John Tolsma, a son of Community OPC in Garfield, New Jersey, began his tenure as Art Director for Great Commission Publications (GCP) in 1961. The previous summer John had started to help GCP at the request of Edmund Clowney, and an art studio had been set up in the new OPC administrative building at 7401 Old York Road for full-time work.
Over the course of 39 years, until his retirement in 2000, his artwork appeared on the K-12 Curriculum, numerous VBS lessons and tracts. He drew illustrations and laid out publications, including the first decade of New Horizons. Under his leadership, GCP and the Committee on Christian Education bridged the computer revolution in art and publishing. For the industry-leading publishing layout program PageMaker, GCP had the serial number 126.
Parallel to his professional contributions, John Tolsma’s commitment to church service was equally steadfast. In 1965, he was ordained and installed as an elder at Trinity OPC in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, where he would serve on the session for over fifty years. His long-standing service as a ruling elder reflects a life dedicated not only to the aesthetic enrichment of church educational materials but also to the governance and spiritual guidance of his local congregation.