When he finished seminary he initially sought a call to be the pastor of a small, rural UPCUSA church in the Pittsburgh area. His ordination examination led to a famous judicial case…which required all officers to participate in the ordination of women officers, without regard to their personal views on that practice.

UPDATE:
Visitation will be on Friday, February 17, 2012 from noon to 3:00 p.m. at the Belhaven Center for Arts and from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Redeemer Church Northside Drive. Funeral service will be held Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. at the Belhaven Center for the Arts.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be given to Belhaven University.

Wynn Kenyon (Feb 12, 1948-Feb 13, 2012) had a heart attack on Wednesday evening around 9:00 p.m. while working out at Belhaven’s gym. He was found unconscious by a student. CPR was begun immediately. Paramedics were able to get a heart beat when they worked on him there. His blood pressure was erratic, and doctors had to work again to stabilize him at the hospital.

Over these next couple of days, the concern was been over his brain function. No one knew exactly how long Wynn was without oxygen.

After a series of tests and procedures, the family made the decision on Monday morning that there was no hope for life and approved the removal of all medical assistance. He died shortly after that event with Ginny and the family at his side.

Wynn was Professor of Biblical Studies and Philosophy; Chair of the Philosophy Department and Division of Ministry and Human Services at Belhaven University. Dr. Kenyon received his B.A. from Marietta College, his M.Div., from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Miami.

When he finished seminary he initially sought a call to be the pastor of a small, rural UPCUSA church in the Pittsburgh area. His ordination examination led to a famous judicial case in the UPCUSA (Northern Presbyterian Church) which required all officers to participate in the ordination of women officers, without regard to their personal views on that practice. (See story of the case below).

After that process was completed, Kenyon moved to Miami to continue his studies. While in Miami, he worshipped at Immanuel Presbytery (PCA). He was called by Belhaven University (then a college) upon completion of his PhD.

At Belhaven he developed and wrote the course materials and lectures for the introduction to Worldview classes at Belhaven University, as well as various other courses taught during his 25 years as a Professor at Belhaven University. Dr. Kenyon was always a favorite among the students and was repeatedly selected as Teacher of the Year. You would often see him around the campus engaged in intense discussion with students.

Wynn had a passion for teaching and helping his students understand and embrace the biblical worldview. (Editor’s Note: Two of the author’s daughters were students at Belhaven and give strong testimony to all of these traits.)

He and his wife, Ginny, home schooled their children up to the college level. Wynn grew up in a large family of eleven siblings and loved good healthy fun and sports of all kinds. They worshipped at Trinity Presbyterian Church, pastored by TE Mike Ross. When the Trinity congregation decided to buy property in a different part of the city, they left the older property for a new, multi-racial church to be formed called Redeemer Presbyterian. The Kenyon family was part of the group that remained behind to help start the new work.

If you were to Google Wynn Kenyon’s name, you would find him on the faculty pages at Belhaven, but you would also find him at the center of one of the most infamous judicial cases in the history of the former Northern Presbyterian Church (UPCUSA). The following is an extract from the history of Ascension Presbytery of the PCA taken from the PCA Historial Center website.

This action was precipitated by the popularly known “Kenyon Case” which began in the late Spring and ended in the late Fall of 1974. The watershed of this case had taken, and is taking place in 1975, even as this account is presently being penned.

Mr. Walter Wynn Kenyon was an honors graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. in his trials for ordination, Mr. Kenyon, upon being asked his position on the ordination of women, stated that he could not in good conscience participate in the ordination of a woman. He said that it was his understanding of Scripture that prevented such involvement, but went on to say that he would not stand in the way of such an ordination, if such was the desire of a church which he would happen to serve. Immediately there arose much dissent, and such dissent grew until the overwhelming majority of the church endorsed the judicial verdict which banned Kenyon and all future Kenyons from the pulpits of the UPCUSA. Furthermore, there was both explicit and implicit action which was taken against those men already ordained.

The Rev. Arthur C. Broadwick (and the Union UPCUSA of Pittsburgh) and the Rev. Carl W. Bogue, Jr. (and the Allenside UPCUSA of Akron) were already involved in litigations which involved this issue. And, in an even more pervasive way, the Stated Clerk of the UPCUSA (Mr. William P. Thompson), acting as the official interpreter of the Constitution of the UPCUA, ruled that as one’s answering the ordination-installation questions affirmatively was involved in the final decision in the Kenyon Case, any presently ordained pastor or ruling elder who held to the Kenyon views, could likewise never be placed in another pulpit or office unless he changed his views. The constitution of the UPCUSA clearly stated that men should exercise “forebearance in love” in situations where non-essentials of the presbyterian system of doctrine and polity were at stake. when the Permanent Judicial Commission of the UPCUSA ruled that Mr. Kenyon could not be ordained (i.e., granted exception on this matter of conscience) it effectively elevated this doctrine concerning social relationships to the place of being a major doctrine of the church. Furthermore, by application, it appeared that this new essential would eclipse all others and become the sine qua non of “orthodoxy” test questions.

Such action by the Permanent Judicial Commission led to a crisis for all of those pastors and elders who held to the traditional views on this question and who were now considered heretics. Accordingly, to uphold the peace, unity and purity of the church, most of the men who made up the membership of the charter presbytery peaceably withdrew from the UPCUSA.

These decisions and their subsequent effects were aided by many informal gatherings of like-minded individuals, beginning with the Kenyon Case and continuing through 1975 to the official organization of the Presbytery of the Ascension on July 29, 1975

An article written by Kenyon was published by Ligonier Ministries and gives both a Biblical and warm, personal view of family life, entitled Family Traits.

A Facebook Group has been opened to share stories about Dr. Kenyon here

A story from the Pittsburgh newspaper with more background on the 1970’s trial in the UPCUSA here