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Church History
at Westminster
A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place
Henry Ford said, "History is bunk." What
he would have said of church history is anyone's guess, but being
an irreligious curmudgeon, he probably had an opinion. Unlike the
great automobile manufacturer, the problem with today's college-educated
Christians is not hostility toward history. The problem is indifference.
People just don't care about it. This is dangerous. C. S. Lewis has
Screwtape giving his protege, Wormwood, a temptation tip: "Remember,"
he says, "they know no history." What we don't know can
hurt us. +++ That is why Westminster requires the study of church
history for all M.Div. students. What pastors don't know can hurt
not just themselves but the church, both local and universal. Steering
the church is like navigating a riverboat down the Mississippi. The
study of church history teaches the safe channels, points out the
theological bogs, sandbars, and half-sunken logs that can wreck the
boat if unheeded. "Have you heard the Jewish proverb?" asks
Clair Davis, professor of church history at Westminster since 1966.
"'You don't live long enough to learn from experience.' That's
why it can be helpful to profit from other people's experiences. Church
history picks up patterns of Christian doctrine and life-which ones
have been helpful, which are blind alleys. You're going to have new
challenges in a new world, but they usually have some old parts."
A Rich Context With study comes growing appreciation. "Prior to [my] coming to Westminster, church history was certainly my weakest area of study," admits Josh Hahne, third-year M.Div. student. "In my brief studies I have just begun to appreciate the rich context that lies behind so much of my theology." +++ That context is what Carl Trueman, Westminster's newest professor of church history, is passionate to supply. Converted at seventeen at a Billy Graham crusade in the United Kingdom, he later discovered and embraced the Reformed tradition "as the best and most coherent account of what the Bible and the church have taught for two millennia." Soon after getting his Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen, he began teaching the history of medieval thought at the University of Nottingham. At a dinner party, he was asked by one of the guests, a psychiatrist, to name the Christian thinker he had been most influenced by. When Trueman replied, "D. Martin Lloyd-Jones," the questioner burst out laughing. "I give you six months-you will not last six months in a British university. Your colleagues will chew you up and spit you out." +++ Trueman determined that, to survive the university, he would not be intimidated by liberalism or impressed by current scholarly consensus. And his method of survival was to master his own tradition "so I knew it inside out, so I had at my fingertips the tools that would enable me to interact with my colleagues without being chewed up and spat out by them." A major reason for coming to Westminster eight years later was the better opportunity it afforded him to contribute to the maintenance of that tradition, which he lacked at a secular British University. (To order Trueman's tape, "Westminster Seminary and the Strength of the Reformed Tradition," see outside column, this page.) He found the tradition also equipped him to nail contemporary heresies. When the Openness of God movement began making the rounds in the U.K., Trueman asked Paul Helm, then professor of the philosophy of religion at King's College, London, for the best source of ammunition to combat it. Without hesitation Helm replied, "John Owen against the Socinians." The best answers to a "modern" heresy were to be found in the seventeenth century! There is nothing new under the sun.
New Contexts But that doesn't mean there are no new
contexts for dealing with perennial issues. In the April 8, 2000, issue
of The Dallas Morning News, in "The Changing Face of Christianity,"
Philip Jenkins noted that the church's center of gravity is shifting from
the West to the South and East. Church growth is now most rapid in the
Two-Thirds
World. Here is a challenge for the study of church history. Do we stick
with the history of European and North American Christianity, or adopt
a global perspective? +++ The answer is "both/and." Listen to
Steve Park, '90, as he reflects on the course he will soon teach at Westminster
on Korean church history. "Comparing and contrasting [Korean church
history] with the two-thousand-year history of the Western church, one
is fascinated by the resemblances as well as by the peculiarities. Many
issues the Korean church struggled with and must struggle [with] into
the future have already been experienced in the Western church."
But at the same time the Western church can benefit from the study of
Korean church history: (1) it is a condensed version of church history
at large; (2) it can offer new perspectives on old problems in the Western
church; and (3) it can help the Western church reassess the effectiveness
and failures of its past missionary strategies as it plans its future
global outreach. +++ A similar outlook is captured by students who took
Carl Ellis's, '79, course on "The Black Church in America" in
January. "I left Carl Ellis's class with a sense of confidence knowing
that the African-American Christian has as much of a role as anybody in
God's kingdom-building enterprise," asserts Juan Peterson. "We
are one of the many strands in the mosaic of God's tapestry that makes
up his people." +++ That sentiment echoes Jonathan Edwards, in his
A History of the Work of Redemption: "God's providence may not unfitly
be compared to a large and long river, having innumerable branches, beginning
in different regions, and at a great distance from one another, and all
conspiring to one common issue… Not one of all the streams fail."
