“A kind providence,” is what President Andrew Jackson would frequently refer to when confronted with an event which resulted in both happiness and sadness. Recent events in Southwestern Virginia this past week brought about what many see as just such ‘a kind providence.’

On Sunday, December 6, the congregation at Pulaski Presbyterian Church (PCA) voted unanimously to call the Reverend David Malcolm Dennis to be their pastor. Dennis is a surviving brother of Theresa Dennis Bullen, one of two home-schooling moms who died in an auto accident less than a week ago.

Dennis, a graduate of Covenant Theological Seminary, had been serving as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Winona, Mississippi. When first approached by the search committee from Pulaski several months ago, he sensed a strong interest in the possibility because of family in the region, especially a sister and her husband who had nine children. Then after the committee had asked the Session to set a meeting of the congregation for December 6, the accident taking his sister’s life occurred just a few days prior to the vote.

Dennis has indicated to the church that he has accepted the call and will be going through the process to move his credentials to Blue Ridge Presbytery and hopes to be in the pulpit in Pulaski in early January. In the meantime, he will preside at the funeral service for his sister on December 8.

Dennis tells The Aquila Report that he can sense God’s hand in bringing him and his family close to his brother-in-law and nieces and nephews at a time when there are many decisions to be made and both advice and hands-on help could be most useful.

In the midst of the grief at losing a family member, perhaps the timing of the call to a new ministry was indeed ‘a kind providence’ from a merciful God. ‘Uncle David’ asks for prayers for his family, as well as the extended church family as these two large families consider what their futures will look like, even as they trust in the providences of God.