As friends and observers of the Gospel Reformation Network will know, the GRN is committed to the cultivation of healthy Reformed churches in the Presbyterian Church in America. Part of that commitment is expressed in the GRN’s seven Vision and Distinctives couplets, which includes items such as a commitment to Presbyterian polity, Reformed worship, missional clarity, and church multiplication.
Part of what we hope to showcase in these articles is how eminently portable and transferrable these virtues are and that such church planting commitments can “work” in both international and domestic contexts. In the other article in this two-part series, we considered the dynamics of international church planting with Rev. Nicholas Bullock. Today, we take up another interview on the subject: this time considering church planting domestically.
In order to commend to our readers the beauties and benefits of simple, biblical, Westminsterian, ordinary means of grace church planting, we thought we might interview a brother who is in the midst of planting a congregation with precisely those kinds of commitments and has already seen the Lord’s blessing upon the work. Rev. Jake Hooker is the church planter and pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia, a mission work of the Blue Ridge Presbytery that began in early 2022.
I previously served at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Roanoke prior to taking my present call in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. During late 2021/early 2022, Jake and I overlapped in Roanoke and were together at the origins of Providence Presbyterian Church. I had the pleasure of interviewing Jake regarding his experience in the first year or so of church-planting, and asked him how the Lord has been blessing his labors at Providence.
How did Providence PCA Roanoke get started?
I’m originally from the Roanoke Valley, and so is my wife. We moved to Charlotte, NC for seminary and afterward I served as an assistant pastor at a church plant in Florence, SC. But I continued to see a great need for more Gospel-preaching churches back in Roanoke.
The Lord opened many doors and the church plant was formally approved by the Blue Ridge Presbytery in August 2021. After reaching some support goals, we moved back to the area a couple months later and began telling friends, family, acquaintances (pretty much anyone who would listen!) about the church plant. And from the beginning we felt very supported.
The next step was to gather those who were interested in the church plant, so I began meeting with people to tell them about this new work over lunch and coffee.
Westminster Presbyterian Church graciously allowed me to preach in the evenings for six weeks at the beginning of 2022, and those six weeks were crucial to forming a core group. We then met in homes for informational meetings and “vision gatherings” to talk through the core values and direction of the church plant.
In those vision gatherings, we set a goal to begin corporate worship on Easter 2022, and by God’s grace we were able to meet that goal.
What does your typical Lord’s Day morning “demographic” look like?
Our typical Lord’s Day morning demographic looks like a room full of sinners who recognize their need for Christ! At Providence, we don’t prioritize one ethnicity, age group, or a particular socio-economic level over another. We want all people to join us and feel welcome.
But knowing some demographic data is helpful. It’s important to know the religious makeup of the community your church is located in. Within the greater Roanoke area, 61% percent of people claim no religious affiliation, and that number is steadily growing. Not only do 61% of the greater Roanoke area claim no religious affiliation, but there are many who practice false religions (i.e. Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses) and are members of apostate mainline denominations. When you add those groups to those who claim no religious affiliation, closer to 63% of Roanokers are unbelievers. Nearly two out of three people living in Roanoke do not know the Lord.
It’s helpful for me to know that and share it with people when I’m inevitably asked, “Why are you planting a church?” But even knowing that information only gets you so far. Knowing your community’s demographics doesn’t share the gospel, preach a sermon, distribute the Lord’s Supper, or lift anyone up in prayer!
I tend to think that too many church planters (and frankly churches in general) overemphasize demographics and it’s easy to see why: they believe demographic data will help them better contextualize.
But the problem with demographics and contextualization is the subtle belief that the gospel message needs to be tailored depending on one’s ethnicity, age, or socio-economic status. Paul addressed this clearly in his letter to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). The gospel levels the playing field and transcends one’s background and circumstances. The gospel of Jesus Christ that we preach in America is the same gospel that’s preached in China, Uganda, and Argentina. That’s the beauty of the gospel.
Instead of spending countless hours poring over a community’s demographic data we need to pray for the Lord to work Paul’s words to the Romans deeper into our hearts: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom. 1:16-17) The gospel is sufficient to reach the lost.
What does your typical Lord’s Day worship service look like? Is there a particular “style” about it, and if so, how has that been received in your context? Was it a challenge?
There are a few things in worship that I am deeply committed to. First and foremost, I’m committed to the regulative principle of worship. That is, I’m very committed to doing what only Scripture permits in the context of a worship service.
Some people find the regulative principle of worship too restrictive and limiting, but I find it quite liberating. For one, it automatically eliminates so many bizarre things that I have seen happen in worship. I don’t have to spend a lot of time wrestling with whether or not a stick ministry performance is permissible in a worship service (if you don’t know what a stick ministry is, look it up on YouTube).
But in all seriousness, I’m very committed to maintaining Biblical fidelity throughout our worship service. This means singing Psalms and Biblically-rich hymnody. It also means that I’m very committed to the corporate nature of worship. We’re not watching anyone worship the Lord on our behalf, rather the congregation is worshiping the Triune God together.
By and large it has been received well. People who are maybe less familiar with a liturgical style of worship tell me that they appreciate the centrality of the Word in worship. It was and remains my prayer that Providence doesn’t merely assent to Biblical convictions, but rather our Biblical convictions would be on clear display.
