Marion RPC

Location: Marion, Ind.

Presbytery: Great Lakes-Gulf

Organization: 2015

Pastor: Jason Camery

Web site: marionrpc.org

The history of Marion RPC is the story of a seed from a tree—Sycamore RPC—being planted. In the late 1990s, a group of students attending Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind., began to regularly attend Sycamore RPC in Kokomo, Ind. Providentially, the Marcisz family, who were at the time attending Second RPC in Indianapolis, Ind., were living in Marion. That family graciously opened their home on Sunday evenings for Bible study and fellowship led by Sycamore’s pastor, Barry York. The seed for a new church was planted.

After graduating, some of the Indiana Wesleyan University students married and decided to remain in Marion. When asked why they stayed in Marion, they mentioned the church. The Marcisz family, who previously traveled the great distance to Second RPC, also started attending Sycamore RPC. The seed had taken root.

While the Marion families continued to worship in Kokomo and have Bible studies in Marion, the Lord brought a family to Sycamore RPC whose hearts were tied to Marion. The Camery family became a great source of encouragement and refreshment. Jenny was born and raised in Marion while Jason had been a police officer and a minister in Marion. The seed was being watered.

In the years that followed, the Marion families continued to gather for Sunday evening and midweek Bible studies—held not just in homes, but in a government building (the Marion Armory), a building with a dance floor and disco ball, and a refurbished K-Mart. The Lord continued to grow the work by bringing other like-minded families to Sycamore RPC from the Marion area.

Because of growth, Sycamore RPC called a pastor to assist in the planting of a church in Marion, but to no avail. They decided to delay efforts to plant a church in Marion and wait on the Lord. During this period, several families moved away. This was a difficult time for the seed. Meanwhile, Jason Camery began attending Mid-America Reformed Seminary. He then transferred to the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) to complete his pastoral training. The Lord had placed a burden on the heart of the Camery family to see a work flourish in Marion. In 2009, Jason graduated from RPTS and accepted a call to be associate pastor of Sycamore RPC, specifically to develop the work in Marion. The Marion families again began to meet regularly on Sunday evenings.

In 2011, Joe Marcisz and Scott Hunt, both from Marion, were elected, ordained, and installed as ruling elders of Sycamore RPC to provide a firm foundation for the work in Marion. The first official act of these two new elders was to vote on receiving the Schwarte family, also from Marion, into church membership. The Lord had a plan for the seed.

In 2013, the Marion work and Sycamore RPC were tested again. Barry York, the only pastor Sycamore had ever known, was called to be a professor at RPTS. Then a core family in the Marion work relocated out of state for work. What was to be of the seed?

By faith and prayer, the Marion work moved forward. At the request of the session of Sycamore, Pastor Camery found work in Marion, sold his house in Kokomo, and relocated his family to Marion to begin the church planting work in earnest. In October 2013, Marion Reformed Fellowship began weekly Sunday evening services. In February, 2014, the Marion Reformed Fellowship began meeting on Sunday mornings and evenings. The seed sprouted.

With the blessing of Sycamore RPC, Pastor Camery made the motion to organize Marion as a congregation at the 2015 spring meeting of the Great Lakes-Gulf Presbytery. That motion was unanimously passed. On Sept. 11, 2015, Marion RPC was organized as a congregation of the RPCNA. The seed that was planted by Sycamore so many years ago has now become a plant standing on its own upon the firm foundation of Christ Jesus, the King and Head of the Church.