March 3 Today in OPC History

At the March 3, 1962, meeting of the Presbytery of New Jersey, the Rev. Leslie A. Dunn reported concerning the work of the Boardwalk Chapel and asked for any questions about the work. The Rev. George W. Knight III asked what the position of the Boardwalk Chapel Committee was concerning the use of someone who did not agree with the system of doctrine set forth in our standards. In Mr. Knight's judgment, this had been the case with a particular Baptist minister who had spoken at the Boardwalk Chapel for a week the previous year. Mr. Dunn answered that the Committee would invite individuals as it had done in the past unless directed otherwise by the presbytery. The motion was then made to direct the Boardwalk Chapel Committee to engage only men who were in agreement with our standards as setting forth the truth of the Word of Gpd. The motion was lost.

Mr. Knight and Mr. Willard E. Neal appealed the decision of the presbytery to the Twenty-Ninth (1962) General Assembly. The General Assembly in turn did not sustain the complaint of Mr. Knight and Mr. Neel against the Presbytery of New Jersey. The Assembly stated that the ground of the complaint showed no delinquency on the part of the presbytery in that it has not shown that the presbytery has allowed doctrines contrary to the standards of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to be taught at the Boardwalk Chapel.

Picture: Presbytery of New Jersey in 1961 with George Knight top row sixth from the left.