athers and Brothers, It has been a profound honor to serve and, while challenging, my time as Moderator really has been rewarding. I should start by saying please don’t worry. I’ve already preached one sermon today and don’t intend to preach another. As a result, my remarks will be brief and mainly revolve around saying “Thank You.” I entered the ministry with a desire to be used by the Lord for His glo- ry and the furtherance of His Kingdom. I have watched great men func- tion in the role of Moderator, including my own father, Phillip Malphrus, with grace and precision, leading in times of both ease and volatility. For many years I sat through presbytery and General Synod meetings, saying nothing, just watching, listening and learning. And the end result is that you all have taught me so much. Both you who have served as moderators and vice moderators, and all of you presbyters. So much so that when I address you as “Fathers and Brothers”, I really do mean it. So again, Thank you. It is my great hope that in my time as Moderator I, too, have offered
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effective leadership and that my time has been productive. I believe it has been. I have spoken with many of you about this experience and I recognize that in some ways my time was not typical. When I took the chair, so to speak, we were still coming out of COVID. I was not able to visit presbyteries as I had hoped. I missed some of the more public side of the Moderator’s roll.
Even so, I believe I was able to do a great deal of work in multiple
areas such as fundraising for our retirement plan, meeting with various boards and agencies, individual church sessions, and even some church plants. I was also honored to work with Erskine as they have brought in a new president, who you will hear from soon and who is great cause for celebration. And, by God’s grace, I believe I was able to help the denomi- nation in other ways, especially through my work on special committees. I believe I was able to help bring some matters to conclusion, and get other matters off on the right foot. tasks was to appoint special committees that are looking at very serious issues like women deacons, presbytery restructuring, judicial cases, and so forth. I greatly appreciate those who took my calls when I was work- ing on appointing those special committees, and I appreciate even more the fact that you will still take my calls. Being Moderator is hard work. Really it is. It requires much time and travel, and even more time these days behind computer monitors in zoom meetings. As I have learned, the greatest advantage of virtual meetings is that you can have them any time at all. Also, the greatest
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By Patrick Malphrus (Please note that the following was written in a format suitable for delivery as a public address, and not necessarily for print.)
disadvantage of virtual meet- ings is that you can have them any time at all. So, for these rea- sons and many more, I am grate- ful and want to say “thank you” to Old Providence ARP Church, the church that actually pays me and gives me the honor to be their pastor. Their patience and support have been invaluable.
As my time as Moderator comes to a close, I’d like to share a few We are in the midst of denomi- national restructuring. We have faced a retirement plan crisis, which is heading toward resolu- tion, but has been quite painful. We face some theological issues, though not anywhere near the magnitude of what other denomi- nations are facing, but even so, if you put all of these things togeth- er you could see how any number of these really could tear us apart. But that’s not happening. In- stead of fracturing, the Lord is using these issues to bring us closer together with better un- derstanding for one another and with, what I believe, is a renewed commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that makes the ARP special. The Lord has preserved us and continues to do so. I’ve also seen the best of the
ARP in my interactions with vari- ous presbyteries, individual con- gregations, with church planters and with our boards and agencies and their directors. Let me just go ahead and take the time right now to admit how ignorant I was when I became moderator. I knew that our boards and agencies existed, but I didn’t really know what they do. But this past year, after attend- ing board and committee meet- ings, and after spending time with
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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