September 5 Today in OPC History

On this day in 1936 a Bible Conference began at the Crescent Lake Bible Camp in northern Wisconsin. Presbyterian men and women from around the state gathered to hear two speakers. The first was the Rev. John J. DeWaard, pastor of Calvary Presbyterian church in Cedar Grove, Wisconsin. The other speaker was the Rev. Edwin H. Rian, who served as General Secretary of the Church Extension Committee of the Presbyterian Church of America (OPC). The meeting place was itself the source of much controversy. Established by the Rev. Arthur F. Perkins and other conservative Presbyterians from the Winnebago Presbytery (PCUSA) in 1934, the camp promoted sound teaching that upheld historic Reformed orthodoxy. Their purpose was to provide young people with "instruction according to the truth as it is in God's word." The Crescent Lake Camp was also a form of protest against the modernism being promoted at the "official" camp of that Presbytery. For his role in establishing and promoting the camp, Perkins had been suspended from the ministry by the Syracuse General Assembly. Yet the sacrifice and suffering Perkins endured were not without fruit. As the Presbyterian Guardian would report concerning that Bible conference, "The consistent testimony and influence of this camp is felt throughout Wisconsin."

Homepage Picture: Edwin Rian

Picture: Left to Right, E. Rian, John, Hattie, John and Murray DeWaard