September 18 Today in OPC History

The Rev. Arthur W. Kuschke, Jr., was born on this day in 1913 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, After graduating Wheaton College and earning his Th.B. and Th.M. degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary, Kuschke was ordained as an evangelist by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1940. He was then appointed field representative for the seminary, where he labored to increase enrollment through the challenges of the war years. In 1945 he succeeded Leslie W. Sloat as Westminster’s librarian. Over the course of the next 34 years he developed a first-rate theological library that supported the rigorous academic curriculum of the school. In 1951 the seminary was the site of his wedding to the former Charlotte Milling, and they had three children (David, John, and Margaret) and five grandchildren.

In the pages of Ordained Servant, Alan Strange described Kuschke’s love of the outdoors: “Mr. Kuschke liked walking and was quite a nature enthusiast, enjoying the Morris Arboretum and strolls along the Wissahickon Creek. He could identify trees of every variety and birds not only by sight but by also by song. Summers were enjoyed in Maine and he loved spending time with his children and grandchildren to whom he passed along his love of general revelation.”

Kuschke was an active churchman in the work of the Philadelphia Presbytery (where he chaired its Committee on Candidates and Credentials for nearly three decades) and various committees of the General Assembly. Among his many accomplishments, he served as secretary of the special committee that produced the Trinity Hymnal in 1961. In an article in the Presbyterian Guardian, Kuschke explained the relationship between doctrine and hymnody. “Doctrine is the basic criterion of hymns,” he wrote. “Devotion always springs from doctrine. True zeal in the singing of hymns can arise only from strong convictions about true doctrine.” This truth had profound bearing on the construction of a hymnal, Kuschke noted: “Those who are singing the praise of God should be responding to him in terms of the complete revelation he has given, and must surely seek to follow all the counsel of God. Hymns should therefore be explicit about the great doctrines of the faith and should treat them in an orderly fashion.”

For thirty years after his retirement from Westminster, he continued his labors for the church, including service on the General Assembly Committee on Appeals and Complaints. Mr. Kuschke passed into glory on July 1, 2010, at the age of 96.

Picture: Arthur Kuschke and Westminster Seminary student in 1961.