Harold Ockenga

Ockenga was born on July 6, 1905, and raised in Chicago, the only son of Angie and Herman Ockenga. Ockenga's father had German ancestry; the name Ockenga is East Frisian. Harold Ockenga was baptized at Austin Presbyterian Church, and his mother later brought him to Olivet Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he became a member at age eleven. As a teenager, he had a strong sense of God calling him to pastoral ministry. He began his undergraduate education at Taylor University, a then-Methodist institution in Indiana in 1923. After graduating from Taylor in 1927, Ockenga enrolled as a student at Princeton Theological Seminary but did not complete his theological studies there. In the midst of the "fundamentalist–modernist controversy" facing Christianity in the 1920s, he and many conservative classmates followed those members of the faculty – such as J. Gresham Machen, Robert Dick Wilson and Cornelius Van Til – who withdrew from Princeton to establish the Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1929. He was awarded the PhD degree in 1939. During his studies at Pittsburgh he met Audrey Williamson, had a whirlwind courtship, and married in 1935. == Pastoral career ==

Ockenga began his pastoral ministry in New Jersey, at two Methodist churches. In 1931 he accepted an invitation from Clarence E. Macartney to become a pastoral assistant at the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh. During 1931 both Machen and Macartney recommended Ockenga for the position of pastor at Point Breeze Presbyterian Church, in Pittsburgh. That same year, Ockenga was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, though he had earlier received ordination as a Methodist. In 1936 he was called to be the associate pastor at Park Street Church in Boston. In 1937, at the death of Park Street's longtime pastor, Arcturus Z. Conrad, Ockenga was appointed his successor. He continued in that post until 1969. During his pastoral career at Park Street, Ockenga delivered many sermons that later formed the substance of various books he wrote. In all he wrote a dozen books dealing with biblical themes, and pastoral commentaries on biblical texts and Bible characters. His congregation thrived during much of his pastorate as he exercised considerable talents as a preacher, evangelist, leader and organizer. In 1950, Park Street Church hosted Billy Graham's (first mid-century transcontinental) evangelistic crusade, which was regarded as highly successful. On the strength of that event, both Graham and Ockenga then conducted an evangelistic tour of New England. Ockenga later assisted Graham, Nelson Bell and Carl F. H. Henry in organizing the evangelical periodical Christianity Today. He served as chairman of the board of the magazine until 1981. == Evangelical reformer and leader ==

Fundamentalist controversy In addition to his pastoral career and writings, Ockenga became a significant leader in a mid-twentieth-century reforming movement known as Neo-Evangelicalism or the New Evangelicalism. Its roots are found in the theological controversy between Protestant Fundamentalists and Protestant Liberals or Modernists in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Much of the controversy centered on questions of the historicity of the Bible, biblical inerrancy, biblical interpretation, creationism and evolution, and various doctrines such as the deity of Christ, the Virgin Birth of Christ, the Atonement, the bodily resurrection of Christ, and the Second Advent of Christ. The reaction of many Fundamentalists to the influence of liberal Protestant theology and modern secular beliefs was to withdraw from many of the mainline denominations and institutions. The term may or may not have been coined by Ockenga, but in 1948 at the Civic Auditorium in Pasadena his speech gave birth to the movement. In the foreword to The Battle For the Bible by Harold Lindsell, Ockenga further defined the term neo-evangelicalism: Neo-evangelicalism was born in 1948 in connection with a convocation address which I gave in the Civic Auditorium in Pasadena. While reaffirming the theological view of fundamentalism, this address repudiated its ecclesiology and its social theory. The ringing call for a repudiation of separatism and the summons to social involvement received a hearty response from many Evangelicals. ... It differed from fundamentalism in its repudiation of separatism and its determination to engage itself in the theological dialogue of the day. It had a new emphasis upon the application of the gospel to the sociological, political, and economic areas of life. == Later career ==

The first sixteen years of work at Fuller Theological Seminary witnessed the development of two views among staff and students: conservative and progressive evangelicalism. Among the conservatives, such as Ockenga, Henry, Lindsell and Smith, there was some concern that others such as David Hubbard, Paul Jewett and Daniel Fuller held to a different view of biblical inerrancy. Those who differed with the conservatives held to a vision for progressive thought among evangelicals on theological, biblical and ethical issues. With Ockenga's final departure from the role of president in absentia, the seminary shifted into a different phase of growth under the direction of those identified with progressive thinking. Much of the history of these tensions between conservatives and progressives is discussed in George Marsden's history of the seminary. When Ockenga retired from Park Street Church in 1969 he was appointed president of Gordon College and Divinity School. His desire was to recreate on the U.S. East Coast something of the essence of what had been planned for Fuller seminary. In the late 1960s, therefore, Ockenga entered into negotiations to merge two institutions: Gordon Divinity School and the Conwell School of Theology. He collaborated with people such as J. Howard Pew, Billy Graham and Walter Martin in establishing Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary. Ockenga served as its president from 1970–79, with figures like Walter Martin sitting on the seminary's board. ==Personal life and death==

Ockenga married Audrey Williamson in 1935, and together they had three children. ==Legacy==

At Ockenga's funeral service on Monday, February 11, 1985, was an old friend: Billy Graham. "He was a giant among giants," Graham reflected. "Nobody outside of my family influenced me more than he did. I never made a major decision without first calling and asking his advice and counsel. I thank God for his friendship and his life." Ockenga was a towering figure in American evangelicalism, whose leadership and vision helped define and legitimize the modern evangelical movement. Best known for coining the term “the new evangelicalism” in 1947, Ockenga was instrumental in founding and leading key institutions such as the National Association of Evangelicals, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he served in various presidential roles. His deep pastoral legacy was rooted in Boston’s historic Park Street Church, where his powerful preaching, intellectual rigor, and commitment to missions shaped generations of evangelical leaders and helped spark revival across New England. Ockenga also played a foundational role in the launch of the magazine Christianity Today, serving as its board chair for 25 years, and was a trusted counselor to major evangelical figures, including Billy Graham. Admired for his intellect, spiritual depth, and administrative skill, Ockenga mentored numerous future leaders and left behind a legacy of theological integrity, institutional strength, and global evangelical influence. ==Works==

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