May 24 Today in OPC History

On Friday, May 24, 1957, the Presbytery of New Jersey ordained Harvie Maitland Conn as an evangelist of the Presbytery, installing him in a mission work in Stratford, under the sponsorship of Immanuel OPC in Crescent Park and Immanuel OPC in West Collingswood. The Rev. LeRoy Oliver presided over the service, Albert Edwards, pastor at Crescent Park preached the sermon and the Rev. Robert Graham gave the charge to the minister.

Born in on April 7, 1933 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Conn studied at Calvin College and Westminster Seminary (BD 1957, ThM, 1958), and he became an American citizen in 1957. After three years as a home missionary in New Jersey, Conn served in Korea for the Committee on Foreign Missions from 1960 to 1972, engaging in itinerant preaching and teaching at the General Assembly Theological Seminary in Seoul. Then he joined the faculty of Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, where he taught apologetics and missions until his retirement in 1998. Under Conn’s leadership, what began in 1973 as the Westminster Theological Institute (Saturday classes at the seminary for inner city pastors) eventually evolved into the Center for Urban Theological Studies in Philadelphia. The many books he authored included Contemporary World Theology (1973), Eternal Word and Changing Worlds (1984), and A Clarified Vision for Urban Ministry (1987). After a long battle with cancer, Harvie Conn passed away on August 2, 1999.

Homepage Picture: Harvie Conn in Korea

Picture: Harvie and Dorothy Conn