An Era of Presbyterian Unity

In North America, the Presbyterian Church emerged from the Great Awakening with renewed strength, as Enlightenment values nudged clergy and laypersons toward a religious life that tempered the evangelical zeal of New Light clergy and parishioners with the reason and logic valued by Old Light adherents. After roughly two decades of theological extremism, congregations and individuals moved toward moderation and reunification. (See the March 21 Derry 300 article for more background on these events.)

Historian John Fea writes, “The values of love, brotherhood, and unity gained popularity in provincial life as a means of sustaining social cohesiveness and moral order in an era of political instability, imperial war with France, and its corresponding threat to British civilization, demographic changes and ethnic strife stemming from new patterns of immigration, and of course, an acrimonious religious revival.” [1]

With so many enemies at the gates, Presbyterians perhaps subconsciously realized they could no longer afford to make enemies of each other. Moderate Presbyterians accelerated their rise through ongoing support of the College of New Jersey at Princeton (later Princeton University), where Presbyterian ministers received training in the values of both the Enlightenment and of evangelicalism. In short, a new generation of clergy learned that their religious passions (and indeed, all human emotions) must be guided by reason and logic.

Enlightenment-era Presbyterians also cemented their belief in a God of order. Since that period, anyone who has spent much time in a Presbyterian pew (and certainly at a session or presbytery meeting), has become familiar with 1 Corinthians 14:40: “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

The benefits of this renewed unity can be seen in church growth. Fea reports, “Between 1744 and 1770, nearly half of all Presbyterian congregations…constructed, renovated, or enlarged their church buildings.” [2]

Derry Church participated in this trend, raising the structure now known as “Old Derry” in 1769 under the pastorate of Reverend John Roan. That building would serve Derry for over a century, until it was ruled dangerously unstable and demolished in 1883 to make way for the Memorial Chapel. Between 1763 and 1789, Derry also acquired the various pieces of the pewter communion set still in use today.

As the sparks of revolution ignited during the 1760s and 1770s, colonists landed all over a spectrum between absolute loyalty and violent rebellion. Renewed unity in civil and religious ideals among Presbyterians had the politically significant effect of creating more unified opposition to the British crown and its agents. The role theology played in the American Revolution is often debated, but what is true is that religious dissenters frequently became political rebels. In many (though not all) cases, members of the Church of England once again faced down Presbyterians and other protestant dissenters, as they had in the religious wars of the 1600s in Great Britain and Ireland. 

Paying for War

The first battles of the American Revolution were fought at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775 (https://www.nps.gov/mima/learn/historyculture/april-19-1775.htm). But wars seldom begin with the first shots fired. Often, they are rooted in previous conflicts, and new battles rage over old wounds.

From 1754-1763, Great Britain and France vied for control of North America in a conflict known as the French and Indian War (https://history.state.gov/milestones/1750-1775/french-indian-war). Great Britain emerged triumphant—and struggling to pay even the interest on its swollen national debt. Attempting to replenish Great Britain’s coffers, Parliament imposed various taxes on the North American colonies over the next decade.

From Parliament’s perspective, this was fair: Great Britain had protected its colonists’ lives and property from the French and their Indian allies, at great cost; now, the colonists were expected to pay it back. The new taxes rankled many, even when they didn’t lead to episodes of outright violence. As British subjects, many colonists reasoned, weren’t they entitled to British protection? They were, after all, doing the daily dirty work of empire. Now they were expected to pay the government for the privilege? Furthermore, Parliament had no right to tax them anyway, as each colony had its own perfectly legal legislative body that answered to the royal governor and the king, whereas Parliament represented only the people of Great Britain itself.

It was less than a century since the Ulster Scots held off Jacobite forces for 105 days at the Siege of Londonderry in 1689, and memories were long. In their view, the victorious protestant co-regents William III and Mary II had never shown themselves sufficiently grateful. Their successor, Mary’s younger sister, Anne, had overseen the ongoing religious discrimination that eventually impelled so many to leave for North America. Now the Stuarts’ German Protestant cousins, the Hanovers, who inherited the throne upon Anne’s death in 1714, were proving no better. [3] (See the January 25 Derry 300 article for more background on this topic.)

A New Canaan

There was another, more personal, issue at play. Now on their third violently contested frontier in as many centuries, what we might today call generational trauma may have been catching up with the Scots-Irish, whose desire for land and personal security (and the willingness to use violence to secure both) can hardly be overstated.

The Scots-Irish had no scruples about occupying land that did not belong to them, claiming large portions of the frontier by right of conquest and occupancy. In 1731, Pennsylvania secretary James Logan summarized the Scots-Irish perspective in a letter to the Penn brothers, declaring that Scots-Irish settlers believed it to be “against the Laws of God and Nature that so much Land Should lie idle while so many Christians wanted it to labour on and raise their bread.” [4]

A generation later, other Scots-Irish settlers challenged a group of pacifist Quakers, “Joshua was ordained to drive the heathen out of the land. Do you believe the scriptures?” [5]

Their interpretation of scripture and the two centuries of religious warfare at their backs gave the Scots-Irish settlers permission to take the land they needed to secure their own lives and their families’ futures. God had given Canaan over to the Israelites. Here, at last, was the New Canaan God meant for them.

Whatever permission God had given the Israelites to possess Canaan, the British government had no intention of giving the Scots-Irish similar authorization in North America. From the Scots-Irish perspective, both London and Philadelphia honored the claims of various indigenous groups over those of their fellow Christians. Accustomed by the preceding centuries of religious warfare to expect favor from those who shared their beliefs, this was a maddening blow for the Scots-Irish.

However, Great Britain always understood the need for indigenous support to remain the dominant European power in North America. As a result, throughout the late colonial period, government forces razed many unauthorized settlements, curtailing the westward movement of Scots-Irish settlers all along the Appalachian Mountains. Great Britain meant to avoid antagonizing their indigenous allies by allowing its subjects to settle on contested land, but this provided yet another reason for the Scots-Irish to turn against the government when revolution came.

