Our History
Denbigh Presbyterian Church has been a part of this community since its formation in the early 1960's. Second and Hidenwood Churches of Newport News and Wythe Church of Hampton saw the need of a congregation in this area. Having brought together a group of interested persons, they formed a chapel which was later organized into a church on October 15, 1961.
The first meeting place for this new congregation was the Denbigh Community Center, formerly the courthouse of Old Warwick County. It continues to serve as a Community Center to this day.
In 1962, Norfolk Presbytery purchased 8.5 acres of land at the corner of Denbigh Boulevard and Lucas Creek Road. The first stage of a building program, which included an all-purpose sanctuary/fellowship hall and eight classrooms, was occupied for the first time on December 6, 1964. The second phase of the building program, consisting of the administrative offices and twelve classrooms, was completed and occupied in January 1974. Members of our church family designed, assembled, and installed The Windows of Denbigh during the period 1984-88. The church completed a renovation of the facility in 1989.
Thus far, the church has had four pastors. The first, Lewis Bledsoe, came as a student from Union Theological Seminary and served while the church was still a chapel. Upon graduation from seminary, Mr. Bledsoe was called as the pastor and continued to serve the congregation until 1966. Early in 1967, the Rev. Frank M. Brown was called as pastor. Mr. Brown left in 1970 in order to enter the hospital chaplaincy program. In late 1970, the church called the Reverend Jerry F. Helms to be its pastor. Mr. Helms retired in May 2001. The church called Dr. John Sadler to be its Interim Pastor in June 2001. Dr. Sadler continued through June 2002. Reverend Dan Dickinson was called as the next Interim Pastor. In September 2002, our fourth pastor, the Reverend Deborah Dalton Dail was called.
As the church has continued to grow in recent years additional staff was needed. Three consecutive Students-In-Ministry led to the calling of the Rev. David M. Cameron as our Associate Pastor in 1984. The Rev. William B. Heyward was called to serve as Associate Pastor in June 1988. The Rev. Leigh B. Bunch was called to serve as Associate Pastor from August 1992 until June 1997.