1 November 2023
“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
Additional Articles of Interest
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Opening by reading Psalm 145.
I want to thank the Westminster Presbyterian Church Session here in Kingsport for inviting us to hold this 50th Celebration of Westminster Presbytery, and the ladies who prepared for the reception to follow. This Church was one of the early members of Westminster Presbytery. I remember when Sidney’s father Dr. George Anderson and Dr. Joe Morecraft led a Bible Study here in Kingsport that eventually resulted in the organizing of this Church. It’s only fitting that we meet here because the history of this Church is so intertwined with Presbytery. The elders here have been leaders in our Presbytery, and have greatly helped to steer us in the right direction. Being here today, I feel like I am coming home.
In Psalm 145, David almost runs out of words in listing the wonderful attributes of the God of Israel. God is great, powerful in his works, gracious, good, merciful, he sustains us and his Kingdom. He supplies our needs. He is righteous. He is near. He hears us and saves us. He keeps us. He defeats our enemies.
This was not just David creating a song as a modern artist might do. This was what David heard about and experienced. This was what David was told by previous generations. No doubt, he was thinking about Abraham of Ur, Moses in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, a cloud by day and a fire by night, the battles in the Promise Land, and even his own battles within his own day. His ancestors lived it, and he lived it, and at the end of the day, this was his experience. Like those living and fighting in World War 2, it is just not the same as reading about it in a book. David both heard orally and experienced what he writes about.
David as he remembers all that God is and has done in the history of his people, then goes on to praise Him. Again, notice the list of words. He extols his God, He meditates on Him, He blesses His name. He speaks of him, and he praises Him.
Thirdly, after listing many of God’s attributes, and after lifting Him up in worship using various verbs of praise, then he mandates that his readers tell these things to the next generation. In verse 4 he says, “One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your might acts.” And in verse 12 he says that we are “to make known to the sons of men your mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.” Our children must hear us praise the glory of our God and tell of the power of his kingdom. First, from Mom and Dad, and then from the Church. It must not be lost. This is one reason why we are here today. To tell the next generation the story of the great things God has done in the last 50 years. To tell of his power, his works, and the glory of His Kingdom. To tell of his faithfulness.
I invited 5 other men (founding fathers) to be here today. Joe Morecraft just does not have the health to make the trip. I know how much Joe wanted to be here. I know Joe from years ago, and I think if he were here, he would be weeping most of the time. Not only is he a scholar; not only was he our leader in many ways; but Joe is an emotional man. He often weeps tears of joy even in public. John Sartelle had emergency surgery a few weeks ago, and needed to return to his pulpit in Memphis on Sunday. He sends his regrets. We do however have two fathers in the faith who were there in 1973, Rev. Pete Hurst and Rev. Sidney Anderson along with myself. Also, we have a son of the faith, the first ministerial candidate of Westminster Presbytery, Frank J. Smith whose father Rev. Frank E. Smith was the first Stated Clerk of Presbytery.
I’ve been a member of this Presbytery for 50 years now, and maybe I have a view that few others have. It’s like being in an airplane 30,000 feet watching the landscape below. I’ve seen a lot of ministers come and go. I’ve seen a lot of churches come and go. I’ve been sad, and too, I have been greatly blessed over the years. I’ve seen things change so much. I watched our Presbytery (and the PCA as a whole) go from a quasi-conservative Presbytery to what now I would call a truly reformed Presbytery. At times, I want to call the last 50 years Reformation 2.0. It may sound strange to you, but from my 50 years viewpoint it is not strange at all.
As I alluded to in King David, we seldom appreciate the challenges of the past unless we have lived in that past. Hardly anyone but us younger men (and older ones who were there like Frank E. Smith, Frank Chapo, John Whitner, and some others) really know how tough it was back then. This is why we must tell the next generation. Lest we forget.
