Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger continue their discussion of Fighting the Good Fight, D. G. Hart and John R. Muether's history of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, by examining the chapter on home missions. Beginning with the small and financially limited denomination of 1939, they trace the development of the Franklin Square congregation, the Committee of Nine's debates over evangelism, and the OPC's emphasis on preaching, catechesis, Sabbath observance, prayer, and the ordinary means of grace. The conversation then turns to Jack Miller and New Life Presbyterian Church in Jenkintown, whose rapid growth and innovative ministry practices raised important questions about worship, church government, evangelism, and denominational identity.

Camden and Danny discuss the proposed OPC-PCA reunion, debates over “every-member ministry” and Ephesians 4, controversies within the Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension, and the subsequent work of Ross Graham and Dick Gerber. Throughout the episode, they reflect on how Christians should evaluate church planting without reducing faithfulness to numerical success. The history reveals an OPC committed to missions while continuing to wrestle with how its confessional identity should govern the methods, expectations, and organization of that work.

CHAPTERS

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:07 Fighting the Good Fight, Chapter 4
• 03:16 The OPC's Home-Missions Challenge in 1939
• 06:07 Franklin Square and New Life Jenkintown
• 10:03 The Committee of Nine and Evangelism
• 14:19 Slow and Steady Congregational Growth
• 18:02 Pastors and Daughter Churches at Franklin Square
• 21:03 Preserving the Results of Evangelism
• 24:23 The Ordinary Means of Grace and Evangelical Trends
• 27:04 Rethinking Success and Failure in Church Planting
• 31:55 Jack Miller and the Founding of New Life
• 34:41 New Approaches to Worship and Ministry
• 37:33 The New Life Network and Presbytery
• 39:58 The OPC-PCA Reunion Vote and Its Aftermath
• 44:28 Denominational Clarity and Ecumenicity
• 46:45 Ephesians 4 and “Every-Member Ministry”
• 53:08 Lewis Ruff and the Home Missions Controversies
• 58:42 Ross Graham and a Reformed Approach to Church Planting
• 61:08 OPC Growth by the Numbers
• 64:08 Reviews, Future Research, and Conclusion

History for a Pilgrim People is produced by the Committee for the Historian of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

https://www.opchistory.org/

https://opc.org/