Reformed Presbyterian Minutes of Synod 1997 - Rparchives.org

REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA 205
APPENDIX B
ITEMS RECEIVED BY THE 1997 SYNOD
MEMORIALS
Bill Cornell
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Ps. 116:15
William H. Cornell was translated from the Church Militant to the Church
Triumphant on Saturday, June 7th, 1997. He died suddenly of a heart attack at
the age of 48. His funeral service was conducted by Rev. William J. Edgar, pastor
of the Broomall RPC.
Bill grew up without the benefits of a Christian upbringing and came to faith
through the study of the Scriptures as a teenager. He was a gifted theological
student, graduating first in his M.Div. class at Westminster Seminary. Ordained as
associate minister of the Broomall, PA R.P. Church in 1975, he served in a
mission work in Phoenixville, PA from 1975 to 1979. Bill's labors there were
used by the Lord to bring several people to faith. From 1979 to 1985, he was
pastor of the Cambridge, MA congregation, where his ministry attracted many to
the Reformed Presbyterian Church. In 1985, he moved back to Wilmington, DE
to care for his mother and sister. Taking up full-time work as a truck driver since
that time, Bill maintained an active ministry as a truckstop chaplain, as a ruling
elder on the Broomall session and as a faithful preacher of the Word in several
congregations of the Atlantic Presbytery.
Bill was so conscientious that he would never preach the same sermon twice: if
he had occasion to preach on a text he had preached before, he would begin with
the Scriptures and exegete them afresh. The clarity and simplicity of Bill's
preaching could easily make one lose sight of the hours of careful study and
thought that he put into each sermon. His death is a tremendous loss to the
Atlantic Presbytery, and particularly to the Broomall congregation.
In Cambridge RPC, we spent a Sabbath evening giving thanks to God for
bringing Bill Cornell into the life of our congregation. We thanked the Lord for
using Bill to shepherd the congregation through the critical transition from being a
congregation of mostly older, established RPs to being a younger group of relative
newcomers to the RP Church. We are thankful for Bill's sense of humor, for his
wisdom, for his knowledge of the Scriptures and of church history, for his
thoughtfulness expressed in countless cards and notes of encouragement, for his
clarity of thought, for his guilelessness, and for his constant, selfless devotion to
others. Most of all, we thank God for his sound and faithful proclamation of the
Word of God. All of these testify to the abundance and graciousness of God's
work in Bill Cornell's life.
Never seeking to draw attention to himself, Bill poured himself out in the service
of others because he was a true servant of Jesus Christ. He has now entered into