<![CDATA[History for a Pilgrim People]]>5928c88d-4fc1-5809-853b-6d15f8398229Tue, 04 Aug 2026 13:00:20 +0000Captivate.fmOPC Committee for the HistorianHistory for a Pilgrim People is a podcast of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church produced by the Committee for the Historian. Hosted by OPC historian Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger, chairman of the Committee for the Historian, the program explores the history of the church as a living inheritance rather than a merely academic subject. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by the biblical vision of God’s people as pilgrims journeying toward their eternal rest, the podcast reflects on how the Lord has preserved, corrected, and sustained his church through real people, events, and decisions across time.

Each episode examines key moments, figures, and themes in the history of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and its antecedents, situating them within the broader story of God’s redemptive work. The goal is not nostalgia, success, or survival, but faithful service—learning from the past so that the church may walk wisely, humbly, and obediently in the present. History for a Pilgrim People seeks to preserve institutional memory, encourage gratitude for God’s providence, and help Christ’s church understand her place within the great cloud of witnesses as she presses on toward the promised rest.

]]>https://artwork.captivate.fm/5143a7f9-234b-4015-9b9b-2a1687013096/hpp-podcast-album-cover.jpgHistory for a Pilgrim PeopleOPC Committee for the HistorianOPC Committee for the HistorianHistory for a Pilgrim People is a podcast of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church produced by the Committee for the Historian. Hosted by OPC historian Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger, chairman of the Committee for the Historian, the program explores the history of the church as a living inheritance rather than a merely academic subject. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by the biblical vision of God’s people as pilgrims journeying toward their eternal rest, the podcast reflects on how the Lord has preserved, corrected, and sustained his church through real people, events, and decisions across time. Each episode examines key moments, figures, and themes in the history of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and its antecedents, situating them within the broader story of God’s redemptive work. The goal is not nostalgia, success, or survival, but faithful service—learning from the past so that the church may walk wisely, humbly, and obediently in the present. History for a Pilgrim People seeks to preserve institutional memory, encourage gratitude for God’s providence, and help Christ’s church understand her place within the great cloud of witnesses as she presses on toward the promised rest.https://history-for-a-pilgrim.captivate.fmfalseepisodichttps://feeds.captivate.fm/history-for-a-pilgrim/nopodcastHow the Orthodox Presbyterian Church Got Its NameHow the Orthodox Presbyterian Church Got Its NameIn episode 7 of History for a Pilgrim People, Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger trace the young Presbyterian Church of America through the difficult years following the division of 1937. They begin with Charles Woodbridge’s brief service as general secretary for home and foreign missions and the extraordinary poverty endured by ministers and missionary families—sometimes receiving only 31 cents on the dollar and living on potatoes, apples, or unmarked “mystery cans.”

The conversation then turns to constitutional turmoil in the presbyteries of Chicago, Iowa, California, and the Dakotas; the Fourth General Assembly; the founding of the Machen League for covenant youth; and the Christian Reformed Church’s important gesture of fraternal recognition. Finally, they recount the 1938 court ruling that barred the denomination from using the name Presbyterian Church of America and the remarkable Fifth General Assembly of February 1939, when commissioners debated eleven proposals and took six ballots before adopting the name Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Throughout the episode, Camden and Danny reflect on the humility, courage, and Christ-centered faithfulness of believers who accepted hardship without complaint and trusted the Lord to preserve and build his church.

