Resolutions Passed of the Bible Presbyterian Church
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Resolution 71:2

Memorial Resolution for the Rev. Martin Freeland

The Rev. Martin Clark Freeland, age 87, passed away on Tuesday, April 24, 2007, at his home in Bluff City, Tennessee.

Rev. Freeland was born September 23, 1919, in Nashville, Tennessee, son of the late Francis Eugene Freeland and Gertrude King Freeland. Rev. Freeland gradu- ated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering in 1941 and was also awarded the Walter Gill Kirkpatrick Prize by the School of Engineering. He worked as an Assistant Instructor while at Vanderbilt, teaching mechanical drawing and theory of surveying. He was also employed by Bush Building Company, Nile Yearwood Contractors, and the engineering firm founded by his father, now known as Hart Freeland Roberts Inc. He then worked for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in Trinidad, and later joined the U.S. Navy—where he served as an engineer offi- cer on LST276 in the South Pacific.

On August 3, 1949, he accepted the Lord as his Savior. He prepared a letter which he mailed to over 100 business and personal acquaintances, sharing his tes- timony and urging his friends to consider their own relationship with their Creator. As he grew in his faith, he felt he was being called to the ministry and decided to pursue theological training.

In 1953, he graduated from Faith Theological Seminary and was ordained to the ministry by the Bible Presbyterian Church. He was pastor of the Delafield Bible Presbyterian Church, a mission church of the Bible Presbyterian Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and later served as pastor of the Hillsboro Bible Presbyterian Church in North Carolina. In Alabama, he served at Reformed Presbyterian churches (RPCES) in Marion and in Muscle Shoals.

The majority of his years of ministry were at Ryder Memorial Presbyterian Church in Bluff City, Tennessee, where he served as pastor for 38 years. He labored in the Word with precision, enthusiasm and conviction, and he loved the sheep of Christ. In order to support his family, it was necessary that he continue to work part-time as an engineer, and he also taught Greek and science at Graham Bible College in nearby Bristol, Tennessee; but his calling was to be the pastor of Ryder Church. His genuine love for the mountain community in which he served enabled him to have a broad influence not nor- mally accorded to those considered to be outsiders in the rural area. Rev. Freeland was a contented man who recognized God’s goodness and providence, and he exhibited the essential quality of humility like few men on this earth. From the day of his conversion to the hour of his death, Martin Freeland lived to serve the God who saved him and called him to the ministry.

Rev. Freeland is survived by Mary W. Freeland, his beloved wife of 50 years; his four daughters: Judith Glatt of Eldersburg, Maryland; Rebecca Bordwine of Vancouver, Washington; Elizabeth Cole of Bristol, Virginia; and Rachel Beatty of Shoreline, Washington; and by four grandchildren: Derrick Allen Leonard, James Edward Bordwine III, Olivia Freeland Cole and Jonathan Martin Bordwine.

He is missed by his family, his community and his church, but we rejoice that he is with his Lord and Savior in Heaven’s perfect peace. His mind has been renewed in perfection and he will never again know sorrow. Rev. Freeland, our beloved, has joined the ranks of the faithful, the Church Triumphant, and so shall he ever be with the Lord.

Adopted by the 71th General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church,
meeting in Cape Canaveral, FL, August 2-7, 2007.