A Personal Tribute to Pastor Kit Swartz

Recently, I received the news that Walter "Kit" Swartz, a faithful and beloved pastor in the Reformed Presbyterian Church and an author here on Gentle Reformation, passed into glory on December 10th. Kit was the church planter and pastor for four decades of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Oswego, New York. He was also instrumental in church plants in the neighboring towns of Fulton and Utica. Kit leaves behind his wife, Karen, as well as his children and grandchildren. You can read Kit’s obituary here.

Though Kit ministered in a different presbytery and our paths crossed infrequently, he was a man whom I certainly admired from a distance. However, as I share below, the Lord used him to have a profound impact on me at a pivotal time in my life. Reflecting upon Kit's ministry, I give thanks to the Lord for these three qualities.

Kit was a man of kingdom vision. In the middle of the last century, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America was sadly withering away. Congregations were closing. The RPCNA Directory for Church Government had instructions on how to close congregations, but no directive on how to start them. Thankfully, the Lord's Spirit moved in the hearts of several significant men to seek reform, revival, and reinvigoration in the church, leading to new efforts in evangelism and church planting. Kit was one of those men.

As stated above, the Lord used Kit in the planting of churches in the state of New York. In addition, Kit strengthened others in this effort. As a young church planter in Indiana in the 1990s, Kit's example and joyful presence at events sponsored by our Home Mission Board aided me in my own efforts. In the midst of struggles, being around Kit always brought a smile to my face and a renewed vigor to keep my hand on the plow.

Kit was a man of theological and ecclesiastical precision. If you heard Kit preach, sat with him in a meeting, read an article he authored (such as the columns he regularly wrote for the local paper or ones appearing on this blog), or heard him speak on the floor of Synod, one quality stood out. He was a sharp thinker. His ability to analyze a text of Scripture, a cultural event, or a problem in the church consistently demonstrated the gifted mind the Lord had granted him. In the emotive-driven, misty-minded culture in which we live, Kit's mind shone brightly for the church.

Repeatedly, I witnessed the Lord use Kit's mind to help the church. When discussions on a topic on the floor of Synod became mired, there would come times when you hoped one of only a few men would rise to the mic to offer wisdom. Kit was always one at the top of my list. Whether it was a workshop at a church planting conference, a report from a committee he chaired, or a communication you received, he articulated matters with precision and graciousness. Many who sat under his preaching testified to the treasure of Scriptural insights the Lord used Kit to open up to them.

Kit was a man of faithful encouragement. Personally, this is the quality that I loved most about Kit, and one that I am sure will be so missed by his family and the church. How he encouraged us! Kit loved the people of God, and he consistently and faithfully showed it. The Lord used this gift of Kit's at a significant crossroads in my life.

Kit served on the board of Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary for eighteen years, from 1990 to 2002 and again from 2012 to 2018. After those first two terms, he was not required to return for that final term in 2012. Though it would be an overstatement to say that I think the Lord did that just for me, providentially, the Lord used Kit at that time greatly in my own life. Kit started that term in my final year on the board, as I had been elected Professor of Pastoral Theology at RPTS to begin in 2013. Kit constantly encouraged me in this work during my first years at the seminary through personal words, notes of affirmation, and even literal pats on the back. Though that would be enough to give the Lord thanks for Kit's presence on the board, he played an even greater role.

In 2016, former President Jerry O'Neill and the board began to approach me about succeeding Jerry in the presidential role. In my mind, there was no way I was going to take on that responsibility! I did not have the desire for this position and, watching Jerry work up close, knew I did not have the capability to do what I saw him doing. Yet here is where Kit was so influential.

Privately, as well as in board meetings, Kit shared with me that I did not have to be Jerry. He told me that he and the board would help me arrange things differently, and that more staff could eventually be hired to help with all that I saw Jerry carrying. The Lord used his loving persistence, among other acts of providence and prayers, to wear down my resistance. At the board meeting where I announced I would humbly accept the board's nomination, Kit lept from his seat to start a standing ovation! What an encourager he was.

Many family members and saints could testify similarly. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Ps. 116:15).