History
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) traces its roots to back to the faithful witness of Scotland's Seceder (Associate) and Covenanter (Reformed) Presbyteries in the 1700s and before that, to the preaching of Protestant Reformer John Knox and the church in Scotland in 1560.
In the mid-1700s, believers from the Associate and Reformed Presbyteries emigrated to America, coming to Pennsylvania at first. In 1782 the two groups merged, forming the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, the first Presbyterian denomination in North America.
As the denomination expanded south from Pennsylvania, it established its first Maryland congregation in Baltimore in 1797. Two centuries later, that same biblical and confessional and Presbyterian heritage gave rise to our congregation in Frederick.
In 1999, Clyde Reed, who had recently retired from pastoring ARP Churches in Carroll County, was called by our Presbytery to establish a core group for a new church. Clyde, a gifted evangelist, and his energetic wife, Ann, bought an RV and parked it in an RV park in Thurmont. They rented an office on Thomas Johnson Drive and worked tirelessly meeting people wherever they went. They knocked on doors and called strangers. They gathered a small group, most who were new Christians, and in the year 2000 began a Sunday worship service at Hillcrest Elementary School. The group grew to about 35 people.
In January 2001, the presbytery called Peter Kemeny to serve as the church planter. Our church continued to grow and became self-supporting in 2004. We also moved our Sunday worship service to Tuscarora Elementary School that year.
In 2021 we purchased 5.7 acres and a chapel from Braddock Lutheran Church and will soon construct an 11,000 square foot church building on the property.
Our church has enjoyed a remarkable degree of harmony over the years. One member commented, “there’s very little drama at this church.” This is a fruit of God’s grace and perhaps of our approach to ministry. We make clear to prospective members our doctrinal commitments and philosophy of worship. We have biblically qualified leaders who proactively address potential problems and conflicts.
We pray that God will continue to use our church to build up his people and to bring unbelievers to know the Savior.