History of Grace Presbyterian Church, PCA

In 1999, several families began meeting for Bible study on Sunday evenings with the hope of establishing a PCA church.  After the group had increased to a regular attendance of more than fifty, they contacted the North Georgia Presbytery to call a full-time pastor.  Interviews commenced in March 2000.  The Rev. Dick Cain, with his wife Scottie and their four children, came to Grace the following fall. On November 6, 2000, Rev. Cain accepted the call as the organizing pastor of Grace Church.

In February 2001, with nearly 75 in attendance, the mission could no longer be accommodated in homes.  The First United Methodist Church generously offered its fellowship hall for a weekly Sunday evening service.  Four months later (June 2001), the church moved into 4000 sq. ft. of space, sharing a building with the New Life Christian bookstore on Highway 5.  In the spring of 2002, the bookstore relocated, and Grace Church began leasing the entire building (12,000 sq. ft.).

During the summer of 2002, Rev. Cain took several potential leaders through officer training, and soon Grace Presbyterian Church had five men ready to be ordained and installed as ruling elders.  The church was particularized (made an official PCA church through a commission of the North Georgia Presbytery) on September 15, 2002 with 65 members, and about 80-90 in regular attendance.  The following week Rev. Cain announced that he had accepted a call to Trinity Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

A search committee for a new pastor was formed; and in March 2003, a call was extended to Rev. Dr. Jon D. Payne, who was at the time living and studying in Edinburgh, Scotland with his wife, Marla, and daughter, Mary Hannah.  Pastor Jon accepted the call and preached his first sermon on June 1, 2003.

In March of 2007 Grace Presbyterian Church commenced a building program that was chaired by Mr. Jim Zeller (Ruling elder: GPC) and completed in October of that same year.  The 16,000 sq. ft facility was dedicated to the glory of God on November 16th in the new sanctuary which was filled with members and friends of the church.  Those who led the service were Dr. Dick Cain (founding pastor), Dr. Jon D. Payne (current pastor), Dr. Josh R. McIntire (Ruling elder: GPC), Mr. Jim Zeller (Ruling elder: GPC), Mr. Clif I Daniell (Ruling elder: GPC), Mr. Joseph H. Fowler (Ruling elder: GPC), Dr. David Hall (Pastor of Midway, PCA) and Dr. J. Ligon Duncan (Pastor of First Presbyterian Jackson), who preached a marvelous sermon from God's Word in John 4. 

Today, Grace Church is a growing congregation of 260 active members with an average Lord's Day attendance of 225 in the morning and 110 in the evening.