The Conestoga Massacre

In December 1763, these conditions erupted in the most infamous and egregious incident involving the Scots-Irish Presbyterians in this part of Pennsylvania: the massacre of two groups of unarmed Conestoga Indians, including elderly people and young children, living under the direct protection of Pennsylvania’s proprietary government. While the individual names of most of the perpetrators cannot be known, what is certain is that a vigilante group of Scots-Irish Presbyterians now known as the Paxton Boys (they called themselves by various names) traveled down the Susquehanna Valley from Paxton Township, through the townships of Donegal and Derry, recruiting additional Scots-Irish Presbyterians on the way.

The group of about fifty included men from Cumberland, York, Berks, and Northampton Counties as well as Lancaster County, so it is impossible to say how many were members of Derry. [6] However, it is near certain that members of both Paxton and Derry Churches participated in the massacre.

John Elder, then the pastor at Paxton, held immense local power as the leader of the local Scots-Irish community and commander of the Paxton Rangers, a government-authorized frontier militia. From 1775, Elder would serve Derry in addition to Paxton. He certainly was already well-acquainted with both congregations. In the investigation that followed the massacre, the authorities in Philadelphia insisted he must have known the identities of the perpetrators. Elder blamed “some hot headed ill advised persons” and, Pilate-like, washed his hands of the situation, conveniently glossing over any role his own leadership may have played in inspiring the Paxton Boys’ actions. [7] However, his protestations of personal innocence were not enough to prevent his removal as the commander of the Paxton Rangers. Elder was not alone in his reaction, as more than a few prominent Pennsylvanians of the time seemed to think it was more than their lives were worth to try to bring the Paxton Boys to justice.

It is often necessary to provide explanation for violent acts while avoiding justification. In understanding the history of Derry Church, it is essential to note that the Scots-Irish Presbyterians living on the frontier were enraged with a fury born of terror by recent Indian attacks on settlements upriver. [8] In recent months, the Susquehanna Valley had been targeted as part of the Indian uprising named for its most famous combatant, Pontiac’s War (https://susqnha.org/riverroots-pontiacs-war-and-the-paxton-boys/), in which horrific acts of violence were perpetrated by and against both sides.

The Move Toward Revolution

On the frontier, there was no long pause in hostilities between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. Settlers, the proprietary governments of several colonies, and various indigenous powers all battled among themselves and with each other for land and power, creating a world of truly unimaginable brutality. Not without reason, the Paxton Boys and others like them held the British government responsible for leaving them largely unprotected in a dangerous contact zone and denying them the right to possess the land they believed God had ordained for them.

In A Declaration and Remonstrance of the Distressed and Bleeding Frontier Inhabitants of the Province of Pennsylvania, apologists for the Paxton Boys wrote that they considered themselves, “grossly abused, unrighteously burdened, and made Dupes and Slaves to Indians…while at the same Time hundreds of poor distressed Families of his Majesty’s Subjects…were left to starve neglected.”[9] From this perspective, the attack on the protected Conestoga Indians in Lancaster County can be seen as an early episode of armed revolt. John Penn, grandson of Pennsylvania’s founder and then governor, “claimed the assault was a personal affront against him as an agent of the king.” [10]

As the war of words between those who defended and those who opposed the massacre heated up, Lancaster County Chief Magistrate Edward Shippen wrote, “God only knows where this Tragical affair will terminate. I fear the Consequences; yet I am hoping it will not bring on a Civil war.” [11] The Conestoga Massacre alone did not lead to the American Revolution, but there is no question that issues surrounding westward expansion were a major source of conflict and a training ground for combatants. By the time revolution came in 1775, armed violence had long been a defining feature of American life.

Bibliography

Brubaker, Jack. 2010. Massacre of the Conestogas: On the Trail of the Paxton Boys in Lancaster County. History Press.

Fea, John. “In Search of Unity: Presbyterians in the Wake of the First Great Awakening.” The Journal of Presbyterian History (1997-) 86, no. 2 (2008): 53–60.

Kenny, Kevin. 2009. Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn’s Holy Experiment. Oxford University Press.

[1] Fea, 56.

[2] Fea, 59.

[3] The Act of Settlement of 1701 provided for the continuation of a Protestant monarchy. Upon Anne’s death, Parliament passed over roughly fifty Catholics with better claims than George, Elector of Hanover, setting the stage for continued Jacobite uprisings throughout the first half of the 18^th century.

[4] Qtd. in Kenny, 4.

[5] Thomas Wright, qtd. in Brubaker, 23.

[6] Dauphin County was part of Lancaster County until 1785.

[7] Qtd. in Brubaker, 27.

[8] There is much debate over the terms used to refer to the indigenous people of North America. When possible, it is preferable to use the name of the specific group. In this essay, I use “Indian” to encompass several groups (when all participants cannot be known), when the specific group cannot be known, or when—as in the case of the Conestoga Indians—it is the established term.

[9] Qtd. in Brubaker, 48.

[10] Brubaker, 27

[11] Qtd. in Brubaker, 44.

I started my freshman year of college at Point Park University last fall. Entering college not only creates new experiences, but broadens my perspective as a result. 

The major I’m studying (film production) without a doubt opens up pathways to gain new knowledge through versatility. This whole first year has gone by extremely fast as I think to myself how much content I have learned in what seems like such a small period of time. Living on a campus located right in downtown Pittsburgh honestly is a complete culture shock to me coming from Hershey (from a small town to a full on city). When living in a fast paced environment, there is always something going on. This helped me understand even more the importance of living in the moment and finding peace throughout the day. To branch off of this, college is no doubt a gateway into creating connections and meeting new people whether in a class, at a job, or at an event. I came to realize how meaningful this opportunity has become as I am able to get to know people with unique backgrounds, their life stories, as well as getting to study the major I thoroughly enjoy.

Pittsburgh contains a wide variety of museums, restaurants, and events/activities. Just recently Pittsburgh held its St. Patrick’s Day Parade. This parade is one of the biggest parades held in the country as Irish culture is extremely prominent around this region of Pennsylvania. Polish culture also immigrated to this area since perogies are a staple in every restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh. What I love so much about this city is the traditions it still upholds and recognizes its importance in how this city has evolved over a historical period of time. Sports of course is a major part of the society here with three major national teams playing throughout the year. I try to wallow in as much as possible all that goes on in order to carry all the new memories I have gained in a completely different place and tie it with my studies. 

