History
Clover Presbyterian Church has been a spiritual cornerstone of our community since 1881. We witnessed Clover's transformation from a railroad stop to a thriving textile center, all while remaining a constant source of faith and connection.
Deeply rooted in Christian mission, we have a long history of supporting missionaries around the world and nurturing a vibrant worship life here at home. Our joyful services are filled with uplifting music, while our strong educational programs provide a foundation for all ages.
Experience the warmth of our community in our unique Akron Plan sanctuary, where the pulpit, font, and table are arranged in a welcoming arc, fostering a sense of togetherness during worship. The beautiful sounds of our 18-rank Moeller pipe organ, along with our talented musicians, will elevate your spiritual experience.
Weekly services are held on Sundays at 10:00 am. We extend a warm welcome to all – come join our church family!
Deeply rooted in Christian mission, we have a long history of supporting missionaries around the world and nurturing a vibrant worship life here at home. Our joyful services are filled with uplifting music, while our strong educational programs provide a foundation for all ages.
Experience the warmth of our community in our unique Akron Plan sanctuary, where the pulpit, font, and table are arranged in a welcoming arc, fostering a sense of togetherness during worship. The beautiful sounds of our 18-rank Moeller pipe organ, along with our talented musicians, will elevate your spiritual experience.
Weekly services are held on Sundays at 10:00 am. We extend a warm welcome to all – come join our church family!
Meet our Staff
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Presbyterian Beliefs
Why is grace so important?
We cannot save ourselves. Our sin has alienated us from God in ways that make that relationship impossible for us to reconcile. There is nothing we can offer God, no words we can say to God, no life of charity and goodness that we can live for God, no bargain we can strike with God that will compensate for the damage that our brokenness has done to the glory he inscribed on our hearts and lives in our creation. We are too fallen to save ourselves.
The only hope that we have is that God will decide to restore us. Not because we are proved worthy, but because it is in God's nature to seek the lost and redeem the enslaved. The only hope that sinners can cling to is that God will be graceful and welcome even us, use even us, save even us from the consequences of our wayward and reckless lives.
It all depends on grace. The grace of God that welcomes the Prodigal home, that heals the leper, that restores sight to the blind and hope to the forsaken.
In Jesus Christ, God declares himself to be forever graceful, merciful and compassionate. His grace, his unmerited acceptance of us into his kingdom, makes it possible for our lives to have meaning, to contribute something substantial to the establishment of his rule among us.
Who is welcome at the Lord's Table for communion?
At the Lord's Supper, we are received into the presence of our Risen Lord, who offers us the redeeming power of his crucified life as sustenance for our life of faith. We come to the table to be nourished for the trials and challenges of faithful living. It is the Lord's Table. Christ invites all those who trust in him, all those who rely upon the sacrifice of life symbolized in that bread and cup, and all those who are baptized into his death to take from his hand these gifts that anticipate the banquet we will all share in the kingdom of his glory.
We invite and welcome all Baptized Christians to commune with us at the table of the Lord.
Why do Presbyterians baptize infants?
In the Presbyterian Church, we recognize two ceremonies that are explicitly sacramental. By sacramental, we mean rituals that were established by Jesus himself and that demonstrate the nature of God's love and mercy for the world. Those two sacraments are Baptism and the Lord's Supper. In these two acts, God's character is revealed to us, and we are in God's presence in ways that are unusual and extraordinary. God is present at the font and table in ways that God is not ordinarily present to us.
Jesus' death on the cross is the atoning sacrifice that reconciles sinful humanity to the God who created, redeems, and sustains its life. Jesus' death on the cross is sufficient and necessary. It is where God's great love for the world is most clearly demonstrated.
In Baptism, we claim God's great love for the world as God's saving and sustaining love for us. Because the love that saves and sustains us is God's love, and not our love for God, it precedes and exceeds any love that even our most holy saints might attain. In baptizing infants into that love and that life, we are claiming God's love for them which precedes their capacity to comprehend it and will ever exceed their capacity to respond to it. We are marking them as God's beloved and promising to raise them into an understanding of and trust in that love.
Are Presbyterians really saved?
Yes, Jesus died on the cross to save Presbyterians just like everyone else. We believe that God shows no partiality; what God accomplished on the cross, he did for all people. Nothing can be added to Christ's sacrifice. It is sufficient to cover the sins of all humanity. No additional offering is needed to complete what Christ has already done for us. We were saved when Christ saved us on the cross.
