At the Corner of Kings Mountain and Pressley Streets
Clover Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church has stood at the corner of Kings Mountain and Pressley Streets in Clover, South Carolina, for more than a century. The congregation today counts a little over 200 active members, and the makeup is evenly balanced across age groups, with many young families and children among them. From that downtown location the ministry radiates into the surrounding community through Sunday worship, an after-school Good News Club, a Bible class held on the church campus, and a long-running weekly community prayer lunch.
The pastor is Mark Miller, who has served Clover ARP since 2017. A North Carolina native who now calls South Carolina home, he holds an M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary and previously pastored Shiloh ARP Church in Lancaster, SC. He also serves as the reading clerk of the ARP Synod. Retired ARP minister L. Calvin Draffin provides pastoral care. He previously served as pastor of Clover ARP, as well as the Cleveland Street ARP Church in New Albany, Mississippi, and Due West ARP.
Visitors will find the church family plain-spoken and traditional. People dress along the full spectrum from casual to business, and four things tend to stand out to a first-time guest: a deep reverence for the Bible, lots of children, plain Bible-centered worship, and a steady tradition of singing the Psalms.
Worship That Is Plain and Bible-Centered
Sunday morning worship at Clover ARP is intentionally simple. The congregation sings three or four songs, prays, gives an offering, and hears a sermon. Services last about one hour, and the preaching walks through a single book of the Bible, passage by passage, week by week. Each Sunday the sermon is an explanation of the next passage in sequence, and every element of the worship service is meant to be saturated with Scripture.
Music draws from a wide well. Some Sundays the congregation is led by guitar in a modern song. Other Sundays the piano or organ accompanies a hymnbook selection. In every service, at least one Psalm is sung, often from a special book that sets the Psalms to music. The church believes the Psalms are the only worship songs God Himself wrote for His people, and that singing them is a mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Sunday services follow a steady rhythm. Sunday School for all ages begins at 10:00 AM. Morning worship begins at 11:00 and usually concludes by noon. An evening service and children's ministries are held at 5:00 PM. The Lord's Supper is observed on the first Sunday of each quarter. Nursery care is available for newborns through age two during Sunday School and the worship services, and children's church is provided for three- and four-year-olds.
A Family-Friendly Church with Many Children
Few things stand out at Clover ARP more than the children. When the children's message is given, the front of the sanctuary fills with young families. The church considers this growth a blessing and traces it back to a long-standing commitment to reaching children in Clover with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Clover ARP was instrumental in starting the Biblical Studies Released Time (BSRT) program for elementary school students and continues to give it strong support. The church also hosts a weekly after-school Good News Club for elementary students during the school year and is involved in the First Things program for middle-schoolers in the Clover community.
On Sunday evenings at 5:00 PM, Kids Night meets in the Fellowship Hall for children from age four through fifth grade. The program includes games, songs that the children later sing in Sunday worship, Scripture memorization, Bible stories, basic theology, and the Children's Catechism. The goal is to build foundational truths and a lasting familiarity with the Bible while keeping the atmosphere fun.
Sunday School for Every Age
Sunday School meets at 10:00 AM with classes arranged by age. Children's classes are divided into 3's and 4's, K through second grade, and third through fifth grade. Children learn Bible stories, the Children's Catechism, and the Lord's Prayer, building a foundation for the Christian life.
Youth are split between Middle School (grades 6 to 8) and High School (grades 9 to 12), and both classes meet in the Youth Room in the basement of the church. The Middle School class emphasizes the Children's Catechism, while the High School class works through the Westminster Shorter Catechism, with the overarching goal of growing in the Scripture and the story of the Bible.
Two adult options are offered for younger adults. A class taught by Pastor Mark Miller meets in the fellowship hall and works systematically through the whole Bible using the ARP Quarterly. A College and Career class meets in the conference room under the leadership of Alan Abernathy. Other adult classes round out the Sunday School hour for those seeking a Bible-focused study alongside their family.
Youth and Children on Sundays and Wednesdays
The youth ministry at Clover ARP gathers on Sunday evenings and again midweek. On Sunday nights, Middle School students meet at 5:00 PM and High School students at 6:00 PM, both in the Youth Room. The Sunday night program divides its time equally between teaching and study on one hand, and active fellowship on the other. Students learn what it means to be a Christian in their schools, on their teams, and at home.
