How long has your pastor served your church? Some RP ministers have served short periods at several churches, while others have stayed at a single congregation for many years. This month, we look at three of the longest pastorates in RPCNA history.

Alexander Kilpatrick holds the record for the most years in his pastorates—100! But he didn’t serve for a century. Rather, he spent 50 years as the pastor of two congregations simultaneously: Pine Creek and Union, in what is now the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pa. When he was finishing seminary, the two congregations were near each other and small (Pine Creek had only 26 members), so they together called him to be their pastor in 1876. Although Pine Creek shrank after 1900 and closed in 1925, he kept serving both congregations until a stroke forced him to retire in 1927. In addition to his efforts for these congregations, Kilpatrick also sat on the boards of Geneva College for many years. After his death in 1931, he was buried at Pine Creek, which is now a museum.

J. R. Thompson holds the record for the longest single pastorate: 61 years. In the early 1850s, the Newburgh congregation in New York had been growing, and a second congregation was formed in 1854. Before long, they called Thompson, a new seminary graduate whose father was one of their elders. Here he remained for his whole career, which continued until his death in early 1917. During these years, Second Newburgh grew to become one of the largest congregations outside New York City and Philadelphia. However, after 1891, Thompson served only the church in New York. He almost never went to Synod, and his congregation became upset about paying its share of Synod’s travel fund. After his death, the congregation decided to avoid its responsibilities permanently by seceding and becoming an independent congregation.

F. M. Foster holds the record for the longest “second” pastorate. After graduating from seminary in 1880, he spent seven years as pastor of Ohio’s Bellefontaine congregation before moving to Third RPC in New York City in 1887. When he retired in 1940, he was 87 years old, and he had served 60 years on the Foreign Mission Board. Sadly, his congregation dwindled severely. In 1887, it had 279 members, and there were nearly 1,100 members in five NYC congregations; but by 1940 there were just 169 members in two congregations.