Jack Hudson and Dick Aeschliman were two former RPCES executives who moved to Atlanta immediately after the ‘Joining and Receiving’ of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod with the Presbyterian Church in America.

John Hudson, who everyone called Jack, died after a long battle with cancer on Wednesday afternoon while in hospice care. His wife of 49 years, Jan Ewbank Hudson, was at his side as he peacefully slipped from the suffering of this life to the joy of eternal life.

The Hudson’s children include daughter Jenny and her husband Tommy Butler of Manchester, MD; son John and his wife Desiree Hudson of Lawrenceville, GA and daughter Julie and husband Ric Cline of Shady Dale, GA. There are 11 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

Jack attended Boys Latin School in Baltimore, Maryland and went on to earn a Bachelors’ degree from the University of Baltimore. He was a member and president of Kappa Sigma Kappa fraternity while in college. He also served in the 29th Division of the Maryland Army National Guard.

Early on, Jack worked in the life insurance industry for 14 years while living in Annapolis, Maryland. He was very active with and a leader in Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Jack attended Evangelical Presbyterian Church, a congregation of the RPCES pastored by Bill Mahlow. During this time he felt a call to ministry and, with his wife and young children, moved to St. Louis where he attended Covenant Theological Seminary. Rather than do the MDiv track, Jack completed the Marriage and Family Counseling degree.

Jack and his family were members of what was then known as the Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church in Chesterfield, MO, whose founding pastor was Tom Egbert. The church later merged with another RPCES Church, Glen Ridge, and changed their name to Chesterfield Presbyterian. Jack served as a Ruling Elder in that congregation.

During his seminary days he became involved with the small foundation that had been connected with the RPCES, known as the Reformed Presbyterian Foundation. The board felt that they needed someone with both a theological and a financial background to manage the foundation on a full time basis, and asked Jack to become its President. He served in that role right up until the time of the RPCES/PCA Joining and Receiving in 1983.

At Joining and Receiving it was agreed that the Reformed Presbyterian Foundation, which was then a Missouri corporation, would remain intact and come under the oversight of the PCA General Assembly. While it is a free standing corporation, the Assembly elects members of the Board of Directors. Jack remained president of the newly named PCA Foundation until his departure in 1997. During many of those years he was a leader in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF).

After leaving the Foundation in 1997, Jack worked as a staff counselor at his original home church in Annapolis. Part of his work was to head up a key ministry of the church in divorce recovery. He fully retired in 2006 and moved back to the Atlanta area.

At the time of his death, Jack was a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Covington, Georgia where the funeral service will be held at 3:00PM Sunday, August 31, with Pastor Rob Rienstra officiating. Rob will preach on ‘Freedom’ from Galatians 5:1. He will be assisted by The Reverend Charles Dunahoo. There will be a reception back at the church immediately after the cemetery internment service.

Also taking part in the service will be Jack’s good friend and former RPCES staff worker, The Reverend Dick Aeschliman, now retired from serving on the PCA Christian Ed Committee staff. Dick will read a eulogy and offer prayer.

Jack and Dick were the two former RPCES executives who moved to Atlanta immediately after the ‘Joining and Receiving’ of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod with the Presbyterian Church in America, and went to work in the PCA offices.

Ruling Elder Randy Stair, currently the President of the PCA Foundation since 1998 said this of Jack Hudson, his predecessor. “Jack led the PCA Foundation from the early 1980s until 1997, during which time he faithfully served the Lord, the Foundation, and the PCA. We are grateful for many of the donor relationships he developed over the years on behalf of the Foundation. These relationships have continued over the years and have played a significant role in helping the PCA Foundation financially support the Kingdom.”

Dick Aeschliman, when reached by phone on Friday afternoon, was in the process of writing the eulogy and will forward a copy to The Aquila Report when it is completed. We will update the story at that time.

His pastor, Rob Rienstra, recalled Jack as ‘a man of great wit who loved a good joke and to hang out with the guys and share the Lord with them.”

This writer always made it a point to stop by the Foundation office whenever I was in Atlanta to attend various PCA committee meetings. He was the kind of guy you wanted to chat with because you knew he would lift your spirits.

The family will receive friends Saturday from 2-4 & again from 6-8 at Henry Funeral Home, Social Circle, GA 770-464-4482. (Info on nearby florists can be found at http://www.henryfuneral.com/resources/)