In the 1960s, Wilbur A. R. Siddons, the founding pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, wrote a letter to a newspaper explaining why he could no longer, with a good conscience, hold the position of pastor in his mainline presbyterian congregation. He took a firm stand for the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture. On reading the letter, a group of people from two different presbyterian churches approached the pastor and said they wanted him to pastor a new church that stood on the word. Seven decades later, Westminster’s current senior pastor, Dr. Chris Walker, notes the sacrifice it took, beginning without much money or a building, and jeopardizing social standing when influential employers were at those same churches being left behind. “So you were leaving places of influence and security and doing so in a way that was a risk,” he said. “We have at least one—if not two—of our founding members who took additional mortgages on their house so that they could help support a new church financially.”
The decision to leave the United Presbyterian Church was difficult for Siddons, who had been a pastor for around twenty-five years in the denomination. He and twelve others began meeting to discuss starting a new church, and about eight weeks later, 200 people attended their first worship service, said Eric Conner, Siddon’s grandson-in-law, a long-time Westminster member and the church’s historian-in-residence. “And you can’t say that’s anything but God’s hand through that whole process,” he said.
The church’s bold stand for biblical truth in its founding mirrors that of Westminster Seminary, where, in fact, Walker earned his Master of Arts in Religion and Doctor of Ministry degrees, just as his predecessor, Michael Rogers, and multiple fellow pastors—John Light, Tucker York, and Matt Collins—all received degrees from the seminary. While the cultural pressures the church faces today have changed since Siddons left the UPC, the principle for maintaining faithfulness to Scripture remains the same for both Westminsters. Dr. John Currie, professor of pastoral theology at WTS, has studied along with some of Westminster Church’s pastors, and taught others. He explained the formative importance of teaching when facing any cultural challenge to biblical precepts, not simply the most current one. The goal is for pastors to move from precept to practice in their role: “We want to root them deeply—theologically and exegetically and biblically, so that they develop the biblical theological worldview that equips them to speak to any issue at any time,” he said. For Walker, an emphasis in his studies on the original languages as well as the systematic foundation at WTS grounded him theologically, giving him the tools to study Scripture.
The church has flourished since its founding as a hospitable and warm congregation. This is due to the focus on Scripture. According to Walker, “really the whole question in the church context is how are we beholding Christ, serving Christ, worshiping Christ, and how he is the tie between us as God’s people and the focus of all that we do.” In other words, if we believe that we as the church are members of one another and Christ’s body, then serving, welcoming, comforting, and encouraging one another—effective ministry—should follow. Walker described that transition from precept to practice: “If we take the focus off … the academic study and focus instead on what we have learned to be true about God, about our Savior, about the church, love for one another and love for Christ should be the natural result.”
One area of strength for Westminster Church is hospitality through missions. “I think one of their great expressions of hospitality is how they’ve opened their lives and their church to the stranger, really, those who are in need,” Currie said. “So it’s a very warm church.” The church dedicates about thirty percent of its annual budget to its Great Commission Committee and to missions. “I don’t think that’s an accident where for the last 56 years, this congregation has dedicated hundreds of thousands—and over the course of the years, millions—of dollars to missions, and we are feeling God’s blessing through that by a strong and growing and dedicated congregation,” Conner said. There are more than 1,300 communicant members and about 300 non-member attendees.
The church’s largest outreach effort is to the refugee communities in Lancaster. Through that work, multiple ethnic groups now attend the church, including a group from Burma, a group from Congo, as well as multiple people who speak English as a second language from various backgrounds. Instead of following a carefully strategized plan, this ministry has organically developed in response to God providing opportunities to serve. “While we certainly had some desire to meet folks and help folks who were coming, the way that developed into an opportunity for outreach and service wasn’t something we could have foreseen,” Walker said. For example, an elder in the church, from Kenya, is able to connect with the Congolese immigrants uniquely because he speaks Swahili.