Chapters

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 2:57 Charles Woodbridge and the foreign missions committee
  • 7:31 The Southern Presbyterian Church and the new denomination
  • 11:36 A missions funding crisis: 31 cents on the dollar
  • 16:15 Ed and Eleanor Kellogg’s “mystery cans”
  • 19:44 Could an entire presbytery withdraw?
  • 20:25 Chaos in Chicago, Iowa, and California
  • 26:09 The Presbytery of the Dakotas
  • 29:19 The Fourth General Assembly and church government
  • 35:56 The Machen League for covenant youth
  • 39:59 Fraternal relations with the Christian Reformed Church
  • 41:47 The court ruling against the church’s name
  • 44:25 A one-issue General Assembly to choose a new name
  • 47:24 Eleven proposed names and the first ballots
  • 49:18 California’s telegram and the Presbyterian Church of Christ
  • 54:36 Dinner, coalition-building, and the final ballot
  • 57:55 Why “Orthodox Presbyterian”?
  • 62:49 Lessons from the church’s survival
  • 63:03 Looking ahead to home and foreign missions

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

]]>In episode 7 of History for a Pilgrim People, Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger trace the young Presbyterian Church of America through the difficult years following the division of 1937. They begin with Charles Woodbridge’s brief service as general secretary for home and foreign missions and the extraordinary poverty endured by ministers and missionary families—sometimes receiving only 31 cents on the dollar and living on potatoes, apples, or unmarked “mystery cans.”

The conversation then turns to constitutional turmoil in the presbyteries of Chicago, Iowa, California, and the Dakotas; the Fourth General Assembly; the founding of the Machen League for covenant youth; and the Christian Reformed Church’s important gesture of fraternal recognition. Finally, they recount the 1938 court ruling that barred the denomination from using the name Presbyterian Church of America and the remarkable Fifth General Assembly of February 1939, when commissioners debated eleven proposals and took six ballots before adopting the name Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Throughout the episode, Camden and Danny reflect on the humility, courage, and Christ-centered faithfulness of believers who accepted hardship without complaint and trusted the Lord to preserve and build his church.

Chapters

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 2:57 Charles Woodbridge and the foreign missions committee
  • 7:31 The Southern Presbyterian Church and the new denomination
  • 11:36 A missions funding crisis: 31 cents on the dollar
  • 16:15 Ed and Eleanor Kellogg’s “mystery cans”
  • 19:44 Could an entire presbytery withdraw?
  • 20:25 Chaos in Chicago, Iowa, and California
  • 26:09 The Presbytery of the Dakotas
  • 29:19 The Fourth General Assembly and church government
  • 35:56 The Machen League for covenant youth
  • 39:59 Fraternal relations with the Christian Reformed Church
  • 41:47 The court ruling against the church’s name
  • 44:25 A one-issue General Assembly to choose a new name
  • 47:24 Eleven proposed names and the first ballots
  • 49:18 California’s telegram and the Presbyterian Church of Christ
  • 54:36 Dinner, coalition-building, and the final ballot
  • 57:55 Why “Orthodox Presbyterian”?
  • 62:49 Lessons from the church’s survival
  • 63:03 Looking ahead to home and foreign missions

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

]]>ef426ab7-be0f-4683-a6c8-09a645ece0d7Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:00:00 -040001:04:35falsefull1771Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger trace the Orthodox Presbyterian Church through the difficult years of 1937–1939—from missionary poverty and presbytery disputes to the court case and six ballots that gave the church its present name.The Division of 1937, Part 2The Division of 1937, Part 2In the sixth episode of History for a Pilgrim People, Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger continue their discussion of the earliest years of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, returning to the events surrounding the division of 1937.

The conversation begins with a brief return to the previous episode’s discussion of the tensions already present in the young Presbyterian Church of America. Camden and Danny then consider the death of J. Gresham Machen on January 1, 1937, and the profound sense of loss felt by the church. With Machen gone, long-developing disputes over dispensationalism, premillennialism, total abstinence, the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, and the meaning of Reformed Presbyterian identity came into sharper focus.

They also discuss the roles of figures such as Carl McIntire, J. Oliver Buswell, R. B. Kuiper, Ned B. Stonehouse, Cornelius Van Til, and others in the controversy. The episode traces how the Third General Assembly responded to these questions, why the separation became unavoidable, and how the Bible Presbyterian Synod emerged from the conflict.

