 1929–1944.  It was on August 9, 1944 that he was ordained as a teaching elder in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church by the Presbytery of Philadelphia of that denomination.  Unhappily, that ordination was opposed by some in that church until finally Dr. Clark left the OPC to join the United Presbyterian Church of North America.

It was during this same time that Dr. Clark became a faculty member of Butler University, serving as a Philosophy professor from 1945 to 1973.   Many of his best known books were written during this time at Butler University.  Retiring from Butler, Dr. Clark entered a new phase of his ministry in 1974, when he began teaching at Covenant College. He continued teaching there for about ten years, while also finding time to teach at both Sangre de Christo Seminary in Colorado, and Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia.

When the UPCNA joined the Presbyterian Church in the USA in 1958, Dr. Clark and the church he was the pastor of, in Indianapolis, Indiana, affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America, General Synod.  The latter group joined the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and became the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod.  Then in 1982, they joined the Presbyterian Church in America, but Dr. Clark joined with the unaffiliated Covenant Presbytery.  Dr. Clark thus had a remarkable relationship with many of the Reformed Presbyterian denominations in the United States.

He passed on to glory in 1985.

Words to live by:  A strong training at home, as Dr. Clark possessed, especially a training in the Westminster Shorter Catechism in younger years, is the missing note of many a covenant family.  But it is never too late to address that omission.  The pastors and Sessions of our Presbyterian congregations need to place that emphasis in the families of the congregation, even appointing a person, such as a retired teacher, to hear recitations of catechism answers each Lord’s Day.  Or heads of families, joined by their wives, need to train up their children in the Shorter Catechism.  It will be a gift which will never lose its influence for good in their hearts and lives.

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July 1: William Melancthon Glasgow

1 July, 2013 in July 2013 by archivist | No comments

A Great Historian & Biographer

When searching out pre-twentieth century Presbyterian biographies, there are three big names—three primary sources which cannot be overlooked. The unsurpassed efforts of William Buell Sprague would have to be mentioned first. Indeed, Sprague did not limit himself to Presbyterians, but gathered biographical entries covering all the major Protestant denominations and even included Unitarians in his nine volume set, Annals of the American Pulpit. (As a young man, Sprague came under the influence of a Unitarian teacher, but turned to orthodox Trinitarianism while attending Princeton Seminary).

Another resource is that of Alfred Nevin‘s Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., including the Northern and Southern Assemblies. This massive single volume was published in 1884 and tops out at 1229 pages. Where Sprague had solicited entries from pastors across the nation and acknowledges their contributions in each case, Nevin’s work gives the appearance of being his work alone, though it seems doubtful that a work of that extent could have been accomplished by just one man.

glasgowWmMThe third major resource brings us to another great biographer and the focus of our post today. William Melancthon Glasgow was born in Northwood, Logan county, Ohio, on July 1, 1856. If you will remember, this was the original location of Geneva College, and so not surprisingly this was where William received his college education, graduating there in 1880. After a few years of employment in Boston, he then prepared for the ministry at the Allegheny Theological Seminary (now known as the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary).

Glasgow’s first published work, Catalogue of the Alumni of Geneva College, appeared in the same year that he began his Seminary studies (1882). Another work, History of Geneva College followed quickly (1883), and his third book, The Provincial Churches, was published around the time he graduated in 1884. Clearly he was already evidencing his life’s interest in history and biography. I know of no other seminary student who has ever equalled his record of three volumes published while still in seminary.

Glasgow was licensed to preach by the (Reformed Presbyterian) Presbytery of Pittsburgh on April 9, 1884 and later ordained by the Philadelphia Presbytery (also RP) on November 26, 1885. He was installed as the pastor of the RP church in Baltimore, Maryland, and served that church until the early summer of 1889. His second pastorate was in Kansas City, Missouri, 1889-1893 and from that post he next answered a call to serve the RP church in Beaver Falls, Pennysylvania. In 1899, he transferred his credentials into the United Presbyterian Church of North America, in order to take a call to serve the UPCNA church in Wellsville, Ohio, from 1899 until his death in 1909, at the age of 51.

GlasgowRPHistoryRev. Glasgow authored two major works which are of inestimable value. The first of these, History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America, was published in 1888. That volume was republished in 2007 by Reformation Heritage Books. Glasgow’s other major biographical work was his Cyclopedic Manual of the United Presbyterian Church in North America, published in 1903. This work has never been republished, but is available in digital format. Where the former work offered more extensive biographies and histories of R.P. congregations, the latter U.P. work adopts a shorter notation style, similar in format to what is found today in the PCA Yearbook and the OPC Ministerial Register.

Words to Live By:
I’m convinced that the work of Christian biography and history falls very much within the Scriptural mandate to remember the Lord’s works [1 Chron. 16:9; Ps. 26:7; 28:5; 77:11; 78:7; 105:5; etc.] The history of the church is a history of what the Lord has done and is doing on this earth. Thus we can understand it as redemptive history, though clearly it is not authoritative or divinely inspired history, not in the way that Scripture is. We cannot look to church history or Christian biography to determine God’s will, for instance. But we can find profit from these accounts, and certainly these stories can prompt us to praise God.

Psalm 111:2-4 (KJV)
2. The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
3. His work is honourable and glorious; and his righteousness endureth forever.
4. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

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