William S. Barker

Last updated

William Shirmer Barker (born 1934) is an American church historian, educator, and leader.

William Shirmer Barker
Born1934
Education Princeton University, Cornell University, Covenant Theological Seminary & Vanderbilt University
Movement Presbyterian Church in America

Barker studied at Princeton University, Cornell University, Covenant Theological Seminary, and Vanderbilt University. [1] He taught at Covenant College before moving to Covenant Theological Seminary in 1972. In 1977 he succeeded Robert G. Rayburn as President of Covenant Seminary, and served in this position until 1984. He then took up a position as editor of Presbyterian Journal , before returning to teaching, this time at Westminster Theological Seminary. [1]

In 1994, Barker was elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in America. [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian Church in America</span> Conservative Reformed Christian denomination in the United States and Canada

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presbyterian in government.

Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a confessional Presbyterian seminary in Taylors, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1986, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary exists to equip preachers, pastors, and churchmen for Christ's Kingdom. The school is modeled on Old Princeton Theological Seminary of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It teaches the accuracy and doctrinal integrity of the Westminster Confession of Faith, together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as adopted by the Presbyterian Church in America. It is not affiliated with a specific denomination, but graduates of the Seminary minister in denominations such as the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA), Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS), Reformed Presbyterian Church, Free Church of Scotland, Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales (EPCEW), Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), Igreja Presbiteriana do Brasil, Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (ARBCA), Reformed Baptist Network (RBN), Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), Bible Presbyterian Church (BPC), Presbyterian Reformed Church (PRC), and in a number of Independent congregations. The current president of the seminary is Jonathan Master, formerly the Dean of the School of Divinity at Cairn University.

Michael Scott Horton has been the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California since 1998, Editor-in-Chief of Modern Reformation (MR) magazine, and President and host of the nationally syndicated radio broadcast, The White Horse Inn. Both Modern Reformation magazine and The White Horse Inn radio broadcast are now entities under the umbrella of White Horse Media, whose offices are located on the campus of Westminster Seminary California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Murray (theologian)</span> Scottish-born theologian and academic

John Murray was born in Bonar Bridge, Scotland. He was a Scottish-born Calvinist theologian who taught at Princeton Seminary and then left to help found Westminster Theological Seminary, where he taught for many years. He was ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church</span> Protestant denomination

The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARPC), as it exists today, is the historical descendant of the Synod of the South, a Synod of the Associate Reformed Church. The original Associate Reformed Church resulted from a merger of the Associate Presbytery and most of the Reformed Presbytery in Philadelphia in 1782. The northern Synods eventually merged with the forebearers of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Because of its 1782 date of origin, it is one of the oldest of the United States' theologically and socially conservative denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton Theological Seminary</span> Private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, US

Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the College of New Jersey, it is the second-oldest seminary in the United States. It is also the largest of ten seminaries associated with the Presbyterian Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westminster Assembly</span> Seventeenth-century council for English church reform

The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopted by the Church of Scotland. As many as 121 ministers were called to the Assembly, with nineteen others added later to replace those who did not attend or could no longer attend. It produced a new Form of Church Government, a Confession of Faith or statement of belief, two catechisms or manuals for religious instruction, and a liturgical manual, the Directory for Public Worship, for the Churches of England and Scotland. The Confession and catechisms were adopted as doctrinal standards in the Church of Scotland and other Presbyterian churches, where they remain normative. Amended versions of the Confession were also adopted in Congregational and Baptist churches in England and New England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Confession became influential throughout the English-speaking world, but especially in American Protestant theology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bible Presbyterian Church</span> American Protestant denomination

The Bible Presbyterian Church is an American Protestant denomination in the Calvinist tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covenant Theological Seminary</span> Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America

Covenant Theological Seminary, informally called Covenant Seminary, is the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, it trains people to work as leaders in church positions and elsewhere, especially as pastors, missionaries, and counselors. It does not require all students to be members of the PCA, but it is bound to promote the teachings of its denomination. Faculty must subscribe to the system of biblical doctrine outlined in the Westminster Standards.

