Location: Beaver Falls, Pa.

Presbytery: Alleghenies

Organization: 1890s

Membership: 244 communicant; 75 baptized

Pastor: Titus Martin and George Gregory

Website: http://www.collegehillrp.com/

When Geneva College relocated to Beaver Falls, Pa., in 1880, a cluster of Reformed Presbyterian churches also sprouted, with the College Hill Reformed Presbyterian Church forming in the 1890s. The church moved to its present location along Route 18 in 1924, endeavoring to live out their mission to glorify God as a people loved, called, and changed by Christ to be a worshiping community of grace and hope, who love and serve God, one another, the local community, and the world.

Current pastor Titus Martin was born and raised under the hot sun of Phoenix, Ariz., to godly parents who loved Jesus. After graduating from high school, he traded in the year-round Phoenix summers for the changing seasons of Western Pennsylvania and attended Geneva College.

After college, Pastor Titus developed a growing sense that God was leading him into pastoral ministry, and he soon began attending the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) in Pittsburgh, Pa. In 2006, about a year after graduating from seminary, he accepted the call to College Hill RPC.

In the early 2000s, College Hill began to outgrow its location on the edge of the Geneva College campus and looked at solutions for handling the fortunate problem of not having enough seats in their auditorium. After considering a number of options, the church purchased a building a few blocks away in 2014, on the opposite side of Route 18, creating a second worship site. The building features a larger fellowship hall, various meeting rooms, and an educational wing perfectly suited for hosting Sabbath school and various youth events.

The congregation had long recognized the need for adequate pastoral staffing for many years, and, because of this need, there has been an ongoing search for additional pastoral staffing since the early 2000s. With the expansion of ministry into a second location, that need became even more apparent. Pastor Dean Smith, retired pastor and long-time professor at Geneva College, was asked to temporarily take on the role of pastor at the new worship site on Fifth Avenue until another pastor could be called. He faithfully served at this location for four years, preaching, visiting the sick, and leading the congregation during a period of adjustment.

In summer 2018, College Hill continued to search for a more permanent pastor to take on the leadership role at the Fifth Avenue location. After much searching and many meetings, they called Pastor George Gregory. “In many ways, coming to College Hill is coming home,” Pastor Gregory explained. “We’re from Pittsburgh and lived in Beaver Falls while I was at Geneva. College Hill was actually the first RP congregation we ever attended. There are many friends and faces that we know and relationships we hope to rekindle and new ones to establish.”

The College Hill congregation is made up of around 290 individuals of all ages, split fairly evenly between both worship sites. Many members are local to Beaver Falls, but many others come from other nearby towns including Beaver, Cranberry, and Aliquippa. During the college months, the church building becomes a bit fuller with many college students looking for a church home away from home. College Hill has developed a variety of ministry outreach programs, some focused on the church itself and others focused on the community outside the church walls. Because of its close proximity to Geneva College, the church has a number of college-focused ministries, with the largest program being discipleship and accountability groups led by a member of the church. There is also a youth group program, women’s Bible studies, grief share, vacation Bible school, evangelistic services, soup kitchen, and other local service opportunities.

College Hill RPC primarily sees itself as a community called by God and united together through Jesus Christ—this is the core of their community identity. They are, of course, a broken community, seeking to walk humbly with God. They are a community of Beaver Falls, a community of students, and a community of families. They rejoice with those who continue to provide an example of faithfulness in their later years, and they rejoice with many who come early in their walk. They are a family of families, a caring and welcoming community with a desire to help one another as Christians who are making their way in this life, shepherded by the Spirit of Christ.