Dr. Larry Young

“Have Bible, Will Preach”

Pastor in the Peaks

The Rev. Larry Young, longtime pastor of Brookside Presbyterian Church in Boone, is a soft-spoken, dignified gentleman of the cloth, and he leaves no one doubting his stance in life. He’s known as the “Pastor in the Peaks” and his business card conveys a simple, yet profound, message: “Have Bible will Preach.”

His mission, taken from the scripture found in Acts 20:24 is “to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God.” His objective, from Colossians 1:28 — “… so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.”

Both passages have significance to Young, who has spent his adult life sharing the word of God with congregations across the east coast and beyond.

Young came to Boone in 1993, and despite being recruited to lead other congregations elsewhere, he became firmly planted in the High Country of North Carolina, a place he had loved for many years prior.

Born in Pennsylvania, Young grew up in New England and received his public education in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

While describing himself as a “PK – Preacher’s Kid,” he is very clear that, just because his father was a minister, he was not given an inside track to God. “I had to come to trust Jesus Christ personally as my Lord and Savior, just like anyone else,” he said.

His mother was a piano teacher, possibly laying the foundation for his eventual love for music.

He recalls, while in the seventh or eighth grade, telling the school principal (when he had to stay after school one time,) “I don’t get it. Just because my father happens to be the minister in this town, everyone thinks I’m supposed to behave so much better than anyone else.”

The principal, Mr. Lacey, smiled down at him and said, “Anytime you want to begin!”

“I went out the bathroom window and went home,” Young said. “He, (Mr. Lacey), was kind. He never told my parents. Those were the days when, if you were punished at school, you were punished more severely at home if your parents found out.”

When he finished high school in Connecticut, Young went off to Buffalo Bible Institute in Buffalo, New York. “Since I still wasn’t far enough away, my folks and three brothers moved out toward the end of Cape Cod, Mass., where my father pastored a church,” Young recalled. “Any farther away and they would have been in the ocean!”

When he transferred from Buffalo to Columbia Bible College in Columbia, SC, his family moved to Virginia Beach, Va., where his father pastored a church — “Because I told them how great the South was.” His three brothers stayed in Virginia; his parents are now deceased.

Preparing for

God’s Service

As a junior at Columbia College, now CIU, Young experienced a period of doubt regarding his salvation. “Here I was, preparing to serve God – and having doubts. One night, I knelt by my bunk and prayed, telling God that if I had never trusted Christ the way I’m supposed to, or had enough faith, or whatever, that night I wanted to make it certain.”

Shortly afterward, Young came across II Timothy 2:19 in By Sherrie Norris The Rev. Larry Young during a recent service at Brookside Presbyterian Church

the Bible – “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.”

“It hit me,” Young said. “It’s more important that God knows I’m his, than that I know it. That was a great relief. But, the verse went on to say, ‘And, let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’ That verse has meant a lot to me over the course of my life.”

And the song, “Only A Sinner Saved by Grace,” represents his personal testimony hymn, he said. “That’s the gospel . . . the good news.”

At Columbia, Young sang baritone in the Light of Life Quartet and did the scheduling for the group.

“It all started when a guy across the hall from me said he had heard a guy with a bass voice singing in the shower. The next thing we knew, we were starting a quartet. We sang a cappella and really worked on harmony. We sang at just about every church and situation imaginable — from street meetings to an all-night southern gospel sing. I’ll always remember the high tenor of the Men of Melody southern gospel quartet (our good friends) saying, as we got up to sing, “Sing it sweetly, boys.” They liked our smooth harmony, necessary when you sing without accompaniment. All the Men of Melody are gone on now, as well the fellow who sang bass with us. Perhaps, I could say they are all singing in heaven now!”

Between college and seminary, Young worked as a summer assistant at the First ARP Church of Rock Hill, SC, essentially teaching the Children’s Catechism and the Westminster Short Catechism.

“All told, there were 50 word-perfect recitations of the catechisms,” he recalled.

As a seminarian, Young spent two summers as student pastor at the Wrens and Ebenezer ARP Churches in Wrens, Ga. The Ebenezer church was founded in 1770. After finishing Erskine Theological Seminary and being ordained, he was invited to officiate his first Holy Communion in that

historic church.