Dr. Samuel T. Logan, Jr., president of Westminster and professor of church
history, reflects on this statement of Edwards. "God is continuing
his redemptive work and will continue it until the Second Coming. The
task of the church historian is to understand and to teach the 'pattern'
of God's actions in the lives of his people so that those people may build
their worship and service of God on the foundation that he has already
laid. The more comprehensive and accurate our knowledge of what God has
done, the more effective and more God-honoring 
can
be the worship and service that we offer to him. Could anything be more
important?" +++ All history is the realization of God's covenant
purposes. The goal of the church history department is to teach students
how to understand themselves, their ministries, and the times in which
they live, against the background of the past and of God's sovereign rule
over that past. +++ God is the ultimate judge of our success in this ongoing
effort. But if two responses are any indicator, we may take heart. Speaking
of Westminster to the "Black Church in America" class, Carl
Ellis declared, "You guys are sitting on a gold mine!" Juan
Peterson, commenting on that course, adds, "I really felt that Westminster
proved itself as a cutting edge institution through its courage in confronting
the facts on a very touchy subject." In addition to its prominence
in exegesis, missions, and defending the integrity of Scripture, "Westminster
has demonstrated again that it is not only a sterling example of theological
excellence, but it is also an institution that is endeavoring to practice
what it preaches."
Alums Minister to the Karen People of
Burma
Westminster alumni Ivor MacDonald, '90-'91, 
pastor of Kilmuir and Stenscholl
Church of Scotland, Isle of Skye, and Graham Stockdale, '90, pastor of
Ballynahinch Presbyterian Church, Northern Ireland, visited Burma in the
fall of 2001 to minister to persecuted Christians among the Karen people.
The following is Ivor's account of their experience. +++ Thanks to an
official "closed door policy" adopted by the military junta
in Burma, the outside world hears little of the slow-burning genocide
being waged against various ethnic groups in that land. One of the most
heavily persecuted peoples is the Karen, who have been seeking an autonomous
homeland since 1949. Many (probably 35%) are believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ, the gospel having been brought to them by American missionaries,
notably Adoniram Judson. Today thousands have been driven from their homes,
women raped, children forced into doing "portering" duties for
the Burmese soldiers, men tortured and killed. +++ In the midst of their
darkness and suffering, our 
Sovereign
Lord is doing something wonderful and beautiful among the Karen believers.
In Mae La camp (population 38,000) there is a Bible college with 190 students
eager to study the word of God. +++ Words are inadequate to convey what
it is to come as a westerner into the midst of the Karen church. When
we arrived on our first Sunday morning, young and old were filing from
bamboo huts, their smiles and appearances belying their grim surroundings.
Most were wearing the red and white costume the Karen wear on high days.
And this was a high day. Jesus has risen! And they had come to this open-sided
church thatched with teak leaves to praise him. Seven hundred voices blended,
often in four-part harmony, to sing the praises of God. +++ After worship,
we had the privilege of delivering a sizeable quantity of literature from
Reformed publishers. Previously, graduates of the college had left with
virtually no theological books. Last year, graduating students left with
a "graduate's pack," which included Vos's Biblical Theology,
Machen's Introduction to the New Testament, and Ferguson's The Christian
Life. +++ It was a thrill for us both to lecture to students who were
hungry for the word of God. This year I taught Doctrine of God and Doctrine
of the Word of God. Graham taught Apologetics and Doctrine of the Holy
Spirit. In the evenings we held workshops on preaching. The students were
eager to discuss the issues raised and often the questions arose out of
heartbreaking personal experience. 
"How
do we love our enemies when they burn our homes and kill our parents?"
asks Naw Hsi Hsa Paw, a thoughtful young woman who had been quiet up to
that point. Saw Ther Htoo tells me without a trace of bitterness of how
his mother and sister were driven from their village by the Burmese and
fell sick in the jungle. Unable to buy medicines, they died. Saw Mah Tou
tells of a brother lost to Burmese mines and of aging parents he has not
seen for seven years. It was a huge privilege simply to be with these
precious brothers and sisters and to be ministered to by their faith.
