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October 13 Today in OPC History

Grace OPC, Westfield

 

On October 13, 1936, Grace Church in Westfield, New Jersey, became the third church enrolled in the Presbytery of New Jersey with ten communicant members. The congregation elected J. Enoch Faw and H. M. Partington as ruling elders of the new church.

In 1937, Donald Graham was called as pastor, and John Galbraith followed him in 1940. Others who have served as pastors of Grace OPC have been Robert Atwell (1943–46, 1967–75), Edmund Clowney (1950–52), Leslie Dunn (1953–62), Jay Adams (1963–66), Albert Edwards (1975–80), and Mack Harrell (1981–85). The longest term of service at Grace Church was that of Stanford Sutton, who pastored faithfully for twenty-seven years until his retirement in 2013.

Grace Church was also blessed with men who served with distinction on the session for decades. Mr. Partington and Mr. Faw were joined on the session in 1940 by Mr. Bert Roeber, and together these three men served until 1956 when Mr. Partington accepted a teaching position at Gordon College. Mr. Partington’s daughter, Dorthy, would became an employee of the Committee on Christian Education and author the Bible Doctrine books that are still in print today.

Mr. Richard Barker would join the session in the 1950s and served as clerk of the Grace Church session and the Presbytery of New Jersey for over forty years. In 1966 at the Thirty-Third General Assembly, Barker became the second ruling elder to serve as moderator.

In 1968, Grace Church hosted the Thirty-fifth General Assembly. Its membership reached a high of over 250 during the pastorate of Al Edwards in the late 1970s.

Picture: The 1968 General Assembly meeting at Westfield, New Jersey

 

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