As of Sunday, 11 October 2009, Westside Presbyterian Church is an officially-recognized church in the Presbyterian Church in America. Jeff was installed as the pastor by Dr. Frank Barker, one of the early pastors in the PCA, and is pastor emeritus of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL, where he was senior pastor until his retirement.
Dr. Barker gave a talk on Zecharaiah 4, and spoke on the Providence of God, and the Provision of God. One inspirational story Dr. Barker shared was on a new believer at a prayer breakfast, who challenged those attending to pray that God would fill the church on Sunday. Since it was Tuesday morning, and there was no time to send out flyers or some other big promotion, it seemed a problem too big to solve. Yet, as Dr. Barker was saying an opening prayer, he could see many cars pulling into the parking lot, just as they had asked. They prayed, and God answered, exceedingly abundantly more than they had even asked for.
So, as Jeff and Betty Jean settle in, they will be organizing bible studies in homes. And, watch this space for information about a special Advent study that you can invite your neighbors to, because even non-Christians like to hear about the shepherds and angels around Christmas.