August 3 Today in OPC History

When Virginia Ray married Christopher H. Wisdom on this date in 1974, she might not have realized she would marry not only a minister, but a future Battalion Chaplain. Chris had studied at Washington College in Maryland before graduating with a bachelor of arts from Nyack College in New York in 1973. He joined the staff of InterVaristy Christian Fellowship from 1973 to 1976, then studied at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he earned his master of divinity in 1980. Shortly after graduation, Chris and Ginny moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to help organize that mission work into an OP congregation. On November 17, 1981, Chris was ordained by the Presbytery of the Dakotas as assistant pastor of the OPC in Roswell, New Mexico, with the goal of planting Covenant of Grace OPC in Albuquerque. Chris became an evangelist of the work from 1982 to 1984, and then served as the congregation’s pastor until 1986.

In 1986, Chris became an associate pastor of Grace OPC in San Antonio, Texas, serving for the next twenty-eight years as a U.S. Army chaplain. During those years, Chris received his MBA at Syracuse University in 1993, then his doctor of ministry from Erskine Seminary in 2004. In 2008 he earned a master of strategic studies at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 2013, Chris also began his PhD studies in Reformation history from the University of Chester in England through Wales Evangelical School of Theology in Wales. From time to time, he also served on the OPC’s Committee on Chaplains.

Retired at the rank of colonel from the Army in 2014, Battalion Chaplain Wisdom served as vice president of Erskine Theological Seminary from 2014-2016.

On March 31, 2022, Virgina Wisdom died and entered into her heavenly rest..