By Joshua Klatt O
HeriHeritage of Faithtage of Faith
ne of the great privileges we enjoy as ARPs is being a part of a family of churches carrying on a rich and inspir- ing heritage into the present day. This reality came home to me in a profound way this summer when I had the opportunity to visit twenty-four current and former ARP churches in South Carolina and Georgia as well as our denominational college and seminary. Having grown up in the ARP church, I had read about a number of these churches in ARP Magazine or the history books we had in the church library; I had even passed by a couple of them on my way to Bonclarken over the years. Even so, nothing prepared me for the encouragement I received on my vacation from July 26th to August 2nd visiting these sister congregations and attending the Catawba Presbytery Psalm-sing at Bethany. - dent at Erskine where Jamie Williams made time to take me around the college and seminary, and Shirley Adams went over and above the call of duty to help me with research at the McCain Library. Having worked for my college in grad school, I know that summer is an awkward, in-between sort of time for a school, and appreciated that they were so dili- gent in making me feel at home. A similar scenario repeated itself as I worshiped at Hopewell ARP Church and enjoyed fellowship with Rev. Glaser and the congregation at Bethany. People wanted to know who I was and to make sure that I knew that they were glad that I was there. The second thing that impressed me was a strong sense of family connection. I knew very few of the people I would meet ahead of my trip, yet wherever I went, I found that I had a connection with people as we talked about the Bible Songs, pastors and missionaries, and shared institutions like our camps and denominational college. In a world where it is easy to be discouraged by angry rhetoric and disregard for the things of God, it was also refreshing to be able to talk about the Lord and His work with people who share a common love for Him and His word. This family connection was underlined even stronger in the fellowship meal at Bethany and the invitation Mrs. Stewart extended to me to attend Hopewell’s an- nual homecoming. As she reminded me, so many of our country churches have an impact far beyond their numbers and people who cherish their connections there even after many years away. I think a whole book could be written—and probably should be! —on the incredible value of our old, country con-
gregations. As Moderator Rob Patrick remarked in reference to Bethany at the Psalm-sing, “They really are the mother churches, pastors, and missionaries they have produced over the years. Hopewell, SC, has contributed 28 pastors and one full-time missionary to the Kingdom in the course of its 230-year history and daughtered churches in Georgia and Tennessee that still carry its name, in addition to others that have come from its members. White Oak, SC, has never been very large, but it has produced no less than six pastors, three of them from the Patrick family and three from the Vinsons. The little Ebenezer church between Wrens and Louisville, GA, is yet another whose present size belies its contributions for to the ministry, including two who went as missionaries to Texas when our Synod was laboring there from 1859-1908. And, nestled quietly in the cemetery at the Cedar Springs church, I found the grave of the Rev. Thomas Clark—the Clark memorialized in Bonclarken—without whom there might not be an ARP church today. Dr. Clark had initially become
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The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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