The Moderator Designate for the 2013 General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) is Rev Warren Ewing Gardner, minister of the Free Church Continuing congregation in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Mr Gardner was born in 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania into a Christian family. His father, a surgeon, also ran a farm, while his mother was both a skilled lab technician and a trained teacher.
Mr Gardner came to a personal faith in his third year in university. He gave up ambitions for a medical career and prepared for the ministry instead.
He attended Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and later received a Master of Divinity degree at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Ordained in 1972, he served as assistant minister of First Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, and then Rehoboth Presbyterian Church, Decatur, Georgia, before being called to First Presbyterian Church, Winder, Georgia.
Seeking closer adherence to Biblical standards, Mr Gardner entered the ministry of
the Presbyterian Church in America in 1981as a church planter and organised the New
Life Presbyterian Church in Winder, Georgia where he served as minister for twenty-
In 2003 Mr Gardner became convinced of the Scriptural basis of Free Church Practice and sought admission into the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) to serve as a church planter in Atlanta, Georgia.
He says he rejoices in belonging to a denomination where there is a strong emphasis
on heart religion and where the original Westminster Confession of Faith and its
Catechisms are taken as the personal faith of those who serve as its office-
Mr Gardner is married to Valerie, a trained violinist who performed as a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra until she resigned her position to care for their children. The Gardners have five children. Their son is a trauma orthopedic surgeon, while three of their four daughters married ministers. Their eldest daughter is the wife of Rev. Robert McCurley, minister of the Free Church Continuing congregation in Greenville, South Carolina. The Gardners have thirteen grandchildren.
