Staying in the Fight
Alumni Interview: Harry Reeder III Dr. Harry Reeder III of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary in 1982. He had the great privilege to study under Edmund Clowney and Palmer Robertson. His written works include The Leadership Dynamic and From Embers to a Flame. This summer, Dr. David Garner, Academic Dean at Westminster, sat down to interview Dr. Reeder about his coming to faith, his call to ministry, and the various ways God has blessed his labors at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. To listen to the full-length interview, please visit wts.edu/Reeder. David Garner: Harry, welcome! Why don’t you start telling us a little bit about yourself, where you grew up, and how you came to faith in Christ. Harry Reeder: I grew up in a Christian home. My family was very much intertwined with the Graham family. We attended Calvary Independent Presbyterian Church in Charlotte but moved frequently due to my dad being in minor league baseball. In fact, I went to 11 schools in 12 years! We eventually moved back to Charlotte and were very much engaged in the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination. But I did not become a believer. My granddaddy was on the original Billy Graham team. My dad and mom were believers. I became a Christian out of a drug problem—my dad and mom “drug” me to church every week. But I had another life, and when I went away to college it no longer was a secret life. Eventually, the Lord brought me to an end of myself. I came to see the emptiness of the life that I was pursuing. So, I came to Christ under the ministry of the Reformed Presbyterian Church Evangelical Synod. I was then called to the ministry. So, I left East Carolina University and went to Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. I spent some time in the Reformed Baptist Association and had the wonderful blessing of learning under Walter Chantry and pastor Al Martin. While in seminary, I had a student pastorate part-time. Subsequently, I had the great blessing of finishing with Westminster Seminary in 1982. DG: Tell us a little bit about your experience at Westminster. You are one of those unique students who didn’t study right here in Glenside.
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HR: Yes, I got the professors, but I didn’t get the Philadelphia city environment nor the weather. . . The faculty from Westminster would come down [to Westminster South] in the summar and in January for two-week intensives. . . so I got Dr. Palmer Robertson. . . Robert Godfrey, Dr. Clowney. . . I love that model of the academy and apprenticeship together. . . I was there for three years and then the denomination asked me to go and plant a church. They gave me 10 cities. I was essentially a guinea pig for what they call the flagship church planting program. I ended up going to Charlotte and planting Christ Covenant from which there would be a Presbytery. And, now two presbyteries have been planted there. And my dear friend Kevin DeYoung pastors the church there. In 1999, after being there 17 years, the Lord called me to follow Dr. Frank Barker, who had planted Briarwood Presbyterian Church. And so, I moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and I’ve been there. DG: Harry, you made mention of the academy and apprenticeship. Talk a little bit about why you think that model is important as this is what we’re doing right now at Westminster in the Master of Divinity pastoral track. HR: This is taking basically taking what Calvin was doing in Geneva and connecting it to the Westminster legacies like Murray, Van Til, Clowney, and many others. We’ve got all this wonderful scholarship, but how do we educate men in the context of ministry? That’s what Jesus did. He had the classroom, the moving academy, and then he had ministry. I believe Westminster Seminary
