Our History

Providence Presbyterian Church is a member congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, a denomination founded on June 11, 1936 after a small group of conservative ministers, ruling elders, and laymen, led by the Rev., Dr. J. Gresham Machen, separated from the mainline Presbyterian Church in the USA in response to the ever-growing modernist (i.e., liberal) tendencies in that denomination, which increasingly called into question the veracity of the Bible and the belief that Christianity was the only true Faith.  (For more information on the history of the OPC, click here).      Similar to the OPC's founding, Providence Presbyterian Church was informally established as a congregation on May 1, 1994 when a group of conservatives (ten families), led by the Rev. DeLacy A. Andrews, Jr., left a PCUSA congregation located in Southwest Virginia due to its liberal tendencies and overall rejection of biblical and Reformed preaching.  Initially worship services of this new congregation were held at the Tobias Smyth

Dr. J. Gresham Machen, a founding father of the OPC. Photo by Reformation Art.

Cabin on the campus of Emory and Henry College in Washington County, Virginia, while the group looked for a new denomination to join.  Sunday School classes were held in various homes.  Six weeks later, the group moved into a rented store facility in Meadowview, Virginia, which they renovated into a sanctuary.  In September 1994, the OPC received Providence Presbyterian Church as a mission work with the hope it would soon grow into a self-sustaining congregation.  This hope was realized on July 22, 1995, when the church was formally established as a new and official member congregation of the OPC by the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic.  The Rev. DeLacy A. Andrews, Jr., served as its first pastor.

The Tobias Smyth Cabin, located on the campus of Emory and Henry College in Emory, VA.  Providence held its first worship services here starting in May 1994.

On May 19, 1996, a mission work of Providence Presbyterian Church was begun in Bristol, Tennessee.  The core group consisted of several member families from Providence Presbyterian Church that lived in Bristol.  On July 21, 2000, this mission work was organized as a new and seperate congregation named the Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church.  Rev. Rob McCurley served as pastor.  The congregation held worship at the YWCA in Bristol, Tennessee.  However, in the Fall of 2002, Rev. McCurley transferred to another denomination.  Shortly thereafter, Mr. Matt Figura, a Licentiate in the OPC, began serving as regular stated supply.  Regretably, in the years following Rev. McCurley's departure membership slowly and continually declined, which finally resulted in the closure of the church on May 29, 2006.  Some of the former members of TRPC again hold membership at Providence OPC.

In June 2000, worship services of a second mission work of Providence Presbyterian Church began in Neon, Kentucky, about 98 miles away.  This mission work is called the Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church and is currently overseen by the session of Providence Presbyterian Church until it can be established as a separate and self-sustaining congregation of the denomination.  Mr. John Belden, who had been serving as stated supply, was ordained as the associate minister of Providence Presbyterian Church on August 6, 2004 with special duties of preaching and teaching at the mission work.  John and his wife, Sara, along with their two children, reside in Neon, Kentucky.  At present this mission work consists of five families.  A storefront building in the downtown area of Neon was recently purchased thanks to the generous donations of various congegations in the OPC.  Renovation of this building to serve as the mission work's new meeting place for worship is currently underway.

In August 2000, the congregation of Providence Presbyterian Church purchased a used church building in the town of Chilhowie, located in Smyth County, Virginia, where it currently meets for worship.  In addition, the Church is now a member of the newly formed Presbytery of the Southeast (OPC).  Also, in January 2002, the Rev. DeLacy A. Andrews, Jr., resigned as pastor in order to assume responsiblilities as the Regional Home Missionary of the new Presbytery.  And in July 2002, the Rev. Hank L. Belfield was called by the congregation to serve as its second pastor.  He and his wife, Cheryl, along with their three children, reside in Chilhowie.

Store facility in Meadowview, VA renovated and used for worship services from June 1994 to August 2000.

Currently, the membership of the congregation numbers around 60.  Like the OPC, Providence Presbyterian Church continues to maintain a strong commitment to the Bible as the divinely inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God to mankind.  The denomination and church are strongly conservative and affirm Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, who phyicially and spiritually rose from the dead after being crucified for the sins of God's elect people, who now reigns at God the Father's right hand and will come again, physically and spiritually, at the end of human history to judge all mankind.  Providence Presbyterian Church is committed to preaching Christ alone as the only hope for the salvation of sinners who must repent and believe on Him alone for eternal life.  At present, Providence Presbyterian Church is the only Presbyterian Church in Chilhowie.

204 North Church Ave., Chilhowie, VA.  The current meeting place of Providence Presbyterian Church.  This building was purchased in August 2000.

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