As a student (seminarian) at Erskine, Young spent two summers as student supply pastor for the two churches in Wrens, the one in town and the one outside of town, the latter begun pre-American Revolution in 1770. Ebenezer, the one outside of town, was only having services twice a month. “When I arrived that first summer, I suggested they meet every Sunday. They said, ‘We can’t pay you more.’ I told them that was not necessary. Since I would be preaching at the church in town every Sunday, I would have a sermon prepared.”

At the end of the summer, Young suggested they continue to worship every Sunday and divide what they gave him over the four Sundays each month. They have continued to meet every Sunday since that summer of 1966, he noted.

One of the elders suggested to Young, that after he finished seminary and was ordained, that he come and officiate his first Holy Communion there, mentioning that prior students had done that. Young accepted the offer.

“They set up tables in the front and came and sat at the tables for the communion service,” he recalled. “That congregation has had a special place in my heart. I preached a revival for them one summer, a couple years ago, and stayed in the home of a man who was 12 when I was student supply. It was a special time.”

To Mexico And Back Again

Upon completing seminary in 1968, Young went to Mexico as a missionary. Returning to the states, he became pastor of Neely’s Creek ARP Church in Rock Hill, SC. After 6 ½ years there, he returned to Mexico as a missionary.

During that time, he traveled as chauffeur for a veteran missionary of 45 years, John Thomas, a well-known evangelist in Mexico. Upon offering to be his driver, Thomas told Young, “You’ll share with me in prayer and the ministry of the word (See Acts 6:4).

Young said, “I used to say that I preached short and Mr. Thomas preached long. Usually, we would both preach in the same service.”

And often, he said, they prayed as they traveled. He told me to “watch and pray” as I drove. (See Matthew 26:41.) He was a great spiritual mentor.”

Returning to the states, Young became the pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Columbia, SC.; followed by First Presbyterian church, Panama City, Fla.

“One Sunday after the service in Panama City, the bank owner’s wife came up to me and said that that was the greatest sermon that had ever been preached in that church,” Young recalled. “That was high praise, since Dr. Larry Young and his proud mother share one of his early milestones following his 1964 graduation from Columbia Bible College. “Every man must have a toy,” says Larry Young, who is pictured here with his ‘64 Karmann Ghia convertible.

Louis Evans, pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church (Calif.) used to vacation in the Panama City area and was invited to preach there.”

Young then accepted an assignment for several months on the Grand Cayman Island at Boatswain Bay Presbyterian, helping the congregation with a church growth project.

“On my initial trip to the island, I was to be there two weeks,” he recounted. “ I understood that I would preach Sunday morning and evening the first Sunday I was there. That’s all. The first Sunday, the church van came by and picked me up for Sunday School, which was the hour before the worship service. The next Sunday morning, the church van did not come to get me for the Sunday School hour. As it became closer to the 11 a.m. worship hour, all of a sudden the church van wheeled in with a different driver than before. He was apologizing profusely, saying he was the regular driver and was off the island last week and didn’t know he was supposed to pick me up. As I walked in the church service, which had already begun, I saw the elderly sister of the elder who had begun the church and some ladies sitting with her, and went to sit with them. She said for me to go sit on the platform; I noticed the pastor beckoning me to come up. I thought how nice, they want to honor me, since I had preached there last Sunday. During the pastor’s prayer, I heard him praying for their guest speaker that morning. Oh no, it dawned on me that he was praying for me!”

That experience led Young to adopt the saying, “A pastor must be prepared to preach, pray or die at any moment.”

On the big day of the attendance push, called “Friend Day” there were more cars than there had been people the preceding Sunday, Young recalled.

“I returned to Columbia SC from the Cayman Islands. Two men from the church I had served there, Calvary Presbyterian [PCA}, unbeknownst to each other, came to me separately and asked me to return to that church. I did for a year before going to Ebenezer ARP Church in Charlotte and returning to the ARP fold, in which I had been ordained in 1968.” God Moves in Mysterious Ways

As Young was leaving Charlotte, the Presbytery’s Committee on Church Extension asked him to come to Boone. “They told me that I’d been a foreign missionary, how ‘bout being a home missionary? That worked for me, since I’ve always been partial to the mountains and had earlier vacationed at Beech Mountain back in the Land of Oz days.

Young shared that his second daughter, Amy, always said she wanted to be Dorothy when she grew up.

