June 15 Today in OPC History

On June 15, 1965, Richard Gaffin Jr. was ordained as a minister of the gospel in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. The installation was a family affair as his father, the Rev. Richard Gaffin Sr., read Scripture and prayed and his father-in-law, the Rev. Edward J. Young, preached from 2 Corinthians 4:7. The Rev. Henry Fikkert served as moderator and the Rev. John Skilton delivered the charge. Eleven days later, Gaffin served as best man for his brother-in-law, Davis Young, at his wedding in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gaffin then attended the Thirty-second General Assembly as a first-time commissioner a week and a half later. He and his father, a commissioner from the Presbytery of Wisconsin, drove out to Portland, Oregon, for the meeting and then back together. Richard B. Gaffin Jr. would remain in active service in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for the next 56 years until his retirement from the Committee on Foreign Missions in 2021.

Picture: Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.