In the note in ‘First Things’, Ferguson shared these thoughts with the congregation: I do not really need to remind you of the first thing. Christ alone is our anchor. Our church is first and, foremost Jesus Christ’s Church. He has built us together here over the centuries; his servants have come and gone. But he has remained “ever faithful, ever true.” It is always right and healthy when we love our pastors—and like my predecessors here I have felt myself to be deeply loved; but we are here only to point to the Savior whose church we are.
“We have come to believe this is the right time for us to return to Scotland.”

While informal word has been rumored about for more than a week, based on a letter sent to members of the congregation only, the weekly newsletter of First Presbyterian Columbia, “First Things”, contained a public notice of the intention of their Senior Minister, Sinclair Ferguson, to resign and return to Scotland.

The Session will meet on March 18th and at that time set the date for a congregational meeting to act on his request and to set a date for the departure.

The Session will be asking the Presbytery to authorize the congregation to elect a Pulpit Search Committee at the same meeting.

In the note in ‘First Things’, Ferguson shared these thoughts with the congregation:

I do not really need to remind you of the first thing. Christ alone is our anchor.
Our church is first and, foremost Jesus Christ’s Church. He has built us together
here over the centuries; his servants have come and gone. But he has remained
“ever faithful, ever true.” It is always right and healthy when we love our
pastors—and like my predecessors here I have felt myself to be deeply loved; but
we are here only to point to the Savior whose church we are. I did not anticipate
that the last series of sermons I would preach to you would be from Hebrews (I
wanted to expound Philippians!). But how appropriate that these Sunday
morning we hear the message again and again: See how great Jesus is. Fix your
eyes on him.

I do not really need to remind you of the first thing. Christ alone is our anchor.
Secondly, let us continue to love and encourage one another. I have often said
that I believe the most important picture of the church in the New Testament is
that of a family. More and more I have felt that is what we want to be here at
First Presbyterian. It is certainly here that a chief element in the impact of our
witness will be found in a day when so many natural families have become
dysfunctional. Life as it is meant to be is found in Christ. His grace runs in the
dried up riverbed sin has created in every dimension of life—not least family. So,
in the church, as we often sing,

He wills us be a family, diverse, yet truly one:
O let us give our gifts to God, and so shall his work on earth be done.

The third thing (yes, there would be a third thing!)? Let us continue in prayer
that the Lord will work on among us, and provide for us the ongoing ministry
that will keep us growing in Christ and faithfully serving him into the future.
On Monday night when I went home after breaking the news to our elders,
Dorothy overheard me singing and commented on the words: “Through the love
of God our Savior, all will be well…” “Yes” I said, “but as I was singing the words,
tears were flowing down my cheeks!”

Surely if the heart of a stoic Scot can be melted with love for this congregation,
the capacious heart of the Lord Jesus is filled with a love for us that knows no
bounds, and “all must be well.” I certainly believe that will be so.

Ferguson arrived in Columbia in December of 2005 to become the Senior Minister in this historic church. When in Scotland, he pastored St. George’s Tron Church (Church of Scotland) in Glasgow which has gone through great turmoil in the past months as they left their denomination.

In addition to service as Senior Minister at the church, Dr. Ferguson is Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. When he first held that position he would commute to and from Scotland to teach. No word has been received about any change in that status.

A graduate of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, Ferguson is the author of some two dozen books, has authored numerous articles and has contributed to various symposia. His writing interests have ranged from works of scholarship to books for children. He has served as minister of two congregations in Scotland, one on Unst, the most northerly inhabited island in the United Kingdom, and the other at the center of Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. He has served more than twenty years as a seminary professor and is currently on the faculty of Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas as well as part time faculty of Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia.

Don K. Clements is a Teaching Elder in the PCA, a member of Blue Ridge Presbytery, an Associate Evangelist with Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship and Director of Metokos Ministries. He is the co-founder and Executive News Editor of The Aquila Report.