CDM Tributes
In recent years, upon notice of the retirement of officers or long-term members from the CDM, a formal Resolution of Thanks from the President on behalf of the committee has been included in the minutes of the CDM’s Spring Meeting.
Resolution of Thanks to Deacon Bob Wright, Jr.
March 2018
Deacon Bob Wright, Jr., will step down from the CDM after serving seven consecutive terms (21 years!). The CDM recognized his service in the following resolution adopted into its minutes:
Dear Bob,
Your unparalleled tenure of service on the CDM is testimony to your love for the Church of Jesus Christ, particularly the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and her ministry on behalf of Christ;
Your model of diaconal ministry in a missionary setting has been defining for our committee in its pursuit of a “missionary deacon” component of our ministry;
Your diverse gifts and amazing resourcefulness have provided support for the ministry of Word and prayer on the mission field in utterly indispensable ways;
Your personal sacrifice over many years of ministry under very demanding circumstances has been an inspiring example to us of radically self-denying service;
Your extensive experience in third world ministry, and your wide reading and reflection on the subject, have consistently provided an invaluable perspective to our committee;
And your personal warmth and wit have time and again refreshed the hearts of your brothers during many a long hour of deliberation.
Bob, we are deeply grateful for your twenty-one years of service on the Committee on Diaconal Ministries, and your nearly twenty years of service as a Missionary Deacon. We are thankful that by such service you have gained “a good standing for yourself, and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:13). And we look forward with you to hearing the commendation of our master one day: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25: 21, 23).
Resolution of Thanks to Rev. Lendall Smith
March 2018
Rev. Lendall Smith also plans to step down from the CDM after serving four consecutive terms (12 years). For the last nine years, Lendall has served as the President of the CDM, aptly guiding us through heavy waters. The CDM recognized his service in the following resolution adopted into its minutes:
Dear Lendall,
Your heart of compassion for the needy within reach of our committee’s ministry has been an inspiring example to all of us of the heart of our Lord Jesus for the poor;
Your steadfast devotion to the diverse and demanding responsibilities of our committee has been energizing – and occasionally convicting (!) – to us all;
Your eye for good order and attention to detail has facilitated a long succession of accomplishments, and preserved us from many a misstep in fulfillment of our duties;
Your vision of an enlarged field of the service to our denomination has contributed to an unprecedented season of growth for our committee;
Your godly character and reputation within the OPC have lent credibility and winsomeness to our committee’s relationship to the larger Church;
Your humility toward those you have lead as chairman has been a compelling example of the servant leadership of our Savior in his earthly ministry;
Your personal warmth and wit have time and again refreshed the hearts of your brothers during many a long hour of deliberation;
In short, your “fullness of wisdom and of the Spirit” (Acts 6:3) have exemplified for all of us the true qualifications for diaconal service in the church of Jesus Christ.
Lendall, we are deeply grateful for your twelve years of continuous service on the Committee on Diaconal Ministries, and your nine years of service as our president. We view your retirement with a deep sense of loss, yet with the happy awareness that by your diaconal service with us you have gained “a good standing for yourself, and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:13). And we look forward with you to the commendation of our master one day: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25: 21, 23).
Resolution of Thanks to Rev. Ron Pearce
March 2019
Rev. Ron Pearce plans to step down from the CDM after serving six consecutive terms (18 years), many of those during which he so ably served as the secretary of the committee. The CDM recognized his service in the following resolution adopted into its minutes:
Dear Ron,
Your heart of compassion for the needy within reach of the CDM’s ministry has been an inspiring example to all of us of the heart of our Lord Jesus for the poor.
Your steadfast commitment to the work of our committee over the course of eighteen years has contributed profoundly to the stability and increasing maturity of our ministry.
Your careful attention to the details of our work, and capturing them as our secretary (even anticipating some of them!) has been utterly indispensable to our achievements.
Your gracious and humble way of expressing yourself in our deliberations has been a model to all of us of what a churchman, doing the work of the church, looks like.
Your wit and infectious laugh has time and again sweetened our labors together, and contributed deeply to the Christian friendship we’ve enjoyed together.
Your godly character and reputation within the OPC have lent credibility and winsomeness to our committee’s relationship to the larger Church;
In short, your “fullness of wisdom and of the Spirit” (Acts 6:3) have exemplified for all of us the true qualifications for diaconal service in the church of Jesus Christ.
Ron, we are deeply grateful for your eighteen years of continuous service on the Committee on Diaconal Ministries. We view your retirement with a deep sense of loss, yet with the happy awareness that by your diaconal service with us you have gained “a good standing for yourself, and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:13). And we look forward with you to the commendation of our master one day: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25: 21, 23).