Wednesday nights bring the Youth Bible Study from 6:00 to 7:30 PM in the Youth Basement. Pizza is served, games are played, and the students dig into God's Word together. In the summer the youth travel to Bonclarken, the denomination's Blue Ridge Mountain retreat, for retreats known as Quest (middle school) and Horizon (high school).
Vacation Bible School takes place each June. Children explore the nature of God through an interactive program, and meals are served each night.
Beliefs Shaped by the Westminster Standards
Clover ARP Church holds to historic Reformed orthodoxy as set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, treating these documents as secondary standards under the supreme authority of Scripture.
The church believes in the full verbal plenary inspiration of the Bible, that every word is God-breathed and therefore without error. There is one true and living God, infinite in life, glory, goodness, and blessedness, existing in three persons of one substance, power, and eternity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is sovereign over all things, and He created the world and everything in it, visible and invisible, from nothing by the word of His power, in the space of six days, all very good.
Humanity was made in God's image, upright and holy. Adam's sin brought the loss of original righteousness, the corruption of his entire nature, and the intrusion of death into the world. That guilt and corruption pass to every member of the human race descending from Adam in the natural way. Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is fully God and fully man, the only Mediator between God and man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. By His perfect life, atoning death on the cross, and resurrection He accomplished redemption for His people. In time the Father calls His people through the Holy Spirit to faith in Christ alone, uniting them to Christ inseparably and eternally. Jesus will literally return at the end of the world, raise the dead, judge the world, and welcome those who have trusted Him into His presence forever.
Reaching Out in Clover
Clover ARP Church is committed to reaching its community with the gospel and with practical care. Beyond the children's programs already mentioned, the church actively supports local ministries including the Clover Assistance Center and God's Kitchen.
For decades the church has hosted a weekly interdenominational community prayer lunch. Men of Clover ARP prepare the meal, and the pastor brings a brief Bible message. All are welcome at noon each Wednesday in the Fellowship Hall.
Other fellowship and outreach events take place throughout the year. A fall festival opens the church to the wider community, and a daddy-daughter dinner, a mother-son field day, and a fishing rodeo round out the fellowship calendar.
A Church with a Global Heart
Missions are woven into the life of Clover ARP. The church supports missionaries in various parts of the globe both directly and through World Witness, the denomination's missions agency. The congregation has a particularly close bond with Dr. Jon Simons, a former pastor of the church who now serves as a professor at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia in Medellín. Dr. Simons and his family train pastors for the Colombian church, and Clover ARP partners with them in that work.
Giving at the church is administered through the ARP Synod and can be directed to the General Fund, the 500 Fund for the next building expansion, or Faith Promise for missionaries. A separate giving option supports a new playground.
Congregational Life Around the Table
The congregational life of Clover ARP is shaped by the four marks found in Acts 2:42: the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers. Sunday School, men's and women's Bible studies, and straight-forward expository preaching keep doctrine central. Fellowship and the breaking of bread come alive through shared traditions.
Every week the congregation gathers for the Prayer Lunch on Wednesday noon. Every quarter the Lord's Supper is celebrated on the first Sunday. Each year the church enjoys a homemade ice cream social, a chili cook-off, a fish fry, and covered-dish dinners, along with an annual women's banquet around Mother's Day. A highlight of the year is the annual camping weekend at Bonclarken, the denomination's mountain retreat.
Meals are provided for those who have lost loved ones, those recovering from illness, and families with newborns. The church seeks to be a caring family in tangible ways.
The women's ministry includes two Circles that meet on the first Tuesday of each month for Bible study, fellowship, and service. The Morning Circle gathers at 11:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall, and the Maranatha Circle meets at 7:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall. Each circle works through a different book of the Bible each year and supports ministries in the church, the community, and around the world.
The Young at Heart group keeps the seniors of the church active through fellowship, programs, and occasional day trips.
Men's ministry includes a Wednesday morning prayer meeting at 8:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall and a Wednesday evening Bible study at 6:00 PM, currently working through Ligon Duncan's "1 and 2 Thessalonians for You."
Preaching Online and Around Town
Each Sunday morning the worship service is broadcast on YouTube, and sermon recordings are available as a podcast for those unable to attend in person. Weekly bulletins are posted online, and visitors can preview the order of worship ahead of time.
For over a century, the church on the corner of Kings Mountain and Pressley Streets has held to historic Reformed teaching, gathered families around the Bible, and reached out into the town of Clover. The same conviction shapes its ministry today: the Word of God, plainly taught, with Christ at the center of it all.