Lisa Allgood, Executive Presbyter
“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” – 2 Timothy 4:7
On June 4, 2023, the congregation of Calvin Presbyterian Church held its final worship service and closed as a congregation. In a way it was fitting that on the same day as this relatively newer congregation elected to graduate, our oldest congregation called a new pastor. Illustrative of the work of the Lord, that His “… Word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). The Word continues, the seed each congregation has planted will never not bear fruit for the Kingdom, for it is the Word of the Lord that we proclaim.
In a blog from last year, the Pastor at Calvin, the Reverend Kris Moore, wrote of Calvin’s beginnings:
“Mark Williams, an elder at Calvin Presbyterian church, was an infant in 1955 when David Krehbiel knocked on the door of his parents’ home. Would the William’s family be interested in joining others in the area hoping to start a new church? Mr. Krehbiel had been hired by Knox Presbyterian Church to spend ten weeks, working full time from June 20 to August 28, to ascertain the viability of starting a Presbyterian congregation in the then rapidly developing Amelia-Withamsville area of Clermont County. Although not formally organized, a small group of believers had begun conducting services on May 15, 1955. A six-acre lot across the street from a cornfield had been donated and was being “held” for the hoped-for church and a manse. In time the Presbytery endorsed the new congregation. When Service of Organization was held on September 22, 1957, the William’s family joined others from the area as Calvin’s charter members. A building fund drive was also underway.
Rev. Moore goes on to write that per Presbytery records, in addition to the Presbyterian National Mission Agency, 37 churches of the Presbytery of Cincinnati pledged funds to help build a church home for Calvin.
Thus is the connectional nature of our denomination, and the love we have for the work the Lord has given us to do, in the time ordained for us to do it. Sometimes that time is shorter than we would like – but as it is the Word of the Lord, and His Will, it is in His timing that we labor. And so sometimes we “graduate”.
Thank you, Calvin, for your faithful witness and your tireless labor for the Lord. Well done, good and faithful servants. We are always praying for you, always ready to work with you and be with you and love you.