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A Brief History of Redeemer OPCIn November of 1967, Mr. & Mrs. J. Elmer Baird, residents of Dayton, Ohio, requested the assistance of the Committee on Home Missions of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) to start a reformed work in that city. Mr. Baird, an elder formerly in the United Presbyterian Church (UPC), was moved to make this request when, after the adoption of the Confession of 1967 by the UPC, he found he could no longer in good conscience continue in that body. The General Secretary of the OPC Committee, Leroy B. Oliver, visited with several interested families which met at the Baird home and it was decided that a biweekly Bible class would be held. Those early participants included Emerson and Irene Bowser, the Dwight Hockman family, Mr. J. Roy Smith (an elder, formerly of the Point Loma OP Church of San Diego, CA) and, of course, Elmer and Dorothy Baird. During the summer of 1968, the committee sent Mr. Noel Weeks, a licentiate of the OPC, to conduct worship services and to do evangelistic calling in the Dayton area. The group was then meeting at 18 Pioneer Street, a Dayton residence located on the property of an auto body shop owned by Emerson Bowser. In early 1969, Mr. Roger Turnau, then Assistant Dean of Students at Wittenburg University in Springfield, Ohio, took on the preaching duties for the group. Mr. Turnau had studied at Westminster Theological Seminary for two years prior to coming to Ohio. He continued to faithfully proclaim the Word of God to the group until the call of a full-time missionary-pastor. It was during Mr. Turnau's ministry that the group moved their worship services from the Pioneer Street address to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 1701 Far Hills Avenue, in the Oakwood suburb of Dayton. The Lord added to their number Mr. & Mrs. John A. Mendt, Mr. & Mrs. Walter Lewis, Mrs. Dee Matheney, Mr. & Mrs. John Morton, and Mr. & Mrs. Niedhardt. Realizing the need for a full-time missionary-pastor, the people of Dayton Chapel decided, in November of 1969, to ask the Presbytery of Ohio to call Mr. Lawrence Eyres to serve as a home missionary. The Presbytery responded positively to their request and issued the call. Mr. Eyres preached his first sermon at the Chapel on January 25, 1970. Under the leadership of Pastor Eyres, the congregation became a particular church of the Presbytery of Ohio on April 19, 1971. The fledgling church held its first business meeting in May of 1971 and, with seventeen of its nineteen members present, elected Mr. J. Roy Smith and Mr. William Shaw to the eldership. They, along with Elder Baird and Pastor Eyres, formed the session of the newly constituted church. In September of the same year, a pro re nata meeting of the congregation was called for the purpose of selecting a name for the church. At that meeting the name, Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church was selected. All was not smooth sailing for the newly named church, however. For, by late 1973, she was facing her first major trial. Due to pressure being exerted upon him by the Ohio Presbytery to leave the Masonic Lodge or resign as Elder, Elmer Baird became increasingly discontented. Finally, in November 1973, he announced his intention to leave the church and in January of 1974, Mr. Baird took his leave. At that same time, several other families of the church, in sympathy with him, resigned their membership as well. During the years from 1974 to 1977, several families were providentially required to leave the Dayton area due to job and military transfers. The Lord was faithful in bringing in new families to replace them but little overall numerical growth was experienced. With a view to greater growth potential, the congregation, in March 1974, formed a relocation committee. The decision to move from the Oakwood area to the Huber Heights area of Dayton was not reached, however, until August, 1977. At that time, the church left the S.D.A., facility and began meeting temporarily in a public school gymnasium in Huber Heights. In November, 1977, purchase of a "house-church" (i.e. a house renovated for use as a church), at 5901 Chambersburg Road, Huber Heights, was completed and the church, for the first time, began to meet in its own facility. During this time, Elder Shaw relocated to Columbus, Ohio and, after a period of commuting back to Redeemer Church, decided to endeavor to begin a reformed and presbyterian ministry in Columbus. With the help of Pastor Eyres, a Bible study was begun. The group soon began to meet for Lord's Day