In Testimony to The Rev. Dr. Edwin Powers Elliott, Jr. 18 June 1947 – 11 October 2009

The beloved publisher of the Christian Observer, Edwin Powers Elliott, Jr., 62, entered into the presence of our Lord and Savior on 11 October 2009, after suffering a massive heart attack at approximately 11:00 p.m. on 9 October 2009. For Edwin’s family and the scores of people around the world whose lives were blessed by Edwin in so many ways, the sense of temporal loss and our grief are deep and real, but the joy of Edwin’s and our hope in salvation in Jesus Christ alone has sustained us through the past several weeks, and will motivate us to continue in service to God, as Edwin so faithfully taught us from Scripture to do, until we too join Edwin in the presence of Jesus Christ in Heaven, or until the triumphant return to earth of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

2 Co 5:8 – “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

Edwin Powers Elliott, Jr., was born in Richmond, Virginia, on 18 June 1947 to the Rev. Edwin Powers Elliott, Sr. (d. 1998), and Mrs. Ellen Lee Bridewell Elliott, who resides with Edwin’s brother Francis and family.  Edwin Elliott, Sr. was the pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Charles City County, Virginia, until 1951, the year younger brother Francis was born, and the family of four moved to Central City, Kentucky.  In 1954, the Rev. Edwin Elliott, Sr., moved the family to a new pastorate in Utica, New York; in 1957 to another pastorate in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; and in 1962 to Manassas, Virginia, and Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCM).

Edwin Elliott, Jr., graduated in 1965 from Osbourn Senior High School in Manassas, Virginia, then entered Their Majesties’ Royal College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he graduated in 1969 with a B.A. in History.  While attending the College of William and Mary, Edwin met fellow student Anne B. Brisebois, and they were married on 17 August 1968.  Edwin and Anne are blessed with three daughters, Laura, born 1976; Rebecca, born 1978; and Elizabeth, born 1983. Edwin’s life too, was greatly blessed by the friendship and love of brother Francis, Francis’ wife Grace, and nephews Benjamin, Adam, James, and Lee.

Edwin’s proclamation and practice of the biblical model of a husband and father were and will continue to be a great blessing to Anne, to Anne and Edwin’s daughters, to Anne’s mother Mrs. Lucy Brisebois who lived with Anne and Edwin, and to those of us who learned from Edwin much about what it is to be a Christ-like husband and father.

After graduation, Edwin taught middle school history and English block for two years at Parkside Middle School in Manassas. Edwin and Anne moved to Mississippi in 1971 when Edwin entered Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, graduating with the M.Div. degree in 1974.  Edwin was one of the first ordinands in the Covenant Presbytery of the then-new (1973) Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and pastored the Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church in Water Valley, Mississippi, until 1978, when the Elliotts moved back to Manassas, Virginia.

In the same year, Edwin founded the Reformation Educational Foundation (REF). REF provided publishing services for a large number of denominational, conservative, and non-profit groups including the Alliance of Loyal Laity of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Episcopal Church, and a number of pro-life organizations, as well as America Today.  Edwin holds an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Covenanter College that he received in 1992, and an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Whitefield Theological Seminary.

Edwin assumed leadership of the Christian Observer (CO) in 1987, and published the CO as a printed magazine through July of 2007. In the formative stages of the commercial Internet in the early 1990’s, Edwin and the Rev. Chuck Baynard of Clover, South Carolina, pioneered new Internet ministry resources by establishing several dozen electronic mail lists to facilitate communication between like-minded individuals in the many worldwide Presbyterian and Reformed (P&R) denominations, and between people in the various denominations in areas of common interest.  Edwin founded Presbyterians Week in the mid-1990’s to provide via email to the worldwide P&R community a weekly summary of news affecting Christ’s church in general and the P&R community in particular. In the months leading up to Reformation Day, 31 October 2008, Edwin’s advice and vision led to the CO’s rebirth as an Internet publication.

