Phil continues as the Pastor at St. Paul’s Evangelical Church in Marietta, OH, and loves it. Part of his ministry as been to learn more about the history of the German Evangelical church, which traces its history to Germany, ground zero of the Reformation. The history of the German reformed churches is different than the English branch. Part of the history of St. Paul’s belongs to the Mercersburg perspective of the Reformation, centered in Mercersburg, PA, during the 1800s.
Part of that history can be seen in The True Mystery of the Mystical Presence, John Nevin & Phillip A. Ross, 2011. This year Phil continues in that vein with the publication of the Institutes of The Christian Religion, Emanuel V. Gerhart, Phillip A. Ross (editor), 2023, volumes 1 &2. Gerhert is the American voice of the German Reformation, and has been overlooked by history.
“I suspect that most Christians have never heard of Emmanuel Gerhart. I only recently learned about him, after forty years in the ministry as a fairly prolific author. Even though Gerhert was technically in the history of the United Church of Christ, in which I grew up, was ordained, and served as a minister for fifteen years, I had never heard of him. That is remarkable to me because he was likely responsible for the theology of unity that the United Church of Christ (UCC) touted during my years with them. At that time the UCC’s motto was John 17:2: “that they may all be one.” The UCC was instrumental in the Ecumenical Movement in the 1950s and for several decades. At that time the UCC thought of itself as a kind of generic Christianity. I believe that is the spirit of Emmanuel Gerhart. …
The main thrust of mediating theology is Christology, the centrality of Jesus Christ in everything. During the nineteenth century the historic doctrine of the Person of Christ was being challenged by historical criticism. The philosophical approach of historical criticism left no room for Christ’s deity and so rejected as unhistorical anything in the gospels that testified to His deity. The biggest bombshell was the book Leben Jesu (Life of Jesus) by D.F. Strauss in 1835. This denial of historic Christian doctrine caused the faithful mediating theologians to respond with an emphasis on Christology. Gerhert was the American voice who provided a full-orbed philosophical and theological defense of historic Christianity that is fully Christocentric.
—from Institutes of The Christian Religion, Gerhart
Phil has also published the first volume of his St. Paul’s sermons, titled: GoodNews Evangel 2022. Future volumes are planned.
During COVID we started eating healthier, doing more exercise and adding some health supplements. We have lost some weight and feel great. We are enjoying our seasoned years.
Our major hobby continues to be music: practicing together almost daily, working with our small church worship group, and playing for others whenever volunteer opportunities arise. Some of our opportunities were stopped for a time due to COVID. Phil has gotten much better at playing the guitar in the past seven years. Stephanie continues to sing with the Marietta College Community Oratorio Chorus. This was her 8th year. It was the Marietta College/Community Chorus 97th Annual Messiah year. We continue playing music for the Walk To Emmaus.
Phil enrolled Stephanie in a digital piano course for her birthday in 2021 as a surprise and she continues to work on those skills. Much of what she is learning continues to be patience when the brain, hands, and voice do not work together. In December 2022, a church member asked Stephanie to sing a solo sometime. She did and has since sung several songs with the organ and also to performance CDs. We enjoy our music and hope others do, as well.
We had grandchildren visit from Cleveland, mostly in groups of two, several times during the summer and fall. The older ones have mostly outgrown what we can offer in our backyard, bookshelves, and games closet. Thus we took them to the Aquatic Park one day and on another day we went on a short tour on the Valley Gem, a sternwheeler that travels on the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers.
We went to North Carolina for a denominational Conference in September, and to Arlington, Virginia, to visit son Austin and family in October.
We went to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. Justin’s mother-in-law, Pat, hosted the get together. We had a good time.
Phil & Stephanie
