April 15 Today in OPC History

Westminster celebrates 75 years of God's faithfulness. On April 15, 1951, Westminster Chapel in Westchester, Illinois, received sixteen communicants and five non-communicants into membership. Mr. Edward Klokow was also ordained and installed as the first elder of Westminster at the same service. These events were noted in the first session meeting of the new congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The session meeting minutes are unique in that they continued to be numbered sequentially to the present. April 2026 will be the 1,023rd meeting of the session.

In 1945, George Marston began evangelistic exploratory work in LaGrange and Westchester, Illinois. Edmund Clowney was called to serve as a home missionary in 1947 and the work turned to focus on Westchester where worship services had begun. Lawrence Eyers arrived on the scene as the next home missionary in 1950. He would be installed as their first pastor in September of 1951.

Westminster has been served over the years by a number of pastors: Lawrence Eyres (1951-58), Glen Black (1958-63), W. Harllee Bordeaux (1963-66), Ivan DeMaster (1966-1985), William Rudolph (1986-1997), Bradford Freeman (1998-1999), Charles Telfer (2002-2011), Robert Tarullo (2012-present), and David Wright (2024-present).

The Lord has providentially provided for Westminster through her 75 years of ministry. There have been several ups and downs; through it all the Lord is faithful. Join us in praising our God.

Picture: The first four pastors of Westminster on the occasion of Ivan DeMaster’s installation in 1966: Left to right: Ivan DeMaster (4th pastor), Harllee Bordeaux (3rd pastor), Glenn Black (2nd pastor), and Lawrence Eyers (1st pastor).