8 July 1933 A.D. Rev. William Stuart Red Dies—Plankowner & Founder of
(PCUSA) Austin Theological Seminary, Austin, TX
Archivist. “July
8: Rev. William Stuart Red.” This Day in Presbyterian History. 8 Jul
2014. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/07/july-8-3/.
Accessed 8 Jul 2014.
July 8: Rev. William Stuart Red
The PCA’s recent 42d General Assembly, having convened in
Houston, Texas, we will take this opportunity to refresh the following memory
of an old Texas Presbyterian who lived and breathed the history of all things
Presbyterian in that State.
A Historian for a Historical Devotional
The
Presbyterian minister was convinced that when young men were called into the
ministry, and then left the state of Texas for their religious training, most
of them never returned to the Lone Star State. So there was obviously one
solution, namely, begin a theological seminary in Texas. And he did, even
giving the land for it, and today Austin Theological Seminary (a seminary of
the PCUSA) is in existence today.
The
Texas minister was William Stuart Red. Born in 1857, though some say 1860, in
Washington County, Texas, he attended for a while a university in Tennessee
before transferring to Austin College in Austin, Texas. He then studied
at Princeton Seminary for one year before transferring to Columbia
Theological Seminary in 1884-85. Finally, he returned back to the
Lone Star State to Austin School of Theology and graduated from there in
1886. After some further study in Germany and Scotland, he returned for
licensure and ordination as a Presbyterian minister in the Presbyterian Church
in the United States in 1887.
He
was the pastor at six Presbyterian churches in Texas. Beyond his care for
the churches, he was also interested in a central depository for Presbyterian
and Reformed history. So, along with the Rev. Samuel Terry, Rev. Red gave
funds for the creation of the Historical Foundation of Reformed and
Presbyterian Churches at Montreat, North Carolina.
Before
he died on July 8,
1933, his project after retirement from the
ministry was the History of the Presbyterian Church in Texas. His
family finished up the 500 page book after his death from papers he had
written. Our PCA Historical Center has a copy of it in St. Louis,
Missouri.
Words to Live By: He
seemed to be larger than life, but then aren’t all Texans? Yet it is
important to remember that his love for the state of Texas was grounded in
Christian Presbyterianism in Texas. Paul’s haunting question in the New
Testament was “How shall they hear without a preacher?” Rev. Red wanted
Presbyterian preachers to train and serve their Lord and God so that his fellow
Texans could hear the unsearchable riches of God’s grace. That is true
for all of our states. Pray for where God has placed you on this day that
the everlasting good news of eternal life might impact your state.
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