Over 50 years ago while we were still in the Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS), in 1972-73, Joe Morecraft, Pete Hurst, John Sartelle, and I (and our wives) would meet regularly at each other’s homes to pray and decide what we were going to do if the PCA was formed. Needless to say, we all decided we had to leave the PCUS.
I won’t put any names to the specific difficulties experienced by these men other than my own, but we all had our trials and tribulations in those days. I remember when I was examined for ordination in Abingdon Presbytery of the old PCUS, there was a lady on the front row knitting, and I thought that was unusual. After I was asked my views on the ordination of women, and after I gave several Scripture passages why I opposed it, I learned that she was an ordained minister in Abingdon Presbytery. Not a good start. Then one man brought a complaint against me to another rather prominent minister that I was not preaching the gospel. After further inquiry, he was upset because I did not give an altar call after each sermon. That was strike two. Later, as a member of Presbytery, when I would ask men being examined by Presbytery if they believed in a literal Adam, I was called down by another member of Presbytery. In other words, “Mr. Ball, we know what you think, and we would prefer that you not ask such questions.” That was strike number three.
But there was one more strike. The head of the Presbytery (Executive Presbyter) came to my home and sat down with me and my wife in our living room and implied that she and I were thieves for taking home mission aid from the Presbytery while preparing to leave the Presbytery. I reminded him that before I ever came into Presbytery that I wrote him a letter saying that if another denomination was formed, I would be leaving the PCUS. My church did not leave the PCUS but I told them I was leaving, even though I did not have a call. My wife was not too happy about that. How are we going to live? I’m pregnant and we have no place to go. Well, by God’s grace, I soon found another call in Presbytery at the Meadow Creek Church in Greeneville, Tennessee. While in Seminary, I would dream of the pastorate as being a bucolic, peaceful experience sitting in an office studying God’s word and just looking at the beautiful landscape outside of my window. Was I shocked by reality!
Another minister went to his office on a Monday morning and the keys to the church would not work. The locks had been changed, and he was told that he was not welcome in that church anymore. One church paid thousands of dollars to leave Holston Presbytery and keep its property. Families were divided. My own father was an elder in the PCUS and I was leaving. Several of these men were so beaten down mentally and spiritually that they left the pastorate for several years. They all came back.
However, God, in his providence, raised us up for such a time. We had to leave the PCUS, but there was a cost. We were “young, restless, and reformed,” before that term became popular. We were in some ways unprepared for the task. We made our mistakes. May God forgive us.
We thought the PCA would be utopia, or at least I did. A way of escape from the old liberal denomination. I expected to be a part of a new Israel heading toward the promised land. Oh my! Was I shocked again. It was anything but utopia, and maybe a bigger battle had just begun than the one we had just left. I wrote an article some years ago about the PCA in the Aquila Report entitled “The Way It Really Was in 1973.”
You must remember that the godly elders in the local churches had been fighting liberalism for many years, but they had been fighting with the weapons of conservative evangelicalism and even fundamentalism. As a rule, the Reformed Faith had been lost. Most churches were not reformed. No smoking, no dancing, and no drinking. Billy Graham was the greatest Reformer of the faith that had ever lived. Most had never heard of John Calvin or John Knox, and some, not even of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
I remember speaking at an early officer’s conference near Cedar Bluff, Virginia. It was a time to introduce most of the men in the new Presbytery to Calvinism. I will never forget what Joe Morecraft told me that day. He said “Larry, don’t hold anything back.” I didn’t, and the men were introduced to Calvinism.
I had an officer of one church that I pastored who did not believe in infant baptism. In another church a person did not have to be a member of the church as long as he was a member of Sunday School. He was okay.
So, we TR (truly reformed) young ministers began the difficult task of reforming the church—whether they wanted to be reformed or not. I was blessed in that the elders and members of my third church soaked it all up like a sponge. At Bridwell Heights in Kingsport, all the elders were veterans of WW 2 and battle-scarred. They were just happy to be alive, to be home, and that made it easier on me. “They had a “respect the preacher” attitude. “One fought in the South Pacific, one during the D-day invasion, and another walked into Japan after the atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima. “We don’t want a fight in the Church. We are tired of fighting and just happy you are here.” That’s what I walked into, and I thank God for those men.