Along the way, Camden and Danny reflect on the broader patterns of American Presbyterian history, the recurring echoes of old school and new school tensions, and the significance of Christian liberty, confessional integrity, and visible unity in the life of the church.

Watch on YouTube

Chapters

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 1:01 Picking up the division of 1937
  • 3:06 Ordinations, covenant children, and Richard Gaffin’s 90th birthday
  • 6:16 R. B. Kuiper’s report and the Scofield Bible controversy
  • 10:02 Dutch influence, Stonehouse, Murray, and the Guardian
  • 11:42 Premillennialism, dispensationalism, and Carl McIntire’s response
  • 14:34 Power struggles and the Independent Board
  • 17:26 Machen’s final trip and death in North Dakota
  • 20:38 Stonehouse’s eulogy: “We have become orphans”
  • 23:47 Three issues before the Third General Assembly
  • 24:08 Property, the 1903 revisions, and the Westminster Standards
  • 29:19 Total abstinence and Christian liberty
  • 34:10 Dispensationalism and the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions
  • 38:22 The Third General Assembly of 1937
  • 42:08 The split and the formation of the Bible Presbyterian Synod
  • 43:48 Old School and New School echoes in Presbyterian history
  • 48:56 Stonehouse, McIntire, and later ecumenical efforts
  • 51:24 Looking ahead to 1938 and the naming of the OPC
  • 53:03 Closing remarks

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

]]>In the sixth episode of History for a Pilgrim People, Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger continue their discussion of the earliest years of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, returning to the events surrounding the division of 1937.

The conversation begins with a brief return to the previous episode’s discussion of the tensions already present in the young Presbyterian Church of America. Camden and Danny then consider the death of J. Gresham Machen on January 1, 1937, and the profound sense of loss felt by the church. With Machen gone, long-developing disputes over dispensationalism, premillennialism, total abstinence, the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, and the meaning of Reformed Presbyterian identity came into sharper focus.

They also discuss the roles of figures such as Carl McIntire, J. Oliver Buswell, R. B. Kuiper, Ned B. Stonehouse, Cornelius Van Til, and others in the controversy. The episode traces how the Third General Assembly responded to these questions, why the separation became unavoidable, and how the Bible Presbyterian Synod emerged from the conflict.

Along the way, Camden and Danny reflect on the broader patterns of American Presbyterian history, the recurring echoes of old school and new school tensions, and the significance of Christian liberty, confessional integrity, and visible unity in the life of the church.

Watch on YouTube

Chapters

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 1:01 Picking up the division of 1937
  • 3:06 Ordinations, covenant children, and Richard Gaffin’s 90th birthday
  • 6:16 R. B. Kuiper’s report and the Scofield Bible controversy
  • 10:02 Dutch influence, Stonehouse, Murray, and the Guardian
  • 11:42 Premillennialism, dispensationalism, and Carl McIntire’s response
  • 14:34 Power struggles and the Independent Board
  • 17:26 Machen’s final trip and death in North Dakota
  • 20:38 Stonehouse’s eulogy: “We have become orphans”
  • 23:47 Three issues before the Third General Assembly
  • 24:08 Property, the 1903 revisions, and the Westminster Standards
  • 29:19 Total abstinence and Christian liberty
  • 34:10 Dispensationalism and the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions
  • 38:22 The Third General Assembly of 1937
  • 42:08 The split and the formation of the Bible Presbyterian Synod
  • 43:48 Old School and New School echoes in Presbyterian history
  • 48:56 Stonehouse, McIntire, and later ecumenical efforts
  • 51:24 Looking ahead to 1938 and the naming of the OPC
  • 53:03 Closing remarks

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

]]>ae025868-1c16-456d-96a9-2199a97c6bf6Wed, 08 Jul 2026 08:50:00 -040054:56falsefull1661The Division of 1937, Part 1The Division of 1937, Part 1In this special episode recorded live at First OPC in South Holland, Illinois, Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger tackle Chapter 3 of Fighting the Good Fight by Darryl Hart and John Muether: the division of 1937. What looked like a denomination born “in lively hope” on June 11, 1936, was fracturing within twelve months.

