A Brief History of Worthington Presbyterian Church

The First Presbyterian Church and Society of Worthington, Ohio,  traces its history back to late 1805  when the Presbytery sent licentiate ministers to Worthington to lead worship and begin the organization of a church.  Records of the time were notoriously sketchy, but we do know that a group of eleven men and women meeting in the Peter Barker home (now 957 High Street) organized the congregation.  Ebenezer Washburn was appointed by the presbytery as the stated supply minister and remained for two years.  He said in a letter, “I was the first that preached steadily to that church.”  He was appointed the principal of the Worthington Presbyterian Academy, which was founded  in 1826.

At this time, as there was yet no church building, the congregation met in the Worthington Academy building, which was located on the site of the present school administration building. However, feeling the rental was excessive, the officers of the church ordered the Goble Blacksmith Shop to be made ready for services. Squire Abbot, a member of the group, operated the shop, which stood where the present church now stands. This arrangement proved unsatisfactory and they later moved to a red brick schoolhouse on Oxford Street. On January 1, 1822, the Trustees of the church received rent-free use of the Masonic Hall for worship services for the next six and one-half years. At first the Worthington Church belonged to Ohio Presbytery, then to Lancaster Presbytery when it was formed in 1809, and in the Columbus Presbytery since 1823.  We are now members of the Presbytery of Scioto Valley.  As population moved westward, new presbyteries and synods were formed.  This necessitated changes in affiliation. The church was added to the General Assembly list of churches in 1809.

The first regular pastor, The Reverend H. Hulburd, came in 1826 and soon after a building was planned.  Money was scarce and The Reverend Hulburd and a session member made the long trip to Philadelphia to appeal for funds at the National Presbyterian Offices.  The trip took more than a month but was successful and the new building was constructed and later dedicated on April 17, 1830.  The Society’s membership of 85 moved into the new building.  It was a small box-like building with three windows on a side and two doors facing the Village Green.  The pulpit was between the doors so that the faithful entered facing the congregation. The first book of records has been long lost but our files are fairly complete as far back as May 24, 1832.  The church was remodeled in 1842 when a vestibule, steeple and bell were added.  The pulpit was later placed opposite the door.

Worthington Presbyterian Church has been led by 27 called pastors.  A number of temporary and interim pastors also served over the years, especially in the 19th century. Beginning in 1957, the church reached a size large enough to begin calling assistant ministers in staff positions.The current senior pastor is Dr. Jeffrey G. DeYoe, who was called to the church from Florida in 2007.  Amy Avery and Jonathan Hauerwas are the associate pastors. Notable clergy serving the church include Highland Hulburd(1826-30), who led the church to the Village Green site and built the first structure; Thomas Woodrow, D.D., (1849-57), active in the “underground railroad” and grandfather of President Woodrow Wilson; Edward Milton Page, D.D. (1923-25), inspiration for building the new sanctuary; Paul Johnston, D.D. (1950-77), leader of the great building drives of the 1950’s; and Jane Mykrantz (1980-89), an associate minister and the first ordained woman on the staff. The First Presbyterian Church of Worthington, Ohio (now called Worthington Presbyterian Church) has continuously maintained its organization.  More than sixty ministers have carried the ministry of the love of Christ to the community through the pulpit, education, and counsel, including Thomas Woodrow, grandfather of Woodrow Wilson.  Through war and peace we have always moved forward.

In April 1863, $3,820.00 was subscribed and land worth $500.00 was donated for a new building. The funds were not used at the time, possibly due to the Civil War.

In 1927, sixty-four years after plans for a second building had been discussed, a new building was dedicated. The building was started under the pastorate of Dr. Edward Milton Page and completed under the pastorate of Tom Penn Ullom. Reflecting the village’s deep feeling for history, a colonial structure housing a beautiful nave was combined with the 1832 building (it was turned around and encased in brick). The community and the church began to mushroom in 1950. A new educational unit was added in 1952-1953 and further expanded in 1964. A new sanctuary, with its charm and dignity reminiscent of our community’s New England heritage, was dedicated in the autumn of 1959. In 1992, a new educational wing and Chapel were dedicated, using land the church had purchased in the 1960’s. Our recent building renovations and expanded sanctuary were dedicated on October 23, 2005.

No past history, present effort, or future hopes can be condensed into these few paragraphs. Through our pride in our heritage and our work for the glory of God in our community and in the entire world at all times, our future will be ever brighter with Christian meaning and love.

Introduction to Presbyterian Theology

• “Sovereignty of God” declares that God is the supreme authority throughout the universe. There is nothing that is outside of the knowledge or power of God. There is no one equally or more powerful to God and there is nothing that humanity can experience or do that is outside of God’s plan for our world.
• Our knowledge of God and God's purpose for humanity comes from the Bible, particularly what is revealed in the New Testament through the life of Jesus Christ. Our knowledge of God is always short of the fullness of God. We can look to the world around us to know and understand God, but our truest, most correct revelation of God comes from reading his Word and believing in his Son Jesus Christ.
• Our salvation (justification) through Jesus is God's generous gift to us and not the result of our own accomplishments. We don’t deserve God’s forgiveness and mercy because we are all sinful and fallen people. But God loves us and “reckons us unto righteousness” for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ. In other words, we are saved because God chooses to save us and therefore we respond by being gracious, forgiving, and compassionate to the world around us.
• It is everyone's job - ministers and lay people alike - to share this Good News with the whole world. We are an evangelical church because we believe that part of our job as Christians is to tell the world the Good News and to make new disciples in Christ’s name. We do that through evangelism, through mission work, and through the witness of our daily lives. We also believe that all people are created equally capable of service to God. That is also why the Presbyterian church is governed at all levels by a combination of clergy and laity, men and women, old and young, the fit and the physically disabled and people of all races and ethnicities.

 
Links

Presbyterian Church USA

Synod of the Covenant

Presbytery of Scioto Valley