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Memorial Resolution 70:7
Elder Craig Hilden
Craig Hilden, an elder at Grace Bible Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, for four-and-a- half years, went home to be with the Lord on May 6, 2006, at the age of 55.
Craig was born June 30, 1950, growing up in Burbank, California. Tragic incidents during Craig’s teenage years led him to question God and to blame God. He was convinced there could not be a God and became an atheist. He spent many hours badgering Christians by drawing them into discussions on God and faith. But God, in His almighty providence, put Craig in front of a pastor from the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. Craig asked to meet with him to ask questions. Craig summed up the prey before him and went to that meeting unaware of what was in store for him. God had a plan.
He met with this pastor on many occasions, trying hard to baffle this man of God. Each time the man would quietly and gently answer each of his questions with patience and respect. The day came in 1973; Craig bowed before the God he blamed and refused to acknowledge, and asked for forgiveness. He walked with God in fear and trembling. He became that church’s youth leader. Witnessing was a passion of Craig's. Street evangelism was his favorite part of this ministry.
Craig then began attending a church that also had a school. He got a job in this Christian school teaching high school English and American history. Craig was elected to serve as an elder. He found no greater joy in life than serving his God as a shepherd to His flock. Such a love God gave him for His children. He studied God’s Word fervently and dedicated his life and mind and will to the furtherance of God's kingdom.
Later, the Church started a class in which he met Theresa. He said he fell in love the moment he laid eyes on her! Twenty months later, Craig asked Theresa to marry him. Theresa had three young girls. He embraced them and became a father to the girls. The Lord grew larger and stronger in this family.
Through a series of events, God took Craig to new heights and new Scriptural frontiers he had never known possible. He learned truths built around solid Reformed theology. Never had Craig's eyes and heart gleamed with such passion for learning truth; he began to pour over church history and Scripture.
The Lord moved Craig, Theresa and the girls from California to Cincinnati, Ohio. They initially attended a church that ultimately went through a tragic split. The Lord brought them to Grace Bible Presbyterian Church, where they became members in 1999. Craig’s passion for God's children grew deeper with his roots becoming even more substantial in God’s Word. He became a deacon and served on the Senior Pastor Search Committee. He became an elder in 2002, worked with evangelism and taught an adult Sunday School class. Being a husband and an elder were two roles Craig took very seriously in his life.Craig felt the Lord had blessed him with a deep love for His Word and a desire to teach about its beauty, wisdom and power. Craig had the gift of encouragement to those who were struggling because he knew the great love that the Lord bestowed on him with the power of His grace to pull him out of the “miry clay and set my feet upon a rock, and establish my step” (Psalm 40). Craig believed that God could use him to stand and live for His truth and to help guide Grace Bible Presbyterian Church in serving Christ through love and submission to Him.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)
Adopted by the 70th General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church,
meeting in Grand Island, NY, August 3-8, 2006.
