The Reverend Forest Lee Prosser, 85, died October 16, 2022, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was an honorably retired member of Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery.

Forest was born to Hershel and Alice Kincaid Prosser, a Cumberland Presbyterian family, on April 25, 1937, in Lebanon, Missouri. In 1946, he was baptized by the Reverend Harold Reeves and joined the White Oak Pond Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Missouri Presbytery). Forest attended Washington Elementary School in Lebanon and graduated from Lebanon High School in 1954. While in high school he became an Eagle Scout, a Scoutmaster, and student body president.

After high school, Forest entered the University of Missouri on a track scholarship but then felt the call to ministry and transferred to Bethel College (now Bethel University) in McKenzie, Tennessee. In 1955, he came under the care of Springfield Presbytery. Forest married Mina Lou Wheeler in 1956, while a student at Bethel, and was licensed by Springfield Presbytery. In 1957, Forest was director of worship for Bethel’s Spiritual Emphasis Week. He was ordained by Springfield Presbytery in 1957. The Reverend Wilber Cravens delivered the charge. Forest graduated from Bethel in 1958, and then continued to the Cumberland Presbyterian Theological Seminary, then also in McKenzie. He graduated from seminary in 1962.

While a student, Forest served as youth pastor for First Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Caddo Presbytery) in Marshall, Texas; as stated supply for Ridgetop Community Church in Ridgetop, Tennessee; and as pastor of Highland Chapel in Nashville, Tennessee. He then pastored Dresden Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Hopewell Presbytery) in Dresden, Tennessee. In 1963, while Forest was pastor of Bolivar Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Madison Presbytery) in Bolivar, Tennessee, the congregation built a new church.

In 1966, Forest succeeded the Reverend David Brown and became the second pastor of the new church development in Whitehaven, a Memphis, Tennessee, suburb. This NCD was a joint ministry of Memphis Presbytery and West Tennessee Synod. He later served as pastor of Holly Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Memphis Presbytery) in Brighton, Tennessee; and the Madison Presbytery parish of Humboldt First Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Double Springs Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Milan, Tennessee.

Beginning in 1978, Forest served a long pastorate at Red Bank First Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Chattanooga Presbytery/Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery) in Red Bank, Tennessee. His tenure saw the addition of a fellowship hall and the erection of a shrine to house the church’s historic 1878 bell. Forest was pastor when Red Bank filled a time capsule in 1988, and was present when it was unearthed in 2010 for the denomination’s 200th anniversary. Forest served Red Bank for 23 years and was named Pastor Emeritus after his retirement.

From 1969 into the early-1970s, Forest served as a columnist for the Cumberland Presbyterian magazine. He worked with the Boy Scouts, and served as president of several Optimist Clubs. He directed many Junior Camps. He served and as moderator of the boards which developed Camp Clark Williamson in West Tennessee and Camp Glancy in Chattanooga Presbytery. He chaired Assembly committees twice, served as Assembly worship director once, and as Pastor Host for the 168th General Assembly. In 2001, Forest became Presbyterial Pastor for Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery. In 2013, he was elected Moderator of the 183rd General Assembly in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

He served as Stated Clerk of the Synod of the Southeast for 24 years and as Stated Clerk of Chattanooga Presbytery, and then of Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery. He served as engrossing clerk for Tennessee Valley Presbytery. Responsible for cross-culture ministry in Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery, Forest was a key figure in the formation of the Cumberland East Coast Presbytery on September 10, 2012, and Korean Cumberland Presbytery of the Southeast on September 21, 2019.

In 2008, Forest and his college tennis doubles partner, the Reverend Charles Fike, were inducted into the Bethel University Athletic Hall of Fame. On October 1st, at the Fall 2022 meeting of Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery, Forest was honored for more than 60 years of ordained ministry.

Forest and Mina had two daughters, Durinda Sue and Karen Lynn. Forest’s younger brother, the Reverend Robert Prosser served as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and as president of Bethel University.