Edwin Elliott, Jr. was installed as Assistant Minister of RPCM on 12 December 1978, taking over as Principal Minister upon the death of his father Edwin Elliott, Sr., in 1998. The large tablets of the Ten Commandments were installed in the church in 1995.  The tablets are based upon the tablets required in Virginia churches at the time of the then-British colony’s founding, and are modeled upon similar tablets in Bethany Presbyterian Church.

RPCM member Pete Kelly described what “comes close to being the core meaning of Edwin’s public life” as follows:

[Edwin] created the Constitutional Presbyterian movement out of virtually nothing but historical memory. This is an institutional term to describe an insight that also affected everything he did, from his own discipleship to his instruction of the congregation.  On the ground level, he taught that the Word of God is the primary and ordinary means by which God does His work, and that we should therefore use it in all of our handling of His business, including not just government and ministry of the church but also our own inward life.

Edwin Elliott, Jr., and the Hungarian Reformed Church

Karl Ludwig, Bishop of the Calvin Synod describes Edwin’s association with the Hungarians as follows:

I first met [Dr. Edwin Elliott] in 1996, when he came to our Annual Meeting in Ligonier, [Pennsylvania].

He had “found” Calvin Synod by doing research, and liked what he saw. His affinity to Calvin Synod had to do with our confessions, and the fact that we had not changed them or “watered them down” over the years; they were staunchly Reformed and Calvinistic, as was he. On more than one occasion he stated that our church body kept the purest form of Calvinism, we had not acculturated and he appreciated that very much.

He also liked our ministers, most of whom had their theological training in Europe, originally in one of the Reformed seminaries in Hungary (or the territories granted to Czechoslovakia or Romania following the first world war). A number of them then did graduate study in Reformed schools in Europe, and some in the United States. Your father found persons he could speak with about theology in a “higher level” than is common here.

Dr. Elliott joined us in our meetings, shared excellent insight on many occasions, and in 2000 asked to be granted “Standing” in our Synod. Up until this time this had not been done (to my knowledge), granting “Standing” to a person who did not accept a “Call” from a Calvin Synod congregation. Even more exceptional was the fact that he was not fluent in Hungarian – in the 1990’s we were still requiring ALL of our ministers to be fully bi-lingual! He was granted “Standing” on May 25, 2000 by the Delegates to the Annual Meeting.

He was soon voted to be on the “Church and Ministry” committee, which examines prospective ministers, and was re-elected, still serving at the time of his passing.

Dr. Elliott provided our congregations with copies of the Christian Observer, and often featured articles about Hungarian Reformed congregations in Transylvania (Romania), with the cover picture being a Transylvanian church setting. In 2004 he was elected English language Editor of the Calvin Synod Herald, the oldest Hungarian-language paper in the United States. His work was exceptional and much appreciated. During his time he led us into the Internet age, and we now have a fully-functioning web site, monthly bulletin inserts, “instant” news releases, discussion sites for theology, etc.

Dr. Elliott was a person who, though very grounded in his beliefs, mirrored Christ’s life in that he never condemned those of differing views, cultures, feelings, even those who made serious errors, but worked to lead others to Christ in a loving way.

In the 1980’s, after the fall of communism in Romania, Edwin worked with the Rev. Bernie Woudenberg and the Rev. Joe Posta to establish the Transylvania Reformed Assistance Committee (TRAC) to provide support  to the widows and orphans of Hungarian Reformed ministers who served during communist times, which was accomplished by providing financial support and by having Hungarian Reformed ministry students visit the houses of the widows and orphans to provide them whatever assistance they needed.  Edwin described the student service work as the first change to the Hungarian Reformed ministerial curriculum since the Reformation. In 1998, TRAC provided flood relief to Ukraine and Romania. Beginning in 1999, TRAC began having ministerial students supply pulpits in the hill churches (Hungarian Reformed diaspora), and conducting worship services with the homeless.