“Her aunt made her a Dorothy dress and she has a picture of herself in the dress with the Dorothy of the Land of Oz that year.”

Even earlier, as he had gone to pastor in Panama City, he had been talking with a church in Newland.

“I wanted to come to the mountains, then, but we had a family council and I was out-voted five-to-one to go to the beach.”

All four of his children, three daughters and his one son, now deceased, were teenagers at the time. He has since been blessed with seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. (It is a blessing, too, Young noted, that all three of his Larry Young was about 12 years of age living in Scotland, Conn. when this photo was taken.

What people are saying about the Reverend Larry Young

Sandra Painter “I began visiting Brookside during the week when I lived in Gastonia and my son had moved to Boone, so when I moved to Blowing Rock, I was so happy to know I had a church. Pastor asked each of us one time, why we each chose Brookside, and my answer was because of him. After being a dedicated missionary for so many years, he began serving the Brookside family with the same love — sometimes with salary and sometimes without. Pastor has been with me through several surgeries, and he and Joyce have prayed me through some tough times. And, as he says, if you want Bible, you want Brookside.

I have always been touched by his dedication to teaching the Bible and his dedication to the Brookside Family.”

Rob Houser: “Larry Young is a man who preaches from the Bible and does so with vigor and love for the Lord. He can always be counted on during times of grief, loss and healing. A mainstay at a hospital bedside when a loved one is convalescent, and a lunch or dinner companion should you mention a certain Mexican restaurant in Boone. Our Pastor in the Peaks.”

Jerry Greer: “Retired Former Pastor of First Baptist Church, McKinleyville, Calif., and Pulpit Supply Preacher in Northern Calif.: My admiration for Dr. Lawrence C. Young, as a pastor and friend, continues to grow. I met Pastor Larry Young while on a trip to Boone in 2006 when he helped co-officiate my mother’s funeral. That began a long friendship that continues to this day. As I’ve gotten to know Larry over the years, I can tell you he is a dedicated, committed, well-educated and experienced pastor that has a unique combination of pastoral skills and compassion for ministry that shines forth in his love for God and for his congregation at Brookside Presbyterian Church. Dr. Young is a man of deep conviction in the ministry God called him to at Brookside and the surrounding Carolina communities. His long years of pastoral ministry and missions work has yielded a fruitful ministry to the Glory of God. He was called to pastoral ministry as a young man and he continues to serve with enthusiasm, confident in God’s call on his life to serve God and others. My life and ministry have been deeply enriched by my friendship with Dr. Lawrence C. Young.”

Rev. Gordon Noble “When I think of a good pastor-preacher, Dr. Larry Young stands out clear. I have watched him as he ministers to people, preach a revival and do a funeral. This man of God stands out from many of us. I thank God he is my friend, brother in Christ and one I can look up to.”

daughters have since been involved with Bible Study Fellowship where they live. His youngest daughter, Heidi, has been involved in leadership in the Atlanta area.)

At that same time, Young had also been contemplating teaching for a semester in Africa.

“As William Cowper’s hymn states, ‘God moves in a mysterious way,’” he said, adding that it tied into one of the hymns that helps sum up his life: “Jesus led me all the way, led me step by step each day.”

Finally, in ‘93, he arrived in the mountains, and has been here ever since. “After coming to Boone, I did receive a telephone call from an elder at Panama City, asking if I would consider returning. As you can see, I am still here. I declined that offer.”

Becoming a local in Boone

Young officially became a “local” in Boone, he said, by marrying a Moretz 19 years ago, although at the time, she, Joyce, was living in Asheville.

Their wedding ceremony in Boone followed directly on the heels of a worship service he had conducted on Sunday, January 21, 2001; fellow minister, the Rev Tim Greene, (a member of the family singing group,

The Rev. Larry Young was honored at a celebration at Brookside Presbyterian Church when he received his doctorate .

The Greenes) officiated the ceremony, with Morris Hatton playing and singing as a prelude before the ceremony.

“Last September 1, Joyce, retired as Director of Nurses at the Student Health Services at Appalachian State University,” Young said. “Many folks in Boone know her brother, the veterinarian, Dr. Warren Moretz. I always laugh and say that I married his little sister.”

