May 28 Today in OPC History

At 12:28 a.m. on May 28, 1946, the Rev. Ned B. Stonehouse, moderator of the Thirteenth General Assembly pronounced the apostolic benediction that concluded the sessions of the Assembly. The late ending of the Assembly was mainly due to the Assembly's finding "there is ground for complaint against the Presbytery of Philadelphia and declares that the Presbytery of Philadelphia, at its meeting on July 7, 1944, erred in the decision to deem the examination sufficient for ordination, and in the decision to ordain Dr. Gordon H. Clark at subsequent meeting of the Presbytery called for that purpose." The Assembly implored the Presbytery of Philadelphia to acknowledge its errors and of its failure to preserve the peace of the Church, and to report accordingly to the Fourteenth General Assembly.

The Assembly also erected a special committee of Messrs. John Murray, Edmund Clowney, Richard Gray, William Young and Ned Stonehouse to study the doctrines connected with the discussion of the Complaint against the Presbytery of Philadelphia in the matter of the licensure and ordination of Dr. Gordon H. Clark.

Dr. Clark subsequently withdrew from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and joined the United Presbyterian Church on October 14, 1948.

Picture: Evening session of 13th General Assembly in the Carriage House at Westminster Theological Seminary