Dear Briarwood Family, Grace and peace. I am sure that most of you have received the sad and horrific news concerning the depraved and evil shooting incident at Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee this past Monday. Covenant School is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, one of our sister churches in the PCA. Our relationship with Covenant is significantly personal. Over the years, because of job transfers, several Briarwood members have moved to Nashville and joined Covenant Presbyterian and likewise, a significant number of their members have moved to Birmingham and joined Briarwoo ..read more

My last conversation with Dad over the phone ended the way they usually did; “Thanks Dad, I love you.” I often prayed that I could be with my Dad when the Lord called him home, but God, in His wisdom providentially decreed otherwise.  He took him home quickly from a golf course as he approached the 18th green.  I cannot think of a more appropriate place unless it had been with his family.  But, if I had been with him I would have, of course, told him that I loved him and I would have mentioned many other things that I’m thankful for… here are just a few of them… Thanks Dad for ..read more

January 13, 2022 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today, January 13, 2022 our Lord called home to glory, Barbara Barker. Last Saturday, we had a Service of Celebration and Remembrance Service for Frank Barker, who was called home to be with the Lord on December 27, 2021. Praise the Lord in His kind Providence that today, 17 days later our Lord called Barbara home to glory and to be with Frank.  Amazing! Amazing Grace. There is so much that can and will be said about Barbara in the coming days but let me start with saying ..read more

Interment – Monday, Jan 3 at 11:00am The Alabama National Cemetery, 3133 Highway 119, Montevallo, Alabama – All invited to attend… Celebration of Life – Jan 8 at 2:00 at Briarwood Presbyterian Church – visitation/reception following The God of all glory and grace has providentially called home and into His presence Dr. Frank M. Barker, Jr., a choice servant of the Lord as a Gospel Minister on December 27, 2021. Dr. Barker’s faithfulness, humility and visionary leadership will be missed, not only at Briarwood and the Presbyterian Church in America where he was vitally involved as a founding ..read more

PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY AND LIBERAL CHRISTIANITY – PART 1 Recently in light of the increasing challenges by the persistent and penetrating movement of Progressive Christianity within the Evangelical Church in general and my own denomination—the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)—in particular, I made a book recommendation to the 20+ young men in my Pastoral Mentoring Group as well as to the Briarwood Session and Diaconate with whom I am honored to serve as Senior Pastor. The book recommendation was the recently published “Legacy Edition” of “Christianity and Liberalism” by the noted profess ..read more

Dear Brother and Sisters, Grace and peace to you in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and Praise the Lord! As I am sure you know by now, our Session, in light of Governor Ivey’s Declaration, has approved the 2021 Summer Worship/Ministry Transition Plan. You will notice there is no longer any need to use Interim nor the need to put a letter from the alphabet behind Plan. The key word is “transition.” For the last 15 months our leadership has attempted to keep us intentionally, effectively and safely… On Mission, On Message and In Ministry. Some might ask,” Well Pastor, can’t we just ..read more

Pastoral Letter on Interim Worship/Ministry Plan F Dear Brothers and Sisters, Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Over a year ago the Covid19 pandemic necessitated our response as a church to address the challenges of the pandemic and the directives from the Federal and State Governmental agencies, while maintaining our prioritized commitment to fulfill our Christ-given, Great Commission defined ministry. It began with a Pastoral Letter introducing “Interim Worship/Ministry Plan A” and now, over a year later “Interim Worship/Ministry Plan F.” I am sure that ..read more

Interim Worship/Ministry Plan D Dear Church Family, Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I feel certain that you are aware of our next Interim Worship/Ministry Plan D, but as with the other plans I wanted to take a moment to write a Pastoral Letter for three reasons. My first reason is to express my deep appreciation for your patience, your perseverance and your active support of Briarwood’s Leadership as they/we have attempted to shepherd us through this “present distress” in a way that would honor Christ, bear a clear witness for Christ, and further our co ..read more

Proverbs 26:4–5 tells us: “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” I have to confess that I love these verses. But let’s be honest. Many believers have stumbled over this text and even more have been challenged by unbelievers with this text. Don’t be intimidated. When they challenge you, they have actually opened wide a door for you to talk with them about the futility of unbelief and to talk about a life of purpose and meaning for any and all who come to Christ as their Lord and Savior. So ..read more

It has become abundantly clear that the contemporary church is fully convinced that the effective church (and the effective Christian) is “timely” (That is, in step with the times). Obviously, this is true to a certain degree. Acts 13:36 declares, “David … served the purpose of God in his own generation.” Clearly, David’s life and ministry were “timely,” as they landed “in his own generation.” Our ministries should likewise be “timely” and land in our own generation. But it is equally true that the effective church (and Christian) must be “untimely” in two ways if we are to be faithful to “the ..read more