A Place For You Since 1773
North Ten Mile Baptist Church sits on a quiet stretch of Ridge Church Road in Amwell Township, between the villages of Lone Pine and Ten Mile in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The present brick sanctuary, joined to a 1993 fellowship and classroom addition, looks out across the rural landscape that has framed this congregation's life for more than two and a half centuries. The congregation marked its 250th anniversary in 2023, and it counts itself among the oldest Baptist churches in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The first settlers were emigrants from England and Scotland who had pushed north into the Ten Mile Creek watershed from Maryland and Virginia beginning around 1768. Crumrine's "History of Washington County" records that the first meeting house was constructed of hewn logs in 1773, east of the present site. Tradition says it had a balcony on three sides, entered by steps on the outside. Within a few years a second log church was built on the ridge road for easier access, serving from 1794 until 1836. A third building, probably of frame construction, followed in 1836. A fourth wooden sanctuary was dedicated on May 18, 1873. The current brick building went up in 1904, and in 1993 the church completed a major addition that added classroom, kitchen, and fellowship space.
Through every building the thread has been the same. The church describes itself as "a Gospel Community of Trinitarian Believers who have voluntarily joined ourselves together to carry out the Great Commission."
Sunday Morning and Midweek Prayer
Three regular gatherings make up the rhythm of the week at North Ten Mile Baptist. Sunday Bible School begins at 9:45 AM, followed by the Sunday Morning Lord's Day Worship service at 10:45 AM. Midweek, the Prayer and Bible Study meeting gathers at 7:00 PM on Wednesdays.
The services follow a traditional Baptist pattern centered on expository preaching. Pastor Wesley Kavanagh has walked the congregation through a series of studies in the Book of Hebrews, working week by week through sermons titled "The Supremacy of Christ, A Study of Hebrews" and continuing into a sixth week of the series. Earlier series worked through Philippians and Romans. A Reformation Sunday message, "God's Hammer: Martin Luther," took the congregation through Martin Luther and the solas of the Reformation.
A Lineage of 52 Pastors
North Ten Mile Baptist has called 52 pastors since her organization in 1773. That long lineage of pastoral leadership frames the present pastorate, where Wesley Kavanagh now serves alongside his wife Amy.
Wes was born and raised in Ontario, Canada. His parents were saved when he was very small, and he grew up in a Christian home, attending a Baptist church since he was three. At ten he came under deep conviction of sin, and the Spirit's drawing led him to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. At twelve he surrendered his life to full-time service. In his teen years he developed musical gifts, playing piano, French horn, and singing, and initially pursued music at the university level. At nineteen he recognized that God had given him a gift for preaching and teaching, which led him to Bible college in Indiana.
Amy was born and raised in Pittsburgh. She and her family began attending Library Baptist Church when she was eight, and it was there she heard the gospel for the first time. As a teenager she attended a Christian camp in southern Pennsylvania, came under conviction of the Holy Spirit, and gave her life to Jesus Christ. She served in Child Evangelism Fellowship as a teen, where she discovered a passion for teaching children. Upon graduation she attended the same Bible college in Indiana, where she met Wes.
They married in 1995. God has blessed the Kavanaghs with four children, John, James, Sarah, and Daniel, and one grandson, Kaiden. Since 1996, Pastor Wes has served in several ministries between Ontario and Alberta: as a Christian school teacher, senior pastor, youth pastor, and music pastor. He has served as a worship leader, choir director, and musician in churches since 1993. The Kavanaghs have also been involved in personal evangelism and bus ministries.
Outside the pulpit, Wes plays hockey, cycles, enjoys mixed martial arts, and reads. Amy is gifted in hospitality; she can usually be found baking or out on a trail with Wes and their dogs, Patton and Bradley.
The Five Solas and the Statement of Faith
The confession of faith published by the church begins with the historic Five Solas: saved by grace alone, through faith alone, by Christ alone, through Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone. The full statement of faith then develops ten articles across the major doctrines of the Christian faith.
The church affirms one true and living God, the triune Creator - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - worthy of worship and service. The Old and New Testaments are received reverently as the inspired Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice, with all Scripture bearing testimony to Christ as the focus of divine revelation.
