February 5 Today in OPC History

On February 5, 1946, the Rev. Alexander Davison, pastor of Covenant OPC, East Orange, New Jersey, was a featured speaker at the annual homecoming for Westminster Seminary. Having just served four years as an army chaplain for the First Armoured Division in North Africa and Europe, the event was one of Davison's first public appearances after his return from Europe.

Born to Presbyterian parents in Northern Ireland in 1903, Davison attended London University in 1922 and then completed two years of undergraduate work at Queen's University at Belfast. After J. Gresham Machen toured the British Isles in 1926 for the Bible League, Davison made his way to the United States. Davison would graduate from Westminster Seminary in 1931 after which he was ordained and installed as pastor of the Canadian Presbyterian Church in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In 1935, he became pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Vineland, New Jersey. A year later, he withdrew from First PCUSA and helped to form Covenant Church in Vineland. In 1939, he was elected moderator of the 6th General Assembly.

He would pastor Covenant OPC in Vineland until 1941 when he was called to active duty as a chaplain. Upon his return from the war, he became pastor of Covenant OPC in East Orange in January 1946. In 1948, Davison transferred to United Presbyterian Church serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Wheeling, West Virginia.

Picture: Alexander Davison