Pastor of fast-growing congregation resigns
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, July 14, 2004
Dr. Robert “Robby” McBride, the pastor of what may be the fastest-growing congregation in the Presbyterian Church (USA), has resigned from the pulpit of Saxe Gotha Presbyterian Church in Lexington, S.C.
Dr. Robert “Robby” McBrideMcBride initiated the dissolution of his call by submitting to the Saxe Gotha session a resignation letter in which he accused himself of violating his ordination vows and his “own Christian conscience.”
Dr. Lewis W. Fowler Jr., the interim general presbyter and stated clerk of Trinity Presbytery, said the presbytery has appointed an investigative committee to review McBride’s membership in the presbytery. He said he believed it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Shortly after McBride submitted his letter of resignation on May 27, the South Carolina Legislature approved a resolution honoring his 22 years as the pastor of Saxe Gotha, one of the 1,304 congregations in the Confessing Church Movement.
During those 22 years, the congregation grew from about 80 members to nearly 4,000, with a budget of more than $2.7 million in 2002.
South Carolina’s lawmakers said the congregation’s “incredible and glorious growth can be largely attributed to the dynamic leadership of Reverend Robby McBride, who gave his time, talents, and considerable energy to the church and whose sermons proved to be moving and inspirational Sunday after Sunday.”
The resolution was introduced by state Rep. E.H. Pitts, a Republican who is a real estate broker in Lexington and a member of Saxe Gotha. When The Layman called him Tuesday at his business, Pitt answered through a recording saying that he would be away for several months for military training.
McBride, a burly former high school football coach, helped lead a church that stretched its resources and talents to proclaim the Gospel. It even purchased a fog machine to add some excitement to its burgeoning youth program.
Artist’s rendering of Saxe Gotha Church in Lexington, S.C.As a preacher, McBride spoke softly with a smooth Southern drawl, but intentionally. “We pray daily that God would send us people,” he told The Layman in 2001. “Then we pray daily that God would send us more. We let people know what we believe.”
He gave the Presbyterian spinoff of an altar call every Sunday, inviting people to believe in Christ and immediately signing them up for membership, with training to follow.
The growth of Saxe Gotha was little more than a secret outside of Lexington before The Layman, in its October 2001 edition, published a story titled “From humble start, S.C. congregation has boomed to a membership of 3,500” about McBride and the fast-growing congregation.
Three members of Saxe Gotha’s 37-member staff – associate pastors William Green and Shane Robeson and the congregation’s executive director, Troy Simpson – are sharing the administrative and programming responsibilities.
The congregation has elected a Pastor Nominating Committee to begin the search for a new senior minister.
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