Film is all about telling stories and this is a great setting to start at and eventually develop into other locations. My school gives us the opportunity to come up with our own stories based on our own unique experiences and apply it to a visual medium. I am very grateful to have hands-on learning my freshman year to grasp the beginning fundamentals of such a complex major. During the winter I traveled with a student production in Clairton, PA. My role was a production assistant which was basically entitled to hold lights, put away equipment, and assist with anything else. Even if this is such a little role, this enables my experience to be diverse in this field. From this to where I am now in creating short films with official equipment, I am growing in knowledge and broadening my perspective, going all the way back to stepping foot into Point Park University in Pittsburgh. A new chapter in my life as a student pursuing new adventures.

Editor’s Note: On the first Thursday of each month, the eNews feature article highlights the mission focus for the month. In April we’re lifting up community involvement, and Derry’s partnership with Rebuilding Together Greater Harrisburg. Join Derry members to repair a home in Harrisburg on Saturday, April 27: contact Pete Feil or Charlie Koch for more information.

At Rebuilding Together, we make essential repairs to help our neighbors stay in their homes.

Who We Are

RTGH is an independent 501c3 nonprofit organization with a local volunteer Board of Directors who selects the homes to be worked on, raises the funds and recruits the volunteers to do the work. RTGH employs one part-time executive director who works from home. Overhead is kept to a minimum and funds are utilized where it is most needed: repairing and modifying homes at no cost to the homeowner.

Volunteers are the cornerstone of RTGH’s work, and their investment of time and resources makes a significant difference in our program.  

Repairing homes, revitalizing communities, rebuilding lives. Rebuilding Together’s program reaches out to the most vulnerable individuals within our community—the low-income elderly, the disabled, families with children and veterans of war. They live on a fixed income, so they lack the resources to make the necessary home repairs because they must choose between food, medications and utilities. When a homeowner lacks the financial resources to maintain their home, unhealthy and dangerous situations increase. No one should have to call an unsafe place home.  

Through grants and donations from various sources, volunteers and contractors are able to reach out to these homeowners and make the necessary repairs and modifications to ensure these homeowners live in a safe, warm and dry environment and remain independent—“age in place.” Rebuilding Together Greater Harrisburg is one of the few agencies in the area that provides home repairs and modifications at no cost to the homeowner on a year-round basis. 

Rebuilding Together’s volunteer home inspectors evaluate each home. Assessing the repair needs ensures that the homeowner and family members are living in a safe, warm and dry environment. Elizabethtown College and Messiah University occupational/physical therapy graduate students conduct safety assessments for our homeowners to ensure they are living in a safe and accessible environment. The students generate a report for each homeowner in which the volunteers utilize to help modify the home.  It is a very rewarding experience for the students because it helps them develop their communication skills along with understanding the need within our low-income homeowners.  

Throughout the season of Lent, we talked about listening to the heart of God through a better understanding of Celtic spirituality. The celts of the British Isles believed God could be found in anything and anyone, that God was all around us. God comes to us.

As Christians, we believe God most profoundly comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ. But people killed God among us. We often destroy what is good and what is beautiful and who tells us the truth. We celebrate Easter because that doesn’t keep God from remaining with us, coming back to us again in human form. Easter is finding God even in death… and therefore finding love and life even in death. On Easter the veil is torn between life and death, just as the curtain in the temple was torn on Good Friday. The veil is torn, the boundary is broken, and Jesus comes back—to life, in life, with life for all. 

The early Celtic people who lived in the British Isles believed that you could go to certain places to be closer to God. These places have long been called “thin places.” Thin places are geographic locations scattered throughout Ireland and Scotland where a person experiences only a very thin divide between the past, present, and future — even between worlds, between earth and heaven. These places spoke of meeting, of transitions from one state to another, “where the veil between this world and the next is so sheer you can almost step through.”

Have you ever experienced a thin place? The Isle of Iona, where St. Columba set up a monastery, which we’ll talk more about next week, is said to be a thin place. I found Glendalough, another monastic community south of Dublin, Ireland, to be a thin place, and Inchcolm Island in the middle of the Firth of Forth, within view of Edinburgh.  But I’ve also experienced them in the mountains of Colorado and a stream in the Adirondacks. 

Easter morning is a thin place. Our natural and ordinary world comes close to God this Sunday morning. Two thousand years ago, in ancient Israel, the tomb for a renegade prophet became a thin place. When Jesus was laid in that tomb, his friends and his family, his followers and lovers and devotees, were distraught. It appeared that hope was lost. 

So many of our weak hopes go unfulfilled. The death of those hopes is one of the most common of human experiences. But there is another hope.

On the morning of the resurrection, at the edge of night and day, at the edge of despair, in the thin place that we call dawn, God delivers hope. God says, “I have known the suffering and pain of the world, because I have known them in Jesus the Christ. I have buried that suffering and death in the grave, and I have caused a new life to arise.”

The thin place of Easter proclaims death is not the victor. We are not forever lost. God loves us too much to let death keep us from God. 

May you be drawn into resurrection hope and life this Sunday morning and every morning. May you see the life and love of God at work in the world. May you feel God’s presence in all and through all. And may the Kingdom of God come closer in and through you. 

In the early 1700s, religion was in decline in the British Atlantic world. Two centuries of near-constant religious warfare and intellectual and emotional conflict over the right way to worship and know God left Europe bloodied and exhausted in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. As scientific understanding grew, many people wondered if religion was merely a harmful superstition that could be left in the past. 

The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening

The Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason, emerged partly from this disillusion with religion. In longer estimates, this era lasted from 1680-1820, a period known as the Long Eighteenth Century. Working from a generally secular mindset, Enlightenment thinkers valued rational thought and logic and developed systematic processes for organizing knowledge and understanding the world. 

Theologians (especially those based at major universities) were not immune to the influence of the Enlightenment. During this time, the Protestant religious experience became more institutional and less personal. This perhaps suited those disposed to systematic study, but it proved less popular with the people in the pews and church attendance dropped.

Partly in response to the Enlightenment, a religious revival called the Great Awakening swept the British Atlantic world in the 1730s and 1740s. The Great Awakening was characterized by revivals in which charismatic itinerant preachers worked attendees into an emotional fervor leading to an awareness of personal sinfulness and need of salvation to escape eternal damnation. Great Awakening preachers emphasized the need for a personal, often emotional, conversion experience and a personal relationship with God and downplayed the importance of religious institutions.

