May 1 Today in OPC History

On May 1, 1949, Josué Balderas was ordained as a gospel minister in the Presbyterian Church of Mexico. After serving congregations in northern Mexico, Mr. Balderas moved to Los Angeles in 1972 to join the faculty of the La Puente Bible Institute. He also served as a part-time pastor in a United Presbyterian Church, a position that he found increasingly difficult because of compromises to the gospel.

Providentially, in 1982 he drove past the OPC in Hacienda Heights, California, and the word "Orthodox" caught his attention. He wondered if there was a Presbyterian church that held to the straight teaching of the Bible as he did. He subsequently became friends with Pastor Wilson Albright and Elder Walter Flores and began to learn more about the OPC. By the end of the year, he had transferred his ministerial credentials to the OPC and was installed as associate pastor of Beverly OPC in Los Angeles. Five years later in 1987, the Presbytery of Southern California installed Mr. Balderas as full-time evangelist for Hispanic ministry, a call that he held for eleven years until his retirement in 1998. Mr. Balderas joined the Church Triumphant on June 25, 2018.

Picture: Josué Balderas (right) and David Crum in the Presbytery of Southern California