Meet Dardenne Presbyterian Church ...

Dardenne Church History

A small group of Christians assembled on September 18, 1819, "for the purpose of forming, by divine permission, a church established on the Presbyterian Discipline and based on the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as illustrated by the American Confession of Faith". The original church was built on a hill near Dardenne Creek about three miles southeast of the present location.

Dardenne Presbyterian Church has a tradition of steadfast and loyal support for its pastors, having called only five ministers to preach and teach the congregation in all of the intervening years. I n 1844 Thomas Watson was ordained and installed and served until April 1888. In 1868, under the leadership of Rev. Watson, the Rock Church, which is still in use today, was completed. Rev. Watson was followed by his son, Samuel McCluer Watson, who served until his death in 1925. After his death the church experienced difficult times because of the population shift, typical of many rural areas at this time in history.

The early 1960's found Dardenne Church with a steadfast and loyal membership of nine individuals. These nine continued to believe that Dardenne must be preserved to continue as a power for Christ in the community in which it stands. Times changed and once again Dardenne Church began to grow. Charles Bunce was ordained and installed as pastor in October of 1970 and served until his sudden illness and death in the summer of 1973.

The church once again searched for a new spiritual leader. Thomas L. Sale accepted the call issued by the congregation and in June of 1974 was installed as the fourth pastor in Dardenne's long church history. Under his able leadership, the church grew to a membership in excess of one thousand. In 1986 expanded educational facilities and a new nave were completed.

In September of 1996, Gary W. Myers was installed as the fifth pastor in the 177 year history of the church. For the first time, Dardenne's leadership role was assumed by co-pastors, Rev. Thomas L. Sale and Rev. Gary W. Myers.
In December 1997, Rev. Thomas L. Sale retired after serving at Dardenne for 23 years.

Rev. Lew C. Kimmel assumed the role of Associate Pastor in August of 1998.

In response to the needs of a congregation approaching 1,500 members, the Christian Life Center and expanded offices and youth facilites were completed in 2002.

Rev. Holly Davis was ordained and installed into the newly formed position of Pastoral Resident on September 18, 2005.

In 2006 Doug Gilliland joined our staff as the minister of music in July and in August Bil Thompson became the youth minister.

2007 brought many changes to Dardenne. As the leadership of DPC again came under co-pastors. This time with the Rev. Dr. Gary Myers and the Rev. Dr. Ian Lamont serving from January until October when Rev. Dr. Myers resigned after 11 years of service at DPC and Rev. Dr. Lamont became the senior pastor of DPC. Also in July of 2007 Rev. Davis left her position to return to the east coast.

In 2008 the session of DPC voted to accept our new vision statement and continue our legacy of reaching to the community of St. Charles county as we Connect-Teach-Empower.

The program of worship and work, supported by additional staff, is continually expanding to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.