Conner remembers a church service in 2022, the first combined service of English, Congolese, and Burmese, with three interpreters preaching the same message to the same congregation. “And it was really a good picture of how Revelation describes where all tongues and nations will come together,” he said.
Walker notes that when worshiping with Christians from around the world, you hear about God’s work of building the church in far reaches. As God has brought unexpected opportunities for service to the church, its work in the community is still a part of the founding vision. “I would give some credit to those who founded our church fifty-five years ago, as well, and wanted mission and proclamation of the gospel to be core to who we are …”
In addition to a large team of current pastors, Westminster has the unique situation of its retired pastors still attending as members of the congregation. While pastoral transitions can be fraught and difficult, faithfulness to the church’s commitments through mentorship from one pastor to the other has smoothed the way for Westminster, allowing its legacy to be passed down from leader to leader. Dr. Rogers, who was senior pastor before Walker, showed strong character by investing in him and setting up the church for success, according to Currie. “Sometimes pastors can be intimidated by having others around them who might be able to replace them,” Dr. Currie said. “I think it’s a testimony to Dr. Rogers that he was willing to have people around him that he actually would intend to replace him.”
“To see Dr. Rogers and his humility and his support, I’ve never felt that he was looking over my shoulder or criticizing certain things to the congregation, or that he held court, that people could bring their questions—there was never any of that,” Dr. Walker said. “It was a 100-percent humility and support for me, and I think if a transition’s going to go badly, the retiring senior pastor probably is a big determiner of why that might happen.”
Really the whole question in the church context is how are we beholding Christ, serving Christ, worshiping Christ, and how is he the tie between us as God’s people and the focus of all that we do?
Rogers hopes that his legacy of ministry is seeing young men receive a call to ministry due to his influence: “I get a great deal of satisfaction from seeing young men start out in the ministry and get their legs under them, and seeing growth in response to that,” he said.
Dr. Walker also experienced a session of strong and humble ruling elders when he was installed as senior pastor. While a pastor is called to preach, when it comes to shepherding and caring for the church and setting a tone, the ruling elders are on the front lines. He said a healthy session of godly and humble men was one primary reason he was confident about taking the call.
A good transition requires transparency from the leaders, who should give visibility, voice, and a vote to the church body, Currie said. In response, the congregation has a mutual responsibility to support the transition after they’ve exercised their voice and vote. Transparency is key, agreed Conner, who has been on multiple search committees for the church. One question he and other members of the committee asked candidates was, “What would your relationship be to the pastor emeritus?” They wanted someone who would be willing to consult the pastor emeritus in a healthy way and maintain a good relationship.
Incoming pastors should get to know a church—and let a church know them—before seeking to make changes. Currie emphasized the importance of preaching faithfully to gain trust as a man of the word. Changes should be collaborative with elders. Walker described not getting sidetracked by new ideas: “your key should be to listen, to learn, to love people and to just love Christ and preach Christ. And if Christ is held high, and we’re getting to know one another, that really sets us on the same page if there are things we want to grow in and do better.”
Rogers observed that for the next generation of Presbyterian pastors, their energies should continue to focus on building the local church, as families, fathers, mothers, teens, and children need to witness the local church’s work for the gospel. “I still want to see individual churches and Presbyteries as centers for the battle for people’s souls and hearts and minds and pastors who are willing to make preaching their first task. You’re doing a lot of pastoral counseling right from the pulpit if you’re doing it right,” he said.
While it might seem that the state of church attendance in America is bleak, and that the only way for the church to appeal to the broader culture is through compromising truth, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster shows otherwise. It is a uniquely large and diverse congregation that has thrived on biblical teaching. Like WTS, Westminster Church was founded in the wake of departure from orthodoxy within the local mainline Presbyterian church. For the past fifty years, she has stood on a foundation of faithfulness in the face of change and challenges. This legacy of commitment to upholding faithful adherence to Scripture and defense of its inerrancy—the influence that shapes it to this day—helps the church to flourish as a vibrant and hospitable congregation that prioritizes Scripture.