Pageland RP Mission Church

Ian Wise, pastor

On Saturday, Oct. 8, the Pageland Reformed Presbyterian Mission Church was organized in Pageland, South Carolina, with five member families. For the first time in almost two centuries, the Reformed Presbyterian Church has an organized presence in the Palmetto State. The work in Pageland developed out of the vision of two young families, the Chris Mangums and the Joe Mangums, who have a cousin in the Trinity RPC in Beltsville, Md. In addition, Pastor Ian Wise, formerly of the First RPC in Durham, N.C., was installed as pastor of the mission church. Pastor Wise and his wife, Deanna, both grew up in upstate South Carolina a little more than an hour away.

A service of worship was held under the direction of the Pageland Commission of the Great Lakes-Gulf Presbytery to mark these milestones. Commission moderator Dr. Frank Smith preached, commission member Ruling Elder Bob Shapiro (both of Northminster RPC, Alpharetta, Ga.), gave the charge to the congregation, and Pastor Kyle Sims of a neighboring Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and a long-time friend of the new pastor, gave the charge to Ian Wise. Almost 50 people attended the service, which was held in the Guest Lodge Motel in Pageland, the usual meeting place of the mission church.

Pageland is located in northern South Carolina in the outer suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. Almost two million people live within an hour’s driving distance of Pageland. The mission church is receiving financial aid in the form of exploratory grants for the next two years from the Home Mission Board, as well as help from the Great Lakes-Gulf Presbytery. Contacts in the area (which include Rock Hill and Florence, S.C., and Monroe and Matthews, N.C., as well as Charlotte) may be communicated to Pastor Wise (843-517-2088).

—Tom Reid, Clerk, Pageland Commission

Stillwater, Okla., RPC

Bruce Parnell, pastor

Stillwater, Okla., RPC enjoyed the ministry of the short-term mission team here this summer. Members of that team included Audrey Eggers, Daniel Graham, Jonah Harper, and Joel Wallace. Their duties included joining the local VBS team made up of CY members and adults from the Stillwater RPC. They took responsibilities for teaching portions of the VBS for the congregation’s children plus the day camp children at the Stillwater YMCA. Daily attendance was around 80. Some of the day camp children are not regular attenders of Christian worship services, so some of them were hearing gospel presentations for the first time.