It’s tempting to think of the Enlightenment as a secular movement and the Great Awakening as a religious movement. However, that ignores the complexity of the times and the personalities involved, especially among Presbyterians, as the traditional Presbyterian emphasis on education required clergy to undergo rigorous academic training, typically at institutions steeped in the values of the Enlightenment.

Presbyterians had long regarded formal study and its resulting knowledge to be both the primary qualifications for ministers and the primary path to knowing God. At the time of the Great Awakening, ordination required education at a divinity school and subscription to the Westminster Confession. Presbyterian ministers could receive training at the University of Edinburgh, and later at Harvard or Yale. Most Presbyterian ministers in North America either emigrated directly from Scotland or Ulster or traveled there for their education. Even an education at Harvard or Yale removed potential clergy members to New England, far from the centers of Presbyterian population in the Mid-Atlantic colonies.

The Old Light/New Light Schism

Under these conditions, it’s not surprising that fully qualified Presbyterian ministers were scarce in the colonial backcountry, where Scots-Irish Presbyterian communities pressed against the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to Georgia. The lack of called pastors left many pulpits open to itinerant preachers. These men often had not met the requirements for ordination or received permission from the local presbytery to preach to congregations under its care, and they generally preached the gospel according to the Great Awakening.

Predictably, conflict arose, not only among the Presbyterians but among all Protestant denominations in North America. Those members of the clergy and the laity who continued to hold study and knowledge as the primary way to know God and who continued to value the corporate nature of the church and the processes of the institution became known as “Old Lights.” On the other hand, “New Lights” believed that knowledge of God was revealed by the Holy Spirit through a personal conversion experience that saved the converted person’s immortal soul. They privileged the personal relationship with God over participation in a religious community.

In the battle for hearts and minds, Old Lights favored the mind, while New Lights favored the heart. Both clergymen and congregations took sides. (Sometimes the conflict is referred to as “Old Side” and “New Side.”) Each group bitterly accused the other of leading people astray.

In 1741, the year Derry Church acquired a land grant from Thomas and Richard Penn, the Synod of Philadelphia broke into Old Light and New Light factions, and a slim majority of Old Lights managed to evict the New Lights from the synod. (Moderates, perhaps uncomfortable with the way the eviction played out, chose to depart with the New Lights.) The conflict centered on two issues: itinerant preaching and ministerial qualifications. If that sounds dull, the personalities involved were anything but. Marilyn Westerkamp writes, “An outsider might well think that this reasonably small population and geography could have been managed by a single synod, but such an observer would be forgetting the large personalities involved—personalities too vibrant, too doctrinaire, too righteous, to govern themselves together” (3).

One of those personalities belonged to William Tennant, Sr., who arrived from Ireland in 1718. Within ten years, he opened a small, informal school that offered the only training for Presbyterian ministers south of New England. Scoffed at as the “Log College” by those who doubted its ability to produce qualified ministers, Tennant’s school emphasized New Light values. Filled with their mentor’s evangelical piety, Tennant’s students often preached outside their own jurisdictions, sometimes even preaching to congregations with called pastors. 

In another blow for the Old Lights, by the 1730s, pastors who were unable to secure calls in Scotland and Ireland looked to the North American frontier for positions. From an Old Light point of view, both these circumstances meant that unqualified pastors were able to gain membership in presbyteries, where they exercised the same amount of power as anyone else. In other words, the vote of a graduate of the Log College counted the same as the vote of a graduate of the University of Edinburgh. These were the major issues at play in 1741. 

Nor were these issues confined to Presbyterians. Across British Colonial America, clergy and congregations of all denominations self-identified as Old Light or New Light and reached across congregational and even denominational lines to align with those who shared their beliefs.

In Derry’s own Presbytery of Donegal, almost every congregation either left the presbytery entirely or split along Old Light-New Light lines. Derry Church experienced its own schism in these years. As the battle between Old Lights and New Lights was largely a battle between strong personalities, the dates of Derry’s schism indicate that something similar happened here. 

Derry Church’s Schism

In 1741, Derry’s first called pastor was in the ninth year of a “harmonious and spiritually profitable” tenure (“Reverend William Bertram”). Derry Church was lucky to get William Bertram. In many ways, Bertram seems to have been the ideal Presbyterian minister for his era. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh and served in Ulster for many years before immigrating to North America for personal reasons. He had a long career prior to the upheaval of the Great Awakening, and perhaps he served as a stabilizing force. However, the fact that his salary was not always paid suggests disagreement, if not outright dissension, with church leadership. Lawsuits of the era indicate that the laity were known to withhold salaries in an attempt to control clergy. In any case, while Bertram was alive, Derry mostly weathered the schism in the larger church. Still, as early as 1745, Derry’s New Light faction attempted to bring in an energetic, talented young preacher newly arrived in the Susquehanna Valley.

Upon Bertram’s death in 1746, the New Light majority at Derry Church called John Roan. Roan could not have been more different from Bertram. For a start, he was 43 years younger and of a different generation and mindset. His early training as a weaver also indicates a class division. Born in Ulster in 1717, he immigrated to Pennsylvania in his early twenties. He received his training at William Tennant’s Log College and earned a reputation as a troublemaking preacher in Virginia before arriving in the Presbytery of Donegal.

During Roan’s tenure, Derry became a solidly New Light congregation. The Old Light minority left to join an Old Light majority at Paxton Presbyterian Church, which had been served by John Elder since 1738, after an overworked Bertram asked to be relieved of his duties to that congregation in 1736. Like Bertram, Elder was born in Edinburgh and educated at the University of Edinburgh and had emigrated to join family members. Roan served several local New Light congregations, including Derry, until his death in 1775. Synod records indicate that Roan’s career was marked by “points of difficulty” (“Reverend John Roan”). He appears to have been a polarizing figure, and he left all the congregations he served with deep debts.

Reconciliation

The actual divisions between Old Light and New Light clergy were never as deep as they appeared, or as their impassioned preaching must have had their congregations believe. While there were extremists on both sides, a strong contingent of moderates remained, and they served as peacemakers who succeeded in bringing the estranged factions together only 17 years after their initial split. Reconciliation came as tempers cooled, as some incalcitrant personalities joined the church triumphant, as some New Light ministers became alarmed by the extent of the emotional piety they had unleashed among the laity, and as some Old Light ministers found themselves able to compromise.

