The Other BPC – Where are they now?

The impact of Bible Presbyterianism as a movement is greater than one might consider at first impression. While the Bible Presbyterian Church today is a but a small group of about 28 churches, there are churches in other denominations who share much of same history in their early years. These churches are principally those which were once members of the Columbus Synod. To explain, the original Bible Presbyterian denomination split in 1956 into two groups: BPC – Collingswood Synod and BPC – Columbus Synod. The latter group later ceased to be called Bible Presbyterian at all when it changed its name to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in 1961. The EPC later merged with the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Synod in 1965 to become the Reformed Presbyterian Church Evangelical Synod. Then in 1982 the RPCES joined and was received into the Presbyterian Church in America.

Notables in the Columbus Synod / Evangelical Presbyterian Church included Jay Adams, William S. Barker, J. Oliver Buswell, Francis Schaeffer, John W. Sanderson, and Robert Rayburn. These men would go on to impact the RPCES, the PCA, and even the greater reformed church world in considerable ways.

While it is hard to quantity the contributions of these men, we can look at the list of the churches from 1961 in the “Minutes of Twenty-Fifth General Synod of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church formerly the Bible Presbyterian Church” and see which are still in operation today. The statistics from 1961 show that there was then 68 churches in 11 presbyteries, numbering 300 elders and 6,291 members with five churches not reporting statistics.

Through researching these 68 churches, I’ve found that there are today 22 of them that continue as PCA churches and 1 that is in the OPC. This leaves 45 churches (almost 2/3rds of the total) that no longer exist, though in at least 9 of these cases the buildings of former BP churches are being used by other Christian denominations.

Location of Church in 1961

Church Name in 1961

Pastor(s) in 1961

In Operation in 2021?

Denomination, or Building Use in 2021

Chatsworth

Covenant Pres. Ch.

W. Edward Lyons

No [Valley Bethel Pres. Ch.,

end date 8/31/1996]

Korean

La Crescenta

Foothill Pres. Ch.

VACANT

No [end date 1998]

N/A

Bradenton, FL

York Drive Pres. Ch.

William B. Cordes

No

N/A

Charlotte, NC

First BPC of Charlotte

W. Harold Mare

No [Faith Pres. Ch., end date 12/18/2011]

N/A

Durham, NC

BPC of Durham

VACANT

No [Fuller Mem., end date 7/24/1990; Lednum St., end date 7/7/1995]]

N/A

Greenville, SC

Augusta St. Pres. Ch.

Thomas G. Cross

No [Paramount Park Baptist Ch. End date 10/24/1996]

N/A

Lakeland, FL

BPC of Lakeland

Willard O. Armes

No

N/A

Tampa, FL

Calvary Pres. Ch.

Max F. Stowe

No. Word of Grace and Truth

African American

Columbus OH

BPC of Columbus

Donald Slenker

No

Residential Unit

Enon Valley, PA

BPC, Enon Valley

George C. Soltau

No [End date 6/4/1983]

N/A

Harrisville, PA

Rocky Springs BPC

C. LaRue Fritz

Yes [rockyspringschurch.org]

PCA

Irwin, PA

Calvin Pres. Ch.

R. A. Milliken

Yes [calvinpca.org]

PCA

East Titusville, PA

Pine Creek BPC

George L. Cooper

No

N/A

Youngstown, OH

Robinwood Pres. Ch.

John Kay Jr.

Yes [cpcboardman.org]

PCA

Bismarck, ND

Bismark BPC

Gustav. L. Blomquist

No

N/A

Dodge, ND

Dodge BPC

VACANT

No [End date 09/28/1995]

N/A

Lemmon, SD

Lemmon BPC

Alvin House

Yes. [Reformed Pres.]

PCA

Underwood, ND

Alexander Pres. Ch.

VACANT

No

N/A

Watford City, ND

Watford City BPC

Theodore H. Engstrom

No

N/A

Wilton, ND

Wilton BPC

VACANT

No

N/A

Bowling Green, KY

Westminster PC

L. Stanley Hartman

No [End date 09/20/81]

N/A

Huntsville, AL

Westminster

Paul. H. Alexander

Yes [wpc-hsv.org/]

PCA

Indianapolis, IN

Grace Pres.

Edward T. Noe

Yes [gracepca.org]

PCA

Nashville, TN

Westminster (Bedford, TN)

???

No [End date 4/23/1994]

N/A

Shelbyville, TN

???

???

No

N/A

Affton, MO

???

???

No

N/A

Alton, IL

BPC of Alton

A. F. Moginot Jr.

No

N/A

Ballwin, MO

???

???

No

N/A

Brighton, IL

Covenant Pres. Ch.

R. W. Dunn

No

N/A

Bunch, OK

Green BPC of Malloy Hollow

No

N/A

Cutler, IL

Faith BP Church

VACANT

No

N/A

Gainesville, TX

Westminster Pres. Ch.

Kyle Thurman

Yes [www.wpcgtx.org]

PCA

Hazelwood, MO

Hazelwood Pres. Ch.

