April 1 Today in OPC History

On this date in 1970, an Orthodox Presbyterian work was begun in Hutchinson, Kansas. The Rev. Bruce Brawdy of Caney OPC in Caney, Kansas organized and led Bible studies in the early months. In July of that year, the Rev. William J. Bomer arrived in Hutchinson to work with the group. He served as associate pastor at Knox OPC in Oklahoma City while laboring to establish the ministry in Hutchinson. Rev. Bomer financially supported himself for five years by serving as a veterans’ coordinator at Hutchinson Community College and for an additional year by working at the Woodwork Manufacturing and Supply Company. By 1978 Bomer believed the group was large enough and sufficiently grounded to support their own full time pastor. He then accepted a call to the OPC in Grand Junction, Colorado. In August 1978, J. Anthony Blair was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of the Dakotas as an evangelist to serve in Hutchinson. When their only resident elder left the area due to a job change, the congregation began disintegrating rapidly. The work was soon closed and the effort concluded in 1980.

Picture: Tony Blair