I am seldom enamored by anniversaries of organizations. I think I was raised in a generation that undervalues history, and some of that rubbed off on me. But anniversaries give me an opportunity to delve into history when I might otherwise have continued to face forward and ignore that history. Once I have my appetite whetted for history, though, I almost always find it fascinating in some way.

As I write this, many people are thinking about the milestone of inaugurating the first black president of the United States, a country that once treated black people as property. I’m proud of the fact that my Reformed Presbyterian forebears, because of their commitment to the Scriptures above cultural norms, saw the error of inequality even more clearly than most of the Founding Fathers of the U.S. I’m glad that, even though I became an RP as an adult, I have been enlightened and enriched by RP history.

There are Reformed and Presbyterian milestones that we will focus on this year. The 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth occurs this year, with no shortage of fanfare. Some of our congregations celebrate milestones this year, such as the 175th anniversary of the Southfield, Mich., RPC. And in this issue we will mark the 125th year of denominational publications in the RPCNA. On the horizon is the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s 200th anniversary—about a year away.

There is a magnificence to this magazine’s 125th anniversary, but it is not in its editors, nor in its paper and ink. The magnificence is in seeing the work of the denomination and her people over many generations of Christ’s church. Poring through old issues is like uncovering buried treasures. Items that seemed rather usual when first reported, in fact, might now be held as a treasure as we read from a different spot on the kingdom timeline. And some things that seemed urgent at the time are now seen as temporal oddities. As the RP Church History Committee makes old magazines available online, and as the RP Witness builds a digital archive of more recent issues, it will become easier for everyone to enjoy the adventures of that history.

I remember reading the 100th anniversary issue of the Witness. How differently I view those first 100 years now that I have shared the privilege of editorship with those past editors.

When previous editor Don McCrory was orienting my wife and I to our new job as managing editors, he told us that perhaps his greatest joy of the job was his relationship with the readers he served. We quickly came to know that joy ourselves.

In writing the history section about the Witness under our editorship, I didn’t say much about key issues of our time, nor did I try to assess our work. Others will one day be able to see that more objectively than we can. What I can say is that we are blessed to be a part of this church, and blessed to have an ink-on-paper chronicle of this church’s contributions in Christ’s kingdom for the past 125 years. May God prosper this church for the generations to come, so that children yet unborn might lead others to Christ and build His kingdom (Ps. 78).

—Drew Gordon