In Memorium W. Frank Harrington
March 26, 1999
Frank Harrington, who died March 3, 1999, loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He couldn’t stop talking about him. He told the Jesus story with such heartfelt passion that people came from far and wide to hear what he had to say.
It was not lofty rhetoric that drew more than 20,000 new members into the Peachtree congregation (net growth from less than 2,000 to 11,750) while Harrington was there. Leaning on the edge of his pulpit, he told his tales in the folksy, down home style of a Southern story teller. Earthy vignettes, glimpses of the real world where Jesus’ entry into human dilemmas changed lives, tumbled from the tongue of this small-town, South Carolina native. With unabashed enthusiasm, he loved to tell the story.
Harrington knew what makes a church grow. Impatient with mere discussion, he insisted on action. An entrepreneurial personality, he knew that little progress is made by those who play it safe. He led his people to take risks, challenging structures that cocoon creativity and stifle success. And while he delighted in a novel idea, he insisted that no theory has value as mere abstraction. For Harrington, ideas come alive when they attract a personal investment. He did not flinch from telling his people that meant money and hard work.
Under Harrington’s leadership scores of Presbyterian churches were founded with seed money and teams from Peachtree. Seventy-eight Habitat for Humanity homes were built and 42 percent of the congregation’s annual budget was dedicated to mission projects.
Peachtree’s pastor was a man of indefatigable energy. At age 60, many ministers put their lives on cruise control, but that was the year that Harrington rallied his congregation to undertake a huge, $17.5-million expansion plan. In less than a year, the campaign was fully subscribed. The new buildings will be ready for occupancy this fall.
Having led his people to grow the largest congregation in the PCUSA, to what greater heights might he have aspired? The church triumphant is now his newest call.