A congregation shaped by a split, a farmhouse, and the PCA
Loch Raven Presbyterian Church sits down a long, paved, tree-lined driveway off Old Harford Road in Parkville, in the rolling northern stretch of Baltimore County. The church that worshippers step into today is the product of a doctrinal conviction that began with a locked door in 1981. The congregation, then known as Babcock Memorial Church, walked away from the Baltimore Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church in America that March, after Pastor Robert Baxter Louthan and a majority of the members concluded that they could no longer remain in that denomination. The Baltimore Presbytery responded by locking the congregation out of its property.
For the next several years the members worshiped where they could. Sunday services moved first to Loch Raven Elementary School, and then for almost a decade to Pleasant Plains Elementary. Prayer meetings, choir rehearsals, and for three months the church office lived in members' houses. The members rented office space on White Oak Road, and neighboring churches opened their doors for Vacation Bible School, Christmas Eve, and Thanksgiving services. On August 29, 1982, the body took the name Loch Raven Village Presbyterian Church, still unaffiliated.
By 1984 a committee was studying Presbyterian bodies with which Loch Raven could affiliate. Two years later that committee recommended joining the Presbyterian Church in America, and the congregation approved the recommendation. In December of 1986 the trustees identified a 4.35-acre farm on Old Harford Road belonging to the Lightheiser family, and on December 21 the congregation voted to acquire it. In 1987 Kenneth and Minetta "Peggy" McQuade Lighthiser sold the farmhouse and acreage to the church, and for the next thirty years that farmhouse housed the pastor's office, the church office, and classrooms for committee meetings and youth activities.
A groundbreaking ceremony on July 1, 1990 launched construction of the current church building. The members continued meeting at Pleasant Plains Elementary while the work went on, and on September 29, 1991, the new sanctuary was dedicated in a Service of Worship. A second building phase came in the spring of 2016, when a building committee shepherded a fellowship hall and additional classroom space to completion a year later; the dedication service was held on March 3, 2017. The original farmhouse was eventually taken down, and a clip from Season 8, Episode 10 of "Salvage Dawgs" captured a video tour of the house before it was removed for safety concerns. Today the Old Harford Road campus serves both the congregation and several community ministries.
Five pastors, one confession
Reverend Robert Baxter Louthan, who had been installed as pastor of Babcock Memorial in June 1963, continued to shepherd the congregation through the difficult years of separation and into the PCA. He retired in 1999, and during his tenure Associate Pastors Doug Hudson and Fred Showers each went on to lead their own congregations. Reverend Ed Olsen served as interim between senior pastors.
Reverend Richard L. Burguet succeeded Louthan, serving from August 1999 to June 2006 before taking a Florida pastorate. Reverend Ralph Kidwell served as Pastor of Visitation from the 1990s until his retirement in 2011. Reverend William Jones twice stepped in as interim pastor. Reverend Louis Quievryn was called in 2008 and resigned in February 2011, with Brad Robson serving as Assistant to the Senior Pastor in 2010 and 2011. Reverend William "David" Milligan was elected senior pastor on January 15, 2012, and served the congregation faithfully until he resigned in 2025 to serve as a retirement community chaplain.
The current pastor, Reverend Bryant Park, has served Loch Raven since November 26, 2023, and was pastor-elect in the year before his ordination. Park, who was born in Baltimore and raised in nearby Perry Hall, completed his Master of Divinity at Reformed Theological Seminary in 2019. He and his wife, Joyce, who married in 2014, have a son named Isaac and a daughter named Olive. In his introductory letter to the congregation, Park described a "warm community that is committed to glorifying and enjoying God in all of life," and invited visitors to "come and see," "come and hear," and "come and worship our great God."
Christian, Reformed, and Presbyterian
Loch Raven describes itself in three words: Christian, Reformed, and Presbyterian. As a Christian church, the members follow Jesus Christ and receive the Bible as the holy, inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, sufficient, clear, authoritative, and necessary for life and salvation. Loch Raven confesses the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed as faithful summaries of historic Christian belief, and holds that believers are saved by the work of Christ who died on the cross, rose again, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and poured out the Holy Spirit on the church.
As a Reformed church, Loch Raven embraces the five solas of the Reformation (Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and to the glory of God alone) and teaches that the whole Bible is best understood through covenant theology. As a Presbyterian church, it belongs to the PCA denomination, whose founding motto - "Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission" - shapes the local vision. The congregation's doctrinal standards are the Westminster Confession of Faith together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms and the PCA Book of Church Order.
Two Sunday services with two different shapes
Loch Raven gathers twice on a Sunday. The morning service begins at 11:00 AM, and the evening service begins at 5:00 PM, with no evening service on the first Sunday of the month. The two services take different forms. The morning service blends old and contemporary hymns, confessional liturgy, and exegetical preaching. The evening service centers on psalm singing, Scripture reading, and a separate sermon from the morning, so worshippers who attend both receive two distinct expositions of God's Word.
Greeters meet visitors at the main entrance and assist them into the sanctuary. A welcome center in the lobby offers information about the church and a welcome bag for first-time visitors. The dress code is simply "come as you are." Some attenders wear suits and dresses; others come in casual clothes, and all are welcomed. The parking lot has reserved spots for visitors, and the entrance is marked with the church's sign visible from Old Harford Road.
Sermons are live-streamed every week on YouTube, and a sermon library is available for those who want to revisit past messages.
Children and Sunday School at every age
Children of all ages are welcome in Sunday worship, and nursery care is available during the service for infants through age three. For children from pre-kindergarten through third grade, an optional worship class is offered during the sermon, where the leaders walk the children through the different elements of worship. Loch Raven's children's ministry describes its mission with Psalm 78: that parents and the wider body of Christ might help raise children to know, believe, and set their hope in Him, telling the next generation of His glorious deeds.
