August 28 Today in OPC History

The Lord took Harvie M. Conn home on August 28, 1999. A pastor, missionary, and teacher in the OPC, Conn was passionate about Calvinist theology and the church’s call to urban missions.

Christ converted Conn as a teen at Covenant OPC, Berkeley, California. During his middler year at Westminster Seminary in 1956, he married Dorothy Diedrich. After ordination and three years serving at Stratford OPC in Stratford, New Jersey, Conn accepted a call to serve in as a OPC missionary in Korea. He learned Korean, and started teaching at the General Assembly Theological Seminary in Seoul. When not teaching, he spent much of his time going out into the streets to preach Jesus. He evangelized the women in Seoul’s red-light district, although sharing the gospel with them sometimes lead to his physical suffering.

“Harvie was concerned that we not ignore the people dear to the heart of God.” Wrote Manuel Ortiz, professor at Westminster Seminary and a friend of Conn’s. "His concern for globalization was not just a matter of religious pluralism and multiethnicity; it had to do with the poor.”

The Conn family spent 12 years ministering in Korea, returning in 1972 to take a teaching post at Westminster Philadelphia. William Barker, Academic Dean of Westminster, observed Conn’s kindness and sensitivity firsthand. Barker relates that Conn gave time and care to all students and was especially thoughtful towards minority students.

Picture: Harvie Conn at the 1983 General Assembly