Communications

Mary Elizabeth Smith Rader, 90, of Lamar, Missouri, a past convention president of Cumberland Presbyterian Women (1987-1988), died January 9, 2020. She also served as CPW president on the presbytery and synodic levels and was instrumental in developing a CPW leadership development seminar for presbyteries. Beth was a life-long member of Hopewell Cumberland Presbyterian Church […]

2020 Denomination Day bulletin insert is available from the Historical Foundation. https://www.cumberland.org/hfcpc/resource/dd2020.pdf

For the last two years, Comeback Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Wallington, New Jersey (Cumberland East Coast Presbytery) has provided food for 50-70 homeless people every Monday at the Port Authority Terminal on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. According to pastor Douglas Park, “This is one of our ministry for city missions,” and, “the elderly […]

Contrary to previous reports, the Rev. Vernon Sansom will continue as Stated Clerk of Red River Presbytery at least until the presbytery meeting in April 2020. The Rev. Kevin R. Henson was scheduled to succeed Sansom as clerk on January 1, 2020, but he has taken a position with Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, […]

Elmer A. Ellis, Jr., 94, of Harrison, Tennessee, died Tuesday, January 7, 2020. He was a charter member of First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee (Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery). Elmer served in the U.S. Army during WWII, achieving the rank of Staff SGT. He will be interred at Chattanooga National Cemetery. Read More: https://www.chattanoogan.com/2020/1/7/402045/Elmer-A.-Ellis-Jr..aspx

The Reverend William Scott Middleton, Sr. (Presbytery of East Tennessee), known to most as Bill, died December 31, 2019, in Fort Worth, Texas where he lived with daughter Mary Jo and her family. Bill was born October 8, 1930, to the farm family of Willie Green Middleton and Iola Denzle Scott in Hill County, Texas. […]

The Reverend Thomas Clarence Johnson, 80, best known as Tommy, (Grace Presbytery) died December 30, 2019. Born in Quincy, Florida, May 12, 1939, to W.N. Johnson and Clara Burke, Tommy attended Greensboro Elementary, Gadsden Junior High, and Gadsden High School. After high school, Tommy went to Jefferson State Junior College in Birmingham, Alabama, and served […]

The Reverend Lyon Walkup, 75, (Murfreesboro Presbytery) died December 29, 2019. Lyon was bom March 15, 1944, in Readyville, Tennessee. His parents, Horace Ray and. Fancye Lyon Walkup, were members of Cripple Creek Presbyterian Church. His great, great grandfather, Nathan Lyon, was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister in the early l800s. Lyon was educated in the […]

Charles R. Farrer, 82, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, died Sunday, December 22, 2019. He proudly served his country in the United States Navy on the USS Forrestal aircraft carrier for three years. He relocated to Murfreesboro to join his father and brother in a three-way partnership. They owned and operated Farrer Bros. since the early 1960s. Charles […]

Patsy Kerley, 85, a resident of rural Simpson, Illinois, died December 21, 2019. Patsy was a faithful member of Gilead Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Simpson, where she had served as a Sunday school teacher as well as church treasurer. Patsy enjoyed participating in the Gilead Church Ladies quilting group.