Photograph provided by Dr. Hyung Yong Park.
We look back 50 years with the eyes of 2023.
Dec. 4-7, 1973, were historic days in the history of the churches in the United States of America. Briarwood Presbyterian Church was the historic place for the founding of the National Presbyterian Church, which is now the PCA. Which means the PCA celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
Personally, this also means that it’s the 50th anniversary year of my ordination. I was ordained by the North Georgia Presbytery on Sept. 29, 1973, before the formation of the PCA; I had received a call from Grace Presbyterian Church in Stone Mountain, Georgia, as an associate pastor. Because I was a teaching elder in the North Georgia Presbytery, I was sent as a legal delegate to the first General Assembly of the denomination that was about to be formed.
I recall that the first General Assembly was joyful, with much enthusiasm for honoring our Sovereign God and committing ourselves to a Christ-centered church with mission-mindedness. I was the only foreign-born delegate there. I signed my name as “Yong H. Park” in the important document, “A Message to All Churches of Jesus Christ Throughout the World from the General Assembly of the National Presbyterian Church” dated Dec. 7, 1973.
I knew many leaders in the North Georgia Presbytery, such as Ben Wilkinson, Charles Dunahoo, Kennedy Smartt, Eugene Hunt, Harold Blankenship, Chip Howell, and others as they prepared a new denomination. They united tightly and prayed hard together for the goal.
During the General Assembly, I became acquainted with many faithful leaders who committed themselves to form a denomination based on the Reformed doctrines of the Bible. I remember Jack Williamson, Morton Smith, Don Patterson, Aiken Taylor, Cecil Williamson, Todd Allen, Frank Barker, Tom Cheely, James Baird, David White, Bill McIlwaine, John Kyle, Dan Sulc, David Hall, and Joby Walker.
Among these leaders, some are already in the bosom of God. I did not have the occasion to know all these leaders personally, but I witnessed their faithfulness during the proceedings of the General Assembly. There are many other leaders who committed their lives to form a new Reformed, evangelical denomination. The reason I mentioned the names of these leaders is because I simply want them to be remembered at the 50th Anniversary of the PCA.
During the Assembly, I remember that Dr. Carl McIntire, then the president of the ICCC, visited Briarwood Church to watch over the Assembly, monitoring carefully how the new denomination was being formed. I also remember that Dr. McIntire later commented unfavorably in his publications.
The fathers of the PCA were committed to the Word of God, the inerrant Scriptures, a Christ-centered reforming church, and evangelism in and out of the country.
The Sovereign God used these faithful committed leaders to maintain His church true to the Word of God. The formation of the PCA was, and is, a blessing to the churches of the United States and to the world.
We praise God for the formation of the PCA 50 years ago.
(Lightly edited for clarity)
Dr. Hyung Yong Park is a former MTW Missionary and Emeritus Professor of Hapdong Theological Seminary.