Will you join us?
The Editorial Board of the Midway Guardian created this website thinking it would be a way to keep the congregation of Midway Presbyterian Church informed about the increasing number of noteworthy events occurring at the church.
We assumed members of the church and a few interested parties in the Powder Springs area would be our audience. We were quite surprised at the site’s rapid success. Soon after the site launched, it was garnishing thousands of hits each week. Soon there were readers not only throughout Powder Springs, but Cobb County, and then the entire country. The Midway Guardian now has regular readers spanning reformed congregations everywhere and has readers from every continent except Antarctica. The Editorial Board receives more reader mail that it can possibly respond to. Know that we read each and every message, but simply do not have the time to reply to the outpouring of thanks and well wishes received regularly.
Almost eighteen months ago at Midway Presbyterian Church, Ruling Elder Scott Keesee brought charges against his brother Ruling Elder Phil Dudt which asserted that his July 2020 email to the Midway Congregation violated the moral code of our Lord by disobeying the “expressed will” of the Session. That started what is possibly the saddest chapter in Midway’s 172 year history. The Session then tried Phil Dudt, convicted him in a secret trial, and then suspended him from all duties at the church. Phil Dudt appealed the decision and it is now being considered by the Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Of course, as our regular readers know, Phil Dudt’s conviction was followed by the indictment and suspension of additional Ruling Elders – James Scott, Don Barnett, and Clay David. At this moment, the Session of Midway has charged and suspended one third of the elected Ruling Elders at the church.
Meanwhile Phil Dudt’s appeal is nearing a decision point. The briefs have been filed, and to the best of the Editorial Board’s knowledge, his hearing before the SJC is complete. All that is left is the decision which will be known soon. The Midway Guardian commits to inform readers of the outcome as soon as it is able to confirm it.
It is at this critical moment in the history of Midway Presbyterian Church that we now call our many readers to prayer.
Pray for the PCA and those on the SJC panel, that they might stand up against an unjust verdict.
Pray for the Northwest Georgia Presbytery, that they might have the courage to enforce the judgments of higher courts.
Pray for the members of the Midway Presbyterian Church Session, that they might repent and submit to the judgments of higher courts.
Pray for the Dudt family, that they might have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding at this time.
Pray that the Lord’s will be done and that He might be glorified as this 18 month ordeal for Ruling Elder Dudt comes to a close, and the ongoing trials of his fellow Ruling Elders continue.
The Editorial Board is thankful for its readers, but believes that more important than reading the news and commentary here, is that you commit yourselves to prayer for the purity and peace of Midway Presbyterian Church and the courts at every level of the PCA.
Will you join us?