Not all the other young men who left were as blessed as I was. There was a lot of resistance to the Reformed Faith. Yet, as I personally taught the old faith, from Calvinism to Covenant Theology, there was a “wow factor.” “Why was I never taught these things!” “I never heard of these things before.” One of the elders once said to Joe Morecraft “What is this strange “Calvinite” doctrine you are teaching?
Over the early years of Westminster Presbytery, going to a Presbytery meeting was like going to a war. There was so much division that at one time we approved a resolution to divide into two theologically-defined presbyteries within one geographical area. There would be two presbyteries within our geographical boundaries in the PCA, but defined by different theologies. It went to the General Assembly of the PCA for approval and failed by a very close vote. I seldom had an opportunity of speaking on the floor of the General Assembly, but I strongly spoke against this kind of division. We had to either learn to live together, or just leave. Some left. I stayed.
Yes, it’s been a tough time behind the scenes, but I can honestly say that we are more united today, maybe than we have ever been. We are as reformed and presbyterian maybe as we have ever been. Not to say we don’t have our problems and differences, but there is a peace like we never enjoyed in the early days.
Maybe I should ask the question about the future? What about the next 50 years? Only God knows, but let me say one thing as I close and as I have watched from a bird’s eye view for 50 years. The Reformed Faith will die in one generation if it is not taught aggressively, both with passion and compassion. It happened with the previous generation, and it can happen again. To be blessed by God, we must teach and preach the whole counsel of God. We must teach the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. Teach what makes us distinct as Reformed Presbyterians. Teach church history. We must teach our children what makes us different. Avoiding the whole counsel of God will kill a church, a Presbytery, and a denomination.
Let us pray that God will keep you full of faith, and may you let the world know of the marvelous, kind, merciful, and sovereign God we serve.
Let us pray.
Now let me introduce our speakers.
Pete Hurst
Pete and I were examined together on the same day in Abingdon Presbytery in 1972. It was the first time we met. He graduated from Reformed Seminary in Jackson and I from Westminster in Philadelphia. At the time Westminster Presbytery was organized Pete was the pastor of the Coeburn Church, Mount Olivet Church, and Mary Martin Memorial Church, a three church-field. Both Mount Olivet and Coeburn were founding churches, but Mary Martin Memorial Church remained in the old Southern denomination. Later, from 1974-1978 he was pastor here at the Westminster Church. He later pastored at the Faith Church in Birmingham, Alabama and Calvary Reformed Presbyterian Church in Hampton, Virginia for about 30 years. He transferred to the OPC in 2020 and is now one of six elders at the Peninsula Reformed Presbyterian Church in Yorktown, Virginia.
I also know that he works as an associate realtor. He and his wife Brenda of 52 years have four children and 14 grandchildren.
Once Pete was going to be out of town for a Sunday and there were no men to teach his Sunday School Class, and rather than have a woman teach it, he told me he had made an audio tape and they could listen to that. Pete may have forgotten that, but I never did.
Sidney Anderson
Sidney was the son of Dr. George Anderson, who I believe left the old Southern Presbyterian Church long before Westminster Presbytery was organized and became a member of the RPCES. Dr. Anderson taught Bible at King College and Graham Bible College. He had a popular radio program here in the Tri-Cities area. Sidney graduated from King College and was a student evangelist for Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship. He later was a student at Columbia Seminary in Georgia, but I guess wanted more of a challenge, and enrolled at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey from where he graduated.
He is married to Lousie and they have 2 children and 4 grandchildren. He was pastor of the Jewell Ridge and Whitewood Presbyterian Churches near Richlands, Virginia before he moved to the Swannanoa Valley Presbyterian Church near Asheville, North Carolina.
