Kent Presbyterian Church

Our History...

Kent Presbyterian Church has its beginning on March 15, 1959, when 20 persons met in a classroom at Kent State University, establishing the first (and still the only) Presbyterian church in Portage County. Dr. Henry Leitman, minister of the United Presbyterian Church of Cuyahoga Falls, acted as clerk.

On Easter Sunday, March 29, Rev. E. L. Thornburg of Mayfield Heights conducted the first service at University School on Morris Road. Sixty-two persons attended.

The church’s first home was Central School on Park Avenue, beginning April 12 of that year. That July, land for the present church site on Summit Street was purchased.

Beginning Sept. 1, Rev. William Harper of Springfield, Ohio, served as Presbytery missionary to organize the congregation.

On Dec. 13, nine months after the organizational meeting, 45 people were received into membership and their names were entered on the rolls as charter members.

A service of organization was held Jan. 17, 1960, at Central School by the Cleveland Presbytery, to which our church then belonged. We are now part of the Eastminster Presbytery.

Dr. William G. Spearman, a Presbyterian missionary from Japan, became our first pastor in 1963.

The next pastor called was Rev. Harold Walker in 1973, followed by Rev. H. Timothy Halverson in 1981. Dr. Dale E. Chapin was the next pastor called in 1987. He was followed by Rev. Kay Roberts in 2001. Rev. Aaron L. Meadows is the present minister coming to the church in 2004 as the Director of Campus Ministry and then becoming the senior minister/head of staff in 2007.

The original sanctuary building, now Dick Chapel, was completed in 1964, and the present sanctuary became a reality in 1969. The newest building, which houses the church offices and classrooms, was opened in 1986.