+++ What the future holds for our Karen brothers and sisters is hard to
tell. The college may exist for only a short time to come. Today there
is a great door of opportunity to see that these future leaders of the
church in Asia are well taught. +++ As far as our own future involvement
is concerned, there are three avenues we are exploring. First, we hope
to make an ongoing input to the college. Perhaps there are some other
Westminster
folk who would be interested in joining us? The speed of modern communications
and the widespread use of English mean that it is possible even on a short
visit to make a contribution. Second, we hope to employ a number of the
college graduates to translate a key Reformed textbook for the Karen medium
students and have this printed in Thailand. Third, we are looking at the
possibility of sponsoring some of the ablest students to do further study
in a Reformed seminary such as Westminster. We would love to hear from
anyone who might share our vision. (Contact Ivor
or Graham)
New Theological Ground Broken
The 11th annual Contemporary Issues Conference focused on issues of
ecology and the 
environment,
including urban planning, global warming, working with corporations, and
ecology in the home. Speakers included Dr. Calvin DeWitt, director of
the AuSable Institute of Environmental Studies; Dr. Ken Gnanakan, general
director of ACTS Ministries in India; Sir Fred Catherwood and Lady Elizabeth
Catherwood; Timothy Keyes, an environmentalist with the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources; and the Reverend J. Stafford Carson, executive vice
president for Westminster. +++ One of the highlights of the three-day
conference was the biblical meditations on "What is Dominion?"
and "Where Is the World Going?" by Professor Doug Green. Combined
with Professor Mike Kelly's seminar on "Old Testament Prophets and
the Environment," new theological ground was broken by Westminster's
Old Testament department on an oft-neglected topic. +++ Tapes of the entire
conference are available for $40 plus shipping and handling. Or order
individual tapes at $5.99 each. (For a detailed listing, go to New
Product section of the bookstore.)
Why Does Church History Matter?
Carl R. Trueman,
Associate Professor of Church History
We live in an anti-historical age, driven by pragmatism, consumerism,
and a suspicion of anything old or traditional. In such a world, why is
it crucial for Christians in
general, and ministers in particular, to study church history? An exhaustive
answer would take too long, but the following points capture the essence
of the subject's importance: It allows us to understand why the church
today thinks the way it does, why it uses the language it does. To take
one example: the Christian faith is ineradicably Trinitarian at its core.
To help us understand why this is so, it is necessary to come to grips with
the history of the church's faith and worship in the first five centuries.
It relativizes our own times. History allows us to see the theological
contributions of our own day in some kind of perspective. When we realize
that few of the moments in the past that were declared to be earth-shattering
breakthroughs turned out to be more than minor changes in the ongoing theological
tradition of the church, we will be less prone to be blown here and there
by every wind of new doctrine, by every new scholarly consensus, or by every
"big idea" that comes our way. It reminds us of the broad catholicity
of the Reformed faith. The Reformed faith is one with roots deep in
the patristic and medieval eras of the church, and we need not be ashamed
or embarrassed to claim the great thinkers and movements of the Christian
church for ourselves. +++ Such insights as these should make us thankful
to our great God who rules over all of history.
BOOKNOTES
Paul, the Law, and the Covenant, by A. Andrew Das (Hendrickson, 2001). This new volume is one of the latest entries into the discussion of the "New Perspective" on the Apostle Paul. Das challenges the New Perspective with a "newer perspective" on Paul and his relation to the law, especially in the context of E. P. Sanders' concept of "covenantal nomism." Das concludes that despite what the New Perspectivalists affirm, Augustine and Luther understood Paul well when they critiqued works as the desire to obtain God's favor by a human effort to render obedience to the law of God. Our readers will not find Das' unsettled judgment concerning the extent of Pauline corpus satisfying, but there is much food for thought here.
Paul: An Outline of His Theology, by Herman Ridderbos (Eerdmans, 1975), stands as a towering achievement in the development of Pauline theology. Ridderbos discusses among other topics the history of Pauline scholarship, the fundamental structures of Paul's theology, the life in sin, the new life, the new obedience, and the future. This is an invaluable work for grasping the basics of Pauline theology.
