Morton Smith was the first faculty member at the newly founded Reformed Theological Institute and in later years he would become the chairman of the department of systematic theology. However, just as biblical-confessional theological education required a new seminary, concerned Presbyterians would come to realize the need for a new denomination.

The above photograph was taken during the Second General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) in 1974. It shows Stated Clerk Morton H. Smith at the podium presenting a framed copy of the document “A Message to All the Churches of Jesus Christ” to the moderator of the first general assembly, Ruling Elder Jack Williamson. The man at the left edge is Teaching Elder Erskine L. Jackson. The poster-size document includes the signatures of 296 of more than 330 attendees of the first assembly. The document is a remembrance of the forming of the PCA that was distributed by the J. Ligon Duncan family of Greenville, South Carolina. The 50th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America declared “A Message to All Churches of Jesus Christ” a faithful expression of Biblical polity that shaped the founding of the denomination in 1973.

Morton Howison was born in Roanoke, Virginia, to James Brookes and Margaret Morton (Howison) Smith on December 11, 1923. The family moved during his youth to Baltimore where he attended Mount Washington Presbyterian Church, PCUS. A significant influence in his life spiritually was pastor Jame E. Moore. When the time for college arrived, he began at the University of Michigan but graduation was delayed by service to his country flying B-17s and training pilots for the Army Air Corps (Air Force). In later years he would continue to fly and own his own aircraft. When he returned to civilian status he continued studies for a year at the University of North Carolina before returning to Michigan to complete his degree. Indicative of the situation for theological education within the Presbyterian seminaries was his beginning seminary studies at Columbia in Decatur but then due to dissatisfaction with the theological direction of the curriculum he transferred to Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia for the second year. He especially appreciated professor John Murray, who taught systematic theology, and apologetics professor Cornelius Van Til, however, given the situation within the PCUS he was advised that ordination examinations as a graduate of a denominational seminary would smooth the examnation process for his work in ministry.

After graduation, licensure, and ordination he served a brief pastoral call in Maryland before transitioning to education as the head of the department of Bible at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi. It was a significant time for the college because it would become coeducational in the fall of 1954, which would be when Smith began teaching. He not only taught college students but also local residents in night classes on subjects including Presbyterian doctrine and the Bible. To continue in teaching, he recognized the need for doctoral studies and received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the Netherlands, 1958-1959, at the Free University of Amsterdam. His research about Presbyterian theology in the South would be directed by G. C. Berkouwer. The Free University seems an unusual choice for a doctorate given Smith’s southern interest, but R. C. Sproul went to the Free University because his mentor John Gerstner said it would be best to study with Berkouwer. Possibly a mentor or friend counseled Smith with similar advice. Smith achieved doctorandus in 1959 (i.e. all but dissertation, sort of), then received the Th.D. (Doctor of Theology) in 1962 upon successful defense of his dissertation. Defending a dissertation in the Netherlands was a formal event with faculty in their regalia sitting as judges at the bench and the likely nervous Smith was likewise dressed. The dissertation had been published as a book before the defense which provided access for critical reflection not only for faculty but others as well (see Select Bibliography).

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