Robert Scott Clark is an American Reformed pastor and seminary professor. He is the author of several books, including his most recent work, Recovering the Reformed Confession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ligon Duncan</span> American pastor and scholar

Jennings Ligon Duncan III is an American Presbyterian scholar and pastor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fundamentalist–modernist controversy</span> Christian religious issue

The fundamentalist–modernist controversy is a major schism that originated in the 1920s and 1930s within the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. At issue were foundational disputes about the role of Christianity; the authority of the Bible; and the death, resurrection, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Two broad factions within Protestantism emerged: fundamentalists, who insisted upon the timeless validity of each doctrine of Christian orthodoxy; and modernists, who advocated a conscious adaptation of the Christian faith in response to the new scientific discoveries and moral pressures of the age. At first, the schism was limited to Reformed churches and centered around the Princeton Theological Seminary which had fundamentalist faculty members found Westminster Theological Seminary when Princeton went in a liberal direction. However, it soon spread, affecting nearly every Protestant denomination in the United States. Denominations that were not initially affected, such as the Lutheran churches, eventually were embroiled in the controversy, leading to a schism in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Gaffin</span> Chinese-born American theologian and academic

Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. is a Calvinist theologian, Presbyterian minister, and was the Charles Krahe Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1999 to 2008. He became the Professor Emeritus, Biblical and Systematic Theology in 2008.

W. Robert Godfrey is a minister in the United Reformed Churches in North America and formerly served as the third president of Westminster Seminary California. As of 2017 he is president emeritus and professor emeritus of church history. He currently is chairman of Ligonier Ministries, located in Sanford, Florida, a position he took over from the late Dr. R. C. Sproul.

George William Knight III was an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He was a theologian, author, preacher, churchman, and adjunct professor of New Testament at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylors, South Carolina. Formerly, he was the founding Dean and Professor of New Testament at Knox Theological Seminary. Prior to his appointment at Knox Theological Seminary, he taught New Testament and New Testament Greek at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. As a pastor, he planted Covenant Presbyterian Church in Naples, Florida and has served numerous other local churches in the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. A former president of the Evangelical Theological Society, he has also taught and preached the Bible at many other seminaries and churches around the world. He has authored several works, most notably The Pastoral Epistles and a short commentary of Timothy and Titus as included in the Baker Commentary on the Bible. He received his theological doctorate from Free University of Amsterdam in 1968. Dr. Knight was a member of the General Assembly-appointed Ad Interim Committee to study the number of ordained offices in the Presbyterian Church in America according to Scripture. His Ad Interim Report of the Number of Offices by George W. Knight IIIArchived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine was incorporated into the polity of the Presbyterian Church in America. He also served on an ad interim committee to study the issue of marriage, divorce and remarriage, which brought about the 1992 publication of a Position Paper of the Presbyterian Church in America on Remarriage and Divorce, 1992.Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geneva Reformed Seminary</span>

Geneva Reformed Seminary is a small theological school in Greenville, South Carolina, accredited by the Association of Reformed Theological Seminaries and supported by the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. The seminary offers a B.D. and an M.Div. Initially called Whitefield College of the Bible after a companion school in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, the seminary was renamed in 2002 to avoid confusion in the United States where Bible schools and seminaries prepare students at different academic levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterianism in the United States</span> History of the Protestant denomination in the U.S.

Presbyterianism has had a presence in the United States since colonial times and has exerted an important influence over broader American religion and culture.

William P. Brown is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, author, biblical theologian, and the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Samuel Talbot Logan Jr. is an American ecclesiastical historian and Presbyterian minister. He is professor of Church history at Biblical Theological Seminary and former president of Westminster Theological Seminary. He served as president from 1991 to 2005. He is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Logan's tenure was abruptly terminated in 2005 by the seminary's board of trustees due to their perception that he was too inclusive of liberal scholarship.

V. Philips Long, also known as Phil Long, is an American Old Testament scholar.

References

  1. 1 2 "Emeritus Faculty". Westminster Theological Seminary.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  2. Macklin, William R. (8 June 1994). "Teacher Of Church History To Lead Presbyterians He Has Taught In Glenside The Last 7 Years. The Presbyterian Church In America Has 41,000 Members". Philly.com . Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  3. Holmes, Kristin E. (30 June 1994). "Presbyterian Leader Sees Opportunity The Rev. William S. Barker Hopes Groups Can "Communicate Concerns Peacefully."". Philly.com . Retrieved 2 October 2015.
Academic offices
Preceded by President of Covenant Theological Seminary
1977–1984
Succeeded by