1980 General Assembly in Savannah, Georgia
“Forgetting” is one of the most underestimated dangers in the life of God’s people.
Throughout Scripture, the Lord warns his people against it. Israel forgot God’s deliverance and turned to idols. The Psalmist exhorts his own heart and his hearers’: “Forget not all his benefits” (Ps. 103:2). The Lord’s Supper is Christ’s recurring provision against the slow drift of forgetfulness.
Wayne Sparkman has spent nearly thirty years as director of the PCA Historical Center thinking about what it means to remember well. “Our task is to make a record of what God has done and is doing among His people,” he said. “It is as simple as that.”
Simple, but not small. The Historical Center houses one of the largest archives devoted to American Presbyterianism including records from six denominations, manuscript collections from over a hundred individuals, and congregational histories spanning more than seven hundred churches. Together, these materials bear witness to God’s guidance.
Sparkman is quick to clarify what remembering is for: “God’s providence stands as a testimony of His covenant faithfulness toward His people.” The goal isn’t nostalgia or historical study for its own sake. We remember not to “live in the past,” but to recognize and more readily respond to the God who is leading us onward.
That conviction drives a new project now underway: a rebuild of the Historical Center’s website, designed to make these archives modern, searchable, and useful to pastors, elders, and members across the PCA.
Your gift to the PCA Administrative Committee helps make this work possible. Will you partner with us in preserving the past and charting a faithful course into the future?
P.S. You can become a “Friend of the Historical Center” and receive future updates. Simply visit www.pcaac.org/historical-center to subscribe.