Making History Today: An Arkansan Presbyterian Missionary

James S. Currie, Executive Secretary

Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest

John Walker Vinson, Glenn and Betty Murray, John and Lib Minter, Jean Carrick. These are some Presbyterian missionaries with ties to states in the bounds of what is now the Synod of the Sun. John Walker Vinson was an Austin College and Austin Seminary graduate and served in China – he was killed by Chinese bandits in November 1931. Glenn and Betty Murray served in what was then the Belgian Congo from 1939-1967 (Glenn was an Austin Seminary graduate). John and Lib Minter served in China from 1937-1941 and 1945-1950 (they also served various churches in Texas – Uvalde, Taft, Cuero, Grand Avenue in Sherman, and University Presbyterian in Houston). Jean Carrick served in Kobe, Japan. Although born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1925, she grew up in Harlingen, Texas. In 1950 she moved to Kobe where she served for 40 years. 

More recently Andrew Adair, a native of Houston, Texas, and his wife, Teri, served as missionaries in central Asia from 1998-2006. They now are in charge of The Antioch Partners in Houston. 

Sue Ellen Hall is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Texarkana, Arkansas. The church was organized in 1904, although efforts were made much earlier by both Cumberland and PCUS Presbyterians. Dr. Charles Goldberg, a Cumberland pastor who was a Jew born in Warsaw, Poland, grew up in Germany, came to the United States, and became a Christian at a Cumberland revival in 1844, is credited with keeping Presbyterianism alive in this part of Arkansas in the late 19th century. In 1904 one hundred sixty members of the Pine Street Presbyterian Church of Texas became charter members of First Presbyterian Church in Texarkana, Arkansas. It was affiliated with Ouachita Presbytery. Today the church is part of Pines Presbytery. 

Sue Ellen’s family’s relationship with this church goes back to 1922. She traces her interest in other countries and cultures to mission conferences and church mission trips (for example, in 1966 to Monterey, Mexico). Early overseas experiences included being a chambermaid in London in the summer of 1967, an aupair in Germany and housemother in Scotland from 1971-1974. In 1986 she heard about the Amity Teachers Program. She applied and was accepted. At the same time she received support from the PCUSA. 

From 1986 to 2008 under the auspices of the PCUSA Sue Ellen served as a missionary in Hangzhou, China (1986-89 with Amity); with the PCUSA in Java, Indonesia (1990-95) and Khartoum, Sudan (1996-2008). From 1995-96 she was a missionary-in-residence in Louisville, Kentucky. For the most part she taught English and trained others to teach. In addition, occasionally she led worship. Before going to Khartoum she spent 18 months in Jordan learning Arabic. She notes that she “learned to play music from right to left from the Arabic hymnal so I could accompany the singing at church.” 

Aside from Sue Ellen as a missionary, this Arkansas Presbyterian Church has also produced at least nine pastors, including three from one family. These days it is not unusual to find Sue Ellen leading worship and often preaching at FPC, Texarkana, Arkansas. Currently, she also serves on the board of the Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest. 

(Much of the information about Sue Ellen Hall comes from email exchanges with her. Also, in 2004 a centennial history of First Presbyterian Church, Texarkana, Arkansas was published under the title Answering God’s Call from which information about the church’s history was culled.) 

The Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest exists to“stimulate and encourage interest in the collection, preservation, and presentation of the Presbyterian and Reformed heritage” in the Southwest. If you are not a participating member of the Society and would like to become one, the annual dues are $20 per individual and $25 per couple. Annual institutional and church membership dues are $100. Checks may be made out to PHSSW and sent to: 

PHSSW – 5525 Traviston Ct., Austin, TX 78738.