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Articles
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| 200th Anniversary Celebrated |
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February 7th @ 3:00 p.m. @ Columbia. Bring finger foods for fellowship afterwards.
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200th Anniversary of the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
When Rev. Samuel McAdow looked out his cabin window in the wintry late afternoon of February 3, 1810, and saw three men approaching on horseback, he probably knew it was going to be a long night! They were no strangers to him - ministers Finis Ewing and Samuel King, accompanied by a man who had been licensed to preach though not yet ordained, Ephraim McLean, Ewing's brother-in-law. McAdow knew they would propose the constitution of a presbytery, which required at least three ordained ministers. This had been discussed for a while. The fact that these colleagues had traveled some distance in cold weather indicated that matters were coming to a head. Upon listening to their concerns and their request of him, McAdow declared that he must go to a secret place for prayer. The next day, having received illumination of the Holy Spirit, he announced his willingness to join in the constitution and re-establishment of Cumberland Presbytery. The presbytery's first official act was to ordain Ephraim McLean. So began the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, February 4, 1810.
There will be some who will trace the Founders' steps to Montgomery Bell State Park near Dickson, Tennessee, on February 3 this year, the bicentennial anniversary of the Church. They will gather at The Birthplace Shrine for prayer and singing in the early morning hours of February 4. This February 7th and throughout the year, Cumberland Presbyterian congregations in many places will re-tell this story and feel anew the thrill of what God did in those days of revival and church expansion. In places like Marshall, MO, Bowling Green, KY, Clarksville, TN, Tokyo, Japan, Cali, Colombia, and in hundreds of churches small and large, the spiritual heritage of this Family of God will be celebrated. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church's General Assembly will meet in June in Dickson and its environs, with special observances to mark this anniversary year.
Yet our commemoration is not merely, perhaps not even primarily, a look back. It is, rather, a means of spurring us on in the continuing power and guidance of God's Spirit, to bring the Good News of Christ to the frontier of today's challenging and needy world. Our anniversary celebration does not require that we get every aspect of our history correct. Instead, it calls upon us to re-dedicate ourselves to be the Church God ordained us to be, a Church committed to reaching the lost, a Church devoted to compassionate service in the name of Christ, a Church that faithfully "looks to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith." [Hebrews 12:2]
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Posted on Feb 01, 2010 19:43pm by admin
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