February 15 Today in OPC History

Pilgrim Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Bangor, Maine, traces its origins to its first meeting on February 15, 1953, when six people gathered in the city’s YWCA building. When Dr. Joseph Memmelaar, a local physician, failed to persuade a local congregational church to call an OPC or Christian Reformed pastor, he secured the services of Charles Stanton, pastor of Cornville OPC (fifty miles to the west), to help plant an OP church in Bangor. A little over a year later, on March 24, 1954, Pilgrim OPC was established with Dale Snyder (a graduate of Wheaton College and Westminster Seminary) serving as the organizing pastor.

After Snyder left to pursue graduate studies at the Free University of Amsterdam, the church called George Weeber as its second pastor. During his tenure the church dedicated its new building on June 3, 1960. The church was active in the work of presbytery, including hosting a long-standing Maine Presbyterian Women’s Conference twice a year.

When Pastor Weeber returned to Michigan in 1961, he was succeeded by George Haney, who served until 1968. During his pastorate he emphasized the church’s fourfold opportunity for ministry: to the personnel at the local military base, to the nearby state university, to the community, and to the many summer visitors to the state of Maine.

Among the subsequent pastors of Pilgrim Church, Chip Stonehouse (1970–1980) and Jonathan Falk (1986–1999) enjoyed long tenures of ministerial service. Currently Russell Hamilton serves as minister, and recently the church completed a major expansion to its building.