Sunday School runs from 9:30 to 10:30 AM, with classes divided by age: nursery, preschool and kindergarten, first through fourth grade, fifth through eighth grade, and high school. The children's ministry sets out seven goals for its work: salvation by grace through faith, biblical literacy and Reformed theology, a life of prayer, valuing children as part of the body of Christ, cheerful service and giving, lifelong worship of the triune God, and growth in sanctification. Children's ministry leaders use the Heidelberg Catechism as one of their resources for introducing the Reformed faith to young learners.
Wednesday nights around the table, and prayer all week
On Wednesday evenings, the congregation gathers for what it simply calls The Gathering. A weekly meal begins at 5:45 PM, followed by a time of prayer at 6:30 PM. The Gathering takes a break during the summer months. For those who want to pray through the week, a Tuesday Prayer Meeting runs from 1:00 to 2:00 PM at the church.
Adult education, Bible studies, and small Circles
Three Sunday School classes for adults meet between services. The Men's Sunday School class is open to all gentlemen and typically works through a book of the Bible. The Women's Sunday School, also known as the Berean Class, is open to all women and provides paper copies of the study questions. During the summer months, a Family Sunday School pulls together families at 10:00 AM for shared study.
Several weekly Bible studies extend the teaching ministry beyond Sunday morning. A Men's Bible Study meets on the first and third Thursdays at 10:00 AM. A Women's Bible Study meets on Thursdays at 9:30 AM. In addition, several women's Circles meet at least once a month, with six to twelve members each. The Lydia Circle meets on Wednesdays at 10:00 AM at the church, studying "Becoming a Woman Whose God Is Enough." The Hannah Circle meets on the third Wednesday at 7:00 PM at Oakcrest, working through "1 Corinthians for You." The Ladies Circle meets on the third Friday at 6:30 PM at the church, studying "Grace for Saints and Sinners." The congregation also hosts a Men's Breakfast on the second Saturday of the month.
Free ESOL classes on Tuesday nights, in English and Spanish
One of the most distinctive outreach ministries at Loch Raven is its free ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) program for adults. Classes meet on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:45 PM, running from September through May, and are taught at beginner through advanced levels. The only cost is an English textbook, which may run up to $30. Registration is held each Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM.
The same program operates bilingually. Loch Raven's ESOL leaders publicize the classes in Spanish as "Clases de INGLÉS GRATIS para adultos," meeting on Tuesdays at 7:00 PM from September through May, with placement interviews any Tuesday. Interested students can pre-register online, and a Spanish-speaking phone line is available at 443-384-7355 for questions in Spanish. The program runs in cooperation with the Chesapeake Presbytery, including a Nepalese outreach arm of the presbytery. The church maintains a Facebook page at facebook.com/LochRavenESOL with class updates.
Missions from Parkville to the ends of the earth
Loch Raven takes seriously the command of Acts 1:8 to be Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Its missions philosophy, approved that same year by the congregation, holds that involvement in missions is not optional for the church but commanded, and that the purpose of the church and the vows of its members are consistent with that command. The Missions Committee encourages members to share in the life of the church by praying, writing, giving, sending, and going.
On the local front, Loch Raven supports the Baltimore Antioch Leadership Movement, the Baltimore Rescue Mission, Karis Home, the Center for Pregnancy Concerns, Child Evangelism Fellowship's Greater Baltimore Chapter, the Christian Community Center, the Chesapeake Presbytery's Nepalese ministry, Cru and Reformed University Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, and Metro-Maryland Youth for Christ in the Loch Raven area. Nationally, the church partners with China Outreach Ministries, Mission to North America's Disaster Response, and North America Indigenous Ministries. Overseas, Loch Raven supports African Bible Colleges, Frontiers, Heartland International Ministries, Mission to the World (PCA), the Evangelical Reformed Seminary of Ukraine, One Collective, the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, SAGE International, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and JAARS.
Elders, Deacons, and Trustees
Loch Raven is governed by its Session of Elders, ordained men tasked with the spiritual government of the church and its overall vision. Each elder shepherds a particular group of members and is available for counseling and prayer. The Deacons and Deacon Assistants carry out the mercy ministries of the church, including visiting shut-ins and those in nursing homes, arranging meals for the sick, and caring for the physical needs of both the congregation and the local community. The Trustees maintain the buildings, grounds, and equipment of the church, sourcing contractors and engaging the congregation in volunteer work, and work with the Session to set the annual operating budget. Music ministry is led by Praise Team Leader Rachel Stenger and Piano Accompanist Elizabeth Vecchione.
Giving, prayer requests, and practical details
Members and visitors who wish to support Loch Raven's ministry can give in three ways. Ushers collect cash and checks during the Sunday worship service. Online giving is available through the church's secure portal, which uses direct debit to reduce processing costs. Contributions can also be mailed to 9318 Old Harford Road, Parkville, MD 21234, though the church asks that cash not be sent by mail. For year-end tax statements, numbered envelopes are available from the church office.
Anyone can submit a prayer request or praise report through a form on the church's site, choosing whether the request goes to the prayer group leaders, the pastor and shepherding elders, the chairman of the deacons, the congregation at large, or stays private. The church office is open from 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM, Tuesday through Friday, and the pastor can be reached at 410-661-5777. With two distinct Sunday services, a children's program that stretches from nursery through high school, weekday Bible studies and Circles, a free bilingual ESOL program, and a missions commitment spanning Baltimore to West Africa, Loch Raven Presbyterian Church continues to describe itself in the words of its pastor: "a warm community that is committed to glorifying and enjoying God in all of life."