He became a foreign missionary in 1975 which took him and his family to Nigeria, West Africa, serving the Tiv Tribe for 13 years. He then served in the Czech Republic for 13 years before retiring in Ruckersville, Virginia where he lives now. This is near Charlottesville.
Dr. Frank J. Smith.
As I remember the early days of Westminster Presbytery, I remember Frank, his father, his mother, and his two sisters. They were at all the meetings. Frank is a graduate of Covenant College, holds both an M.Div. and a Th. M. in church history from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. He also holds a Ph.D. in American and religious history from the City University of New York. Frank is a scholar indeed, and wrote maybe the first history of the PCA. There is one entire chapter dedicated to the “Appalachian Westminster.” Since 2010, he and his wife have ministered in “the Bluff”, the area of Atlanta notorious for heroin-dealing and prostitution-peddling.
When Frank’s father moved to New York, the son joined him as an assistant in the planting of a new church, Affirmation Presbyterian Church. This was in 1980. Later, Frank, the son, became the senior pastor and Frank, the father,. became the associate.
In 1996 Frank married a British lady, Penny, who had had a distinguished career in her Majesty’s Royal Air Force. She had been widowed, and when they married, he inherited a teenager, a son named Adrian. They have six grandchildren.
Frank later moved to Atanta as he continued to edit a newspaper covering the PCA. I think everyone in the PCA knew Frank Smith. He was the conservative and Reformed voice in the PCA. Later, he returned to Westminster Presbytery and pastored the Coeburn Presbyterian Church in the year 2000. After Coeburn he moved to Wisconsin and then back to Atlanta where he has been a pastor for 15 years in the RPCNA denomination.
He has edited or co-edited, or written numerous books ranging from worship, to marriage, to race relations. He presently is working on a book honoring his father entitled “God’s Man from Brooklyn: The Story of a Twentieth-Century Minister.”
In conclusion, let me say that you have witnessed this evening how God can use poor and weak men like us to do great things!
This morning, a High Court judge has denied the parents of 8-month-old Indi Gregory the right to transfer their child for specialist treatment in Italy.
Mr Justice Robert Peel ruled that it is in Indi’s ‘best interests’ to die in the UK rather than receive specialist treatment at the Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital in Rome, which would be funded by the Italian government.
The stay of execution, which is a legal term that prevents Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust from removing Indi’s life-support, expired at the same time Mr Justice Peel released his judgment. It has now been extended until 2pm tomorrow (Friday 3 November.)
Mr Dean Gregory, Indi’s father, has immediately instructed lawyers to appeal the ruling.
At an urgent hearing on 31 October before Justice Peel, lawyers representing the family argued that denying them the right to move their child would be a breach of Indi’s Article 5 rights under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR.)
Article 5 of provides that everyone has the right to liberty and security of person.
A specialist Air Ambulance service is prepared to work with the family and clinicians at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham to facilitate the transfer to Italy. However, in order to undertake the transfer, the ambulance service would need to carry out a risk assessment with full cooperation from the treating clinicians, which the clinicians have refused to do.
Hospital bosses have decided that it is in Indi’s ‘best interests’ to die and to not have the chance of further treatment and will not deviate from that position despite new medical expert evidence, backed by the Italians, that Indi’s condition is treatable.
Following the ruling, Mr Gregory described the decision as ‘sickening’ , and vowed to appeal and continue to push for the right to give his daughter a chance of life in Italy. He said: “We wanted to take this offer because the only alternative offered by the Trust is Indi’s death.
“The expert medical opinions presented a way of treating Indi which they say is likely to save her life and make her better, yet the Trust has angrily refused to consider it. Mr Justice Peel has simply rubber stamped the Trust’s position.
“Claire and I want to give our daughter every chance to survive and to improve, and it is very disturbing that Indi’s current treating clinicians will not cooperate with the Air Ambulance specialists.