Edwin mentored and encouraged Istvan Komjathy MD, Medical Missionary to Beregszasz in the Transcarpathia Oblast in Ukraine, less than three miles east of the Hungarian border, who recently wrote that Edwin helped to arrange his medical ministry in Ukraine, and that Edwin had recently sent him the maxim, “A church without missions is not only dead, it is waiting for the grave diggers,” a copy of which Dr. Komjathy, as a continual reminder, has taped to his cell phone and to his wallet.

In Edwin’s honor, Dr. Komjathy has renamed the charitable part of his mission the Dr. Edwin Elliott Memorial Fund, and asks that future donations to his missions work be made to this fund. Dr. Komjathy is currently raising funds for a CT Scanner for the hospital in Beregszasz, which Dr. Komjathy describes as being fifty years behind the times in terms of its medical equipment.  Contributions toward the CT Scanner can be sent to the Dr. Edwin Elliott Memorial Fund in care of the 1st Hungarian Reformed Church, 221 Johnston Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15207, and the doctor asks that “CT Scanner for Beregszasz” be written in the memo field of the check. Dr. Komjathy additionally wrote “Isten veled, kedves szolgatársunk!  Viszontlátásra,” Being translated, “God be with you, dear fellow servant, until we meet again!”

The Bethlen Communities of Ligonier, Pennsylvania, was another part of the Hungarian Reformed community in the U.S. that benefitted from Edwin’s compassion and concern.  Bethlen director the Rev. Imre A. Bertalan wrote of Edwin:

Edwin’s presence will be missed at Central Classis, Calvin Synod and American Hungarian Ministerial Association meetings.  His excellent sermons, astute comments and his unique persona will be remembered, his many contributions to our Hungarian American Christian community will be cherished.  God blessed us richly during the many years Edwin was a member of our fellowship.

Dr. Elliott was also very supportive of the ministry and mission of Bethlen Communities.  Each time he would come to Ligonier, we would talk marketing, resident care and larger mission priorities.  Edwin was always available to provide information that would link Bethlen Communities to other organizations sharing Bethlen’s faith-based priorities.

And perhaps, in my mind and heart, next to Edwin’s strong Reformed faith and principles, I will always appreciate his desire to bring people together, in the Body of Christ.  Whether Edwin spoke of Christians in Eastern Europe, here in the United States or, as he spoke of the congregation he loved so much in Manassas, he always lifted up those who were strong in their faith, and he sought to share the good news of their life and witness with the rest of us.

Now it is important that we thank God for the life and witness of this good man.  Edwin goes forward to join that Communion of Saints, who in the Spirit, are always with us.  Isten veled, kedves szolgatársunk!  Viszontlátásra.  God be with you, dear fellow servant, until we meet again!

Wilburn A. Roby Jr., Business Manager for the Calvin Synod Herald, wrote:

The thing that I will remember about Rev. Dr. Elliott was His Love and Devotion to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. I was always amazed that each quarter I would send him his honorarium and a few weeks later here would come a check with the funds I had sent him plus a little something extra. That was his way of supporting the Herald.

Tundi Garai, Edwin’s assistant on the English portion of the Calvin Synod Herald and  the Calvin Synod Communicator, summarized well Edwin’s agape love of the Hungarian Reformed Church and all of those with whom Edwin came in contact, saying:

I will miss Rev. Elliott very much. Of course he was wonderful to work with and to say that he inspired my faith is an understatement. I will always remember him, not only because he was very smart and spoke and wrote well.

I will always remember him, because he was equally kind and dignified to everyone around him. He also was unafraid to use his unique sense of witty and joyful humor to make each of us feel like we were important parts of his very special life and his relationship to the One who mattered most. All these qualities in one person made him such a rare human being – I’ll miss him more than words can say.

