FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Sermon by Dr. George Bryant Wirth

Founders’ Sunday

January 13, 2008

PORTRAITS OF THE PAST

Scripture: Hebrews 11 (selected verses) – 12:2

INTRODUCTION

When I was a newly ordained pastor in 1973, and just beginning as the youth minister of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in suburban Philadelphia, I remember attending a Presbytery meeting held at the historic Arch Street Church in downtown Center City.

Wandering around during the morning coffee break, I bumped into an older man wearing a clerical collar and a three piece suit with a watch chain in his vest pocket. Looking like a character out of a Charles Dickens novel, he introduced himself as “Dr. G. Hall Todd, Senior Pastor of the congregation.” Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he said to me “It seems that you are interested in this church. Would you like to see the Session room?”

Before I could say “pre-destination,” he ushered me into an old and musty library with a long table and chairs in the center, surrounded by dusty bookshelves and walls full of framed pictures and photographs.

The guided tour lasted almost an hour, and before he released me from captivity, Dr. Todd pointed toward an enlarged snapshot of three men in overcoats and top hats, standing in the Philadelphia train station with a locomotive engine behind them. He asked if I recognized anyone, and again, before I could answer, he said “That man is Dr. Clarence Macartney who was my predecessor at Arch Street. There I am, 25 years old, having just been installed here in the winter of 1924. And that man between us was a great Presbyterian and my close friend and mentor named William Jennings Bryan.” I finally got a word in edgewise and replied “Dr. Todd, that was just a year before the Scopes trial.” He nodded his head and said “Exactly right, young man, and don’t ever forget, William Jennings Bryan won that case!”

When Dr. Todd died some time ago, I believe he had set the record for the longest tenure as pastor of a Presbyterian church. And I will never forget that day in 1973, because I was surrounded by and standing in the presence of the history of a community of faith.

I

That is exactly what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews was trying to convey around 67 or 68 A.D. as the first century church was facing persecution by the Romans. Dr. Louis Evans, Andie Goodrich’s father who has been widely recognized as one of the leaders in our denomination, wrote a Biblical commentary on Hebrews which includes this historical and insightful observation:

“The first of the persecutions under the Emperor Nero began around 64 A.D., shortly after which the practice of Christianity became a crime…So it appears probable that this epistle was written sometime between the beginnings of Roman persecutions and the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The writer might well have had all of this in mind when he wrote ‘The old is … about to pass away’ – Hebrews 8:13.” (From “The Communicator’s Commentary: Hebrews” by Dr. Louis H. Evans Jr., Word Books, Waco, Texas, 1985, page 30)

So as those mostly Jewish and newer Gentile Christians in Rome and Jerusalem and throughout the empire faced persecution and navigated through the storm, the author of Hebrews encouraged them to stand firm on the foundation that had been laid by their forbears.

And almost as if they and we were inside a room with portraits hanging on the walls for all of us to see, the writer reminds his readers about the lives of those leaders going back to Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph and Moses and the long line of faithful women and men who followed after them, saying that “By faith, our ancestors received approval” (11:1) and they took hold of the promises of God.

We call them “the cloud of witnesses” and the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims that they are the ones whom God called and ordained to establish the foundations of our Judeo-Christian Tradition.

So it was 160 years ago when God chose 19 men and women, together with their stated-supply pastor John S. Wilson, to found this Presbyterian Church to which we belong today. The date was January 8, 1848, and as I read their names, try to picture those founders in your mind’s eye:

Keziah Boyd, Margaret Boyd, Henry Brockman, Ruth A. Brockman, C.J. Caldwell, Lucinda Cone, James Davis, Jane Davis, H. A. Fraser, Julia M.L. Fraser, Jane Gill, Annie L. Houston, Oswald Houston, Joel Kelsey, Minerva Kelsey, Harriet Norcross, Joseph Thompson, Mary A. Thompson, Mary J. Thompson.

Within four years, the founders and other members who joined them, built a red brick church downtown on Marietta Street which was “topped with a square white belfry that was empty. No bell was ever installed (wrote Franklin Garrett) because John Silvey, whose house was nearby and who went to bed at 7 PM, gave a generous contribution in return for which it was agreed that there would be no bell to interrupt his early nocturnal rest.” (From “A Church On Peachtree” by Beth Dawkins Bassett, 1998, page 21)

As the congregation grew in spirit and in size, another church building was constructed on the same site in 1879, until we finally moved here to the corner of 16^th and Peachtree and dedicated this sanctuary to the glory of God in 1919.

II

To be sure, all of those sacred places have been important to the worship and witness of this church down through the years. But as you know, the church is not only a sacred place built long ago – the church is also a sacred people, the Body of Christ, joined together by faith – generation after generation after generation.

The Apostle Paul called it “a great mystery” (Ephesians 5:32), but he tried to describe it in his Letter to the Ephesians:

We are also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, and in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Do you know what that means? It means we are spiritually connected to all those who have gone before us, and are joined “at the hip” and in our hearts by faith in Jesus Christ who is the center – the cornerstone – of our life together.

And Sunday after Sunday as we worship in this sanctuary, the Bible says that our forbears are here with us – “that great cloud of witnesses,” “the communion of saints” – not like ghosts but rather a heavenly host of those who have died and are now cheering for us from their balcony view on the other side.

