Church History

article1 In 1915, the Dunn Presbyterian Church saw the need for a Sunday School in our community and they started one on the old Jonesboro School grounds. In the summer of that same year, a tent meeting was held on the Jonesboro grounds and sixteen people professed faith in Jesus Christ and joined the Church. These names were temporarily placed on the rolls of the Dunn Church until Grove could be organized. The following summer, 1916, the people of the community began construction of the present church building. On September 11, 1916, Grove Presbyterian Church was organized with forty-six members. From its beginnings our church has meant so much to the community and the Lord’s Kingdom. We are blessed to have talented people, and every member of the congregation is a very important part of the life of the church. God has truly blessed Grove Presbyterian Church, and we pray that He will continue to guide our church and allow us to be a vibrant witness for Him far into the future.

Our Minister

The Rev. Michael Weaver was raised in Fayetteville, NC where he and his family attended First Presbyterian Church. Mr. Weaver earned his B.S. from North Carolina State University and his M.Div. from Columbia Biblical Seminary in Columbia, SC. Mr. Weaver trained at various medical centers in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). These institutions include Baptist Hospital, Inc., Wake Medical Center, and New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Mike served as a chaplain in the healthcare field for 14 years. He worked as a Hospice Chaplain with Cape Fear Valley Hospice and Community Home Care and Hospice. Mike also worked as a Clinical Chaplain at Cape Fear Valley Health System. Over the years, Mike has had the opportunity to preach at several churches throughout the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina, including the following: Bunnlevel, Cape Fear (Lillington), Chadbourn, College Heights, Elizabethtown, First Presbyterian (Fayetteville), Galatia, Haymount, Highland, Holly Grove, Hope Mills, Lumber Bridge, Old Laurel Hill, Sardis, St. Pauls, Vaughn Memorial, and Vass. In July of 2012, Mike was installed as the pastor of Grove Presbyterian Church in Dunn, NC and continues to serve in this capacity. Mike and his wife, Rebecca, have been married for 32 years. Mike and Rebecca have two sons, Caleb and Luke.

Previous Ministers

The Reverend Angus Robertson McQueen, D.D. (h.c.) 1916 – 1945

The Reverend Richard Rhea Gammon 1945 – 1952

The Reverend Glenn Howard Fishbeck 1952 – 1954

The Reverend George Henry Vincent Hunter, Jr. 1955 – 1959

The Reverend Rufus Armfield Cromartie 1959 – 1963

The Reverend Burriss Melton Bender, Sr. 1964 – 1969

Mr. John L. Speight, Student Intern Pastor 1971 – 1972

Mr. Thomas M. Mobley, Student Intern Pastor 1973 – 1974

Mr. Raby Elkanah Moore, Student-in-Ministry 1974 – 1975

The Reverend John Wesley Dozier 1976 – 1984

The Reverend Billy Lee Parker 1985 – 1995

The Reverend JoAnne McEwen Lee 1997 – 2011

The Reverend Michael Stuart Weaver 2012 – Present

Men Who Provided Exemplary Service to Grove Church
While without an Installed Pastor

Mr. Neill A. Baker 1963 – 1964
1969 – 1971
1972 – 1973

The Reverend Stedman Black Bryan 1969 – 1971
1972 – 1973

The Reverend Earl Monroe Vaughan, Sr., Interim Pastor 1997 – 1997
2011 – 2012

ELDERS EMERITI

Michael Varsho
Eunice Moore

MENTOR EMERITUS

John Moore

What We Teach

The Bible is the source of what we believe and what we teach. As a Presbyterian Church, we affirm the creeds that are consistent, first of all, with Scripture and, secondly, with the teachings of the Protestant Reformers.

THE BIBLE

The Holy Scriptures are special revelation from God and are necessary to provide mankind the knowledge of God’s means of salvation. The sixty-six books of the Bible are the written Word of God. The Holy Scriptures bear the authority of God and are to be believed and obeyed. The entirety of the Bible is infallibly true.

GOD

There is only one true God, and this God is triune in nature. God is inseparable and indivisibly one in essence and He exists eternally in three Persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father created all things by the word of His power. Yet each Person of the Trinity was involved in Creation. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father and, in the fullness of time, took on a human nature in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is personal and proceeds from the Father and the Son.

JESUS CHRIST

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God incarnate. He is fully God and fully man. He alone is the Savior of humankind. According to God’s sovereign plan, Jesus died a sacrificial death on the cross to atone for the sins of those who place their faith in Him.

THE CONDITION OF HUMANITY

All people are sinners and are completely incapable of saving themselves from the displeasure of God by their own efforts.

SALVATION

Salvation comes only as a result of God’s grace. God dispenses His grave according to His most wise and holy will. God chooses, or elects, those whom He will save, not based upon any merit within the person or any foreseen faith.

FAITH

The salvation that Jesus Christ accomplished may be appropriated by placing one’s faith in Christ, and in Him alone. As we trust in Christ and entrust ourselves to His Lordship over our lives, we are delivered from the bondage of sin.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within every true believer and actively works in them to guide them, to empower them to do God’s will, and to transform their thinking and behavior to conform to God’s ways.

THE RETURN OF CHRIST

Jesus Christ will come again with power and glory, and He will render judgment upon all mankind. He will return bodily and visibly.

THE RESURRECTION

The dead will be raised upon the return of Christ: some to everlasting life and others to everlasting torment.

THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

Christ has commissioned all of His followers to communicate the Good News of salvation to people of every tribe, tongue, and nation such that people might hear the Gospel, repent of their sins, trust in Christ, and inherit everlasting life.