On Tuesday, June 29, 2010, Rev. Harry L. Reeder was elected moderator of the 38th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America.

The General Assembly is holding its annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., from June 29 to July 2. There are about 1400 commissioners (delegates) in attendance. Reeder was elected unanimously since he was the only one nominated for this position.

Dr. Reeder is the senior pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Ala., the location of the first PCA General Assembly in 1973. He previously served other churches as senior pastor, including Pinelands Presbyterian Church in Miami, Fla., and Christ Covenant Presbyterian in Charlotte, N.C.,

Reeder holds a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss. He graduated from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., with a degree in history and Bible.

Reeder is founder of the “Embers to a Flame” ministry which conducts multiple seminars annually to assist the revitalization of declining churches across the nation and around the world. This ministry provides follow up coaching for several of these churches through the “Fanning the Flame” initiative.

He is author of From Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church (P&R Publishing, 2004) which is in its 2nd edition. He has authored other articles and works including The Leadership Dynamic (Crossway Publishing 2007), and most recently contributed a chapter in Burk Parson’s, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine & Doxology (Reformation Trust 2008).

As a pastor/teacher, Reeder’s philosophy of ministry is drawn from Ephesians 4:11–16. He believes he is called to “equip the saints” to do “the work of the ministry.” Leadership development and deployment is foundational to Reeder’s ministry at Briarwood. He meets regularly with the staff “team of leaders” for discipling as they then lead their various ministries through their own teams of leaders.

Orientation for church officers includes leadership training as well as providing ongoing leadership development for all church officers. He also oversees the Men of the Covenant mentoring program in which he coaches laymen in leadership multiplication. Reeder teaches leadership courses at Reformed Seminary and mentors graduating seminarians as pastoral fellows.

Reeder is host of the daily half-hour radio program “In Perspective,” which is broadcast on Briarwood’s WLJR. Additionally, weekly or daily broadcasts are aired on radio stations in many other cities: Charlotte, Ft. Lauderdale, Panama City, Johnson City, and Bristol. He also hosts the “In-Perspective One Minute” broadcast, as well as the 10 minute program “Conversations with Harry.”

He and his wife Cindy have three adult children and five grandchildren.