June 3 Today in OPC History

On June 3, 1981, the last full day of the 48th General Assembly of the OPC that met at Geneva College, the Committee on Ecumenicity and Interchurch Relations brought its recommendation regarding “Joining and Receiving.” “J and R,” as it was commonly abbreviated, was an ambitious plan to unite into one body three churches, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church in America, and Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. Bypassing a protracted process of negotiated merger, the plan called for the OPC and the RPCES to join and be received by the larger PCA. Noting that the RPCES had approved "J and R" three days earlier, the CEIR emphatically urged that the OPC could only come to one conclusion regarding this plan: it “must unite with these churches.”

After substantial debate the vote took place just before the evening recess. 90 of the commissioners voted to approve union and 48 voted against the plan. As the recommendation barely failed to achieve the required two-thirds super-majority required for passage, commissioners retired for the night fairly exhausted by the long debate and close vote.

The next morning brought another surprise. When a dissenting ruling elder moved that the previous question be reconsidered, the General Assembly brought “J and R” to a second vote, and this time the recommendation passed, 93 to 41 (six commissioners having left the assembly by this point), a stunning reversal. The Assembly adjourned later that day, and two weeks later, the PCA General Assembly approved the plan.

One more twist in this story followed: "J and R" then had to sustain approval among the presbyteries of the three denominations over the course of the following year. The presbyteries of the PCA voted to approve its receiving the RPCES but declined receiving the OPC. And so in 1982 the plan to unite three churches ended in a two-way merger.

Picture: 48th (1981) General Assembly meeting at Geneva College