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May 2 Today in OPC History

Indiana, Pennsylvania

 

On May 2 1997, Faith OPC, Indiana, Pennsylvania was received as a new and separate congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Douglas Snyder serving as the organizing pastor. Two years earlier, a small group who had desired to be a part of a Reformed and Presbyterian Church had been received as a mission of the Presbytery of Ohio with Mr. Snyder leading worship at a local YMCA.

In 2001, Faith Church was able to purchase a church building that needed a lot of renovation work. The members of Faith Church rolled up their sleeves and got to work. The whole meeting area was completely redone by church members, including the wiring, painting, refinishing the wood work and the pews. This gave Faith congregation a greater sense of unity, fellowship and love in the Lord. On the first Lord’s Day of September 2001 the congregation gathered for the first and very emotional and meaningful worship service at the new facility where it could have a full schedule of church life and community visibility that it did not have in the YMCA.

Located in west-central Pennsylvania, the town of Indiana is known as the Christmas Tree Capital of the World and the birthplace and hometown of actor Jimmy Stewart. But there is also a connection to Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, as Indiana was also the birthplace and hometown of Robert Dick Wilson, the senior member of the original faculty at Westminster Seminary.

Since her humble beginnings there have been many changes in the life and appearance of the congregation of Faith Church. Many who had started with the group moved away due to job transfers. Others decided they did not want to do the work involved in establishing a new church in an aging community that struggles with unemployment and depressed economy, where most young folks leave to find work and few move into the area. Many have entered the Church Triumphant for which we can greatly rejoice for them in our sadness. But in God’s providence and blessings others have come to continue the work that it might leave a covenantal inheritance to pass on to our children and grandchildren for generations to come.

Picture: The members of Faith OPC in 1997 meeting at the local YMCA.

 

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