The Synod of New York and Philadelphia’s Plan of Union of 1758 attempted to address the issues of ministerial qualifications and itinerant preaching that split the Presbyterians in 1741. Some of its major points are familiar to us today:

• Candidates for ministry must produce evidence of education and theological knowledge as well as an experience of personal salvation through grace.
• Clergy must not attack each other publicly but follow the appropriate disciplinary process if they feel a colleague is in error.
• Clergy must ask permission of the called pastor or the presbytery (in case of a vacancy) before preaching outside their own congregations.

Finally, the Plan of Union affirmed the Great Awakening as “a gracious work of God, even tho’ it should be attended with unusual bodily commotions…whenever religious Appearances are attended with the good Effects above mentioned, we desire to rejoice in and thank God for them.” (Synod of New York and Philadelphia qtd. in Westerkamp 15).

Perhaps the most significant indicator of reconciliation was the recognition, upon reunion in 1758, of both sides of the schism of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) as an acceptable location for ministerial education. Founded by New Lights in 1747, that institution’s first decades were marked by instability. However, with the recruitment of Jonathan Witherspoon in 1768, the Presbyterians finally had a leader of national prominence who could serve as a unifying symbol as the head of a respected educational institution located in the heart of North American Presbyterianism.

Derry Church experienced its own reconciliation. Upon the death of John Roan in 1775, Derry called John Elder. Thirty years after the churches along the Swatara split into Old Light and New Light congregations, they reunited. John Elder served as pastor of both churches until his retirement in 1791. For another century, Paxton and Derry would frequently be served by the same pastor.

Division has always been a part of Presbyterian—and American—life and history. As we live through our own era of deep division, may it encourage us to know that reconciliation is also part of our story.

Bibliography

Fea, John. “In Search of Unity: Presbyterians in the Wake of the First Great Awakening.” The Journal of Presbyterian History (1997-) 86, no. 2 (2008): 53–60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23338196.

“Reverend John Elder (1706-1792)” Church Timeline. Derry Presbyterian Church (USA). 2024. https://www.derrypres.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Elder.pdf

“Reverend John Roan (1717-1775).” Church Timeline. Derry Presbyterian Church (USA). 2024. https://www.derrypres.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Roan.pdf

“Reverend William Bertram (1674-1746).” Church Timeline. Derry Presbyterian Church (USA). 2024. https://www.derrypres.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bertram.pdf

Synod of New York and Philadelphia, Minutes, 22 May 1758, printed in Klett, ed., Minutes of the Presbyterian Church, 340-43, citation, 342.

Westerkamp, Marilyn. “Division, Dissension, and Compromise: The Presbyterian Church during the Great Awakening.” The Journal of Presbyterian History (1997-) 78, no. 1 (2000): 3–18. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23335294.

Just as an oak tree grows from a small, sprouted acorn to an enormous, sturdy tree, our church has rooted and grown into the vibrant, healthy family of faith that we know today. I invite you to our hymn festival commemorating the 300th anniversary of Derry Presbyterian Church on March 17 at 4:00 pm. The Sanctuary Choir and Derry Ringers will sing and ring the great hymns of faith in celebration of our rich history.

Under the direction of acclaimed conductor, Linda L. Tedford, we will sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs that have been published in every Presbyterian hymnal dating from the 1551 Genevan Psalter until the present Glory to God hymnal, which we currently use. Our Sanctuary walls will resonate with the joyous sounds of a full orchestra, including brass, strings, woodwinds, percussion, our mighty Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, and the Lee Ann Taylor Memorial Steinway and Sons Concert Grand Piano.

We begin our concert giving thanks for Almighty God’s divine providence as the choir processes in with Tom Trenney’s setting of Earth and All Stars, and the Old Hundredth Psalm Tune, arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, for choir, brass, organ, and timpani.  From the Genevan Psalter of 1551, we sing I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art, often attributed to John Calvin, and more commonly known as Lord of All Good. We pray that God will be glorified through musical pillars, such as How Firm a Foundation, Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty, Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, and A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

Modern lyricist and hymn writer David Gambrell commissioned a new text in honor of Derry’s tri-centennial to the Irish folk tune, Londonderry Air, entitled In Jesus Christ There is a New Creation. Our choir is honored to share this new hymn in its world premiere. In keeping with our Celtic roots, we are led to sing Be Thou My Vision, set to the traditional Irish tune, Slane.

Derry Ringers will envelop you with the sounds of bronze as they present Te Deum Laudamus, a riveting setting by Cathy Moklebust, and Crown Him with Many Crowns, elegantly arranged by D. Linda McKechnie. Other choral works featured are Allen Pote’s beautiful arrangement of The Lord is My Shepherd, and American composer Aaron Copland’s interpretation of the spiritual Shall We Gather at the River. The choir will conclude the program with John Rutter’s benediction, The Lord Bless You and Keep You.

I invite you to join us under the oaks for an afternoon of worship-filled hymn singing, as we glimpse the pages of our history through songs of faith and stories of our founders.  Let us worship together through music and the spoken word, giving thanks to God for 300 years of ministry on these sacred grounds.

Editor’s Note: On the first Thursday of each month, the eNews feature article highlights the mission focus for the month. In March we’re lifting up the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. 

Millions of people around the world lack adequate housing, clean water, sustainable food sources, education, and the opportunity to manage their own affairs. For 75 years the Presbyterian Church (USA) has come together in the season of Lent to support the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) and to help improve the lives of people and communities struggling to overcome these challenges. The OGHS Offering at Derry is shared equally with three programs administered by PCUSA and Bridges to Community (BTC), a non-profit organization with long ties to Derry, who are building homes in the Dominican Republic. 

The three PCUSA programs supported by OGHS are: Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Self-Development of People and the Presbyterian Hunger Program. 

PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (PDA) is well-known for its rapid response to national and international disasters by supplying funds to help initiate the recovery process. Through its long-term partnerships with several Middle East church councils, PDA has been able to respond to the recent earthquakes in Syria and Turkey and humanitarian needs in the Ukraine and Israel and Palestine.  