Read more

Watch on YouTube

]]>In this special episode recorded live at First OPC in South Holland, Illinois, Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger tackle Chapter 3 of Fighting the Good Fight by Darryl Hart and John Muether: the division of 1937. What looked like a denomination born “in lively hope” on June 11, 1936, was fracturing within twelve months.

Read more

Watch on YouTube

]]>opchistory.podbean.com/8fdb548f-9a44-32f0-a260-fcf26f3c32ddWed, 27 May 2026 09:38:00 -040050:48falsefull55The Founding of the Orthodox Presbyterian ChurchThe Founding of the Orthodox Presbyterian ChurchCamden Bucey and Danny Olinger discuss chapter two of D. G. Hart and John Muether’s book, Fighting the Good Fight. They trace the road from the missions controversy of the early 1930s to Machen’s trial, and the founding of the OPC in 1936. They reflect on why the OPC was founded not merely against modernism, but for faithful Presbyterianism—grounded in Scripture, committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and governed by Christ alone through his Word.

]]>Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger discuss chapter two of D. G. Hart and John Muether’s book, Fighting the Good Fight. They trace the road from the missions controversy of the early 1930s to Machen’s trial, and the founding of the OPC in 1936. They reflect on why the OPC was founded not merely against modernism, but for faithful Presbyterianism—grounded in Scripture, committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and governed by Christ alone through his Word.

]]>bad1d959-805e-49a4-985e-db9b34bd3f0aTue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 -040056:29falsefull1441J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Presbyterian IdentityJ. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Presbyterian IdentityWatch on YouTube

In this episode Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger continue their walk through Fighting the Good Fight: A Brief History of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church by D. G. Hart and John Muether. They turn to pp. 11–26 of the book and discuss the origins of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church through the lens of J. Gresham Machen and the crisis of Presbyterian identity.

]]>Watch on YouTube

In this episode Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger continue their walk through Fighting the Good Fight: A Brief History of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church by D. G. Hart and John Muether. They turn to pp. 11–26 of the book and discuss the origins of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church through the lens of J. Gresham Machen and the crisis of Presbyterian identity.

]]>opchistory.podbean.com/0f103a08-4a3f-3888-8081-4e040acdbeb8Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:19:33 -040055:50falsefull33Our Pilgrim Identity: Introducing Fighting the Good FightOur Pilgrim Identity: Introducing Fighting the Good FightIn this episode, we begin our journey through Fighting the Good Fight, reflecting on the preface and introduction of the book. Danny Olinger and Camden Bucey explore the Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s origins, its identity as a pilgrim people, and the importance of remembering and telling our story.

Watch on YouTube

]]>In this episode, we begin our journey through Fighting the Good Fight, reflecting on the preface and introduction of the book. Danny Olinger and Camden Bucey explore the Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s origins, its identity as a pilgrim people, and the importance of remembering and telling our story.

Watch on YouTube

]]>opchistory.podbean.com/8e539f68-1e15-3769-a74d-b72580ea36e9Tue, 10 Feb 2026 07:21:50 -040001:05:26falsefull22Why History Matters for a Pilgrim PeopleWhy History Matters for a Pilgrim People

In this inaugural episode of History for a Pilgrim People, OPC historian Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger introduce the vision of the series and explain why the Orthodox Presbyterian Church treats history as a living inheritance rather than a merely academic exercise.

]]>

In this inaugural episode of History for a Pilgrim People, OPC historian Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger introduce the vision of the series and explain why the Orthodox Presbyterian Church treats history as a living inheritance rather than a merely academic exercise.

]]>opchistory.podbean.com/1b8bfe36-3720-3dcc-aad9-9676f2082d62Tue, 13 Jan 2026 15:31:31 -040001:02:11falsefull1111