William Edgar
November, 2019
Dear Friends,
After more than thirty years of writing these newsletters, I will be moving to pass the baton over to our splendid new President, Paul Wolfe, although occasionally I may collaborate. I wish to express my profound gratitude for the opportunity the newsletter has afforded me to reflect on the need for the gospel in France, and especially to the kind readers, many of whom have expressed their appreciation. For the moment we do not plan any radical changes. So, the remaining text will be authored by Paul, in his maiden foray. Again, many thanks.
Very Truly Yours,
William Edgar
Paul D. Wolfe
And with that, I take the baton from Bill and I start running. And I hold on to Isaiah 40:31 as I get going: “they shall run and not be weary”!
As some of you are aware, at the most recent meeting of the Huguenot Fellowship, Bill Edgar brought to a close his lengthy and faithful tenure as our President. And the Board elected me to the role after him. (Thankfully, Bill and his wonderful wife Barbara will remain on our Board and continue to lend their wisdom and creativity.)
I suppose a word of introduction is in order. I have had the privilege of serving on the Board of the Huguenot Fellowship since 2015. The congregation I serve as Senior Pastor, New Hope Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Fairfax, Virginia, supported the Huguenot Fellowship for many years prior to my joining the Board, and has continued to do so. My wife Christy and I live in Fairfax with our three children, whom we have promised to take to France on vacation soon. And they are most unlikely to let us forget the promise!
The opportunity to serve the Huguenot Fellowship in this new capacity is simultaneously humbling and exciting for me. The seminary’s ministry is vital, my fellow Board members are fantastic, and the need for the gospel in France (of which Bill has already made mention) is great.
Which brings me back to Bill. Surely words of honor are in order too.
The Huguenot Fellowship was founded in 1977 for the purpose of rallying support here in the United States for the Reformed seminary in Aix-en-Provence, France, now known as Faculté Jean Calvin (FJC). That means it’s been 42 years! Forty-two years of getting the word out about FJC and supporting it from across the Atlantic. Forty-two years of newsletters and prayer, soirées and more prayer, receiving contributions from donors far and wide and providing crucial financial assistance to the seminary—and more prayer. And for thirty of those forty-two years, Bill Edgar has wisely led and guided us.
And he’s been uniquely qualified to do so. Bill has brought to the role of President his “perfect storm” of experience, wisdom, and dedication: not only did he grow up in France, but then he taught at the seminary in Aix for eleven years before moving his family to the United States in 1989 to teach at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Bill knows France well: its language, its history, its people, its mindset. His ties to FJC have been close, strong, and long-lasting. Most of all, he’s spent a lifetime teaching and defending the very gospel that FJC continues to inculcate into the hearts and minds of its students. It would be difficult to overstate the impact Bill has had during his long service as our President.
As a way of marking this moment of transition in the life of our organization, would you consider contributing a special financial gift this year in honor of Bill’s service—a gift not only to support FJC in its ongoing mission, but also to express your gratitude for Bill’s extraordinary decades-long leadership? You may do so...
By mail: The Huguenot Fellowship; P.O. Box 877; Glenside, PA, 19038.
Online: Visit www.huguenotfellowship.org, and follow the “Contribute” link in the upper right.
Faculté Jean Calvin stands as a beacon for the gospel in France today, and the Huguenot Fellowship remains resolved to see that light shine for generations to come. Keep standing with us, dear friends!
Yours in Christ,
Paul D. Wolfe