Our History
In the late 1990’s, Cherokee Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church, USA realized there was a need for a Presbyterian Church in Paulding County, Georgia. The Presbytery began making plans for the fulfillment of their vision for ministry in this rapidly growing county by acquiring a parcel of land on Highway 92. Since there had never been a Presbyterian church in Paulding County, the process of building the church would have to start from scratch. In 1998, a search committee was formed and the search for an organizing pastor began. In February 2000, a young and energetic pastor serving a church in eastern North Carolina heeded God’s call to Paulding County and Rev. John A. Hinkle, Jr. was named the Organizing Pastor for the Paulding County New Church Development.
John, his wife Leila, and their three-year old son Tripp moved back to John’s native state of Georgia and set out on this new journey to which they had been called. With no members, no church building and no office from which to work, John began the somewhat nomadic task of finding people interested in being a part of a new church in Paulding County. On March 12, 2000, the Hinkle’s hosted a bible study in their home that was attended by 12 people.
Out of that study grew the desire for that group to share their fellowship publicly. Plans were made for a first public worship service and the name Providence was decided upon for the church. In September 2000, the Providence Presbyterian New Church Development in Paulding County held its first worship service in the cafeteria of the Hiram Elementary School. Worship services continued there every Sunday for more than a year in spite of some challenging obstacles. Every Saturday, chairs had to be set up in the cafeteria for worship on Sunday and the cafeteria returned to its original state after worship. Some days there would be no heat or air conditioning because someone with the school forgot there was a church worshipping there on Sundays, which made for some physically uncomfortable services. But people began to come and they were finding something that made them want to come back. In the summer of 2001, Providence held its first Vacation Bible School for our young people and it was attended by seventeen children who were led through a program of Christ-centered study, fellowship, and activities in the sweltering Georgia heat with no air conditioning. The ministry of Providence was growing and the number of people who were calling Providence home was growing also.
In December 2001, the leadership at Providence decided to take advantage of an opportunity to lease space from the Hiram Seventh Day Adventist Church allowing for more ministry opportunities. The availability of a fellowship hall and more time to use the space made for more fellowship opportunities. Again, more people were finding this Christ-centered family called Providence a group they could call family also. It soon was realized that this new space would not be adequate for this growing family and preliminary plans needed to be made for building a new place to call home. But there was an obstacle to those plans.
For various reasons, the property on Highway 92 was not going to be adequate for building a new church. The search for new property on which to build began. By what some on the New Property Committee termed God’s providential guidance, a parcel of land on Macland Road in Dallas was acquired in March 2003. More and more people were finding Providence a place to call home.
On September 7, 2003, before a meeting of the Cherokee Presbytery, 100 people who had signed a Book of Commitment stood before the Presbytery and agreed to become charter members of the Providence Presbyterian Church; and the First Step in the life of Providence officially had been taken.
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