William S. Barker

Yes [cpcopc.org/]

OPC

Mexia, TX

Westminster Pres. Ch.

A. W. DeGuire

No

N/A

St. Louis, MO

Covenant Pres. Ch.

Donald J. MacNair

Yes [cpcstl.org]

PCA

St. Louis, MO

Olive Branch BPC

VACANT

No [Merged with New City Fell.]

N/A

E. Camden, NJ

BPC of East Camden

Lynden Stewart

No http://www.dvrbs.com/camden-religion/CamdenNJ-Church-BiblePresbyterian.htm

Seventh-Day Adventist

Haddonfield, NJ

Covenant BPC

A. Dale Umbreit

No

N/A

Sydney, NS

Westminster

Horace F. MacEwen

Yes

[Westminster Bible Presbyterian Church]

PCA

Trenton, NJ

BPC of Trenton

John W. Buswell

No

Seventh-Day Adventist

Ventnor, NJ

BPC of Ventnor City

Arthur Kay

No

Assembly of God

Williamstown, NJ

Emmanuel BPC of Star Cross

Harold Hight

No [End date 3/1/2016]

N/A

Edmonton, AB

Crestwood Pres. Ch.

David Alexander

Yes

PCA

Seattle, WA

Evangelical Pres. Ch.

Nelson K. Malkus

Yes [trinitychurchseattle.org]

PCA

Tacoma, WA

Faith BPC

James E. Hanson

Yes [faithtacoma.org]

PCA

Baltimore, MD

First BPC of Baltimore

Frank Smick, Jr.

No. [Armistead Gardens, End date 1/10/1987]

Community Church

Concordville, PA

BPC of Concordville

Carl T. Grayson

No

N/A

Galena, MD

BPC of Galena

Harwell T. Williamson

No

N/A

Hampton, VA

Calvary BPC

Charles H. Gosling

Yes [calvaryrpc.org]

PCA

Levittown, PA

BPC of Levittown

Paul R. Gilchrist

No [End date 11/16/2013]

Baptist

McLean, VA

McLean Pres. Ch.

George R. Bragdon

Yes [mcleanpres.org/]

PCA

Media, PA

Calvary Pres. Ch.

Daniel Fannon

Yes [crosspointemedia.org]

PCA

Newark, DE

BPC of Newark

Robert F. Auffarth

No

Antique Mall

Oreland, PA

Christ BPC of Oreland

Daniel Cannon

No

Residence

Wilmington, DE

Berea BPC

Herman Cook

Yes. [Good News Church] goodnewsde.com/

PCA

Wilmington, DE

Faith BPC

Kenneth A. Horner, Jr.

Yes. [faithwilmington.com]

PCA

Wilmington Manor, DE

BPC of Wilmington Manor

Preson P. Phillips, Jr.

Yes. [Gospel Church for All Nations gospelcan.org]

PCA

Albuquerque, NM

Grace

???

No [hopechurchabq.com]

EV-Free

Canon City, CO

BPC of Canon City

VACANT

No

N/A

Colorado Springs, CO

First BPC of Colorado Spring

William B. Leonard Jr.

Yes [Village Seven v7pc.org]

PCA

Denver, CO

Emmanuel BPC

Homer Fernandez

No

Hispanic Church

Kearney, NE

Trinity BPC

John P. Hoogstrate

Yes [tpckearney.org]

PCA

Wheat Ridge, CO

First BPC of Denver

VACANT

Yes [cpcwheatridge.org]

PCA

Beverly Manor, IL

First BPC of Beverly Manor

Carl S. Wise

No

N/A

Cambridge, IA

BPC of Cambridge

Alan D. Mohrenweiser

No

N/A

Elgin, IL

Westminster Pres. Ch.

VACANT

Yes [wpchurch.com]

N/A

Merrill, WI

BPC of Merrill

Oliver C. JuliussonYes [Bible Presbyterian Church, bilepreschurch.org]

PCA

Walker, IA

BPC of Cono Center

Max V. Belz

No. Closed in about 2018.

N/A

The question I then have is, why did so many BP-Columbus Synod churches fail? Were they planted in small communities without sufficient forethought?

2 thoughts on “The Other BPC – Where are they now?”

  1. Limited employment opportunities in rural areas for one as addressed. “There is no more marked manifestation of God’s Wrath than the fact that He permits (decrees) the decline of His spoken and written Word.” (Luther’s Sermons, decrees paraphrased by me). Another problem could be the falling away in the PCA, especially when men like Tim Keller headed it up? This is still a tough question to say the least. We will never fully understand as to why He smites the Shepard and the Sheep scatter (Zech 13:7 & Matthew 26:31). Why does the Almighty afflict and scatter the Church when we are commandment to hold fellowship; not only in Spirit; but physically as a congregation (Hebrews 10:25). The most trying times can be when no physical fellowship can be found; and He tries the faith. Is your faith in the Church, or is faith solely in the Word and Him Alone. Lord Help.

  2. Interesting concept for this article, Doug. This involved a lot of time and research–thank you! It would be interesting to do a similar study for the Collingswood Synod churches.

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