June 6 Today in OPC History

On June 6, 1996, many early arrivals to the 63rd General Assembly at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, attended a pre-Assembly conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the OPC. Speakers included Charles Dennison, the denomination’s historian, and Darryl Hart and John Muether, co-authors of a history of the OPC, Fighting the Good Fight, which was published in the previous year. Hart spoke on the OPC as the “spiritual successor” of the Presbyterian Church in the USA, especially in the OPC’s Old School identity. Muether identified the Sabbath, in its covenantal and eschatological dimensions, as a distinguishing characteristic of the denomination, and Dennison outlined the influence of Cornelius Van Til on the development of the church.

Later in the Assembly, the Rev. Thomas Tyson was the main speaker at a sixtieth anniversary banquet. The Rev. John Wilson wrote a hymn to mark the anniversary.

Picture: Danny Olinger and Charles Dennison at the 60th anniversary celebration in 1996.