Who We Are

History

In the mid-1950s, Sunnyvale and nearby communities in the Santa Clara Valley were mostly filled with orchards containing apricot, cherry, and prune trees. But engineers in nearby Palo Alto and Mountain View were busily working out how to fabricate integrated circuits that would lead to the development of computers, the Internet, and modern electronics. All this would ultimately transform Santa Clara Valley into present-day Silicon Valley. At about the same time, a former missionary to China, Henry Coray, started a local mission work that led to the formation of First Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Sunnyvale on 17 September 1956.

Our Congregation Today

Sixty years later, First OPC is still a thriving congregation of Reformed Christians in the heart of Silicon Valley. Our membership reflects the dynamic international community around us. Some of us have grown up in the area, while others have moved in from many parts of the country and the world to share in the excitement of the industries in the Bay Area. While technology and society is constantly changing all around us, we are convinced that the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ is as relevant and necessary as ever.

Affiliation

First OPC is part of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, which began in 1936 under the leadership of J. Gresham Machen. The new denomination was formed in the conviction that the modern world does not need a new “modern” gospel. Rather, it continues to need the same gospel that Jesus and the apostles preached. In keeping with that fundamental conviction, the denomination’s desire has been to worship, serve, and witness in a manner that is true to the principles of Scripture, the historic Christian faith, and in particular the Reformed faith. After eight decades of ministry, there are now OPC congregations throughout the USA, and OPC missionaries in various parts of the world.