Protestant Scholasticism: Essays in Reassessment,
ed. Carl Trueman
and Scott Clark (Paternoster, 1999), reflects on the nature
of Reformed and Lutheran theology in
its post-Reformation theological context. The contributors provide much
needed correction to popular misconceptions of Protestant scholasticism.
Many familiar names appear in the list of contributors: David Steinmetz,
Richard A. Muller, Frank A. James III, '81, Lyle D. Bierma, R.
Scott Clark, W. Robert Godfrey, Carl R. Trueman (professor of church history
at Westminster in Philadelphia), P.G. Ryken, '92, Joel R. Beeke,
'88, and James T. Dennison, Jr. This collective effort provides a
host of insightful essays on critical issues in the development of Post-Reformation
Lutheran and Reformed dogmatic theology. Reformation and Scholasticism:
An Ecumenical Enterprise, ed. Willem J. van Asselt and Eef Dekker (Baker,
2001). This work provides a wealth of information on the positive and
constructive character of Protestant scholasticism. There is much to ponder
and readers may find Richard Muller's article particularly helpful. Westminster's
own Carl Trueman has an instructive contribution on the Puritan aspect
of scholasticism. Other chapters include essays on Johannes Cocceius's
development of biblical theology, the task and nature of systematic theology,
and the implications of Protestant scholasticism for hermeneutics. For
a greater understanding of a major theological method in our Reformed
heritage, this book is a must read.
Longer reviews may be found on Westminster's web site under
Bookstore Newsletter.
All books here may be purchased through Westminster's
Bookstore (888-WTS-BOOK).
ON CAMPUS
New M. A. Programs Offered Soon
Westminster is happy to announce that its non-language urban mission M.A.
is being joined by two new non-language M.A.s - one in biblical counseling
and the other in Christian education. Approved by the seminary's faculty
and board and in process of being approved by the seminary's accreditation
agency, these professional programs are targeted for a September 2002
start date. They will feature evening classes with a good mix of biblical/theological
and professional courses in order to accommodate the needs of practitioners.
For more information, please contact the Office
of Admissions, Westminster Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 27009, Philadelphia,
PA 19118.
DONE!
The Andreas Academic Center is now complete. Faculty and support staff
are now settled in their new, and wonderfully spacious, offices. Final
outfitting, including addition of carrells, study tables, furnishings
for the periodical section and seminar rooms, and landscaping, will be
finished by the end of April.
Westminster's
President Honored
Samuel T. Logan, Jr., was officially recognized by the board of trustees
on the tenth anniversary of his becoming president of Westminster. At
a December 3 meeting of the board and faculty at Sandy Cove Christian
Conference Center in North East, Maryland, Logan was honored with a tribute
by faculty chairman William Edgar. Noting the fact that Logan was the
force behind the planting of additional seminary campuses, Edgar added
that he also spearheaded some of the largest capital gifts in Westminster's
history.
COMING EVENTS
May 20-31, 2002 - Carl Ellis, '79, (Westminster lecturer in practical theology and board of trustees member) participates in "Helping the Church to Help the Poor: The Christian Economic Development Institute" at Covenant College, in Lookout Mountain, Ga. (outside of Chattanooga, Tenn.). For more information, please visit the website or contact Chalmers Center by email or at 706-419-1805.
May 22, 2002 - Dedication Celebration for the Andreas Academic Center on the Philadelphia campus. Service begins at 7:00 p.m. and is followed by an Open House in the center.
May 25, 2002 -Two free seminars open to the public on the Philadelphia campus.
9:00 a.m. "Church Planting Models in North America and Overseas," with Dr. Roger Greenway and Dr. Manny Ortiz.
11:00 a.m. "Westminster's Apologetics and the Inner City," with Dr. Wesley Roberts.
October 7-8, 2002 - Westminster's Student Missions Fellowship is hosting Tite Tienour, the dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and William Krispin,'69, for extended chapel services as part of the Missions Conference on the Philadelphia campus. The conference theme will be the legacy of Harvie Conn. The Festschrift in Conn's honor is due out at that time as well. Chapel services will run from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and will be held in the Rust Auditorium.
October 16, 2002 - Richard Gaffin, '61, gives the inaugural lecture as Charles Krahe Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology in a special extended chapel service on the Philadelphia campus.