Edwin Elliott, Jr., the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), and the Cost of Discipleship

In 1975, Edwin Elliott Jr. was one of the first ministers to be ordained in the PCA’s Covenant Presbytery when Edwin became the minister of two historic churches in Water Valley, Mississippi. Edwin’s father had been directly involved in the founding of the PCA in 1973.  Edwin was elected Recording Clerk at the 1975 PCA General Assembly (GA), and occupied that position through the PCA 1983 GA.  Edwin’s association with lifelong friend the Rev. Dr. Robert LaMay, began in these early years of ministry, and continued throughout Edwin’s life until Edwin’s death and Dr. LaMay’s conducting Edwin’s homegoing celebration on 14 October 2009 at RPCM. Edwin additionally first became acquainted with his dear friend the Rev. Dr. Richard Bacon in these early years, and Dr. Bacon several years later joined Edwin in the Reformed Presbyterian Church (Hanover Presbytery).

Subsequent to the PCA’s 1983 GA, The PCA’s Mid-Atlantic Presbytery planted Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in the city of Manassas, Virginia, urging RPCM to close its doors and assimilate with the new congregation.  The RPCM congregation subsequently voted to leave the PCA, and in 1985 Edwin associated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States.  That same year, Edwin assisted Frank Smith in the publication of the first history of the PCA.

In 1987, Edwin began the revival of the Christian Observer, which was published and printed weekly, and distributed to subscribers by mail. During Edwin’s tenure as the Christian Observer publisher, he assisted Frank Smith in 1995 in the establishment of PCA News, later Presbyterian and Reformed News.  Edwin additionally assisted in the establishment of Herald of the Covenant and several other Presbyterian and Reformed publications.

In 1994, the Christian Observer published several articles on the scandal regarding the PCA’s Legal Audit of Cornerstone Ministries Investments (CMI) and the discovery of a labyrinth of profit and not-for-profit corporations being domiciled at the PCA’s denominational office building. The PCA General Assembly later, in effect, censured Edwin and the Christian Observer for this news coverage–a censure which he wore as a badge of courage.  Edwin and the Christian Observer though, paid a dear temporal cost, as the effective censure and subsequent related efforts led to the loss of about half of the Christian Observer’s paid subscriber base.  Later, the Christian Observer became a bi-weekly publication, then a monthly publication as production and mailing costs continued to increase, then ceased printed publication with the July 2008 issue.

(Fourteen years after publication of the CMI articles, on 23 July 2008, Presbyterians Week published a summary of and link to a Christianity Today article on the then-recent bankruptcy filing by Cornerstone Ministries Investments, which set off among several persons with PCA connections in various email groups a spate of scurrilous charges of libel and other attacks upon Edwin’s character, of which Edwin did not respond in kind.)

Edwin eventually helped to lead the reestablishment of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Hanover Presbytery.  Edwin’s extensive knowledge and understanding of church history and his vision of full Bible Presbyterianism with no man-made additions, changes, or deletions, are reflected in this “micro” denomination whose members affirm only the Holy Scriptures and the unamended Westminster Confession of Faith.

Edwin Elliott, Jr., and Masonry

Edwin Elliott, Jr., was born into a family whose roots in Masonry go back several generations to his Scots ancestors in the Elliott Clan, and Masonry was a very important part of his life beginning in his youth. Edwin’s Masonic affiliations, honors, and degrees are many and varied, and include:

—     Manasseh Lodge No. 182, A.F. and A.M., raised a Master Mason on 24 April 1970.

—     Royal Arch Mason – Manassas Chapter #81

—     Knights Templar – Piedmont Commandery #26

—     Member of the Royal Order of Scotland

—     Received his DeMolay Majority in 1968

—     Received John Dove Award from Grand Royal Arch Chapter in December 2008

—     Founded Prince William Chapter Order of DeMolay and was first Master Councilor

—     Received Active Legion of Honor from DeMolay International in July 2005 – highest honor awarded by DeMolay

—     Orange Lodge – Charter member Patrick Henry Loyal Orange Lodge #1105

—     Sovereign Order of Knights Preceptor

—     Grand Guardian Council of Job’s Daughters

—     Charter member and Past Sovereign Master of the C.A. Sinclair Council Allied Masonic Degrees – Council #412