Young has developed close friendships with numerous local pastors, well-known personalities and others in the High Country who have had a great impact upon his life. “After I first met Doc Watson at Thompson’s Restaurant in Deep Gap, I told him I wanted to ask Billy Graham’s brother, Melvin, to speak at Brookside — and would he (Doc) come and do some music. He agreed to do so. I then told Melvin that I was asking Doc Watson to sing — and asked if he would come and speak.”

Young had known Melvin since the early ‘70s, as the Graham brothers had grown up in the ARP denomination at the Chalmers Memorial ARP Church in Charlotte.

“Both Doc and Melvin came — and that little ‘converted house’ where Brookside meets, was crammed with 73 people. People were sitting in the kitchen looking through the door and all the way down the hallway,” Young recalled. “Franklin Graham had told some of the folks at Samaritan’s Purse they should go and hear his uncle. His wife, Jane came with one of their sons. Since that service, after Melvin died, his son, Mel, came as a guest testimony, and Doc played and sang.”

Young was out of town when Doc Watson died. “ My mother-in-law called and told us on the telephone. I called a friend in Pennsylvania, who was a big Doc Watson fan, to tell him. He asked me if I would be doing the funeral. I replied, ‘Goodness, no.’”

Upon returning to the church, Young discovered a message from Barney Hampton saying that the Watson family wanted Young to assist with the funeral. “I was privileged to do Doc’s funeral with his nephew, Pastor Gary Watson.”

Among some of Young’s other fond memories and acquaintances locally include preaching a final revival for the Rev. Gordon Noble before his retirement.

“I laugh and say I preached him out of the pulpit. He preached his last sermon on Sunday, and I preached through Thursday night. He said that was the best revival they had had in 50 years.”

Young always had guest testimonies, and Harold Hayes would sing just before he preached, a method he learned from the Billy Graham crusades, who always had George Beverly Shea sing before he preached.

“I told Harold I wanted him to be my George Beverly Shea, and that I can’t preach unless he sings.”

An early picture of the Rev. Larry Young and his wife, Joyce, in front of Brookside Presbyterian Church in Boone.

A summer afternoon ride with the top down helps a busy couple maintain perspective.

The Rev. Larry Young is not only a friend to many, but also a wise mentor to a number of younger pastors.

Morris Hatton “Larry Young and I have been good friends since the first time we met, and that’s when he came into WVIO, the radio station at Mystery Hill in Blowing Rock, where I was working. He hadn’t been in Boone very long at that time. He asked me to assist with the Christmas Eve service at his church – and I’ve been doing it now for over 26 years. We’ve been through a lot together through the years. He helped me with my taxi service and has served on the board of directors for my ministry, Morris Rockford Hatton Ministries, Inc. Anywhere I’m speaking or singing, he’s likely to show up, and I have tried to be there for him, as well.

The good thing about Larry is, he’s not just available for the Presbyterians – he’s there for all of us. He knows how to cross that line. We don’t necessarily agree on everything since I’m Mennonite and even kinda Pentacostal, but I can handle him, if he can handle me.”

Mark Heisey, a younger ministerial colleague: “I look up to Larry as a mentor. He relates to me as a peer, but only because of his graciousness. He is comfortable in his pastoral role, yet humble; sharing wisdom often in the form of a question, yet ready to learn — and all without the barrier of denominational pride or list of accomplishments. He is a pastor who loves people, has an honest heart and knows the Bible”

More About Brookside Presbyterian Church

Brookside Presbyterian Church began as an off-shoot of Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

December 11, 1988 – The first organizational meeting, attended by twenty interested persons, was held in the sanctuary of the Roman Catholic Church of the Epiphany in Blowing Rock.

February 20, 1989 – The very first church service was held with the Reverend Ken Clapp, administrator of Blowing Rock Assembly Grounds and a United Church of Christ minister, preaching the sermon. Many different supply ministers from several different denominations followed.

July 16, 1989 to April 15, 1990 – The first full-time pastor, the Reverend Fred Barnes, a Baptist minister served the congregation. The Presbyterian congregation was being served by a minister with a Baptist background in a Catholic church. The church members felt the need to belong to something more concrete and more Presbyterian than just name.

August 21, 1990 – The Brookside congregation was received into the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) by First Presbytery. First Presbytery covers the state of North Carolina.