How do you understand “ordinary means of grace ministry”? How about your congregation?
When I think of ordinary means of grace ministry, I think of the church’s ministry focusing on the word, sacraments, and prayer. I think of it as the church focusing on the basics. After all, I want the people at Providence to grow in their knowledge of the Word, I want them to have regular access to the sacraments (particularly the Lord’s Supper), and I want them encouraged in prayer.
And I think that the folks at Providence appreciate it. Many are open to an ordinary means of grace ministry simply because they’ve realized that the church in America cannot continue to operate business as usual.
The statistics of people walking away from the faith are scary and we’ve all heard them. People who grew up in the church are walking away in droves. At some point we must all take an honest assessment and ask ourselves if we’re actually making disciples. Are people growing in their knowledge and love for God’s Word? Do people see corporate worship as integral to their Christian faith? Does the church promote and encourage them in prayer?
These are the questions that I pray people in our churches would overwhelmingly answer “yes” to.
Do you have other discipleship or fellowship ministries outside the Lord’s Day?
Yes! We have men’s and women’s Bible studies, we meet at the park on one Saturday each month for fellowship, we share meals together. We met in a neighborhood to sing carols at Christmastime, the women had a mug swap in the fall, the men recently met to watch the NCAA college football championship together, and the kids recently got together to make valentines for local nursing home residents.
Having fellowship outside of worship has been crucial for developing community and friendships among those in our congregation.
Church planting is never easy. But I’ve heard you say that, from the start, the commitments and principles were simple. Could you flesh out what you mean by that?
There’s a tendency for church planters to feel pressure to do whatever it takes to get people in the door. And they often go to great lengths to do so.
I’ve never felt pressure to reinvent the wheel. Of course, we want to welcome unbelievers and the “de-churched” to Providence. But I’ve never thought that I needed to do something at Providence that no one has ever seen because fundamentally, a church is a worshiping body of believers. We gather together each Lord’s Day to worship the Lord.
Tell us a little about Roanoke and the need for ordinary means of grace ministry that you see in that region.
As I said earlier, roughly two out of three people in the Roanoke Valley are unbelievers. So the math is quite simple: there are approximately 330,000 residents in the Roanoke Valley, which means there are about 220,000 people who don’t know the Lord.
Historically, new churches tend to attract new people. So, there’s plenty of room and opportunities for reaching the lost and those who’ve walked away from the church. And we certainly hope to reach those people with the gospel!
But there are also a lot of people that are looking for something that is authentically Christian. That is, they’re looking for a church that takes the basic elements of Christianity seriously. They want to grow in their understanding of God’s Word. They want to grow in righteousness and holiness. They want to grow in their prayer life. And all of these things are central to an ordinary means of grace church ministry.
What have been your biggest challenges?
One of the biggest challenges – but also one of the greatest blessings – has been recognizing my utter lack of control.
In church planting, but really in church in general, you don’t get to pick who comes or their reasons for why they come. The Lord providentially brings people to your church, and those are the people you’re called to minister to. (For the record, I love all the people that the Lord has brought to Providence!) I only say this because, being from the area, there were people I hoped would join our church plant who haven’t. But there are also many people that I didn’t know who have shown up and been a great blessing to our church.
So, church planting has been for me God’s gracious reminder that the Lord is in control and He is building His church.
What are the biggest “draws” to your congregation? In other words, when you speak to new visitors and receive new members, what do they say appealed to them about Providence?
There are a few things, but one of the biggest “draws” has been our clear confessional convictions. At Providence, we’re not ashamed of the Westminster Standards, rather, we think they are a great tool to help people better understand what the Bible teaches. We confess what we believe each week and often use the Westminster standards to bring doctrinal clarity. People appreciate our clarity, which stands in contrast to the often-ambiguous doctrine of broad evangelicalism. Today, there seems to be a lot of obscurity, duplicitousness, vagueness, and lack of clarity from churches in regard to what they believe the Bible teaches.
What are your hopes and prayers for the future of Providence?
First, I pray that the Lord protects and keeps us Biblically, confessionally, and doctrinally sound without compromising our warm, friendly, hospitable disposition. I hope we stand firm in our convictions but never lose the graciousness that we see in our Lord.
Long-term, I pray that we can be involved in more local church planting. I would love for the Lord to give us opportunities to plant more confessional churches locally and regionally.
What’s something you’d like to leave with our readers or emphasize that we haven’t already covered?
The PCA’s confessional convictions are not a weakness, rather they are our denomination’s strength. I would encourage church planters not to avoid or water down the Westminster standards, but rather embrace them and celebrate them.
I fear there’s an underlying assumption in our denomination that in order to plant healthy churches you have to hide the fact that you’re Presbyterian, downplay the Westminster standards, or find workarounds to the regulative principle in order to get people through the door.
My experience has been the exact opposite.
I have tried to be very upfront about who we are as a church. We don’t deny that we’re Presbyterian, embrace the Westminster standards, and cling to the regulative principle of worship. What’s really interesting is that, in my brief experience, people have come to Providence primarily for those reasons.
I would encourage other church planters (and PCA churches in general) to celebrate our heritage and to boldly claim what we believe to be true: Presbyterianism is the most Biblically faithful expression of Christianity!