October 22-24, 2002-The fall Institute on Biblical Preaching features David Jackman as the keynote speaker on "Take Heed To Yourselves: The Preachers Personal Development." Attendance was near capacity in 2001, so be sure to register for the 2002 Institute early (registration opens July 1). Class reunions are held in conjunction with the Institute. This year the classes of 2002, 1992, 1982, 1972, 1962, and 1952 will gather for luncheons and dinners. Look for information from class governors some time this summer.
For directions to events on Westminster's Philadelphia campus, go here
FACULTY BOOKS
The Face of Truth: Lifting the Veil, by William Edgar (P&R, 2001), offers thoughtful and insightful reflection from a Reformed perspective on such topics as the existence of God, the problem of evil, and the nature of truth. Written in an engaging and lucid style. $8.79.
Calvin and the Sabbath: The Controversy of Applying the Fourth Commandment, by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Christian Focus, 1998). This is a stimulating challenge to typical readings of Calvin's theology on the Sabbath. Well-reasoned conclusions make for a not-to-be-ignored contribution to the literature. $12.79.
John Owen on the Christian Life, by Sinclair B. Ferguson (Banner of Truth, 1995), discusses Owen's theology of the covenants, union with Christ, mortification of sin, assurance of salvation, and the sacraments, among other topics. Historically accurate and theologically stimulating. $27.19.
To order from the Westminster Bookstore at these prices
(plus shipping), go to Westminster Bookstore,
or call 888-WTS-BOOK.
AUDIO TAPES
"Westminster Seminary and the Strength of the Reformed
Tradition," by Carl R. Trueman, associate professor of church history.
A stirring chapel message by the newest member of the seminary's church
history department, about the wonders of Reformed theology and Westminster's
unique role in imparting it. Special price for this tape only. Tape #
CT-01. $3.00 + $1.75 shipping.
"The Earth is the Lord's: Christian Reflections on
Ecology." This year's Conference on Contemporary Issues, with keynote
speakers Stafford Carson ("Evangelicals and the
Environmental Crisis"), Ken Gnanakan ("Stewards of the Earth,
A Third World Perspective"), Calvin DeWitt ("The Story of Waubesa
Marsh"), and Sir Fred Catherwood ("Redeeming the Urban Environment"),
together with seminar presenters on ecological issues from biblical and
Reformed context. 10-tape set # CI-020. $45.00 + $5.50 shipping. 5-tape
set (keynote speakers only) # CI-020KN. $25.00 + $5.50 shipping. Individual
tapes at $5.99 each + shipping.
To order, call 800-WTS-TAPE
Join a New Monthly Support Team!
Send a monthly gift of $25 or more and we'll send you a new tape every
month. Messages will include lectures and conference material from current
faculty as well as selected materials from our archives. You'll receive
regular teaching. And you'll be helping the seminary train the next generation
of pastors and church leaders. Send your first gift with a note, "Add
me to the tape of the month list," and we'll send your first tape
right away.
Address:
Westminster Theological Seminary
P.O. Box 27009
Philadelphia, PA 19118
CLASSNOTES
Richard Lewis, '53, retired from the pastorate in November 2001, after serving many years at Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, Calif.
Dennis Johnson, '73, saw the publication of his Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (P & R) in August 2001.
Jonathan Falk, '78, is on a three-month leave of absence from his mission work with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Uganda.
Greg Reynolds, '79, recently graduated with the D.Min. from Westminster in California. His book, The Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures: Preaching in the Electronic Age, was published by Wipf and Stock Publishers in June 2001.
Hailu Mekonnen, '80, starting in late February, spent a month laboring in Ethiopia.
Andy Fincke, '70-'83, has just published The Samuel Scroll from Qumran: 4QSam{sup a} restored and compared to the Septuagint and 4QSam {sup c} (Leiden: Brill, 2001). This is the Qumran scroll of 1 and 2 Samuel written c. 200 BC in Hebrew Herodian script. Andy is currently at work restoring the remaining gaps of 4QSam{sup a}.
William Kessler, '84, has resigned from missionary service with the OPC in Uganda and is seeking a pastorate in the U.S.
Edwin Aponte, '85-'87, is assistant professor of Christianity and culture at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Tex. His new book, Introducing Latino/a Theologies (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001), co-authored with Dr. Miguel De La Torre of Hope College, was published last fall.