The moment when we understand and accept Christ's saving act on our behalf is deeply significant to our lives. Our best life is lived in the knowledge of God's love for us through Christ. Salvation ransoms us from self-centered and futile pursuits. We are filled with a peace and trust in the love of God that sets us free to live for others. We become new people and are sent into the world to bear witness to the unconditional love of God for all.
What do Presbyterians believe about the Bible?
The holy scripture of the Old and New Testaments is the Living Word of the Living God. For us at the Clover Presbyterian Church, the Bible is our chief guide for faith and life. All other standards that govern our life together or that inform our faith are subordinate to the witness of scripture. Whatever we might think we know about God from our experience, or our common sense, must be entirely consistent with what know to be true about God from scripture.
The Bible forms us into the witnesses to the Gospel that God has called us to be, so that the life of our congregation testifies to the love of God for the world through Jesus Christ. Everything that we do and that we are, the way we worship, the way we love one another, the way we study and serve is grounded in our knowledge of God in the Bible.
We dwell deeply and richly in the Word. The Bible is a resilient text that withstands any question we might ask of it, blesses any heart that struggles with it. When we take the time to read it, truly opening our hearts to the transforming power of its word, we are always nurtured and fortified in faith. When we understand it, the Bible always leads us toward God, always draws us toward blessedness, always encourages holiness.
Such a reading, more often than not, challenges us. It does not leave us where it finds us, but moves us to a new place, an uncomfortable place, a more charitable and generous place. We trust the Bible enough to allow it to change us, to transform us, to redefine us according to the expansive and inclusive love of God for the world in Jesus Christ.
What's the difference between Elders and Deacons?
Presbyterians believe the basic form of ministry is the ministry of the whole people of God, from whose midst some are called to ordered ministries to fulfill particular functions. Further, the Church's ordered ministries described in the New Testament and maintained by this church are deacons and presbyters (teaching elders and ruling elders).
Diaconal ministry is focused on compassion and service. The Deacons oversee the congregation's witness to the love of Jesus Christ for the poor and lonely, the deprived and oppressed. They organize our ministries of care for the sick and the bereaved and seek to strengthen the bonds of fellowship and commitment within the church community.
Ruling Elders in service on the Session are the governing body of the congregation. They are charged with ministries of discernment and governance. They are responsible for the life and ministry, the program and staff of the congregation. Ruling Elders establish the budget and set the missional priorities for the congregation's life.
Teaching Elders (Pastors and Associate Pastors) serve on the session of the congregation where they are installed.
Both men and women alike are called and elected to the offices of Teaching Elder, Ruling Elder, and Deacon in the Presbyterian Church. In higher councils of the church: Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly, equal numbers of Ruling and Teaching Elders are commissioned as voting members.
We cannot save ourselves. Our sin has alienated us from God in ways that make that relationship impossible for us to reconcile. There is nothing we can offer God, no words we can say to God, no life of charity and goodness that we can live for God, no bargain we can strike with God that will compensate for the damage that our brokenness has done to the glory he inscribed on our hearts and lives in our creation. We are too fallen to save ourselves.
The only hope that we have is that God will decide to restore us. Not because we are proved worthy, but because it is in God's nature to seek the lost and redeem the enslaved. The only hope that sinners can cling to is that God will be graceful and welcome even us, use even us, save even us from the consequences of our wayward and reckless lives.
It all depends on grace. The grace of God that welcomes the Prodigal home, that heals the leper, that restores sight to the blind and hope to the forsaken.
In Jesus Christ, God declares himself to be forever graceful, merciful and compassionate. His grace, his unmerited acceptance of us into his kingdom, makes it possible for our lives to have meaning, to contribute something substantial to the establishment of his rule among us.
Who is welcome at the Lord's Table for communion?
At the Lord's Supper, we are received into the presence of our Risen Lord, who offers us the redeeming power of his crucified life as sustenance for our life of faith. We come to the table to be nourished for the trials and challenges of faithful living. It is the Lord's Table. Christ invites all those who trust in him, all those who rely upon the sacrifice of life symbolized in that bread and cup, and all those who are baptized into his death to take from his hand these gifts that anticipate the banquet we will all share in the kingdom of his glory.
