October 17 Today in OPC History

On this date in 1984, Lloyd Theune, a long-time ruling elder at Bethel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Oostburg, Wisconsin, died suddenly of a heart attack and went to be with the Lord. Mr. Theune's passion for evangelism was known not only at Bethel Church, but also throughout the OPC. Miriam Moran recalled meeting Mr. Theune for the first time while she and her husband, Pastor Allen Moran, were serving at a church planter in Montana.

I had never met Mr. Theune until a few years ago when we were serving in a home missions work, 400 miles removed from the nearest OPC. The phone rang and a man introduced himself as Lloyd Theune, an OPC elder from Oostburg, Wis. He was in town on business, and could he take us out for dinner? So we began a warm and encouraging friendship. His business brought him our way every six months, and we looked forward to his visits as long as we lived there. Mr. Theune radiated an authentic love for Jesus. He loved to witness. During his weekend visits he usually had two or three people he wanted to check up on - people he had met on a plane or in a restaurant and with whom he had shared the gospel. He loved them - and us - like a father.

Picture: Lloyd Theune