Tucked along Concord Highway on the east side of Monroe, North Carolina, Benton Heights Presbyterian Church (BHPC) is a congregation of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church that has made a quiet, steady practice of opening its doors to families in Union County. Members and first-time guests gather for worship at ten o'clock on Sunday mornings under the preaching of Pastor Paul, with Sunday School classes for kids and adults meeting an hour earlier. The church sits in a stretch of roadway where traffic patterns shape the way people arrive and leave, and the building, parking, and check-in routines have all been worked out to make a Sunday morning feel unhurried for newcomers.
Sunday Mornings at Benton Heights
The rhythm of the week at BHPC centers on Sunday. At nine o'clock, Sunday School groups for children and adults meet around the campus. An hour later, at ten, the congregation gathers in the worship center for the main service. A nursery is available throughout the morning for little ones whose parents prefer to head into the worship service without them.
The church keeps its service simple and welcoming. Children are always welcome to stay with their families for the whole service if parents prefer. For those who would like their kids to have a program of their own, Children's Church is offered for children in Pre-K (potty trained) through third grade. Children begin the service seated with their families and stay in the worship center until the Children's Ministry Director leads the Children's Sermon. After that point, the kids head back to a classroom with the children's team for the remainder of the service.
Check-In for Kids
Safety and simplicity drive the way BHPC handles children. Families visiting for the first time are asked to walk their child back to Children's Church on the first visit so the child can be checked in. The detailed check-in process only takes a couple of minutes, and the church emphasizes that a child's safety is important to them.
What BHPC Believes
Benton Heights Presbyterian Church is part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), and the beliefs page on its site draws directly from the EPC's Essentials. The church explains that these Essentials are not exhaustive of everything they believe, but rather summarize the core convictions shared by Christians across history and around the world. In the church's own framing, beliefs shape everything: the way the congregation thinks, acts, speaks, and loves one another; the way families are raised; and the way they seek the good of others before themselves.
Among the Essentials taught and confessed at BHPC:
- Scripture. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, the supreme and final authority on all matters on which they speak.
- God. One God, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- Jesus Christ. The living Word became flesh through the virgin birth, lived as true God and true man united in one Person forever, died on the cross as a sacrifice for sin, rose bodily on the third day, ascended to heaven, and now serves as High Priest and Mediator.
- The Holy Spirit. The Spirit glorifies Christ, convicts of sin, gives new life, indwells believers, empowers them with gifts for service, guides into all truth, and seals them for the day of redemption.
- Sin and salvation. Salvation is wholly dependent on the free grace of God; those who put their faith in Christ alone are credited with His righteousness and justified in His sight.
- The Church. The true Church is composed of all who, through saving faith in Christ and the sanctifying work of the Spirit, are united in the body of Christ. The Church finds its visible expression in local congregations where the Word is preached in purity and the sacraments are administered with integrity.
- The Second Coming. Jesus Christ will return personally, visibly, and bodily to judge the living and the dead and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.
- Mission. Christ commands all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations, in a life of self-denying love and service.
These Essentials are set forth in greater detail in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the EPC's historic confessional standard.
Teaching Through Books of the Bible
Preaching at BHPC follows a steady, expository pattern. Rather than hopping between topics week to week, Pastor Paul moves through books of the Bible and topical series in an unhurried, sequential way. Sermon series archived on the church's media page include In the Beginning...God, a twelve-week walk through the opening chapters of Genesis; Who We Are In Christ, a series that draws out the believer's identity from Ephesians; A Study of I Peter, a ten-part study; Encountering Jesus, focused on the Gospel of John; and The Ten Commandments, working through the Decalogue. Older sermon pages by scripture include walks through Exodus, Judges, 1 Samuel, and Nehemiah.
Sermons are posted to the church's YouTube channel and to its podcast, The BHPC Podcast, so members and friends who travel or cannot attend in person can keep up with the teaching. The sermons page on the BHPC site also lets listeners search by speaker, scripture, topic, or playlist.
Finding the Church and Parking
Benton Heights Presbyterian Church sits at 2701 Concord Highway in Monroe. Visitors coming for the first time are advised to plan for one detail: because of the traffic flow patterns on Concord Highway, drivers can only turn right when entering the church parking lot, and the same is true when leaving. U-turn lanes are placed nearby to make those turns straightforward, but it is worth knowing in advance so the first visit does not feel like a guessing game.
The physical address and a Google Maps link are listed on the church's Plan Your Visit page, and the same address is used for mail and offerings. Guests arriving with children can park and walk straight to the worship center, where they will be greeted by the Children's Ministry Director and walked through check-in before the service begins.
Music at BHPC
Music has a place of its own at Benton Heights. The church describes its musicians as a varied group of BHPC players and singers who lead congregational singing during worship, and the church regularly invites people who sing or play to join the team through a sign-up form on its site. From time to time the musicians also lead portions of fellowship events around the church calendar, including outdoor gatherings that feature food trucks and lawn-chair seating on the church grounds. Anyone interested in serving with the music ministry is encouraged to reach out to the church office.
The Annual Golf Tournament Fundraiser
Each fall, Benton Heights Presbyterian Church hosts an annual golf tournament fundraiser at Charlotte National Golf Course. The event is now in its eighth year and is a familiar fixture on the church's calendar. Teams sign up online, and the church also welcomes sponsors at several levels. A downloadable sign-up sheet and sponsorship information are both available on the church's golf page. The tournament is one of the main community-wide fundraisers that BHPC uses to support ministry beyond Sunday morning, and it draws golfers from the church and the broader Monroe area.
Giving and Staying Connected
BHPC offers three ways to give. Members and visitors can place their offering in the plate during the Sunday service, mail an offering to the church's Concord Highway address, or give online through the church's giving platform. First-time online givers are asked to share their email address with the church office so an account can be set up before the first gift is processed.
Beyond Sunday morning, BHPC stays in touch through several channels. The BHPC Podcast carries the same sermons that are preached in the worship center, and the church posts video on its YouTube channel, updates on Facebook and Instagram, and a steady stream of announcements and event invitations through those channels. Anyone wanting a one-on-one conversation can send a message through the contact form on the site, fill out a Start Here form, or call the church office during the week.
Leadership
Benton Heights Presbyterian Church is pastored by Pastor Paul, who is identified on the church's site simply as a husband, father, and grandfather. He is the regular preacher across the church's sermon series and is the public face of BHPC's ministry. The Children's Ministry Director oversees the children's check-in and Children's Church program and works alongside families each Sunday morning. The church is governed as an EPC congregation, meaning it is connected to a broader Presbyterian network that provides accountability and support beyond the local Monroe setting.
A Congregation that Takes the Long View
What stands out about Benton Heights Presbyterian Church is the steadiness of its habits. Sunday School at nine, worship at ten, nursery care throughout, and a Children's Church program that walks kids from the sanctuary to their own classroom partway through the service. Sermon series that work their way patiently through books of the Bible. A fall golf tournament that has been on the calendar long enough to be called an annual tradition. An office that answers the phone during the week. Music led by a rotating group of musicians who play as part of the gathered congregation. A doctrinal statement drawn straight from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church's Essentials.
BHPC is a neighborhood Presbyterian church in the older sense of that phrase: a body of believers that lives, worships, and serves in one place for the long haul, and that welcomes those who show up on a Sunday morning looking for a steady, gospel-centered place to belong.