The American Midwest as a region is simultaneously significant and under-appreciated. Often derided as “flyover country,” the Midwest holds its own against the culture of the coasts. Stretching from Ohio to the Dakotas, from northern Minnesota to the boot heel of Missouri, the Midwest covers 822,000 square miles—roughly 27 percent of the landmass of the lower forty-eight states. The population of the region is around 70 million, which is 20 percent of the entire US population. In this region, 95 percent of the land is rural—mostly farmland and prairies.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established the Midwest as an area of religious liberty from its inception. In section 14, article 1, the ordinance explicitly addresses freedom of worship when it says, “No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory.”

In his book The Good Country: A History of the American Midwest, 1800–1900, historian Jon K. Lauck documents the Christian foundations of the region. Lauck writes,

Another key to understanding the early development of the American Midwest is the ubiquity of religion. Perhaps the first communal structure erected in every settlement in the Midwest was a Christian church. . . . Christian devotion united settlers of differing stripes who saw themselves entering an “Edenic wilderness, a new Arcadia,” and their beliefs “went straight back to the Book of Genesis.” . . . Christianity shaped personal and communal life, guided reform efforts, sparked commitment to civic endeavors, and permeated public affairs. (23–24)

Presbyterians on the Plains

Presbyterians played a crucial role in developing Midwestern culture and identity during the pioneering period. Men such as Jesse Miner, Moses Ordway, Cutting Marsh, David Lowry, Joseph Street, and Gideon and Samuel Pond brought Presbyterianism to the frontier. They ministered to Native Americans as well as to American settlers and European immigrants. By the 1930s there were around twenty-five hundred PCUSA congregations in Midwestern states. In Wisconsin the number of Presbyterian churches had grown from the very first Presbyterian church in 1836 to 220 congregations organized in five presbyteries by 1936.

That led to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church having important roots in the early Midwest, as seen in several high-profile cases of church discipline in the mid-1930s. In Chicago, much attention was paid to Dr. J. Oliver Buswell, president of Wheaton College. He was charged and convicted by his presbytery for supporting the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions.

In Wisconsin there were three significant cases. Rev. Arthur Perkins of Merrill, Wisconsin, was put on trial by the Winnebago Presbytery for supporting a Bible camp for the children of rural churches in north-central Wisconsin. Perkins was convicted and suspended from office by his presbytery. He was instrumental in establishing a new congregation and a new presbytery for his new denomination.

John DeWaard was administratively removed from the First Presbyterian Church in Cedar Grove by the Presbytery of Milwaukee, due to DeWaard’s outspoken opposition to modernism. DeWaard then helped to establish Calvary OPC in Cedar Grove and became a key player in the new presbytery and the denomination.

Oscar Holkeboer from nearby Oostburg PCUSA was summarily deposed and excommunicated by the Milwaukee Presbytery in a single day. His offense was refusing to remain quiet about modernism. Holkeboer then joined the new presbytery. The church he established in Oostburg later joined the denomination as Bethel OPC.

Following the OPC’s first general assembly in 1936, presbyteries in the Midwest were quickly established. The Presbytery of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan was approved on July 1, 1936, and convened on July 30, as the third presbytery of the new denomination. The Presbytery of Ohio was organized on September 14, 1936, in Cincinnati. Covenant Church of Indianapolis was included in the Ohio Presbytery.

In fall 1936, two other Midwestern presbyteries were organized. One was the Presbytery of the Chicago Area, led by Dr. Buswell. The other was the Presbytery of Iowa, comprised of just two congregations. Both of these presbyteries left the denomination in 1937 to join the Bible Presbyterian Synod. The other presbytery of note was the Presbytery of the Dakotas, organized in 1937. Originally, this presbytery was comprised of all Midwestern states, but later its boundaries were changed to include Western states.

Early Days in the Midwestern Presbyteries

Yet another indication of the early focus on the Midwest comes from J. Gresham Machen. Though he hailed from the East Coast, Machen maintained connections in the Midwest. In the 1920s he spoke at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago on Christianity and liberalism and was well received. He corresponded with Midwestern Presbyterians such as Buswell and Perkins. He spoke at the organizational meeting of the Presbytery of Ohio in September 1936 and was on a speaking tour in North Dakota at the time of his death. Machen had also been slated to appear at several Midwestern churches in early 1937.

Following the departure of some congregations to the Bible Presbyterians in 1937, the Midwestern presbyteries struggled for years. The congregations were small, poor, and modest. At a Presbytery of Wisconsin meeting on September 24, 1937, the minutes read that “the treasury was found to be empty with a bill of $2.48 against Presbytery before it.” The presbyters immediately took up a collection to clear the outstanding debt. A year later, in 1938, the treasurer reported a positive balance of two cents in the treasury—things were looking up!

Yet their ministries were significant beyond their size. One example was the ministry of the Rev. John Davies among the Stockbridge-Munsee Native Americans in Wisconsin. During Davies’s decades of service, hundreds came into contact with the gospel of Jesus Christ and were introduced to the Reformed faith. This work was among the first home missions efforts of the OPC.

Another indication of the Lord’s work in the Midwest comes from denominational statistical reports. When the General Assembly began reporting total membership of the regional churches in 1938, the three Midwestern Presbyteries had 1,140 members combined. By 2025, that number had grown to 7, 860 members—an increase of almost 600 percent over the eighty-seven years. The reports show sustained growth in the congregations of the Midwest region over the decades.

The Presbytery of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan has enjoyed the most dynamic growth. In 1938, there were 406 members in a handful of congregations. Within twelve years, the membership of that regional church had almost tripled. Consistent growth over the decades brought the membership to 4,200 by the year 2000, when the Presbytery of Michigan and Ontario was born. Combining the membership of the Presbytery of Wisconsin and Minnesota with her two daughter presbyteries, she had 5, 685 members in 2025.

In a letter dated June 18, 1936, the Rev. Arthur Perkins asked Dr. Machen some questions. “Will there be a Presbytery set up out this way, say in Wisconsin before the next General Assembly? What are the steps necessary for us to take?” Mr. Perkins was insistent that a presbytery should be established to serve Wisconsin and the whole “Middle West.” From the day when the presbytery was first organized in Arthur Perkins’s living room in Merrill, this ministry has grown to include sixty-six congregations in eight states and one Canadian province. About 25 percent of the current membership of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church can trace their beginnings to this foresight and initiative.

This displays the powerful work of Christ in building his church. The growth of his kingdom in this particular corner of his creation is due to his grace and goodness alone, not to anything Midwesterners have been or done. To him be the glory!

The author is pastor of Grace OPC in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. New Horizons, October 2026.