Paul Settle announced the passing of his loving wife and companion of 54 years in an email he sent to family and friends this morning (Monday, 9/20):

As close friends had known, Georgia had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for the past eight years.Paul kept stepping back from church-related duties as things progressed, and they finally moved back from Dallas to their adopted home town of Greenville, SC (where he had served as Senior Pastor at Second Presbyterian (PCA) for fourteen years).

Paul wrote another email just a short 16 days ago in which he described the pain of having to finally put her into a care center – one of those crushing decisions that faces far too many people in families that struggle with this disease.One can sense the love and emotion behind these words:

A Memorial Service will be held this coming Saturday, September 25, in the Sanctuary of Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville at 11:00AM

___________________________________

Georgia Brown, born on March 6, 1935, was from Betsy Lane, Kentucky. She met Paul Settle from Charleston, WV while they were students at Bob Jones University in the mid-50’s.Shortly after their shared graduation, they were married back in Betsy Lane on August 22, 1956.To understand Georgia’s story, you have to understand Paul’s story, as they are so closely intertwined.

Together they went to seminary at Columbia in Decatur, GA and Paul received his MDiv three years later.He immediately returned to West Virginia where he took a call and was ordained as Pastor of the Pliny Presbyterian Church about 35 miles northwest of downtown Charlestown.That church, although very small these days, is still open and is in New River Presbytery of the PCA.(I drive past it all time going to and from Dayton, Ohio to see grandkids. DKC)

Following Pliny, Paul followed his love for Christian Education and spent four years as Minister of Education at Trinity PC in Montgomery, AL followed by three years in the same position at Coral Ridge PC in Fort Lauderdale, FL.During this time they were raising a family, a boy – Paul David (now living in Greenville) and a girl – Jo Lynn Sprouse (now living in Waynesville, NC).

Paul’s love for education was shared by Georgia, as she taught speech education in public schools in Winfield, WV, Smyrna, GA, and Montgomery, AL and served Library Assistant at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA during these years.

In 1969, Paul took a call to become pastor of the Northside Presbyterian Church in Burlington, NC and dropped right into the middle of the struggle of conservative members of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (known as the Southern Presbyterian Church) against a denomination that was slowly moving away from its Biblical and Confessional roots.

By 1971, things were moving swiftly towards the formation of a new denomination (now the Presbyterian Church in America). Paul and Georgia moved to Montgomery, AL where Paul became the Executive Secretary of the Presbyterian Churchmen United, one of four groups that provided the facilitation for churches who wanted to leave the PCUS to form a new denomination.Georgia, not surprisingly, became the office manager!When the denomination was about to be formed in 1973, the job title became Executive Director of the Continuing Presbyterian Church.Then, at the formation of the denomination, Paul became the Coordinator of the Committee for Christian Education and Publications (CE/P). They changed the office title to the new name and stayed in Montgomery.

Georgia shifted from her role as an administrator and began to help Paul in the ministry, especially in establishing a Women’s Ministry in the PCA.She became the initial Christian Education Consultant to the Women’s Advisory Sub-Committee of the Presbyterian Church in America, a position now known as Director of Women’s Ministry.

In 1976, after 7 years of organizational work, Paul was called to be Senior Pastor of the historic Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville and he served there for over 14 years.During that period, Georgia turned her attention to the needful work of Historian of the PCA, as well as writing her first book, called ‘Women In The Bible’.It was published by the CE/P Committee as a Women’s Bible study in 1978, but sadly, it is out of print (I just bought the only used copy available at Amazon! DKC)

In the role as Historian she personally completed oral histories with some of the preeminent leaders of the continuing church movement and the early PCA including (alphabetically): Jim Baird, John Clark, Bill Hill, Ken Keyes, Harold S. Laird, Arthur Matthews, Will McIlwaine, Don Patterson, Robert Rayburn, John and Kitty Richards (the Settle’s co-workers with PCU), Paul Settle (that one was easy to schedule), Kennedy Smartt, Morton Smith, Aiken Taylor, Steve White, Ben Wilkinson, and Jack Williamson.

As Wayne Sparkman, current Director of the PCA Historical Center noted in putting this list together for The Aquila Report: “she did a BUNCH of interviews. The entire PCA will always be in her debt.”

Besides just doing these oral histories, Georgia wrote the small handbook that is still in use for those who want to do some of this very interesting and very crucial work of creating history for the future.You can download that handbook at:http://www.pcahistory.org/local/oralhistory.html

(Contact Mr. Sparkman by email:
// archivist@pcahistory.org
//
for more information about all of the oral history interviews and their transcriptions.)
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
//

In 1988, still while Paul was at Greenville, Georgia published a second book, entitled Seasons of Change, Seasons of Grace, also published as a study by the CE/P in Atlanta.

In 1991, the founder and primary gift-giver to establish Ridge Haven Conference Center, a PCA ministry in the mountains of southwestern North Carolina, Kenneth Keyes, Sr. asked Paul to put his combination of administrative and education skills together and so he left the pastorate and took the job as Executive Director of Ridge Haven for two years.

But as soon as things were organized there, Paul and Georgia moved on to Paul’s next and final call, on the staff of the Park Cities PC (PCPC) in Dallas. The Senior Pastor was Skip Ryan, who with Paul was a Board Member of Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia.By that time PCPC had grown to mega-church status (2,000+ people) and Paul came on as Associate Pastor with his primary work of discipleship (which is to say, Christian Education in its basic form).

Among those who were part of the discipleship work were many college and seminary students.It wasn’t long before a Reformed University Fellowship chapter was started at Southern Methodist University, and Georgia again pitched in to serve as the Executive Director to the Campus Pastor.

In 2003, when Georgia began the ‘Long Goodbye’ as many Alzheimer’s caregivers call it, Paul stepped down from the staff at Park Cities and spent most of his time caring for Georgia.A few years ago, they moved back to Brevard, NC to be closer to their children.Then, this September, the ‘Long Goodbye’ became a final farewell to family and friends on earth and a joyous arrival in heaven to be with Jesus and all the saints who have gone before us.

Surviving Georgia, in addition to her husband, are a son, Paul David Settle and wife, Shirley, of Greenville; a daughter, Jo Lynne Sprouse and husband, Ken, of Waynesville, NC; two granddaughters, Shelby and Carly Sprouse; a step granddaughter, Alyssa and a brother, Billy Brown and wife, Faye, of Belleville, MI.
____________________________________

Two of the ladies who came after Georgia in the work of the PCA Women’s Ministry, Susan Hunt (the first official Director) and Barbara Thompson, a long time Advisory Committee Member and recent staff member in Atlanta, wrote a book entitled:The Legacy of Biblical Womanhood (click on hyperlink to order from PCA bookstore)

The two authors dedicated the book to Georgia, just as she began her battle with Alzheimer’s.Here is their dedication, which will tell you way more than all the facts in the story to this point put together about who Georgia Brown Settle really was!