On humanity, the confession teaches that people are the special creation of God, made to bear his image and enjoy fellowship with him. The first human couple, Adam and Eve, were made innocent of sin and gifted with distinct gendered bodies and the covenant of marriage. Their disobedience plunged the whole human race into a state of sin and separation from God, and only the grace of God can restore that fellowship.
Jesus the Son has eternally existed with the Father. At the perfect time he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary to be the promised Christ, God's anointed king. He lived a sinless life and, after his substitutionary death on the cross for the redemption of humanity, was raised from the dead with a glorified body and ascended into heaven. He is fully God and fully man. He will visibly return in power and glory to judge the world and complete his redemptive mission.
Salvation comes through God's grace by repentance and faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Good works are the fruit of faith, and eternal life is the gift of God to every believer. The Holy Spirit is fully God with the Father and the Son, dwells in every believer as Counselor and seal of redemption, and gifts God's people for mission.
The church is the community of all who repent and believe, gathered into local assemblies of baptized believers under the authority of biblical leadership. Each local assembly has the freedom and responsibility to live out its obedience to Christ under biblical leadership, without interference from other institutions. Christ commanded the local assemblies to practice baptism and the Lord's Supper as the ordinances of the church. Baptism is by immersion in water following an explicit profession of faith; the Lord's Supper is an act of fellowship and remembrance, showing forth Christ's sacrificial death and anticipating his second coming. God has gifted each local church with the offices of Pastor/Elder and Deacon for the spiritual care of the body and the exercise of biblical discipline.
Every believer is called to participate in God's mission: sharing the gospel, acting in love for neighbors, using material resources for God's kingdom, and supporting efforts to plant churches where the Church lacks a healthy witness. In his own time and way, God will bring the world to its appropriate end; Christ will return personally and visibly in glory, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all men in righteousness.
Missions Across Washington County and Beyond
North Ten Mile Baptist Church designates almost five percent of its total income strictly to missions, alongside a monthly mission offering that rotates to a different recipient. Among the organizations and missionaries the church currently supports are Camp Carmel, the Washington City Mission, the Marianna Christian Outreach with the Blessing Box, Prudencio Canda serving as a missionary in the Philippines, Beth-El Messianic Ministries, and the Gideons International.
A volunteer missions group meets occasionally during the week to carry out hands-on projects. Members create sleeping mats for the homeless, sew dresses for children in Haiti, assemble hygiene packs for women in Africa, support Samaritan's Purse, and prepare care packages for local brothers and sisters in Christ who are in hospice care. A missions advocate works with the supported organizations to help the congregation understand their needs and find ways to give. The church welcomes contact from new mission organizations interested in joining this network of support.
The Cemetery on Ridge Church Road
Behind the sanctuary, the North Ten Mile Cemetery has been part of the congregation's ministry for generations. The cemetery is maintained by a separate nonprofit corporation, the North Ten Mile Cemetery Association, whose nine directors include church members and individuals who own plots in the cemetery. Plots are available for purchase; inquiries go through the cemetery secretary or a director.
Each year, the Sunday before Memorial Day, the church holds a Memorial Day service in the cemetery, decorating the graves of veterans and commemorating their sacrifice. Everyone is welcome at the annual memorial gathering. A map of plot holders and a table of those buried there are available for those researching family history in the cemetery.
Following the Sermons
An extensive library of recorded sermons is available through the church's YouTube channel and Vimeo account. The archive stretches back several years and includes recent series on Hebrews, sermons through Philippians, a Reformation Sunday message titled "God's Hammer: Martin Luther," and Advent messages. Guest speakers have included Rev. Dr. Jeff Johnson, who preached at the 250th anniversary services in September 2023, Dr. John Mark Scott Jr. for the special 250th-anniversary sermon, and a long list of pastors and lay speakers who have filled the pulpit over the years, including Luke Gatten, Paul Salosky, Randy Denman, Rev. Don Wilson, Pastor George Palombo, and Pastor David Woods.
For ongoing announcements and a calendar of events, the church maintains a shared calendar that visitors can subscribe to. Donations can be made online through the giving page, where the church says it gives "with religious faith, with the hope of helping others" and thanks the hearts of its donors. The address is 322 Ridge Church Road, Amity, Pennsylvania, and the phone rings at 724-267-4385.