December 31 Today in OPC History

On this day in1952, the Committee of Christian Education had just finished a two-day meeting on the campus of Westminster Seminary. President Calvin Cummings presided over the meeting, and present were members Edward J. Young, Kingsley Elder, John Galbraith, D. H. Henry, Robley Johnston, Arthur Kuschke, Cornelius Van Til, Lewis Grotenhuis, and Edmund Clowney.

The Committee determined to add the name and address of the Committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church on all its published materials except for the 1953 Summer Bible School materials. The Committee also sought to seek the assistance of the Rev. John Murray to prepare the reports of the Committee on Local Evangelism for publication as a book.

The Committee also adopted a tentative Covenant Child Training schedule. The proposed plan called for a curriculum for ages 3–19 and grade K–12. Ages 3–4 would study from an Elementary Bible Story Book. Ages 5–6 would use Marian’s Big Book of Bible Stories published by Eerdmans. Age 7 would use Catherine Vos’s Child’s Study Bible and ages 8–9 would work out of the Catechism for Young People. Age 10 would have a Bible Survey course and age 11 would study the Church and its work. Ages 12–13 would work on the Shorter Catechism. Age 14 would study Church membership, age 15 would learn about the Christian life and witness, and age 16 would study the Confession of Faith. Age 17 would be devoted to learning about Kingdom Service. The final two years, ages 18 and 19, would end with the study of OT Biblical Theology and NT Biblical Theology.

Picture: The Committee on Christian Education at work in 1961: President Cal Cummings (back to picture), unidentified, Robert Knudsen, E. J. Young (head of table), unidentified, Robert Nicholas and Edmund Clowney (far left).