Letter to Presbytery of Philadelphia from Shepherd Requesting Help
Hewitson, Page 59
“At its most recent meeting on November 14, 1978, the board again took up the subject of justification and defeated by one vote a motion declaring “that the formulation of Mr. Shepherd on the doctrine of justification as received to this point is not acceptable to the board. . . .
At a later point in the meeting, after several Board members who had voted with the majority had left for the day, the matter of my views was re-opened, and the Board passed two motions, one allowing members of the Board to share with persons outside the Board, discussion papers on the subject of justification (including my October 1, 1976, Study Paper, whose use I deliberately and expressly restricted to the Faculty), and another foreshortening the time given to me to report again to the Board from Dec. 31, 1979 to Feb. 8, 1979). (Page 59)
“I have sought privately and within the context of the Westminster Seminary Faculty and Board of Trustees to achieve a resolution of the problem. However, a resolution within that limited context no longer appears possible. Therefore, I come now to you, my brethren in Presbytery, to seek your assistance in working toward a solution.” (Page 60)