B. B. Warfield's First Pastoral Call

Amy Mantravadi has written an important essay on B. B. Warfield's first pastoral call in Dayton, Ohio.  I encourage you to take a look:  B. B. Warfield in Dayton

She writes,

The fallout from this event was exactly what you might expect. The presbytery “passed resolutions reflecting on the congregation for ill-usage of their pastor” and required that this be read from the pulpit. We are then told that, “The Church session entered a strong protest in its minutes.” Anyone who has ever been forced to suffer through a tense church committee meeting can now sympathize with what was taking place.

Into this tense situation stepped the young B.B. Warfield. By the time he arrived in Dayton, the congregation had been without a permanent minister for almost two years. Due to the dispute with the local presbytery, they were likely viewed as somewhat toxic. How exactly Warfield was chosen to serve as their supply pastor, I cannot say, but he was no doubt viewed by some not as a lion, but rather as a lamb prepared for the slaughter. Completely lacking in pastoral experience, the odds against his success were long indeed.