November 1990 – The Reverend Jim Fletcher of Duluth, GA, began duties as stated supply pastor.

March 7, 1991 – The first meeting of the Provisional Session of Brookside Presbyterian Church, ARP was held and extended a call to Mr. Fletcher to become mission developer at Brookside.

November 1992 – The present facility was obtained. Renovations were made and the first service was held on Christmas Eve of that year.

August 1993 – Pastor Fletcher was forced to retire because of poor health.

September 1993 – At the request of the Presbytery’s Church Extension committee, the Reverend Lawrence C. Young came to Brookside as mission developer. Dr. Young continues to serve the congregation.

(Adapted from a brief history written by Mr. Duane Clark, one of the original members of Brookside Presbyterian Church.)

Among other special guest speakers at his church through the years include Kent Tarbutton, proprietor of Chetola; Dr. Bob Ellison, former Director of Student Health Services at App State and others, as well as his wife and brother-inlaw.

“One Sunday night, when my mother was here for a couple months in the summer to escape the heat of Virginia Beach, I took her to church at Proffit’s Grove Baptist, and mentioned that, if they would like, she could play a piano solo for them. Well, she did play. After the service, Pastor Delmar James invited me to come the next Sunday night and preach. I said, ‘You’re only inviting me because you want my mother to come back and play again.’ The next Sunday night, Pastor Delmar introduced me, just before I was to preach. Then, he said, ‘But before he comes to preach, I’m going to ask his mother to come and play for us again.’ Delmar James and his late wife, Dianne, became very dear friends after that.”

And, about the earlier referenced “converted house,” Young said, “I recently saw Pastor Charlie Martin of Bethel Baptist, and told him that I bet I am one of the few pastors in Boone who preaches in a ‘converted’ house. How I wish ‘conversion’ to Christ would be that easy — or be that easy to “convert” people to Christ.”

Young said that he’s been praying for God to send “a true, genuine, heaven-sent revival to Boone” and that many would be converted to Christ — and the whole ambience of Boone and the Watauga County would be filled with the love and righteousness of Christ.

“He (God) makes a change. He transforms lives. He could and can transform a community,” Young said. “ I long to see a great awakening like the one in this country back in the 1730s and 40s. I am praying the police and sheriff’s reports in the newspaper would — and will — dwindle to almost nothing.”

With a busy year (2020) ahead, Young was scheduled in March of this year at Red Path Fellowship Baptist Church at the Catawba Indian Reservation in Rock Hill SC, tagteam preaching with Chief Silverheels, the son of Tonto of the Lone Ranger program. The pastor of Red Path is Young’s son-in-law, married to his oldest daughter, Robin.

The following weekend, he was scheduled to preach a revival at New Beginnings Presbyterian Church, ARP in Pine Level, near Smithfield.

When recently asked about any thoughts of retirement, Young was quick to reply. “I have no plans to retire —for me, it’s shop ‘til you drop, preach ‘til you plop!”

And in his free time? “I love to hike and I enjoy all kinds of music — from Bach to bluegrass.”

He currently sings with a group of 15-20 men called Mountain Thunder, which visits routinely at Deerfield Ridge Assisted Living, the Foley Center, and Glenbridge, and sings at revivals and other special services.

“It was initially begun from men of Bethelview Methodist and Tabernacle Baptist, but now at least four or five different churches are represented. There are six ministers singing with the group, three of which are retired.

“Pastor Gary Watson, one of the original Mountain Thunders, was surprised to discover, at some point, the rich history of the ARP denomination,” Young said. “Along the way, he was telling someone that a Reformed Presbyterian sang with the group. They asked what does Reformed mean. Pastor Gary answered, “They’re trying to do better.’”

On getting along with Christians of other denominations and some differing beliefs, Young said with a chuckle, “If I’m going to spend eternity with them, I better get along with them down here.” ◆ The Rev. Larry Young and his congregation invite the community to join them at Brookside Presbyterian Church, ARP, (Associate Reformed Presbyterian)located at 1122 Old 421 South Boone NC 28607. Services begin at 11 a.m. on Sundays. For more information 828--262-5020 .facebook.com/brooksideARP/ • boonebrooksidechurch.org

The Rev. Larry Young is known as a mentor, a man comfortable in his pastoral role, yet humble and one who loves people, has an honest heart and knows the Bible.

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