PRESBYTERIAN HUNGER PROGRAM (PHP) is working to alleviate hunger and eliminate the root causes. Some of this is accomplished through providing animals, bees, and seeds, promoting better crop selection and agricultural methods, fair trade practices, and family gardens. PHP also seeks to supply better and more nutritional foods, secure loans for income-producing projects, tree planting, establish wells for clean water, and sanitation systems, as well as addressing labor and environmental pollution issues. 

SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE (SDOP) works in partnership with people in low-income communities in the United States and around the world to overcome oppression and injustice. The aim is to invest in communities responding to their own challenges of oppression, poverty and injustice, thus helping them to develop solutions to their particular problems in areas such as youth-led activities, disabilities, farming, skills development, and immigration/refugee issues.  

Derry has been involved with Bridges to Community since its founding more than 30 years ago, in building new homes in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic and providing Bible school activities for the community. In June we will return to the Dominican Republic to help build a house for a needy family. By working with the family, local masons, and community members, a safe and secure house can be completed in about one week. Additionally, with the BTC model, new homeowners are encouraged to pay into their local community fund, which can then be used by the community at their discretion for selected improvement projects. 

The Mission and Peace Committee has set a goal of $19,000 for this year’s OGHS Offering. You may give online or by check payable to Derry Church and notated OGHS. Place it in one of the OGHS envelopes available in the pew racks, and drop the envelope in an offering box. Taken together, your contributions to the OGHS Offering, with our goal of $19,000, will enable both PCUSA and BTC to assist many needy people with the opportunity to improve their quality of life. Thank you, Derry, for your generous support! 

On a recent Saturday morning, I opened my inbox and read about how a respected  New York Times journalist was scammed out of $50,000 for answering a call on her cell phone from someone “calling to check unusual activity on her Amazon account.” 

The next article that popped up told about a social media post in which Jennifer Aniston promised to sell MacBook Pro computers for just $10. These scam videos on Facebook and Instagram used audio deepfakes of celebrities like Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Kylie Jenner, and Vin Diesel to hawk fake product giveaways and investment opportunities.

Then there was a weekend last month when many of you reached out to Pastor Stephen because you received suspicious emails that looked like he sent them, but were really phishing emails from bad actors trying to hook you into falling for a scam. 

As these bad actors refine the uses of artificial intelligence, all these kinds of scams will become more prevalent and more difficult to spot. What can you do to protect yourself? 

First, be skeptical of every email, text message, and phone call you receive. Look carefully at the email address: is it really from the person claiming to send the message? If you can set your cell phone to block unknown callers, do it. If it’s an important call from someone not on your contact list, the person will leave a message that you can return right away. 

Whenever an unknown caller asks for personal information or claims to be from your bank or a provider you use, HANG UP IMMEDIATELY. Then YOU call your bank or the provider and ask if they are trying to reach you. 

Next, don’t just delete junk mail that comes into your inbox: instead, send it to your junk or spam folder. That action trains your mailbox to learn what is junk and what is legitimate email. It’s good practice to go into your junk/spam folder every week or two and scan through those messages to make sure it’s not holding good emails. Send the good stuff to your inbox (or mark as “not junk”) and erase the rest.

I’ve been very pleased with Gmail as an email provider. It’s free and does an excellent job of keeping junk mail out of my inbox. If you are using Verizon, AOL, or Comcast as your mail provider, I urge you to close that account and move to Gmail. Yes, it’s a hassle to make the change, but in the long run well worth the effort. You can do it in small steps over time, and before you know it, you’ll have made the switch.

Topics like these come up every week in Tech Time, the Zoom gathering I’ve been hosting every Monday afternoon from 1-2 pm since the pandemic started in 2020. Some regulars have been with me from the beginning, and new folks drop in regularly to ask a question or share a good idea they’ve learned. I love having the opportunity to learn something new every week, because I sure don’t have all the answers. Together we’ve tackled questions about using cell phones and iPads, tested new Zoom features, discussed whether password managers are a good idea (yes!), learned how to take screenshots and how to use CarPlay, and much more. Recently Derry member Lauren June dropped by and presented an excellent tutorial on Pinterest. 

I invite you to join us on any Monday afternoon that works in your schedule:  just click this link. You’re welcome to drop in, ask a question and duck out, or stick around for the hour.  If there’s a topic you’d like to know more about, let me know and we’ll make it happen. 

Tech Time started as a way to practice using Zoom when it was new to all of us, and it’s continued because technology is constantly evolving and changing, and it’s not easy for any of us to keep up. Just having a forum to share frustrations, ask questions, and learn how to stay safe has been helpful. I hope you’ll join us.

“Neighbor” is an idea that we are familiar with.  A very well-known story about being a neighbor is the Good Samaritan. Mr. Rogers asks, “won’t you be my neighbor?” The language of neighbor is common, but like many frequently used words, the depth of meaning can be lost in the frequency of use.  Two pivotal questions we can glean from the Good Samaritan story in Luke are, “who is our neighbor?” and “how do we love our neighbor?” These questions are very important for us and for the church to consider.  

Often, we think in terms of membership and how to incorporate others into our community. However, being a neighbor does not require incorporation. We see this with the Samaritan man as he stays the Samaritan man throughout the entire story.  We also understand neighbor to mean a person or group who is close to us, or those with whom we are most likely to interact. Our current age of interconnectedness would have this definition include all people. The Guardian wrote an article where researchers checked 30 billion electronic messages and found that we can be connected to anyone through 6.6 people, beginning with someone you know.  

By studying billions of electronic messages, they worked out that any two strangers are, on average, distanced by precisely 6.6 degrees of separation. In other words, putting fractions to one side, you are linked by a string of seven or fewer acquaintances to Madonna, the Dalai Lama and the Queen. (Smith, 2008)

The ways in which we interact with the world are vastly different now than 30 years ago as we have entered this age of connection where millions of people are accessible through the phone in our pocket.

While the number of our neighbors have grown, I wonder if the way we are to love them has stayed the same. How do we as individuals or as a church love our neighbors? The Samaritan recognized the needs of his neighbor and provided for him.  Fred Rogers created a television show with the message that we are all valuable and special. 

