History

The origin of First Presbyterian Church dates back to the mid-1950′s when Gordon College and Divinity School moved out of Boston to the northeast coastal region of Massachusetts known as the North Shore.  In 1959,  a group called the Presbyterian Fellowship began meeting for Sunday Services in the homes of two Gordon professors and their wives: Charles and Ruth Schauffele, and Burton and Esther Goddard.  Worship was held in the Goddards’ living room and Sunday school met at the Schauffeles’ home.

In 1960, the church was received as First Presbyterian Church of Hamilton by the Presbytery of New York and New England of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.  The new church purchased the former Methodist church building on Railroad Avenue in Hamilton in 1961.

In 1964, the church called Wendell L. Rockey as its first pastor.  He and his wife Trudi led the fledgling congregation through its formative years before taking another call from the Presbyterian Church of Cape Cod in 1975.

In 1976, FPC called Kenneth Ironside as its second pastor.  Under the leadership of Ken and his wife Valerie for the next seven years, the church continued to grow, with particular influx from the Gordon College and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary communities.  In the early 80′s Ken accepted another call from a church in New Jersey.

James Kern was FPC’s third pastor from 1983 to 1990.  In 1986, the church formed an expansion committee in response to the church’s continuing growth.  This resulted in the planting of another church (Merrimack Valley Presbyterian Church) in nearby North Andover in 1987 under the leadership of John Van Meerbeke, at the time a recent graduate of Gordon Conwell.  It also resulted in the purchase of our current property in 1988, formerly occupied by a retail store called The Christmas Angel that operated out of the current church office building.  Jim and his wife Nan left FPC in 1990 to take a position at the Emmanuel Gospel Center in Boston.

God was quick to fill our new church building during the 1990′s.  Under the leadership of its fourth pastor, Charles Wingard, attendance at worship services more than doubled.  During this time, the church actively focused on foreign and local missions, sending missionaries to many areas around the globe.  It also developed a vibrant youth ministry under the leadership of youth pastor Jon Evans, who is still with us today.  By 1997, the church had launched a building program for a new Christian Life Center, which now enables us to conduct most of our activities on the church property.

Soon after the turn of the century, FPC called its fifth and current senior pastor, David O’Leary, as well its first associate and current executive pastor, Greg Hills.  Under their leadership the church continued to grow, eventually leading to the addition of a third worship service that adopted a more contemporary style.  In 2010, the church called Derek Baker as an associate pastor.  The church now awaits God’s plan for the next decade as it looks toward further expansion.