Since 1990 I have been fortunate to know many of them - so have you, and I can still see some of them in my mind’s eye: one of them standing in the narthex at the age of 80, greeting people at the door; another in her 90’s, trying to catch my attention by winking at me; someone else in his mid-70’s who would always doze off in the middle of the pastoral prayer; and just one more to mention by name, Dr. Harry Amos Fifield Jr. who sat over there in the transept and when the sermon was done, he would give me a thumbs up sign and a generous smile, which meant that I just might be able to stay here for a while.

Can you see them too? Portraits from the past, those faithful people who didn’t only come to church but were the church in their time and in this place, going all the way back to 1848! God only knows where and what and who we would be without them, and you and I must never forget nor ever take them for granted.

III

That is surely true for those pastors and preachers whose portraits hang on the wall in the hallway outside of Winship Chapel. We dedicated all of the portraits in 2002, and this brochure – Portraits of Our Pastors – acknowledges the dedicated leadership of Cindy Candler, working together with Susan Daugherty, portrait artist Elise Chalmers, the Archives Committee and the Robinson family for helping to make these remarkable paintings a reality.

Every time I walk by that cloud of witnesses, only one of whom is still alive, I try to imagine what it must have been like to be here in this church during their years of service. And last week, I did some research from this file in our Archives Room to give you a few brief insights about each one of them:

John Simpson Wilson (Stated Supply 1848-1853, Pastor 1858-1873), who began his ministry here with a part-time salary of $104.00 a year and was, as far as we know, “the first to preach the gospel in this city”;

John Elias DuBose (Stated Supply 1854, Pastor 1855-1858), who began as a physician, became a Christian through his wife Carolina’s influence, and helped to guide the congregation through the Civil War;

Joseph Hamilton Martin (Pastor 1874-1882) who was a prolific poet and wrote the hymn of dedication when our second church building was completed;

Edward Hammet Barnett (Pastor 1883-1898) who helped to add 1000 members to our church rolls during his tenure and turned down a salary increase, asking that the amount be added to the fund for charity;

Charles Percy Bridewell (Pastor 1899-1906) who was a highly organized pastor and administrator and included these words every Sunday on the cover of the bulletin: “The attention of the congregation is respectfully invited to the fact that all services begin promptly at the hours indicated”;

Walter Lee Lingle (Pastor 1907-1911), who preached a progressive gospel about race relations and reaching out to the poor, and eventually became President of Davidson College;

Hugh Kelso Walker (Pastor 1912-1914) who was the visionary pastor that helped the congregation make its decision on December 7, 1913, to move to here, the corner of 16^th and Peachtree, which they said back then was “pretty far out”;

John Sprole Lyons (Pastor 1914-1936) who led First Church through the First World War, helped to build out sanctuary including working on the design of the windows with Louis Comfort Tiffany, and was the preacher chosen by WSB Radio to establish what has become the longest continuing religious broadcast in America;

William Vardamann Gardner (Pastor 1936-1952) who at the age of 32 was the youngest minister ever called by this congregation, and led us through the tribulation of World War II and became Chairman of the Board of Columbia Theological Seminary;

Harry Amos Fifield Jr. (Pastor 1953-1976) who helped this church navigate through the Civil Rights Era and the Viet Nam War, reached out and invited The Temple to hold their services here after they were bombed in 1958, ministered to our people and entire city after the Orly plane crash in 1961, and encouraged us to begin our community ministry with Bob Bevis and Alice Brown in the 1970’s; and

Paul Thornton Eckel (Pastor 1977-1988) during whose dynamic preaching and teaching ministry our church established the Women’s Shelter, Sunday homeless prayer breakfast, Atlanta Ministry with International Students and our television broadcast program, and who had the great wisdom to help bring Rev. Charles Black and Charlie and Diane Whittaker here to begin their ministries twenty years ago.

Those are some of the things I think about as I walk past those portraits on the wall, as well as the advice someone gave to me when I came here in 1990, saying that “If anyone ever strongly recommends that George Wirth’s portrait should be done, it’s probably time to pack your bags and move on.”

And I have to tell you that walking past those portraits I always remember Naomi Byrd, rest her soul, who was the executive secretary here in 1990. The first day I was on the job she said to me, “George, I’m going to retire soon, but I have served under five pastors and associate pastors in this church and I want you to know I’m still a Christian.” May she rest in peace.

CONCLUSION

And that leads to the last thing I want to say. I think the eyes of those portraits are looking at us passing by, and asking the question “What are you doing to strengthen the ministry and mission of First Presbyterian Church today?”

You see, we have been left a great legacy by all those who have gone before us in this journey of faith. And in our generation, the responsibility and opportunity to build upon the foundations our forbears laid has been passed on to us. So what better time than now, what better place than here to embrace the call that has come to all of us from the Lord. Sophie read it just moments ago and I’m going to ask you to open your Bibles again so that we can read it together - Hebrews 12:1-2 - and I would like for you to stand with me now as we read together as a sign of our commitment to Jesus Christ:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, Who for the sake of the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

(Hebrews 12:1-2)

That is God’s call my friends, and I hope and pray as we stand on firm foundations today that we will embrace His call and the future which He holds in store for all of us in this great church!

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

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