March 30 Today in OPC History

On March 30, 1963, the Rev. LeRoy Oliver presented a report on the 1962 Synod of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church to the Thirtieth General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church meeting in Vineland, New Jersey. Representing the OPC, Mr. Oliver had attended the Synod, which was held at Covenant College and Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. He reported that it was evident in the actions of the Synod, and in the remarks of individual ministers and elders, that there was a desire on the part of Evangelical Presbyterians to pursue the matter of closer relations with the OPC. Over the next decade the OPC and the EPC, whose members became part of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod in 1965, began working toward a merger. In 1975, the Forty-Second General Assembly and Synod of the RPCES met concurrently on the campus of Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, to approve the merger. When the vote was taken, the OPC approved merging and the RPCES declined.

Picture: LeRoy Oliver in 1961.