History

The original Presbytery of Ohio was organized in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 14, 1936. Dr. J. Gresham Machen was present and addressed the group on the subject "Evangelism—False and True." About twenty people were present, and four ministers were enrolled in the new presbytery: Carl A. Ahlfeldt of Indianapolis, Everett C. DeVelde of Cincinnati, Thomas H. Mitchell of Youngstown, and J. Lyle Shaw of Cleveland. At that organizing meeting the following Presbyterian congregations affiliated with the new presbytery: First Church of Cincinnati, Ohio, and its Trinity Chapel of Newport, Kentucky; Covenant Church of Indianapolis, Indiana; Providence Church of Youngstown, Ohio; Covenant Church of Marion, Ohio; and Grace Church of Buechel, Kentucky. The name Ohio was natural for the new presbytery since that state was the center of activity.

The first congregations of the OPC in western Pennsylvania were included in the Presbytery of Philadelphia. These works included Branchton, Harrisville, Pittsburgh, and Grove City churches. On June 8, 1951, the Presbytery of Ohio was reorganized, and the western Pennsylvania churches were grafted in. Over the years a number of the Ohio churches were closed, and the Pennsylvania churches came to predominate.

Each of our churches has begun with a small core group of believers committed to the Bible as the inerrant Word of God and to the Westminster Standards. Facing hostility from liberal churches and misunderstanding from fundamentalists, they have survived to be living monuments to God’s sovereign grace. Today the Presbytery of Ohio consists of 17 particular churches and 4 mission churches within the bounds of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania.