January 23 Today in OPC History

On January 23, 1988, OPC ruling elder Murray Forst Thompson died. A charter member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church with his wife, Elizabeth, Mr. Thompson helped form Calvary OPC, Germantown (now Glenside). A close friend of J. Gresham Machen, Mr. Thompson was a founding member of the Independent Board of Presbyterian Foreign Missions in 1934, and one of the original incorporators of the Presbyterian Guardian in 1935. In 1936, he became a trustee of Westminster Seminary and served in that capacity until 1977.

During the legal battle regarding the name of the church, Mr. Thompson represented the then Presbyterian Church of America in the Court of Common Appeals in Philadelphia. Mr. Thompson also co-authored with Cornelius Van Til the minority report recommending that the “Committee of Nine” not be continued. Thompson and Van Til argued that the creation of a “super committee” would concentrate power in the OPC in a manner that would be bureaucratic and unpresbyterian. They wrote, “All of us are prone at times to be concerned about the lack of visible results from our labors. But, thanks be to the almighty God, we have His promise to be with us 'even unto the end of the world' as we carry out His great commission. If we continue steadfastly to plant and to water, we can trust God to give the increase.” The Ninth General Assembly agreed with the minority report and discontinued the Committee of Nine.

Picture: Murray F. Thompson