We invite and welcome all Baptized Christians to commune with us at the table of the Lord.
Why do Presbyterians baptize infants?
In the Presbyterian Church, we recognize two ceremonies that are explicitly sacramental. By sacramental, we mean rituals that were established by Jesus himself and that demonstrate the nature of God's love and mercy for the world. Those two sacraments are Baptism and the Lord's Supper. In these two acts, God's character is revealed to us, and we are in God's presence in ways that are unusual and extraordinary. God is present at the font and table in ways that God is not ordinarily present to us.
Jesus' death on the cross is the atoning sacrifice that reconciles sinful humanity to the God who created, redeems, and sustains its life. Jesus' death on the cross is sufficient and necessary. It is where God's great love for the world is most clearly demonstrated.
In Baptism, we claim God's great love for the world as God's saving and sustaining love for us. Because the love that saves and sustains us is God's love, and not our love for God, it precedes and exceeds any love that even our most holy saints might attain. In baptizing infants into that love and that life, we are claiming God's love for them which precedes their capacity to comprehend it and will ever exceed their capacity to respond to it. We are marking them as God's beloved and promising to raise them into an understanding of and trust in that love.
Are Presbyterians really saved?
Yes, Jesus died on the cross to save Presbyterians just like everyone else. We believe that God shows no partiality; what God accomplished on the cross, he did for all people. Nothing can be added to Christ's sacrifice. It is sufficient to cover the sins of all humanity. No additional offering is needed to complete what Christ has already done for us. We were saved when Christ saved us on the cross.
The moment when we understand and accept Christ's saving act on our behalf is deeply significant to our lives. Our best life is lived in the knowledge of God's love for us through Christ. Salvation ransoms us from self-centered and futile pursuits. We are filled with a peace and trust in the love of God that sets us free to live for others. We become new people and are sent into the world to bear witness to the unconditional love of God for all.
What do Presbyterians believe about the Bible?
The holy scripture of the Old and New Testaments is the Living Word of the Living God. For us at the Clover Presbyterian Church, the Bible is our chief guide for faith and life. All other standards that govern our life together or that inform our faith are subordinate to the witness of scripture. Whatever we might think we know about God from our experience, or our common sense, must be entirely consistent with what know to be true about God from scripture.
The Bible forms us into the witnesses to the Gospel that God has called us to be, so that the life of our congregation testifies to the love of God for the world through Jesus Christ. Everything that we do and that we are, the way we worship, the way we love one another, the way we study and serve is grounded in our knowledge of God in the Bible.
We dwell deeply and richly in the Word. The Bible is a resilient text that withstands any question we might ask of it, blesses any heart that struggles with it. When we take the time to read it, truly opening our hearts to the transforming power of its word, we are always nurtured and fortified in faith. When we understand it, the Bible always leads us toward God, always draws us toward blessedness, always encourages holiness.
Such a reading, more often than not, challenges us. It does not leave us where it finds us, but moves us to a new place, an uncomfortable place, a more charitable and generous place. We trust the Bible enough to allow it to change us, to transform us, to redefine us according to the expansive and inclusive love of God for the world in Jesus Christ.
What's the difference between Elders and Deacons?
Presbyterians believe the basic form of ministry is the ministry of the whole people of God, from whose midst some are called to ordered ministries to fulfill particular functions. Further, the Church's ordered ministries described in the New Testament and maintained by this church are deacons and presbyters (teaching elders and ruling elders).
Diaconal ministry is focused on compassion and service. The Deacons oversee the congregation's witness to the love of Jesus Christ for the poor and lonely, the deprived and oppressed. They organize our ministries of care for the sick and the bereaved and seek to strengthen the bonds of fellowship and commitment within the church community.
Ruling Elders in service on the Session are the governing body of the congregation. They are charged with ministries of discernment and governance. They are responsible for the life and ministry, the program and staff of the congregation. Ruling Elders establish the budget and set the missional priorities for the congregation's life.
Teaching Elders (Pastors and Associate Pastors) serve on the session of the congregation where they are installed.
Both men and women alike are called and elected to the offices of Teaching Elder, Ruling Elder, and Deacon in the Presbyterian Church. In higher councils of the church: Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly, equal numbers of Ruling and Teaching Elders are commissioned as voting members.