worship, Mr. Eyres taking on the role of commuting missionary. In April of 1979, Robert Y. Eckardt was called as the organizing pastor of Grace OPC, Columbus, Ohio. The departure of Elder Shaw left the Redeemer Session depleted of ruling elders. In September of 1978, the congregation met and elected Clyde Cooper and Eugene Olivetti to the eldership. In May, 1982, Pastor Eyres announced his intention to accept a call from Winner Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Winner S. Dakota. This decision was received with much sadness, but with a faithful acceptance of God's will and heartfelt gratitude to Him for having richly blessed them during those years by the faithful ministry of so dedicated a Pastor. The departure of Lawrence and Geraldine Eyres was marked by tears and loving embrace. Following Pastor Eyres' departure announcement, Michael F. Frangipane, formerly an elder of the Reformed Presbyterian Church Evangelical Synod (RPCES) and, at that time, a licentiate of the Great Lakes Presbytery of that denomination, was elected to the ruling eldership of Redeemer Church. In September of 1982, the congregation met and decided to extend a call to Mr. Frangipane to the pastorate of the church. On January 28, 1983, after a period of licensure and ordination examination by the Presbytery of Ohio of the OPC, Mr. Frangipane was ordained and installed in the pulpit of Redeemer Church. He preached his first sermon, as pastor, the following Lord's Day, January 30. The years that have followed have continued to be times of exciting change for the congregation of Redeemer Church. The Lord has continued to instill in its members the need to serve him and to witness for Christ in the Dayton community. The closeness of the congregation, the sense of their unity in Christ and their zeal and commitment to the reformed faith is evidence of the Lord's working among them. Slow but steady increase in numbers forced the congregation to seek a larger facility. On August 14, 1986, the elders closed on a five acre parcel of land on which, in June 1988, began to emerge a facility sufficiently large enough to enable this people to better minister to the elect of Dayton, Ohio. On Friday, November 11, 1988, the congregation of Redeemer Church, gathered with a company of its friends and supporters from far and wide, to dedicate to the Lord the new home which he, by his grace, had given them. At that service the Rev. George E. Haney, Executive Director of the Home Missions and Church Extension Committee of the OPC, preached from the Word of God, and Elder J. Roy Smith, who had traveled all the way from California, presented reflections from Redeemer's history. The prayer of this congregation has from that moment been that God would grant them grace to use their new faclity to his glory and to the furtherance of his kingdom. On Novemeber 3, 1996, the Session and congregation determined to establish a mission work in Dayton -north (Vandalia). Redeemer Church issued a call to the Rev. Charles Jackson and he, along with six volunteer families from Redeemer, embarked upon the establishment of a second Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the Dayton metropolitan area. That work was richly blessed by our Lord and, in the spring of 2001, Covenant OP Church became a particular church of the Presbytery of Ohio of the OPC. The congregation, at that time issued a call to the Rev. Charles Jackson, formerly their organizing pastor, to become its pastor. Elders Michael Colucci and Tom Dizer were elected and installed as elders of the new church, and with Pastor Jackson formed its session. Covenant and Redeemer OP Churches enjoy a close fellowship as both congregations strive to serve their Lord in these neigboring corners of the kingdom of God. On December 9, 2004, Pastor Frangipane handed his letter of resignation to the session, retiring from ministry after 22 years at Redeemer Church. Concurence of both the congregation and the Presbytery of Ohio was sought and secured according the Book of Church Order. Pastor Frangipane preached his final sermon as Pastor on February 27, 2005. The Session then undertook the task of searching out the Lord's choice of a new pastor for the church. The search culminated in the candidacy and call by the congregation of the Reverend Robert Y. Eckardt. To the joy of elders and congregation, Pastor Eckardt accepted the call and preached his first regular worship service at Redeemer on Sunday, July 17, 2005. His formal service of installation by the Presbytery of Ohio was held on July 29.
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