June 1 Today in OPC History

On June 1, 2009, the Seventy-sixth General Assembly approved the revisions to the Directory of Public Worship and sent the the Final Proposed Revision of the Directory and amendments to the Form of Government to the sixteen presbyteries of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for their approval.

In bringing the Final Proposed Revision to the floor for a vote, the Committee on Revisions had labored for forty-two years. Elected to the Committee on Revisions originally in 1967 were the Rev. Messrs. Edward E. Elliott (chairman), Edward L. Kellogg, and Lawrence R. Eyres. The Forty-first (1974) Assembly reconstituted the Committee and elected the Rev. Messrs. Donald Duff (chairman), Glenn D. Jerrell, and Jack J. Peterson as its members. At the Fifty-sixth General Assembly (1989), new members were elected to the Committee, the Rev. Messrs. John P. Galbraith, John V. Yenchko and George R. Cottenden (chairman). The Rev. Gregory E. Reynolds replaced Mr. Yenchko the next year. At the Sixty-first (1994) Assembly, the Committee was augmented with the Rev. Messrs. Robert D. Knudsen and Moises Silva, and Mr. John O. Kinnaird as an alternate. Mr. Kinnaird became a full member in 1999. The Rev. Larry E. Wilson was added in 2000, and the Rev. Danny E. Olinger in 2006.

Mr. Cottenden, who had chaired the revision committee for twenty years, and now was serving as the stated clerk, reported to the Seventy-seventh General Assembly on July 8, 2010, that the revisions and amendments had been approved by a majority of the presbyteries.

Picture: George Cottenden