September 26 Today in OPC History

On September 26, 1970, the Rev. Laurence N. Vail, pastor of Grace OPC in Vienna, Virginia, convened the first meeting of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic. This new presbytery, carved out of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, was established by the 37th General Assembly that met the previous July, and it included the states of Maryland and Virginia and the District of Columbia. At its founding it consisted of four churches (Baltimore, Burtonsville, Silver Spring, and Vienna) and five mission works (Herndon, Manassas, Leesburg, Lynchburg, and Williamsburg). The first meeting saw Mr. Vail elected moderator, the Rev. Barry Hofford the stated clerk, and the Rev. Richard Wirth, the assistant clerk. Ruling elder Richard E. Lauxstermann was elected treasurer.

As the presbytery grew over the years, it spread into southern Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, an answer to the Rev. Vail's convening prayer that God would "enable us as a presbytery to work hard and work together in furthering thy gospel and building thy church." In 1999 several churches of the presbytery joined the newly formed Presbytery of the South East. Today the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic consists of 13 churches and two mission works.

Picture: Ministers and ruling elders at the first meeting of the presbytery.