“We have been given a real chance by the Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital which we want to take for our daughter.
“Even if the transfer to Italy involves some risk, the only alternative we have been offered in the UK is to go along with Indi’s death. There is nothing to lose for us or for Indi.
“The offer from Italy is the only offer of treatment that we have, and as Indi’s parents, we are prepared to take a risk to make that happen.
“Given that the medical evidence suggests she has a reasonable chance to survive and to improve, we believe it is in her best interests to be given that chance.
“We continue to be horrified at the Trust and UK courts’ refusal to give her that chance.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “There is a hospital prepared to care for Indi in Rome. Indi’s parents desire to give her every chance they can. Why would anyone try to stop this happening for them and for her?
“To deny them this opportunity is unimaginable, unjust and perverse.
“We stand with the family as they continue to fight courageously for their precious daughter’s life.”
Trust’s intransigence
On Monday, 30 October, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust had resisted plans that would allow Indi’s parents to take her to a leading paediatric hospital in Italy.
It was revealed that the Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital in Rome had agreed to accept Indi for treatment and to carry out the right ventricular outflow tract stent procedure that has been put forward by medical experts. The Italian government has offered to fund the treatment.
The Trust, however, still maintains that it is in Indi’s ‘best interests’ to die, and earlier this week even threatened to proceed with removing her life-support despite the Italian offer and a pending urgent hearing.
The family’s lawyers argued that: ‘The Trust’s present intransigence and refusal to cooperate in the move of Indi to Rome would appear to constitute a breach of Indi’s Article 5 rights as exercised by her parents.’
Lawyers concluded arguments by stating: “The Court is respectfully asked to make the Order sought so that Indi can move her medical care to a new hospital, who whilst putting her best interests first is prepared to treat her in respect of the existing determinations of the court but subject to the prior provision of the ventricular stent.”
Justice Peel was also provided with expert evidence from an Air Ambulance specialist.
During proceedings, Justice Peel asked to see the latest videos of Indi in hospital and was urged by lawyers to consider the new expert evidence from a cardiologist and medical geneticist, paediatrician and an expert in mitochondrial disorders.
The experts provided medical opinion on the treatment Indi can receive, which is backed by the Italian hospital.
The letter from Italy
The letter received by Mr Gregory on Sunday night from Mr Tiziano Onesti, the President of the Hospital offering treatment, said:
“We write to confirm that we are prepared to accept your daughter Indi Gregory, born 24 February 2023, for treatment at Bambino Gesu Children Hospital, Rome, with immediate effect. We have received confirmation from the Government of Italy that it will assume responsibility for the funding of Indi’s treatment at Bambino Gesu Children Hospital.
“We have reviewed Indi’s medical records file and are currently preparing a detailed treatment plan for Indi with multidisciplinary input from doctors at Bambino Gesu Children Hospital.
“In outline, we envisage that Indi’s treatment plan will include: 1. A right ventricular outflow tract stent to manage her cardiological condition; 2. Continuation of experimental treatments for D2,L2 hydroxyglutaric aciduria (phenylbutyrate therapy, citrate therapy and ketogenic diet); 3. Life-sustaining treatment and palliative care to ensure Indi’s survival and comfort while the treatments take effect.
“It will be the family’s responsibility to organise and fund the air ambulance transfer of Indi from Nottingham to Rome.”
Legal battle
Being treated at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham since she was born in February 2022, Indi’s father, Dean Gregory, from Derbyshire, has been locked in a legal battle with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust who have argued that life-saving treatment for Indi in this country should end.
Indi is battling a rare mitochondrial disease and her parents have maintained that despite her disability, she is a happy baby who responds to their touch. They say there is also evidence of improvement in her condition.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Mr Gregory and his legal team has argued in court that the hospital has given a pessimistic outlook of Indi’s condition and that they have been denied the right to bring expert evidence to proceedings to support their position that her condition is improving and deserving of further treatment.