—     Order of the Amaranth – Destiny Court #14

—     White Shrine of Jerusalem – Dogwood #3

—     Knight Masons – VA Council #72 and #12

—     Washington & Lee York Rite – #93

—     Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests – Nova Vita Tabernacle #73

—     Order of the Eastern Star – Wimodausis #106

—     Red Cross of Constantine – Shenandoah Conclave

—     Received John Dove Award in 2004 or 2005

—     Past Grand Prelate – Grand Commandery Knights Templar Virginia

—     Grand Chaplain – Royal Arch Masons

—     Charter member and Past Sovereign Master of the C. A. Sinclair Council AMD #412

Edwin’s extensive involvement in Masonry sometimes brought controversy to his interactions with other Presbyterian and Reformed denominations whose regulations and position papers attack Masonry and forbid membership in Masonic organizations by denominational members or officers, much of the controversy spanning across multiple centuries back to the anti-Mason movement and political party of the 19^th-century U.S. and farther back and beyond.

The editor is not a Mason at any level, and only came into close association with Edwin during the past ten years, eventually attending Wednesday services at RPCM beginning in 2003. Up until that point, the editor’s knowledge of Masonry consisted of what was commonly proclaimed at the time by some television ministries and writers, and this knowledge did not bring about what one might call a positive opinion of Masonry.

During the editor’s close association with Edwin and several members of RPCM that are also active in Masonry, the editor came to know these folks, in profession and in practice, as some of the most Christ-like people ever known by the editor.  The editor’s questions about Masonry were always answered transparently, only to the extent where no fraternal trusts were being violated, and the editor was led to the opinion that either these Masons were the most skilled and hypocritical actors the editor had ever encountered, or that there was a serious difference between the common knowledge of Masonry promulgated by those against the movement, and what must be the reality – that a devout, full-Bible Christian, could be a Mason without compromising their faith.

The editor sincerely implores the brothers and sisters in Christ from backgrounds that condemn Masonry and membership therein, to study the lives of any Christian Masons that you encounter, and to evaluate the reality of one’s faith in God by the fruit of the spirit in the life proclaimed and lived. In this regard, I have no doubt that Edwin entered the presence of his Lord and Savior a few weeks ago, and that “Well done, good and faithful servant!” reverberated throughout the heavenly kingdom. Please pray, study, and otherwise come to terms with this conundrum. The editor fears that throughout Christ’s Church, much false, though sincerely believed, witness has been bourn about this issue; and the editor suggests that the simplistic, absolutist bifurcation concerning Masonry taken by so many in Christendom does not honor God, or God’s whole, sometimes complex, truth.

Concluding Thoughts about Edwin Elliott, Jr.

There is so much more about Edwin that will have to remain unsaid for the moment, due to publishing time constraints and other factors. A multitude of tributes to Edwin have been pouring in from around the world since his recent earthly demise and eternal homegoing.  Only a few of those received have been represented in this tribute, but the sentiments are all very much alike amongst the differing circumstances in which God brought Edwin into the lives of so many people.

D.V., all of the tributes to Edwin will later be assembled and presented to Edwin’s family, and will be displayed on the RPCM website (www.rpchurch.org). Additional tributes to Edwin can be emailed to info-co@comcast.net for inclusion in this project.

Edwin Elliott died 11 October 2009, in Manassas, Virginia, surrounded by his wife and daughters. He was buried in the churchyard of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Charles City County, Virginia, on the afternoon of 14 October 2009, in a service conducted by Hanover Presbytery Probationer and Licentiate Lt. Col. Nathan Huntington, U.S.M.C., who travelled from Okinawa to Manassas, and then with the Elliott family to Bethany Presbyterian Church, in honor of the Rev. Dr. Edwin Powers Elliott, Jr., who so positively affected the lives of so many people to the glory and honor of God alone.

In Christ,

Bob Williams, Managing Editor