George Lotter, '87, has been appointed associate professor in practical theology at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (South Africa). He served as director of the Pastoral Counseling Center in Potchefstroom for five years until the end of 2001.
R. J. Stansbury, '94, graduated with the Ph.D. from Ohio State University last June. He is assistant professor of history at Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, N.Y.
Arlin Troyer, '95, moves to the Rogers Park area of Chicago in late spring 2002 to begin a PCA multi-ethnic church plant. He is currently associate pastor of West End Community Church, Nashville, Tenn.
Tae Hoo Lee, '96, was ordained on November 30, 2001
in the Pure
Presbyterian Church and called to pastor the Campus Mission Church, an
outreach to Korean students in NYC, meeting at Columbia University. Tae
Hoo just started writing a monthly column in the Korean journal Gospel
and Context entitled "Philadelphia Focus."
Matt Boulter, '00, has been called by the session
of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Austin, Tex., as assistant pastor (church
planter). He was ordained on February 24 in the
South Texas Presbytery, PCA.
Wendell Stoltzfus, '00, was ordained and installed as an evangelist and will be the organizing pastor of Living Word OPC, Pottstown, Pa.
Sandy Haas, '01, was ordained by the American Baptist Churches, USA on May 19, 2001, while serving as a chaplain at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J.; and accepted a call to serve as the interim pastor of the First Baptist Church, Morrison, Ill., beginning January 7, 2002.
Courtney Miller, '01, was ordained and installed as pastor of Hudson/St.-Lazare Reformed Presbyterian Church in Hudson, Quebec, on August 17, 2001. Before attending Westminster, Courtney worked for eight years at Tyndale House Publishers (Wheaton, Ill.) and seven years at God's World Publications (Asheville, N.C.), in sales, marketing, and operations.
Deaths
Carl McIntire, '31, on March 19, 2002. Founder of Faith Theological
Seminary and the Bible Presbyterian Church, he was among the students
at Princeton Theological Seminary who left in 1929 when Machen formed
Westminster. He became pastor of Collingswood [N.J.] Presbyterian Church
in 1933 where he remained for more than sixty years. A staunch anti-Communist
and opponent of issues ranging from liberal social mores to the FCC's
Fairness Doctrine, he was described by Martin Marty as "the most
consistent fundamentalist of the twentieth century." He was 95.
Henry P. Baak, '42, on September 4, 2001. A graduate of Calvin College and Seminary, he served Presbyterian congregations in Canada and Iowa, and Christian Reformed congregations in Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota. Upon retirement in 1981, he went to Oakdale CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich., as pastor of visitation. Mr. Baak also served the CRC on the boards of World Missions, Publications, and Calvin College and Seminary. He was 84.
H. Wilbur Aulie, '60, on September 12, 2001, in Mexico, at 84. He was a missionary to the Ch'ol Indians of Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico, for over 45 years. He and his wife translated the entire Bible into Ch'ol, a Mayan language. Mr. Aulie was buried among the Ch'ols on a mountain ridge where he used to walk each morning to pray. He lived to see the day when the farthest village had its congregation of believers.
In Memoriam
W. David Luikaart November 2, 1933 - February 21, 2002
Long-time board member W. David Luikaart, 68, of Grand Rapids, Mich.,
died Thursday, February 21, on a business trip in Dalton, Ga. He was chairman
of the development committee of the board of trustees and chairman of
the Westminster Foundation. Involved on the boards of several Christian
organizations, he was active for many years in Gideons International,
and was formerly international president. Westminster has lost a trusted
and respected voice on its board. He will be greatly missed.
Rex H. Anderson January 1, 1920 - March 31, 2002
Former member of Westminster's board of trustees, Rex H. Anderson, 82,
died peacefully in his sleep on Easter Sunday morning. A resident of Villanova,
Pa, he spent fifty years in the life insurance industry, retiring as senior
vice president of the Life Insurance Company of North America to become
the U.S. representative of Group des Assurances Nationales, Paris, France.
He served as a ruling elder at Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia,
Pa., and taught a weekly Bible study that he and his wife hosted in their
home for twenty-three years. He loved the Lord, he loved the Bible, and
he loved to hear the gospel preached.
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