Ohio Valley Mission

Planting and revitalizing confessional churches in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky

It’s not good to go it alone in ministry. That’s true for pastors, and it’s true for churches.

Two years ago, East River found itself in a position where it had to choose between its confession and its denomination. In the end, we concluded that we could not break our vows because our convictions had not changed. Though the parting was as peaceful as such things usually are, we were left without a denominational home.

Even before we officially left, it had become clear that this would be the outcome, so we began evaluating our options. We ultimately decided that we would either pursue joining the PCA or, if that proved unwise, establish something more like an association or fellowship.

After attending two General Assemblies, our assessment of the PCA is that it contains many good men. Broadly speaking, we would estimate it to be about 25% conservative confessional, 50% flexible moderate, and 25% progressive. In the end, however, we decided not to pursue the PCA because of the recent lawfare and what we see as an unwillingness to practice straightforward church discipline within its own ranks.

That said, we believe there are many faithful men there who are working to accomplish good things, and we will gladly encourage them in that work wherever we can. We simply believe that joining the PCA at this time would not be healthy for the church God has entrusted to our care.

Could that change someday? Absolutely. But that’s not this day.

We had talked about starting something called the Boniface Fellowship a couple of years ago. At the time, however, we decided to put that on hold so we could take a deeper look at the PCA before making any long-term decisions.

Now we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to move in a different direction. We’re moving forward with something very similar, but under a new name: Ohio Valley Mission or, if you prefer, Ohio Valley Churches.

The public website should be live within the next couple of days. Below is some of the information that explains what we’re hoping to accomplish through this venture…

Purpose

Ohio Valley Mission is dedicated to planting and revitalizing confessional churches in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. We do this through mutual encouragement, resourcing, and relational accountability.

Who We Are

We are regional. To bring focus to mission, we focus on works within the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. This allows our member churches to develop real-life relationships and provide support beyond mere digital interactions.

We are a fellowship. OVM is not a denomination; we are a mission. Our ministry is relational, supplemental, and ultimately voluntary in nature.

We are Reformed. All member churches must subscribe to confessional standards.

What We Do

We provide encouragement. We have an online forum for pastors and host both online and in-person events. Our goal is to create a place where pastors can offer mutual encouragement, work through difficult ministry issues, and build a trustworthy real-world local network of like-minded coworkers.

We provide resources. We create training materials, offer coaching, provide pulpit supply, and assist in assessing prospective church leaders. Our focus is especially on resources that help prepare men to start new churches or revitalize struggling existing ones.

We provide relational accountability. While we don’t have any ecclesiastical authority, we will exhort our member churches to be faithful to their confessions and our commitments and form committees to aid in difficult discipline cases upon request.

Commitments

We are committed to historical biblical Christianity. God gave the Church pastors and teachers to help lead it to spiritual maturity (Eph. 4:11–16). Throughout history, these godly men have labored hard to clarify and summarize the doctrines contained in the Bible. The best of these helpful summaries of biblical doctrine have stood the test of time. We call them creeds, confessions, or catechisms. We aren’t innovators. We aim to align with and build on the work God has been doing in His Church throughout history. Therefore, our member churches subscribe either to the Westminster Standards or the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith.

We are committed to a ministry centered on the preaching and teaching of the Word. While historical doctrinal statements serve as helpful protective guides, the Bible remains the only infallible rule of faith and practice. God has ordained that Christians grow through the preaching of His Word and the administration of the sacraments, which themselves are a visible word. All godly change, whether individual, ecclesiastical, or cultural, flows from the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Consequently, we equip the saints to be “salt and light” by keeping the Word primary.

We are committed to being accessible to the everyday Christian. Biblical truth is timeless and unchanging. Mankind, on the other hand, is bound by time. Our figures of speech, customs, and various aspects of culture have evolved over the years. Therefore, we must work diligently to communicate the unchanging truth of the Bible in a way that is understandable in each specific time and place. We strive for all aspects of our ministry, preaching, music, and more, to be as accessible as reasonably possible to the communities where God has placed our member churches.

We are committed to addressing the issues of our day. Every age faces its own set of challenges. In the first four centuries, the Church worked diligently to clarify the doctrines of the deity of Christ and the triune nature of God. During the Reformation, the doctrines of justification and the sufficiency of Scripture were robustly defended. Today, we see significant confusion surrounding topics such as biblical sexuality, bioethics, and the proper use of authority. We aim to address contemporary issues regularly while ensuring they do not overshadow foundational doctrines.

We are committed to supporting and resourcing church revitalization efforts and new church plants. The local church is at the center of God’s plan of redemption. Through it, the gospel sounds forth as disciples are raised up through the ministry of the Word. As the church goes, so goes society. Therefore, the greatest need for our society is Bible-centered, historically rooted, and locally focused churches. We are dedicated to training, coaching, and supporting pastors who are revitalizing or planting these sorts of churches.

We are committed to mutual accountability. First and foremost, this is demonstrated through the plurality of ordained pastors and elders leading our member churches. These men take vows to uphold their confessional standards and follow all the processes outlined in their constitutions and bylaws. While local leadership remains primary, as a fellowship, we offer a secondary layer of relational accountability by aiding, exhorting, and admonishing the officers of our member churches to keep their vows and uphold their governing documents.

Our Founding Churches

• East River Church (Batavia, OH)

• Little Miami Fellowship (Xenia, OH)

• Silver City Church (Mt. Sterling, KY)

That’s it. This is what we’re doing.

More information will be available in the coming days. We’re planning our first gathering of churches for late September or early October.

If you have questions, feel free to email me or simply post them here.