September 2 Today in OPC History

On this day in 1972 OPC minister William Dennison wed Patricia. Bill and Pat met in the summer of 1970 while working at a hotel resort in Jackson, NH. Bill was head of the bellhops and Pat led the team of waitresses. The hardworking youths hit it off when Pat made fun of how Bill spent all of his free time reading books on apologetics. Through their conversations, Pat eventually left Roman Catholicism and converted to the Reformed faith.

Eleven months after their wedding, they moved to Philadelphia for Bill to enroll in the Master of Divinity program at Westminster Theological Seminary. Pat received her medical technology degree from Byrn Mawr Hospital and began working in cancer research at Merck Sharp and Dohme. As Bill dug into his studies, the teaching of professors Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. and Robert D. Knudsen instilled in him a passion for Biblical Theology and Apologetics. After graduating with his M.Div. in 1976, he began his Master of Theology in apologetics. Bill served as a summer stated supply in 1977 for Grace OPC in Trenton, NJ, upon the request of George Haney.

In the fall of 1977, Bill and Pat moved to Grand Rapids, MI for Bill to teach at Calvin Christian High School. After finishing his Th.M. in 1980, he enrolled at Michigan State University in 1981 to begin doctoral work in Interdisciplinary Studies (philosophy, history, and theology in 19th- and 20th-century Germany). Bill and Pat first joined Spencer Mills OPC while living in Grand Rapids and, then, moved their membership to Harvest OPC when that work emerged. In 1993, Pat and Bill moved to Lookout Mountain, GA with their three children (Dave, Atria, and Ami) for Bill to teach Interdisciplinary Studies at Covenant College and for Pat, who had finished a degree in Business Management, to enter the field of corporate management in the medical insurance industry. After a long period of licensure in the OPC, Bill was ordained in 1995 in the Presbytery of the South. His brother and then OPC Historian, Charles Dennison, delivered the sermon.

Covenant College students long benefited from Bill's infectious laughter and—should they be so blessed—Pat's out-of-this-world meatballs. Bill and Pat displayed the heart of Christ to the broader Chattanooga community, numerous OPC congregations, and hundreds of students. Bill retired from Covenant in 2020 and became pastor of Emmanuel OPC in Kent, Washington.