June 19 Today in OPC History

On this date in 1965, Stanford M. Sutton, Jr., married Maureen Abbott in Morristown, New Jersey. Stan had previously graduated with his bachelor of arts from Swarthmore College in 1956 and his masters from Wheaton College in 1963. The following year he received his bachelor of divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Stan met Maureen, who is British, at Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Morristown.

He was called as pastor of Faith OPC, Marietta, Ohio and ordained on October 15, 1965. After serving the congregation for two years, the Suttons moved to serve three OP congregations jointly in Bancroft, Manchester, and Yale, South Dakota from 1967 to 1973. Stan was delayed in starting his service as pastor of Second Parish OPC in Portland, Maine, because Maureen was hospitalized with severe injuries received in a car accident. He served the congregation from 1973-1986,

Of all the congregations Stan ministered to, he shepherded the flock the longest, twenty-seven years, at Grace OPC in Westfield, New Jersey (1986 to 2013). Over the years Maureen was adjunct professor of English Literature at Kean University in New Jersey and a speaker at retreats, including the OPC Women’s Retreat of the Presbytery of New York and New England. She is certified with the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors and the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. In 1991, Stan taught four weeks at the Missionary Training Institute in Seoul, South Korea, helping to train Korean missionary candidates in a working knowledge of English. He also has served as a member of the OPC’s Loan Fund from 2003 to 2015.

On April 22, 2020, Stan died and went to be with the Lord in Glory.

Picture: Stan and Maureen Sutten in 2013.