In 1938, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (then known as the Presbyterian Church in the USA) lost a court case against the PCUSA and was forced to change their name. Â Here were the various options before the Fifth General Assembly that were not ultimately selected.
- The Evangelical Presbyterian Church
- The Presbyterian and Reformed Church of America
- The North American Presbyterian Church
- The Presbyterian Church of Christ
- The Protestant Presbyterian Church of America
- The Free Presbyterian Church of America
Ho, Brother! I’ll take the bait on this one. Free Presbyterian makes no sense in the USA, there’s no state Presbyterian body from which we (they) were separating. Evangelical Presbyterian might have fostered too close an association with generic American protestantism (insufficiently confessional). North American PC was too optimistic: no churches in Canada or Mexico. Protestant Presbyterian: protesting against what/whom? The beef was not against Rome, the traditional Protestant opposite. It’s not when one says Protestant Episcopal in contrast to Romish Episcopal
. Presby Church of Christ just sounds, oh, sort of “storefront”, if you catch my drift; like a bunch of Campbellites. Presbyterian & Reformed: Too Bad they pick that. For many years the strength of the OPC has been the Continental Reformed influence. Official recognition of that could have yielded fruits, if we indulgence in the what-if game.
So, I know through the years many have really disliked the “Orthodox” tag – supposedly conjuring up visions of Eastern/Greek basilicas, etc. But I never heard the name that way. I think it’s been a good fit, overall.
You didn’t mention your choice…