Bill Thraillkill, the Pastor of Back Creek PCA which was founded in 1805, shared a letter with me last year that he had discovered in the archives of his church. The letter from the 1870s was from then Pastor J.A. Ramsey to his congregation, which was largely made up of farmers. It showed the care of that Pastor to be a physician of the soul to his people, but it also indicated the high degree of piety that was once considered normal amongst Reformed Christians and more importantly that the absence of piety was considered a problem that would surely lead to spiritual decline. I’ve included the letter below because although we live in a different age, the care that Ramsey expressed, and the simple questions he asked are just as relevant as they ever were. So while I am not asking you to send me you answers as he was, I would ask you to answer them in your own hearts and then act upon them.
----------------- “Each member of the church of which I am pastor, in this family, will please furnish written answers to the following questions. If you choose not to answer any particular question, you, of course, are at liberty to do so. But a full record is greatly desired. This is not asked through any idle curiosity, but to enable your pastor to know the state of his flock. Your physician must understand the nature of your sickness, by examining the symptoms, before administering a remedy; so the spiritual physician must know your wants in order to supply them. Your answers will be kept strictly private. You need not write the questions, but simply number the answers according to the number of the questions; thus: No. 1, “yes” or “no”, as the case may be, and so on through the list. You observe I refer to an appropriate passage of Scripture opposite the questions. After each member of the family has written a separate list of answers and signed his or her name, please enclose all and send to me by hand or mail.
1. Have you grown in grace during the past year? II Peter 3:18 2. If not, do you know why? I Peter 3:15 3. Do you read the Bible daily? Acts 17:11 4. Do you have secret prayer regularly? Psalms 66:17 5. Do you attend preaching regularly? If not, why? Heb. 10:25. 6. Do you have family worship night and morning, if not, why? Joshua 24:15 7. Do you ask God’s blessing on your daily meals? 1 Samuel 9:13 8. Do you attend to instructing your children? Prov. 22:6 9. Have you been baptized? Matt. 19:14 10. Do you worship God by giving to His cause? Prov. 3:9-10; II Cor. 9:6 11. How do you spend the Sabbath? Isa. 56:2 12. Are there any difficulties in your religious experiences to be removed? I Cor. 11:31. Luke 22:31-32. 13. If so, please state them, or request and interview with your pastor, and he will take pleasure in speaking or praying with you on any matter you desire for your spiritual good. James 5:16.
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