Loving the Southern Presbyterians

By now, many of you know that this summer’s meeting of the ARP General Synod has been moved from our usual meeting place of Bonclarken to First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC. (Our 2020 General Synod was also held at First Presbyterian Church Columbia in October.)  This decision was made for a variety of reasons and concerns and I will miss having it at Bonclarken. As another minister noted, when we, Lord willing, meet for Synod next summer at Bonclarken, it will have been 4 years since Synod had been held there!  I will admit that, as much as I enjoy going to Bonclarken every summer for Synod, I am happy for the move to Columbia, simply because I live about 40 minutes away from First Presbyterian, so I can come home and sleep in my bed every night! 

Since this move to Columbia was announced, I have been thinking more than usual about Southern Presbyterians and the ARP connection to this group. I was in seminary when I was first introduced to this group of theologians and their thoughts. The professor responsible for this, Dr. Douglas Kelly, is an impassioned expert on this group, and his book “Preachers with Power: Four Stalwarts of the South” (Banner of Truth) is an excellent place to start learning about this subject. As a native of South Carolina, and one who still very much believes that the Palmetto State is the greatest state in the nation!, I was very intrigued by these pastors, theologians and churches that were founded in the South, and were unapologetic about being Southern. They loved where they were and faithfully ministered in those areas, and those ministries are still felt to this day. 

In reading up on these men and their ministries, I found that it’s one thing to read about Luther in Wittenberg, Calvin in Geneva, Knox in Edinburgh, which are all places I have never been to! But, it’s another thing to read about Thornwell in Columbia, Girardeau in Charleston, Palmer in New Orleans. Many of these places were in my back yard and I knew - Thornwell was living in my hometown of Sumter when he came across a used copy of the Westminster Standards and became convinced of Reformed theology (I have visited the church he was attending at the time, Concord Presbyterian Church). I knew these towns and cities, these churches and the land around them; and I knew their backgrounds, our common identity of being South Carolinians and loving where we are from and where we live. These are men I could identify with because we come from the same place and have similar goals. Because of this, I have come to love Southern Presbyterians and what they have meant to the history and heritage of the church in the South and the church universal. 

Sadly, in our current day and age, grace is not very abundant in many realms, and Southern Presbyterians have fallen victim to that lack of grace. I believe what we find is that they mainly come under fire because they were men of their age and they reflected that age. They lived and ministered mainly in the 18th and 19th centuries in the South, and it shows in many ways, including ways that are hard for us now. To love the Southern Presbyterians, you have to wrestle through their views of slavery and segregation, and that can be a hard struggle. With some, you have to deal with their racism, and that can be an even harder struggle. It’s easy for us to sit on this side of history and judge these men and their views. It’s also easy for us to forget that we, too, reflect the age we live in, and, one day, we may be judged for misunderstanding issues, and maybe even just being wrong on some things. None of us are perfect, none of us are infallible, and many of us hold to the view of "Semper Reformanda" in our own lives. 

So, then, do we throw out the baby with the bath water with our Southern Presbyterian brethren?  Because some of them were wrong about race, segregation and slavery, can there be nothing redeeming about their other views? I would imagine many you would answer the same as I do - and that is with a resounding “no!” There is so much we can still learn from these men and their thinking, and actions and ministry we can emulate. 

Allow me to point you to John Girardeau as an example (he is my favorite Southern Presbyterian). Born in the Lowcountry on James Island in 1825, he was raised on a plantation. He attended Columbia Theological Seminary, where he learned under men such as James Henley Thornwell and Benjamin Morgan Palmer. After graduating, he served several congregations that included both white plantation owners and their slaves. Girardeau also served as a chaplain during the Civil War, and it is told that when he was coming home from the War, the wagon driver announced that they had crossed over into South Carolina, Girardeau asked the wagon to stop, got out, and kissed the ground in joyful exuberance of being back home (there have been times I’ve wanted to do the same thing after some days of long traveling!). He was a man who loved his home state and was committed to ministering there. 

What is most striking to me about Girardeau was his love for the slaves. You will find that he is, at times, described as the minister to the slaves of South Carolina. Before the Civil War, he was pastoring 2nd Presbtyerian/Anson St. Presbyterian church, which had a large African-American congregation. Every Sunday, Girardeau would faithfully preach God’s word to the folks gathered, calling them to faith in Christ and a growing faith in Christ. After the War was over, the same African-American congregation asked Girardeau to come back and be their pastor. He answered their call and came back and ministered to them for a while. Over the years while he served that congregation, Girardeau had other prominent Presbyterian churches ask him to come and be their pastor, and he would turn them down, because he loved his people and ministering to them. He was faithful to pastoring his flock of mostly African-Americans in Charleston, even after emancipation had taken place! What wonderful and faithful piety we see in Girardeau, and that we can emulate where God has placed us. 

I think there is a lot we can learn from these men, and ways we can emulate them. They are also things we need to not follow because they were wrong. But, I think it is a dangerous thing to demonize any one without seeing what is redeemable in their thoughts and lives. For someone who loves his home state and ministering here, I find myself drawn to this example in men like Girardeau, Thornwell, Palmer and others. These men were also very solid in their Biblical understanding of Reformed doctrine, and I very much appreciate that in them as well. These are men we can love for who they are, what they have meant to the church, and also be aware of their shortcomings. 

I am looking forward to having Synod in the very building where many great Southern Presbyterians worshipped and ministered … hearing good friends expound God’s word from Thornwell’s pulpit … and sitting in the same pews the congregation did as they heard Benjamin Palmer preach down heaven. We will be meeting just a couple of miles away from the graves of James Thornwell and John Girardeau, so we will very much be in their shadow! May we, as ARPs, continue to embrace what is good from our Southern Presbyterian heritage as we continue forward in the 21st century with the Gospel ministry that our good God has entrusted to us.