There is a special story about Fred Rogers learning about and providing for the needs of another. Fred Rogers would feed his fish on every show, and while he fed his fish, he would narrate that he was feeding his fish. He began narrating this without any public explanation. It was later understood that Fred Rogers received a letter from a concerned little girl who was blind and worried that Mr. Rogers’ fish were hungry because she never heard him feeding them. Mr. Rogers responded to this by making sure to narrate his feeding of the fish so the little girl would not worry.  

Every situation is unique and there is not one prescription for how to love all our neighbors. However, if we look and listen to those we share the world with, we will find many opportunities to be a good neighbor. 

Facing religious discrimination and economic and political pressure in Ireland in the early 18th century, thousands of Ulster Scots saw a dismal future with little hope of providing a good life for their families. Their Presbyterian faith led them to believe that by working hard and following Christian practices, God would give them a good life. 

Across the Atlantic Ocean, William Penn had established a colony founded on the practices of religious toleration, participatory government, and “brotherly love.” Scots-Irish immigrants learned that Pennsylvania had opportunities and available land to free them from the financial, social, and political difficulties they faced in Scotland and Ireland. 

William Penn founded his colony on Quaker principles of non-violence and religious toleration and believed white Christians, indigenous Christians, and non-Christians could live peacefully together. 

In 1682 Penn purchased land from the Lenape tribe and hoped to sell it to settlers to pay off his debts. He also desired to foster trade with the Native Americans and establish a military defense for residents. In his book, Peaceable Kingdom Lost, historian Kevin Kenny noted that after the Great Agreement of 1701, Penn and the Conestogas promised to live together peacefully. The humane treatment of the indigenous people was an essential segment of Penn’s vision. 

Around 1700, the Ulster Scots began leaving Ireland for a new life in Pennsylvania. Arriving in Philadelphia and Delaware ports, it did not take long for them to feel unwelcome. The Quakers who ruled the new colony did not always follow Penn’s practice of absolute religious toleration. Numerous restrictions were placed on non-Quakers, limiting their full participation in the colony’s political, social, and economic life. 

Since most of these immigrants were tenant farmers, living in and around Philadelphia did not offer the opportunities they desired. At this time,  Pennsylvania’s frontier was 40-50 miles west of Philadelphia, including what later became Lancaster and Lebanon counties. 

Many Indian trails crisscrossed the rolling hills and forests. Such an Indian trail passed near the spring that ran behind Derry Church. The trail stretched from the Manada Gap to the headwaters of the Conewago Creek. These trails were rough and rocky. However, the determined Presbyterian, Mennonite, River Brethren, and Moravian immigrants made their way westward in increasing numbers. So many were coming, and their arrival seemed like a swarm of bees. 

While Penn insisted on legitimately purchasing Indian lands, these newcomers felt the land was theirs. “It was against the laws of God and nature that so much land should be idle, while so many Christians wanted it to labor on and to raise their bread,” wrote Israel Daniel Rapp, in his 1847 book, History and Topography of Northumberland, Huntington, Mifflin, Union, Columbia, Juniata, and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania. 

Settlers occupied the hills around the settlements in Pennsylvania. They marked their property by cutting their initials in trees on the boundary of what they considered theirs, then cut circles in the bark to kill the tree. They refused to pay the Native Americans for the land, believing that God owned it.

According to historian Luther Kelker, the settlers would build a church soon after clearing some land, building simple dwellings, and planting crops. The farmers often did not remove tree trunks and roots, and simply planted them with crops set out around them. They often planted various grains, beans, peas, and turnips.

The settlers kept goats, pigs, cattle, sheep, and a horse or two for plowing. As time passed, settlers often built grist mills and tanneries, with distilleries often added later. Colonial wives spun flax, milled the corn, worked in the fields, while bearing and raising large families of up to 10-15 children. 

Days were long and strenuous, but the men would gather at the tavern to  exchange stories and catch up on local and international news . Magisterial courts met there, and the taverns often served as polling places. 

While German farmers were frugal, well-organized, and interested in improving the land, the Scots-Irish settlers were not known for being good stewards of the land. They often farmed the soil while it was fertile and then moved westward when the soil stopped being productive. 

While working to create a good life on the frontier, immigrants saw the need to establish a church. In the early 1720s, at least three Presbyterian congregations began gathering for worship. For the Derry congregation, at first worship was held outside, by a spring. At times, worship services would be held in homes. 

As the Presbyterian congregations grew, these new worship communities requested formal recognition as a congregation from the Presbytery. After several years of meeting without the leadership of an ordained minister, members of Derry Church applied to Donegal Presbytery In 1729 to be recognized as an established church and to request that they be served by an ordained minister. In response, Donegal Presbytery directed Reverend James Anderson, then serving as Pastor to Donegal Springs Presbyterian Church, to attend to Derry Church every fifth Sunday. 

In 1732, when Derry called its first pastor, Reverend William Bertram, a small log building, the Session House, was erected. In 1734, a second structure was built to serve as a sanctuary. In 1769, a larger structure the “Old Derry” Meeting House was constructed. 

On the frontier, the church became an important social center. People traveled long distances to attend day-long worship services often held just once per month. Services began around 10 a.m. and included two sermons, hymns, and prayers. Between discourses, adults lingered in small groups discussing local happenings while children and youth enjoyed playing with each other. At noon, the entire congregation settled underneath the trees to enjoy picnics brought from home. 

Presbyterian ministers were hard to find on the frontier. The Presbyteries required ministers to have a classical education, including theology, Greek, and Latin before they could be considered for ordination. If the itinerant preachers did not have this background, the Presbyteries required them to return to Scotland to study at Edinburgh University. Once Princeton was established (1746), most ministers received their training there. 

Because of the shortage of qualified ministers, it was common for a clergyman to serve more than one church. Reverends James Anderson and William Bertram, Derry’s earliest ministers, both served several congregations, often visiting newly established congregations a few times a year, in addition to their more regular service to their called church. 

During these years, social, economic, and political challenges were plentiful. While most descendants of the Scots-Irish settlers moved on as the soil became less productive, they left an enduring heritage in this area. Building upon their religious and political views, they laid the foundation for our new nation and the challenges ahead.

For further reading:

Kelker, Luther Reilly. History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. United States: Lewis Publishing Company, 1907. 

