The Salem Presbyterian Church
Welcome to Venedocia! Salem Presbyterian Church extends a warm welcome and hopes you will come join us in worship and service.
15240 Main St
P.O. Box 678
Venedocia, OH 45894
419-667-4142
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Sunday Schedule
All year: 9:30am. Worship with nursery.
During the school year: 10:45. Sunday school (including 2 classes for adults)
Fellowship Sunday: occasionally throughout the year we have refreshments in the prayer room following worship.
Salem Presbyterian Church is a part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The Presbyterian church traces its roots to the Protestant Reformation and John Calvin.
A Presbyterian minister, John Witherspoon, was among the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
On the local level, the church is governed by the Session, which consists of the pastor and
elders elected by the congregation. We have Trustees who take care of financial and building
matters. The Music Committee plans special music for worship throughout
the year and the annual Gymanfa Ganu.
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Activities
Junior Choir is part of our Children's ministry which begins during worship and continues during Sunday
School. the children sing and play hand bells at least once a month in worship.
Youth Group is open to all youth in junior high and high school. They meet twice a month during
the school year. they have devotions, snacks, and a program, which varies from crazy games to
discussing videos and popular music. Most of their meetings are on Sunday Evenings, but occasionally
they meet for projects and other events at other times.
Women's Association meets once a month on Thursday mornings. They are involved in study and mission.
They prepare funeral dinners and cook for the Lions Club meetings.
Alpha Kappa is open to all women. They meet once a month for programs
and go on occasional outings.
Senior Luncheons: On the last Wednesday of most months we serve a meal for seniors at the
Lions Club through the Community Care Team, a joint project with the Lions Club.
Vacation Bible School is held for a week every June. children 3 years old through 6th grade
spend the morning exploring God's Word through stories, music, crafts, and science.
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Special Worship Services
January Prayer Service. on one or two Wednesday nights in January we have a prayer service at
7pm. It is preceded by a dinner, one of which is a potato supper sponsored by the youth group.
Lenten Worship. We gather in worship at 7pm Wednesday evenings during lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday.
Different groups and families in the church prepare a meal for us prior to each prayer service.
We also have a meal and special service on Maundy Thursday.
Easter. The youth group leads us in worship at 7am on Easter Sunday. During the worship
service we celebrate Easter by transforming the cross from an instrument of death to a sign of hope
as we place flowers on it. Following the Sunrise Service, we have a breakfast.
Thanksgiving Eve service is at 7pm the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Christmas Eve Worship. At 10pm on Christmas Eve we gather for worship, which features communion
and ends with candlelight.
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History
Salem Presbyterian Church was formed by the first three families who came from Wales to settle in Venedocia
in 1848. While there are still some descendants of these founding families active in the life of
the church, our members come from a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds. Originally we were
the Salem Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church. In 1920 the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church
merged with the Presbyterian Church.
Salem continued to worship in the Welsh language well into the 20th century. Our current building,
which was constructed in 1898, is the third building the church has used for worship.
Over the years, the Horeb Presbyterian Church, Bethel Presbyterian Church, Venedocia Presbyterian
Church, and Zion Presbyterian Church have all joined us.
We celebrate our Welsh history and culture annually with a St. David's Day dinner and
program on a Sunday afternoon in early March. St. David was the patron saint of Wales. the biggest event
of the year is our Gymanfa Ganu (Festival of Song), which is held on the Sunday evening of
Labor Day weekend. People come from all over the country as we sing Welsh hymns (in English)
in four part harmony.
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