Our Heritage

The History of Our Church
Before 1967 the nearest Presbyterian Church to the Outer Banks was in Elizabeth City. More and more summer vacationers expressed a desire for a Presbyterian Church on the Outer Banks.

Albemarle Presbytery appointed a Task Force for the Outer Banks, and in 1967, decided to try an experiment. They chose John Kaufman, a graduate student of the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, to meet the residents of the Outer Banks and lead worship services in a beach cottage.

The experiment was such a success that a small cottage, 24 x 32 foot, was erected on the site of the present church building. The Seminary graduate students were housed in the attic. That cottage now stands between the church and the ocean.

The Presbytery placed Spottswood Graves here in September 1978 to see if a church could be established in three years. One year later, on September 23, 1979, having 38 persons on a charter roll, the church became the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church with the Reverend Graves as the called pastor.

Between that time and 1985, OBPC endeavored to create more space using their current facility. However, in November 1986 a contract was signed with an architect to begin the creation of an entirely new facility. Erected right beside the original cottage, the new building was dedicated on January 1, 1989.

OPBC grew rapidly throughout the next decade, wholeheartedly reaching out to one another and the community. On July 27, 2003, the church bid farewell to the Reverend L. Spottswood Graves, the pastor who had served them for twenty-five years. The spiritual guidance of two interim ministers, first the Rev. Dr. Robert E. Fields and then the Rev. Ron McMenamin, led OBPC for the next two years.

The Rev. Dr. Andrew P. Martinez was installed as pastor of the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church on March 6, 2005. While the church continues to grow, more facility projects are in the beginning stages of planning and preparation.

Currently, our mission statement holds that we are “calling all to the joy of being Jesus’ disciples in the 21st century, worshiping, learning and helping in His name.” Our community of faith offers Sunday School at 9:00 am with a bible-based curriculum to children, youth and adults. We have small groups springing up guided by driven individuals that meet the diverse interests and needs of the congregation. We celebrate communion on the first Sunday of each month, and our special services include Christmas Eve, Maundy Thursday, and Easter and Patriotic.

We go into the future with hope and confidence in God’s purpose. Through support of local missions and the world at large, we illustrate Christ’s compassion. While we encourage inspiring worship services, participation of all ages, passionate spirituality and loving relationships, we are certain our church will see many blessings to come. 

~ Past and Present Ministers ~

The Rev. John Kaufman & Seminary Students (1967 – 1978)

The Rev. L. Spottswood Graves, Jr. (1978 – 2003)

The Rev. Dr. Robert Fields, Jr. (2003 – 2004)

The Rev. Ron McMenamin (2004 – 2005)

The Rev. Dr. Andrew P. Martinez (2005 – Present)

~ Charter Members~

Linda Albright (Iverson)
Suzanne Virginia Albright
Vera Berg
Ella Jane Buckingham
Ritchie Buckingham
Helen Bishop
Herbert E. Bishop
Donald R. Covington
Sandra J. Covington
Louise C. Hanson
Roberta H. Graves
Edward J. Genther 
Helen Genther


E. Cureton Harris
 Robert M. Hawekotte
Elizabeth G. Hawekotte
Lester A. Langley
Margaret W. Langley
Catherine D. Meekins
Paul Michael Nesbit
Marie M. Nesbit
James F. Perry
Barbara W. Perry
Gerald C. Pikaart
Margaret Pikaart
Elizabeth Schaub


Elmer W. Schomaker
A.D. Stover
Mary N. Torrey
John C. Wallace
Betty J. Wallace
John W. Walden
Linda Walden
Peter W. Walden
Jean Turner Ward
William R. “Jim” Ward
Victoria L. Ward
Michael L. Ward

I Am A Little Church

By:  E.E. Cummings

i am a little church(no great cathedral)

far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities

-i do not worry if briefer days grow briefest,

i am not sorry when sun and rain make april

my life is the life of the reaper and the sower;

my prayers are prayers of earth's own clumsily striving

(finding and losing and laughing and crying)children

whose any sadness or joy is my grief or my gladness

around me surges a miracle of unceasing

birth and glory and death and resurrection:

over my sleeping self float flaming symbols

of hope,and i wake to a perfect patience of mountains

i am a little church(far from the frantic

world with its rapture and anguish)at peace with nature

-i do not worry if longer nights grow longest;

i am not sorry when silence becomes singing

winter by spring,i lift my diminutive spire to

merciful Him Whose only now is forever:

standing erect in the deathless truth of His presence

(welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness)