January 16 Today in OPC History

On this date in 1982, New Life OPC, Easton, Pennsylvania was received as a particular congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. A mission work of Calvary Community OPC of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, the core group was made up of Calvary Community families that lived in the Easton area. The Rev. Jack Kinneer, who had previously served as a pastoral intern at Calvary Community Church, was called as the organizing pastor and installed on June 6, 1982. On December 19, ruling elders Mr. Allen Lewis, Mr. Lawrence Jarrett, and Dr. Ken Demarest were installed as the first regular session of New Life Church.

Mr. Kinneer would serve as pastor until 1997 when he left to become the Director of the Echo Hills Christian Study Center in Indian Hills, Pennsylvania. The Rev. Bruce Jarvis served as pastor from 1997 to 2002 and the Rev. Graham Harbman from 2003 to 2006. In 2007, the church merged with Christ Community Church Bethlehem and became Trinity OPC, Easton with the Rev. Jason Stewart as pastor. He was followed in 2015 by Dr. Lane Tipton.

Picture: Jack and Janice Kinneer in the early 1980s.