Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Beginning of the American Baptist Churches of Ohio

“On May 22, 1826, the Ohio Baptist Convention was born” says, the late Rev. Dr. Richard H. Clossman in his book “Heritage Today, Horizons Tomorrow (1826-1976)”. What led to the decision to form a statewide connection? What part did congregations and associations play in this historic leap? 

We are looking forward to celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the formation of the Ohio Baptist Convention, now American Baptist Churches of Ohio starting with the Gathering 2025 and running through the Gathering 2026. 

Submit your own church history to help us with our celebration:

Download a Fillable PDF HERE  OR
Fill out the online submission form HERE. For security reasons, only those with a Gmail account will be able to access the digital form. For those that do not have one, they can create one for free or will need to use the PDF instead, save it, and email their form as well as their documents and photos.

A 200th Anniversary Planning Team has been formed by the Executive Minister Rev. Mark Click and the ABCOH Region Board. The members of the Planning Team are Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Clemens, Rev. Timothy Mohon, Jeni Gerber, Rev. Jane Gibbons, Susan Stotts, Rev. Dr. Kevin Thomas, Chris Thomas, Leslie Hoskinson, Rev. Dr. James Willis, Rev. Mark Eaton, Rev. Kevin Hairston, and Rev. Mark Click.

The Team has been charged with planning three events for the Region. First is the kickoff, which will be the ABC Ohio 199th Annual Gathering held on October 7-8 at the Cherry Valley Lodge, Newark. The 2025 Ministry Theme is “God’s Faithfulness Fuels Our Confidence” from Philippians 1:6. After the Tuesday Regional Ministries Luncheon with Rev. Dr. Ed Rogers, at 2:00 PM a Historical Society Workshop on “Collecting & Preserving Your Local Church History” will be led by American Baptist Historical Society Archivist, Mariah Hamby. Mariah has served with ABHS since 2022. In addition to working with the archival collections, Mariah works with congregations on preserving their legacy of ministry. She holds an MDiv and MA in Religion in addition to a Graduate Certificate in Archival Studies. She will also host the ABHS Display Table and be available for individual consultation.

All ABCOH congregations and associations are invited and encouraged to submit a written copy of their history to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If a congregation has never developed a church history, please start by completing the ABC Ohio  200th Anniversary Church History Form (download here!). The goal is to publish a book of congregational and association sketches to be available at the Gathering October 2026. You will want your congregation’s story to be included in this book.

The second event planned by the 200th Anniversary Planning Team will be the actual anniversary of the Ohio Baptist Convention, May 23, 2026. This “birthday party” will be hosted by the First Baptist Church in Zanesville, Ohio, the site of the first Ohio Baptist Convention. Susan Stotts and Jane Gibbins are coordinating the arrangements with Pastor Noah Barr. Plans are to have a meal, historic displays and a visit from one of the original preachers of the day (re-enactment, of course).

The third event is the October 2026 Gathering which will feature the 200th Anniversary. The theme of this Gathering will look to our past to challenge us to the future. We are meditating on “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me” (Isaiah 46:9). And, “Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you” (Deuteronomy 32:7).

In the plans are the distribution of the congregations and association historical sketches mentioned above, as well as an updated 1976 history of the Sesquicentennial of ABC OH “Heritage Today, Horizons Tomorrow (1826-1976): A HISTORY OF THE OHIO BAPTIST CONVENTION” by the late Dr. Richard H. Clossman. The 1976 book is available to   DOWNLOAD  HERE, and everyone is encouraged to read this inspiring short book. Dan Clemens and Tim Mohon are charged with adding the update of ABCOH history from 1976 to 2026.

We all stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. We must honor them. We also are responsible for those who come behind us. We must prepare them. We must know and learn the stories of our congregations and associations to help us carry the Gospel to the next generation and the challenges they will face. It is our prayer that the focus of the ABCOH 200th Anniversary Celebration will help us in our mission.