June 2 Today in OPC History

On June 2, 1937, the Third General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of America (renamed Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1939) formed a fifteen-member Committee on Foreign Missions, composed of nine ministers and six ruling elders serving in three classes. In conjunction with the Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension, the Committee elected the Rev. Charles J. Woodbridge to serve as general secretary. Later that summer, Mr. Woodbridge resigned as general secretary to accept the pastorate of First Presbyterian Church, Salisbury, North Carolina.

The Committee, however, continued its work appointing a new general secretary, the Rev. Cary M. Weisiger III, and on September 16, 1937 appointed its first missionaries. The Rev. Messrs. Egbert Andrews and R. Heber McIlwaine were appointed to serve in Manchukuo, and the Rev. Richard B. and Pauline Gaffin in China. The Committee later appointed the Rev. Malcom C. and June Frehn in Japan, the Rev. Henry W. and Elizabeth Coray in China, and the Rev. Bruce F. and Katharine Hunt in Manchuria.

Picture: From top left clockwise, Egbert Andrews, Henry; Elizabeth, Andrew and Donald Coray; Bruce and Kathy Hunt; Richard, Polly, Margaret, Richard Jr., Harold, and John Gaffin.