The History of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery

In 1958, two denominations, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the United Presbyterian Church of North America joined to form the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. On January 20, 1959, what had been four presbyteries under the former organization merged into a new presbytery known as Beaver-Butler Presbytery. The merged presbyteries were Beaver (Presbyterian), Beaver Valley (United Presbyterian), Butler (Presbyterian), and Butler (United Presbyterian). Another merger of the southern and northern expressions of Presbyterianism occurred in 1983 to form our current denomination, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Today, our Presbytery is comprised of 63 PC(U.S.A.) churches within the bounds of Beaver and Butler counties.

In September, 1968, Rev. James G. Manor was called as the first General Presbyter, now known as Executive Presbyter. Other Executive Presbyters who served the Presbytery are Dr. Stephen Polley, Rev. Tim Jones, and Rev. Alan Adams. Interim Executive Presbyters who served the Presbytery are Rev. Helen Cochrane, Dr. Robert Frazier, Rev. Carolyn Jones and Rev. Dr. David Oyler. Rev. Dr. Thomas Harmon is currently serving as Executive Presbyter.

The Presbytery offices have always been located in the Zelienople, PA area. The first location was opened in the Mellon Bank Building in Zelienople. The next year, the office moved to the Butler County News Building on Route 19S. In 1981, the office was moved to the basement of the Zelienople Library, and in 1997, the Presbytery purchased and moved into a building at 134-B South Main Street, where it is still located.

The building accommodates the Secretary/Reception area, the Accounting Office, the Executive Presbyter’s Office, the Resource Center and two conference rooms. Here, the staff is available to serve the churches and their members.

Moderators of Beaver-Butler 1959 – 2021

Merger of 4 Presbyteries January 20, 1959
Rev. E. G. Montag (Senior Moderator)
1959 Rev. James G. Manor 1996 Rev. Dennis Burnett
1960 Rev. Richard Davis 1997 Rev. Judy Angleberger
1961 Rev. George W. Carson 1998 Rev. Thomas Clyde
1962 Rev. C. Kenneth Hall 1999 Rev. William Jamieson
1963 Rev. Ray A. McCreight 2000 Rev. Judith McBride
1964 Rev. E.G. Montag 2001 Rev. Stephen Cahoon
1965 Rev. William K. Liebler 2002 Elder Peg Marshall
1966 Rev. Harold Byers 2003 Rev. Thomas Thornton
1967 Elder Robert S. Kerr 2004 Elder Thomas McMeekin
1968 Rev. John L. Brownlee 2005 Rev. John Rickloff
1969 Elder Raymond Why 2006 Elder Michael Helms
1970 Rev. James S. Seaman 2007 Rev. Gary Weston
1971 Rev. Harvey O. Johnson 2008 Elder John Stokes
1972 Rev. T. Neil Severance 2009 Rev. Connie Dunn
1973 Elder Mark B. Maharg 2010 Elder James Powers
1974 Rev. Crea M. Clark 2011 Rev. Peter deVries
1975 Elder John Davison 2012 Rev. Judy Angleberger
1976 Rev. William H. Hudson 2013 Elder Ray Why
1977 Elder George Kehrli 2014 Rev. Allison Bauer
1978 Elder Carmine R. Garcia 2015 Elder James Ihlenfeld
1979 Elder James K. Donnell 2016 Rev. Dr. Mary Kitchen
1980 Rev. William J. Lightbody 2017 Elder Thomas McMeekin
1981 Elder R. James Ihlenfeld 2018 Rev. Dr. Thomas Harmon
1982 Rev. Jean H. Henderson 2019 Rev. Randall Clow
1983 Elder William Meyer 2020 Rev. William Mumaw
1984 Rev. William A. Jamieson 2021 Elder Judy Lipcsak
1985 Elder Marian Starr 2022
1986 Rev. Walter Radulovich 2023
1987 Rev. Wayne M. Bell 2024
1988 Elder Earl W. Dunfee 2025
1989 Rev. Robert Mathias 2026
1990 Rev. Deane Lavender 2027
1991 Rev. Robert B. McCrumb II 2028
1992 Elder John Towns 2029
1993 Elder Mark Ruppert 2030
1994 Elder Deborah Ihlenfeld 2031
1995 Rev. John C. Peterson 2032