at the opening of the legislative day 15 . It was gratifying to see that so many of our state legislators are open to receiving spiritual input at the opening of their work days .
Mentors Looking back over the decades , one comes to realize one ’ s indebtedness to others , particularly the role they have played in molding one ’ s character and convictions . Two of the most important of my spiritual mentors passed from the scene in 2016 . Dr . Hughes O . Old , who basically taught me everything I know about worship , died in May . First his books , then his classes at Erskine Theological Seminary , 2004-08 , in Due West , S . C ., were invaluable resources as I plunged deeper and deeper into the subject of Reformed worship . Worshipping with Calvin ( 2014 ) and Serving with Calvin ( 2015 ), Contemporary Worship ( 2014 ) and Reformed Worship ( 2015 ) all owe a huge debt to Dr . Old .
Rev . J . Alec Motyer , the Principle of Trinity College , Bristol , England , and Lecturer in Old Testament while I was a student there in 1977-79 , died in August . I have never known a more godly man , or one who loved God ’ s word more ( especially in Hebrew ) than did Mr . Motyer . I wrote remembrances for both of them for the Reformation21 website ( you can find them at : www . reformation21 . org ).
Family 2016 was another year of milestones for the Johnsons . Ben , our youngest , turned 21 ; our oldest , Drew , married Caroline Boatright in January ; Abby , our second daughter , graduated from the Univ . of GA in May and took a teaching job in Atlanta at the Wesleyan School ; Sam , our Marine , returned from deployment in Kuwait in April ; our first grandchild , Audrey Boone Girgis , was born in Milwaukee in July to Sally and Peter , whom I was privileged to baptize in October . Most milestonish of all , Emily turned 50 in March !
Looking ahead After 30 years I still feel the need to fully utilize our facility . We have a thousand seats . We should fill every one of them . For me , it ’ s a matter of stewardship . We are centrally located to all of greater Savannah ’ s 250-300,000 people . We have a beautiful , large meeting house . We have well-ordered worship services . Let ’ s fill our church .
Millennials The rising generation is proving to be challenging . They , more than any other demographic , have been shaped by the blessings and curses of the internet and social media . Tim Shaw ’ s ministry to our postcollege career group through the Thursday night Bible study and New Covenant Sunday School class has been heartening . He is reaching 30 to 40 20-somethings every week . Still , more needs to be done if we are to continue to grow or even maintain our ministry in the 21 st century . We must reach young singles and couples if we are to survive as a church .
College We continue to struggle in this area . We support the local RUF financially , facility use and otherwise , but the undergraduate attendance has waned in recent years and we still desire a greater impact on local campuses . We find ourselves surrounded by 13,000 SCAD students – further afield are Savannah State , Armstrong , South , and others . We continue to pray for wisdom and guidance as we seek to do this work . As a matter of stewardship , if nothing else , we must reach these students with the gospel and see them incorporated into the life of the church .
Impacting Savannah When I was interviewed by the pulpit committee in 1986 , I asked , “ Who is doing the John MacArthurtype verse-by-verse preaching in Savannah ?” The answer they gave was , no one . This was only partially correct because there was some expository preaching going on in the PCA ’ s four churches . “ What about
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