June 5 Today in OPC History

Allen Curry married Marilyn Hemphill on this date in 1965. The couple met at Geneva College, where they both graduated in 1964. While in college, Allen became a Christian and felt called to the ministry, but was unsure in which denomination to serve. His PCUSA pastor refused to give him a character reference to Westminster Theological Seminary but said he would give one to Princeton Seminary. He chose to go WTS, where he received his Master of Divinity degree in 1967. Even though he loved the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America where Marilyn was raised, he sought ordination in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church because he wasn’t an exclusive Psalm singer.

Allen was ordained and installed as pastor of Immanuel OPC in West Collingswood, New Jersey, on December 7, 1967. From 1970 through 1988, he served first as an associate general secretary of the Committee on Christian Education and later as director of educational services for CCE’s Great Commission Publications. When GCP became a joint venture with the Presbyterian Church in America in 1975, he worked exclusively for GCP. He also earned his Master of Education in 1973 and his Doctorate of Education in 1981, both from Temple University. When he resigned from GCP in 1988, the late Thomas Patete, then executive director of GCP, said, “Allen has made a mark on Christian Education in both denominations. For some 18 years he has been involved in the planning and production of GCP’s curriculum and in training people across the church in how to teach. Allen’s work, plus his life and faith, have had a significant impact.”

In 1988-2009, Allen was the Hugh and Sallie Reaves Professor of Christian Education at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. He also served as academic dean (1992-2003), vice president for Academic Affairs (1994-2002), and the dean of the chapel (2004-2007).

Over the years, Marilyn, who earned a Masters at Chestnut Hill College, taught kindergarten and second grade at Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian Academy and in Clinton, Mississippi. Since retiring from the seminary in 2009, Allen has served as interim pastor in OP churches in Raleigh, North Carolina; Frederick, Maryland; Syracuse, New York; Glenside, Pennsylvania; as well as in an Australian church and at a PCA in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Allen and Marilyn returned to their Pennsylvania roots to be near their two children and five grandchildren. “Why else would anyone move where there’s cold weather?” he jokes. Marilyn joined the Church Triumphant in 2021.

Picture: Allen and Marilyn on their 50th wedding anniversary in 2015.