Last week the Court of Appeal upheld a ruling by High Court judge, Justice Robert Peel, that it is in the ‘best interests’, of Indi to die. Having exhausted all domestic legal remedies, Mr Gregory then lodged a last-ditch appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) who quickly refused to hear the families’ case.
The stay, which had been given until 4pm on Friday 27 October expired and meant the Trust was not legally obliged to continue providing life-support. However, following an urgent meeting, the Trust gave Indi’s family until Monday 30 October to make arrangements to move Indi to a hospice.
With the offer from Italy secured, lawyers went back to the Trust on 30 October to request that Indi’s parents are allowed to transfer her to Rome.
Two medical experts provided analysis which shows that Indi’s breathing problems are likely to be caused by her treatable heart condition, known as Tetralogy of Fallot, rather than – as previously thought – by brain damage from the mitochondrial disease.
Experts pointed out that the problem can be fixed without a surgery by inserting a catheter known as “right ventricular outflow tract stent” through one of the vessels in Indi’s groin. The expert says that the treatment would “more likely than not” enable Indi to survive without artificial ventilation.
However, last week when presented with the evidence the Trust’s lawyers brushed it aside, threatened legal costs and sought to rush through removing Indi’s life support.
With the news from Italy and further expert evidence, however, the parents’ lawyers wrote to the Trust saying:
“Given that a leading paediatric hospital is now prepared to provide treatment to Indi which, according to the opinions of reputable medical experts, is likely to lead to a significant improvement in her condition, our client wishes to organise Indi’s transfer to Rome as soon as possible. We anticipate no reason why your client might want to stand in the way of such a transfer, and hope your client will cooperate with the air ambulance company to organise it.
“Indi’s transfer to Rome does not necessarily require a variation of the Order of Mr Justice Peel. As the Judge emphasised at the hearing, the effect of the declaratory order is permissive, not prescriptive or prohibitive.”
Trust lawyers, however, resisted saying: ‘There is no new material information and the plan endorsed by the High Court is being followed.’
It will now be down to Mr Justice Peel to rule on whether it is Indi’s ‘best interests’ to be moved to Italy or to be moved to a hospice to die.
+ Christian Concern, 70 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8AX, England, 020 7935 1488, Contact Page
‘Til Death Us Do Part: Meditations on Courtship and Marriage
Table of Contents
Finding a Good Wife…………………..……1
The Way of a Man with a Maid…………..11
Youthful Love……………………………….18
The Duty of Husbands…………………….24
The Duty of Wives…………………………32
Love and Marriage………………………..40
‘Til Death Do Us Part……………………45
Questions to Ponder………………………54
For Further Reading……………………..57
About the Author………………………….58
“A jewel of a little book—succinctly comprehensive on a topic that these days desperately needs Christian clarification. Dr. Smith gives us Law and Gospel straight from the Word—yet doesn’t fail to include God’s rules for marital romance.
“Very well written treatment suitable for serious Christians contemplating marriage, for experienced couples striving to put their marriage on a firmer foundation, and as well for general Christian education.
“It’s possible, however, that its serious tone might scare many young people today. But maybe that’s the point—they might have to go home and think about it for a few years.”
Pamela Peterson, Ph.D., Dean of Women’s Studies (Ret.), Trinity Theological Seminary
The definition of marriage is, around the world, in flux today. Dr. Frank Smith has helpfully provided an accessible summary of the Biblical definition of marriage, that is, the true one, ordained by God.
What is more, Dr. Smith has provided practical applications for married couples, with questions designed to stimulate further reflection, as well as to underscore the insights he presents from the Scriptures.
This book would easily serve as a discussion guide for a small group, as well as for a couple engaged to be married.
Professor Thomas G. Reid, Jr., Retired Librarian and Registrar, Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Presbyterian Scholars Press
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