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The Westminster Presbyterian Church was founded in the late summer of 1952. The church was born out of a conviction that there were too many separate “Presbyterian” churches who carried different names but believed the same things. One such group of people worked within the Associate Reformed Presbyterian church to bring about reunion between the ARP and the Presbyterian Church, US (what is sometimes still referred to as the old “Southern Presbyterian” church) in 1952. When that effort failed a group of some 250 members of Charlotte’s First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church came together to form the Westminster Presbyterian Church. As our 50th Anniversary history says, “They were confronted by the fact that they had no funds, no furnishings, no equipment, no sponsoring church, no hymnals, no pastor, and no meting place – nothing except an abiding faith and a willingness to work.” Those two traits have served Westminster well over the years – abiding faith and a willingness to work. Events moved quickly. On August 19, 1952 the Mecklenburg Presbytery received Westminster’s petition to join the PCUS and immediately set up a schedule of supply ministers, and appointed a commission to complete the organization of the congregation. On September 14 the congregation was formally recognized and fourteen elders and twenty-one deacons were installed. By the end of that year this remarkable group of men and women bought five acres of land at the intersection of Randolph and Colville Roads – near the southern outskirts of Charlotte in 1952! By April of 1953 the Charter List was closed with 378 members listed. The church was already growing with as yet no building and no full-time pastor! One reason for that early growth was the explosion of programs this intrepid group of pioneers started building or no building. Annual communicant classes for youth, Bible classes, Maundy Thursday programs, Thanksgiving morning services followed by a congregational breakfast and the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service were all started then – and continue to this day. Besides all these, from the very first Sunday this new congregation gathered for worship 25 teachers and 220 students gathered for Sunday school with classes for every age. Westminster’s first Vacation Bible School was organized in June of 1954 and in September of 1957 a Week Day Kindergarten was started and continued until the public school system began offering kindergarten. Today Westminster hosts one of the finest “Four Star” Child Developmental Centers for new-borns through 4 year olds in all of Charlotte. After Dr. Herbert V. Carson’s short tenure as Westminster’s first supply minister the congregation called the Rev. Howard Chadwick in 1953 to be our first pastor. His work among us continued until 1962 and he was followed by Dr. Eugene Poe. A serious illness required him to resign in 1975. His passing shortly after was a cause of great sorrow in the congregation. In 1976 The Rev. Harry W. Philips came to pastor the church and he stayed until August, 1985. A year later the Rev. Tom Sweets came to serve Westminster. While Mr. Sweets was serving the church the Rev. Andrew “Andy” Smith was called as Coordinator of Ministries. When just three years into his pastorate Mr. Sweets needed to attend to family obligations and resigned Mr. Smith stepped into the senior pastor role without missing a beat. In all Andy Smith served Westminster for close to 15 years. In June of 2003 the Rev. Trevor H.G. Smith came as Westminster’s 7th full time pastor. Over the years a number of well loved Assistant and Associate Pastors and youth and community workers – the Rev. Dr. J. Arthur Beard, the Rev. Fred McAlister, the Rev. Drew Smith, Jonathan Hettely, Scottie Welton, Sharon Eckel and Kevin Kroitor – have served this congregation well. Our music ministry has also been well served by many competent organists and choir directors, with Kevin Carmody serving with distinction in that capacity now. Westminster today sees itself falling within the historic, orthodox and evangelical tradition of the church of our Sovereign God. We mean “historic” in the sense that we are a part of the work God has been doing for the last 4000 years. God called out a people for himself starting with Abraham and has continued to raise up and preserve this people as a witness to Jesus Christ and the salvation He won for us when he took our place on the cross and paid the death penalty for our sins. We are “orthodox” in the sense that we stand firmly within the great doctrinal truths of the church which, hammered out in the first four centuries of the church, have stood the test of time. We are “evangelical” in
the following sense. First, we take the Bible to be the Word
of God and fully trustworthy in all matters of what we are to
believe about God and how we are to live so as to honor Him.
Secondly, we believe God has made it possible for us to have
a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ
alone as our Lord and Savior. Thirdly, we believe God calls us
to do all we can to “go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
This is why Westminster is a strong supporter of evangelism and
missions here and around the world. In the well known words of the
great D.T. Niles we are but poor beggars telling other poor beggars
where to find bread. Finally, our evangelical tradition encourages
and sustains us in ministries of compassion, especially to the poor.
Through building Habitat houses and a weekly breakfast for homeless
men and women to our partnering with other churches and organizations
working to alleviate the problems of injustice and poverty, Westminster
takes seriously God’s call to help where we can.
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