Kenny, Kevin. Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn’s Holy Experiment. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 

Rapp, Israel Daniel. History and Topography of Northumberland, Huntington, Mifflin, Union, Columbia, Juniata, and Clinton Counties, PA. (1847)

Over the past several months, Jill Peckelun and I have had the privilege of working with Derry’s 3rd-5th graders on a picture book history of Derry Church. We are often joined by Pam Whitenack, who answers many questions about Derry’s history on the spot, and Kristy Elliot, who provides student support. 

Plans for this project emerged last year as the Derry 300 Committee imagined ways to include children’s voices in the Derry 300 celebrations. During the 2023-24 program year, Jill and I have met with an average of about ten children per week during Creation Time on Tuesday evenings to write and illustrate the story of Derry Church. 

We decided to tell the story through the evolution of Derry’s physical space. 3rd-5th graders are just developing the capacity for the kind of abstract thought that deep study of history requires, so we decided to connect all the abstract names, dates, and ideas to a space they already knew well and now know even better—their own church.

We divided our project into several topics. So far we have written and illustrated pages about the Session House, Spring, and Cemetery, Old Derry, and the John Elder Memorial Chapel. Jill and I have developed the following process for researching, illustrating, and writing about each topic. 

First, we do a site visit to a relevant location in the church to draw from life, or we draw from pictures in Derry’s archives. Jill takes the children’s sketchbooks and painstakingly selects images from each of the children’s drawings to create a composite collage. Next, the children use crayons to add color to the composite image. Jill then repeats the process, creating the final image by scanning and collaging the color images. We’d like to thank Sue George for lending her technical expertise to aspects of this process.

Through this process, I’ve been able to introduce some of the concepts of historical work, including primary sources (those contemporary to the period under study) and secondary sources (those created later from primary sources). Primary sources used on this project include photographs, artifacts, and of course, the building itself. For our secondary source, we rely on Bobbie Atkinson’s April 27, 2023 Long Read, which details the history of our buildings. We begin our study of a particular topic by reading the relevant portions of this article to get a general overview, and we revisit it throughout our study.

To produce the text, I begin by listening to the children talk as they work. Sometimes I ask them questions about what they are drawing and why. I note what they tell me. Toward the end of the process, I ask, “What did we learn? What do we feel is important for others to know?” I note that down, too. Finally, I take all the language they have given me and shape it into a narrative.

My star word for 2024 is delight, and it has truly been a delight to work on this project. Here are a few of the standout moments:

• Taking the children outside to sketch the Session House, Cemetery, and Spring. It was such a blessing to hear their kind words for the saints resting in our cemetery, those they knew and those who lived long ago. Several of them asked if there was any way to go inside the Session House, so we are working on possibilities for taking them in one or two at a time when it is safe. I have learned that kids love the Session House! (It’s a little house under glass in the parking lot. Who wouldn’t?)
• Participating in a Tuesday night worship service. In November, Pastor Stephen led a Tuesday evening worship in the Chapel with communion. The kids sat around the chancel to sketch the artifacts that remain from Old Derry, including furniture and the pewter communion set. 
• Watching the kids get so excited about artifacts from the Heritage Room! We meet in Room 6, which is conveniently located next to the Heritage Room. It was such a joy to see the kids show so much interest in the various objects Pam Whitenack pulled out one evening and debate with each other and us about their possible uses.
• Helping a table of kids study images of the Chapel to put them in chronological order—an activity they began spontaneously out of their own interest.
• Meeting with a small but dedicated group the night of a snowstorm to tour the chapel with Pam and ring the bell.
  

It’s not often in life you realize you’re doing one of the most important things you’ll ever do while you’re doing it, but I have experienced that feeling while working with these children on this project. 

Jill and I are often astounded by the children’s work, by their wisdom and talent. Looking with new eyes, they often show us things we missed. I hope that the children who work on this project will take the skills and confidence and knowledge they’ve gained into whatever they do next and into their eventual vocations. I don’t call this a children’s book, because it isn’t just for children. It’s a picture book, and picture books are for everyone. 

You’ll have your opportunity to pre-order this one in the spring. In the fall, we will celebrate the book’s arrival with a book launch party at a special post-worship fellowship.

Thank you for your support of the children and this project. To learn more, check out the bulletin board across from Room 6 or ask a 3rd-5th grader about their experience. We look forward to sharing the book with you.

Editor’s Note: On the first Thursday of each month, the eNews feature article highlights the mission focus for the month. In February we’re lifting up homelessness and our mission partner, Family Promise of Harrisburg Capital Region.

Steve came to Family Promise HCR with his 12-year-old son and two-year-old daughter. They had spent the last year in a hotel, and the expense chewed through their savings. The next step was living in his car, which would place him in danger of losing custody of his children. 

That’s when they applied to Family Promise HCR. He entered the program in a very stressed state, with a constant knit in his brow. Unfortunately, stories like his are not unique.

Family Promise HCR has spent the last year:

• Housing 14 families, including 23 children. 
• Beginning the UP programs in July 2023:
  • Move UP assists with back rent and security deposits: 23 families benefited.
  • Wheels UP provides funds for car repairs and back car payments: seven families benefited. 
  • Heads UP assists with mental health visits for those who have experienced homelessness.
• Working with 100 individuals looking for work, as a program management site for the United Way’s Road to Success program.

Our UP programs and Road to Success help divert families from homelessness. This is so important, because once a family has an eviction, it is much harder for them to find a landlord willing to rent to them.  

We don’t do this alone. We are a part of over a dozen coalitions or groups throughout the area representing hundreds of partner service organizations. This includes the Brethren Housing Association (BHA), where we hold a Road to Success “Job Club” and Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness, where Stacey Coldren, our Program Director sits on the board. We work with the Healthy Steps Diaper Bank to receive diapers for our guests. And we partner with organizations including Christian Churches United to share resources whenever possible, like the over abundance of hats and scarves we received and donated to the Overnight Women’s Shelter. 

Our families stay in our Day Center during the day, and in the evening stay at our network of ten host congregations. They transform three rooms into a cozy space to shelter our families in the evenings, and provide an evening meal and hospitality.

Steve graduated from the program. A local congregation that wanted to use one of its rental properties for mission work rented to him and his family. They gave him a reduced rate and took a chance on his rough credit report. This month it’s been one year since the move and the family is thriving! No more knit in his brow.