February 1 Today in OPC History

Born on this day in East Liverpool, Ohio, Ed Eppinger went on to pastor two Orthodox Presbyterian congregations in South Dakota and one in Oklahoma. He studied chemistry at Carnegie Institute of Technology from 1963 to 1965 with the goal of working in plastics. That plan changed when he became a Christian at Geneva College. Professor Dr. J. G. Vos was instrumental in directing him to Westminster Theological Seminary after his 1968 graduation. Raised in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, he was licensed in the RPCES before earning his bachelor of divinity degree in 1971.

Post seminary, Ed preached in RPCES churches until he was asked to fill three OP pulpits in South Dakota. Yale OPC closed in 1973 before Ed was ordained by the Presbytery of the Dakotas on April 17, 1974. He ministered from 1974 to 1985 at Murdock Memorial OPC in Bancroft and Manchester OPC in Manchester. In November 1976, Ed met his wife, Joyce Van Overbeke, on a blind date and married her on April 16, 1977. After Manchester OPC closed in 1985, Ed focused his ministry at Murdock Memorial OPC until 2003. During those years, he also served for many years as the stated clerk of the Presbytery of the Dakotas.

In 2003, Ed became the associate pastor of Westminster OPC in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. After retiring in 2008, he had time for his woodworking and computer projects. Ed and Joyce have three children, Sarah (who works in a plastic testing lab), Daniel, and Elizabeth, and two grandchildren.

Picture: Ed and Joyce Eppinger