About Us

Who We Are

Our Story: In the summer of 2024, a group of Christian families began meeting for worship at the Smith home in Jackson, TN. We were seeking biblical worship—worship that is governed by what God commands in his word, not by what is entertaining or popular. We did not know what the future would hold. But God in his providence built a church out of us! In the fall of 2024, we joined the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) as a church plant. In the spring of 2025, we began gathering for morning worship and evening worship at a public meeting place. We are seeking to follow Jesus and to establish a faithful congregation in the Jackson area. Contact us or visit to find out more!

Leadership: Our church is supervised by the elders of Wolf River Presbyterian Church: pastor Mark Winder and ruling elders Warren Bennett and Paul O’Neal.

Providence Presbyterian Church is a church plant of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). The OPC:

• is a theologically conservative denomination of over 300 churches that was founded in the 1930s as a response to the liberalism of mainline presbyterian churches.
• is theologically rooted in the Protestant Reformation, the ancient Christian church, and ultimately the Bible.
• accepts the Bible as the only infallible standard of faith and practice and holds that the Bible is most faithfully summarized by the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms.
• is a member of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC) and enjoys fellowship with churches of like faith and practice, such as the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), and United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA).

Orthodox means “right belief”. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church chose the word “orthodox” because it emphasizes their desire to be true to what the Bible teaches and what Christians have historically believed. We are not affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Presbyterian refers to our form of church government. The word ‘presbyterian’ comes from the New Testament Greek word for ‘elder’ (presbuteros). We believe that each local church should be governed by elders who meet biblical qualifications (1 Timothy 3:1-7). We believe that local churches should be connected rather than independent. Accordingly, each church in the OPC sends elders to a regional governing body called a presbytery, which ordains ministers and establishes new congregations. Each presbytery in turn sends delegates to a broader governing body called the general assembly, which gives the whole church direction and advice. This form of church government is patterned after the New Testament Church (Acts 15), provides oversight and accountability at every level, and allows a network of churches to work together to address matters of common concern and to advance the global mission of the Church.

Church refers to the gathered people of God, not a building. Our church gathers for worship on the Lord’s Day, then disperses to be salt and light in the world during the rest of the week.

What to Expect

We gather for morning worship (11:00 am) and evening worship (4:00 pm) on Sunday, the Lord’s Day. Our worship service is simple, reverent, and God-centered. Its building blocks include: Scripture reading, prayers, the singing of psalms and hymns (accompanied by piano), and an expository sermon. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of every month. One distinctive of our church is that we sing the psalms regularly.

We strive to follow the “regulative principle of worship”, which means that our worship is regulated by God’s commands in his word, not by what is entertaining or popular in modern culture. To get a sense of what our worship is like, consider a sample bulletin or consider recent sermons.

We happily welcome children in our worship services and love to hear the sounds of the little ones! If the need arises, there is a quiet space available in the adjacent building for parents to attend to their children.

Every week we have a fellowship meal after morning worship, where we get to meet visitors and enjoy each other’s company around the table. All are warmly invited to share in the food and fellowship. The children also get to play!

What We Believe

We believe what the Bible teaches. We believe that what the Bible teaches is most faithfully summarized by the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church has adopted these clear, written statements of biblical doctrine, so you can know where we stand. That said, church members are not required to agree with everything in them.

Below is a brief summary of our beliefs:

• The Bible, having been inspired by God, is entirely trustworthy and without error. Therefore, we are to believe and obey its teachings. The Bible is the only source of special revelation for the church today.
• The one true God is personal, yet beyond our comprehension. He is an invisible spirit, completely self-sufficient and unbounded by space or time, perfectly holy and just, and loving and merciful. In the unity of the Godhead there are three “persons”: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• God created the heavens and the earth, and all they contain. He upholds and governs them in accordance with his eternal will. God is sovereign (in complete control) yet this does not diminish human responsibility.
• Because of the sin of the first man, Adam, all mankind is corrupt by nature, dead in sin, and subject to the wrath of God. But God determined, by a covenant of grace, that sinners may receive forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ has always been the only way of salvation, in both Old Testament and New Testament times.
• The Son of God took upon himself a human nature in the womb of the virgin Mary, so that in her son Jesus the divine and human natures were united in one person. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and died on a cross, bearing the sins of, and receiving God’s wrath for, all those who trust in him for salvation (his chosen ones). He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, where he sits as Lord and rules over his kingdom (the church). He will return to judge the living and the dead, bringing his people (with glorious, resurrected bodies) into eternal life, and consigning the wicked to eternal punishment.
• Those whom God has predestined unto life are effectually drawn to Christ by the inner working of the Spirit as they hear the gospel. When they believe in Christ, God declares them righteous (justifies them), pardoning their sins and accepting them as righteous, not because of any righteousness of their own, but by imputing Christ’s merits to them. They are adopted as the children of God and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies them, enabling them increasingly to stop sinning and act righteously. They repent of their sins (both at their conversion and thereafter), produce good works as the fruit of their faith, and persevere to the end in communion with Christ, with assurance of their salvation.
• Believers strive to keep God’s moral law, which is summarized in the Ten Commandments, not to earn salvation, but because they love their Savior and want to obey him. God is the Lord of the conscience, so that men are not required to believe or do anything contrary to, or in addition to, the Word of God in matters of faith or worship.
• Christ has established his church, and particular churches, to gather and perfect his people, by means of the ministry of the Word, the sacraments of baptism (which is to be administered to the children of believers, as well as believers) and the Lord’s Supper (in which the body and blood of Christ are spiritually present to the faith of believers), and the disciplining of members found delinquent in doctrine or life. Christians assemble on the Lord’s Day to worship God by praying, hearing the Word of God read and preached, singing psalms and hymns, and receiving the sacraments.