Meet a Board Member

July 11, 2012

William O. Wilson (M.Div. '59)

Bill Wilson is the longest-tenured trustee at Westminster. “I graduated from Westminster in 1959 and went into business with my family.  In 1970 Roy Oliver asked me to come on the board.” He has been on Westminster’s board since 1972.  Up until 2006, he owned and operated a small family business that manufactured supplies for funeral homes. He is now retired from the business and serving as an elder at Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA.

One of the reasons Mr. Wilson committed to staying on the board for 40 years has been his deep appreciation for the faculty. “Westminster as a school has always been dear to me, in any way that you can express that—personally, philosophically, theologically—and it’s just been a privilege to be connected with the quality of people that have been and are at Westminster.  The integrity of the individuals, the scholarship of the individuals, those would be some…reasons I stayed on the board.”

Westminster’s continued teaching of the truths of Scripture has also encouraged Mr. Wilson. “The worldwide perspective on the use of the Reformed faith in the kingdom of God is very exciting. I think that our faculty and administration are very effective in spreading a proper biblical position.”

Cornelius Van Til, a former professor of Westminster, impacted him deeply. “Westminster effectively deals with the philosophical problems in reality.  Dr. Van Til is a giant in this area.  He understood philosophy, he understood theology, he understood Scripture, and he dealt with these on the highest possible philosophical and theological plane.  He made the students wrestle with the history of philosophy and understand what was going on in philosophy, and the proper biblical position of Van Til made it quite clear that the learned naturalist doesn’t have one bit of superiority [over the Christian].” During his studies at Westminster, Mr. Wilson studied under most of the original faculty, but he is greatly indebted to Van Til for his teaching.

In the current climate of financial struggles, Bill offers a sobering reminder, “In my years on the board, we’ve always been in a position where we’re scrapping financially.” However, he has confidence in the people who are in charge of the seminary: “I’m just so appreciative of our president, our present board chairman, and of our present administration.  I think they’re dealing with the problems that we face with a proper way of respect and diligence, and following procedures.  I’m just so thankful for the men that are in charge of these things—they are operating properly.”

Please pray for Mr. Wilson and the rest of the Board of Trustees and leadership as they seek to form Christian leaders to proclaim the whole counsel of God to a changing world.

If you would like to join Mr. Wilson in contributing to Westminster’s kingdom work, visit the online donations page.