Book Description
Choosing the Good Portion tells the story of the OPC through profiles of more than 90 women who sacrificed and served during the last 80 years to help mold the OPC into what it is today. The stories feature missionary wives, pastors’ wives, the spouses of seminary professors, single women, those who contributed financially or behind the scenes to their congregations or denomination, those who helped to start churches, taught VBS, ministered to different cultures, struggled in their faith, offered hospitality, lost a husband or child, and those who were in danger or died. Plus so much more.
By sharing the stories of these ordinary women, we hope to encourage the next generation of OPC women in their service.
The book’s title comes from the story of Mary and Martha. While Martha sought to serve Jesus and his disciples by preparing a large meal, Mary appears to have stopped helping Martha to sit at Christ’s feet and learn from him. Jesus tells Martha that Mary “chose the good portion.”
We believe the women in this book also chose first to receive from Christ what he teaches and then to apply what they learned in service to his church.
About the Authors
Patricia E. Clawson, a former reporter, is the editorial assistant for New Horizons in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. She is a member of Calvary OPC in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
Diane L. Olinger is a lawyer who serves as a copy editor for Ordained Servant, an online monthly magazine for OPC officers. She is a member of Calvary OPC in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
Hardcover
470 pages
Publisher: The Committee for the Historian of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church Publication Date: 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9833580-6-0
Mid-Cities Presbyterian Church Library 