Providence Baptist Church stands at 3850 Wrightsboro Road in Augusta, Georgia, with the motto Life together on purpose. It is known for centering each week on Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, learning the Word of God through faith, and gathering people of all ages for worship and fellowship. The church's week moves from graded Sunday School to a congregation-wide service, then continues Wednesday evenings through WISEGUYS for children and ALIVE for students.
Sunday Morning on Wrightsboro Road
Sunday School begins at 9:30 a.m. The 10:45 a.m. service brings all Sunday School classes together for worship of the Lord and Savior. The church presents a friendly setting for learning the Word of God through faith and fellowship with people of all ages, and first-time visitors are welcome.
The morning sequence is 9:30 Sunday School followed by 10:45 worship. The congregation meets at 3850 Wrightsboro Road in Augusta, and the service is carried live online in Eastern Time through Boxcast. The church's contact number is 706.868.8856.
A Sunday School for Every Stage
Sunday School is described as the heart of Providence Baptist Church. Classes begin at 9:30 and include options for any age or special need. The nursery class, Tender Hearts, serves children ages 3 through 5.
- God's Precious Angels: 1st through 2nd grade
- Girls of Grace: 3rd through 5th grade girls
- Shepherd Boys: 3rd through 5th grade boys
- God's Glamour Girls: junior high girls
- Cross Trainers: junior high boys
- True North: senior high students
- Anchor Men
- Joyful Noise
- The Ambassadors
- Couples Connection
- Harvesters
- Young Adults
The range of classes places nursery and elementary children, junior-high and senior-high students, men, couples and young adults within the same Sunday morning rhythm. The church strongly encourages everyone who calls Providence home to become involved in a Sunday School class.
Wednesday Evenings at 6:30 p.m.
Two age-specific ministries share the Wednesday evening time. WISEGUYS serves children ages 3 through 5th grade with Bible-based teaching, small-group time with friends and energetic games. Children in the program discover God's love and their identity in Christ, become disciples and reach out to their friends.
ALIVE Student Ministries serves 6th through 12th graders. Its focus is evangelizing the world around the church, while its vision is to grow Providence's sphere of influence through students committed to following Jesus. ALIVE opens with the words, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," from 1 Corinthians 15:22.
Personal Discipleship and Pastor Donald C. Prosser
Providence presents discipleship as essential to spiritual growth after salvation and baptism. Its program teaches new believers what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through individual Scripture reading and personal prayer. This places Bible study and prayer at the center of the church's work beyond the Sunday gathering.
Senior Pastor Donald C. Prosser has served since the summer of 1999. He graduated from Atlantic Baptist Bible College in 1985 and brought more than 20 years of pastoral experience to his work at Providence. His ministry is rooted in preaching from the Word of God, and the church's mission is spreading the Word and the Good News of Jesus Christ through the local New Testament church.
Music Ministry and LIFT Ladies
The Music Ministry offers several ways to participate in congregational song and praise. People may:
- Sing in the choir or take part in a special music presentation
- Play an instrument or use a backup tape or CD
- Accompany other singers or perform a solo
- Lead congregational singing and praise worship
Ladies In Fellowship Together, or LIFT, meets at a different woman's home each month. The ministry combines food, fellowship, personal testimonies and devotions to the Lord and Savior. Its purpose is to help women who love God, enjoy serving Him and introduce others to Him build relationships through shared spiritual conversation.
Missions From Augusta to the World
Providence gives major attention to the Great Commission, emphasizing both the spread of the Gospel to the far corners of the world and its spread locally in Augusta. Mark 16:15 frames this work: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." The church connects this worldwide mission with the life of its own congregation and community.
Seedline gives the local church a hands-on way to participate in Bible publishing for the world. The process begins with printed pages that are collated, folded into covers, fitted with Scripture, stapled, cut and boxed for distribution in the field. Purchase, assembly and distribution of God's Word are joined as part of Bearing Precious Seed, making a specialized ministry of Scripture production and outreach.
Watch the Lamb: A Live Easter Drama
Watch the Lamb is a 90-minute live Easter drama depicting the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The theatrical presentation draws the audience into the action as performers move through the audience area and onto the stage. It is held in the family worship center at Providence Baptist Church, 3850 Wrightsboro Road in Augusta.
Giving as Church Stewardship
Financial gifts support the church's regular ministries and its mission to share the life-giving message of Jesus. Online giving accepts a one-time electronic check or credit or debit card. Giving accounts can also be used to schedule or change gifts, manage payment information, view donations and print tax receipts, with online gifts reflected in the annual giving statement. Providence also accepts mailed contributions and text gifts at 706-222-1619.
Twenty-four Articles of Faith
Providence organizes its beliefs in 24 Articles of Faith. Their subjects include the Scriptures, God, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Devil, creation, the fall, atonement, grace, salvation, justification, repentance, the church, baptism, the Lord's Supper, eternal security, civil government, the return of Christ, missions, giving, human sexuality, abortion, lawsuits and angels.
Scripture, God and the Spirit
Providence believes the Holy Bible is the collection of 66 books from Genesis through Revelation, written under divine inspiration and free from error. It holds Scripture to be God's complete revelation and the supreme standard for human conduct, creeds and opinions. The church affirms one living God in three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, involved in creation and ministry, and lived a sinless life.
The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and judgment, brings about the new birth, seals and teaches believers, and produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. Providence treats that fruit as evidence of the Spirit's indwelling rather than speaking in tongues or other spectacular demonstrations. It holds that the early church's sign gifts are not distributed by the Holy Spirit today.
The church also believes in the literal Genesis account of creation, humanity created in God's image, and life appearing directly as God established it rather than through evolutionary development.
Salvation, Baptism and the Local Church
Salvation is wholly by grace through the work of Jesus Christ. A sinner must be born again, and the new birth is a new creation accomplished through the Holy Spirit and divine truth. Justification comes through faith in Christ's work, not human works of righteousness. Repentance and faith are central, and all who are born again in Jesus are preserved forever.
The church understands itself as a congregation of baptized believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship in the Gospel. It holds that a local church governs its own membership, policies, ministry and benevolence, with Christ as its only superintendent. Pastors or elders and deacons or councilmen serve as officers whose qualifications and duties are defined in Scripture.
Baptist baptism is single immersion in water by a believer in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Lord's Supper uses unleavened bread or wafers and the non-alcoholic fruit of the vine. These elements symbolize Christ's body and blood but do not convey saving grace, and participation is preceded by solemn self-examination.
A Covenant for Daily Life
The church covenant connects faith with habits, relationships and decisions:
- Maintain family and private devotions and educate children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord
- Seek the salvation of relatives, friends and acquaintances
- Walk circumspectly, act justly and remain faithful in engagements
- Avoid tattling, backbiting and excessive anger, and abstain from intoxicating drinks
- Watch over one another in love, remember one another in prayer and offer aid in sickness and distress
- Cultivate Christian sympathy, courteous speech and readiness for reconciliation
Those who move away are encouraged to join another church as soon as possible so they can continue the spirit of the covenant and the principles of God's work.
Mission, Giving and Public Responsibilities
Providence teaches that the command to give the Gospel to the world was given to the churches, making missions part of their essential work. Giving is treated as stewardship: the tithe is a foundation, and Christians are also expected to offer sacrificial gifts for the church, people in need and the spread of the Gospel. Once given, tithes and offerings become the property of Providence, which is responsible for administering them with good stewardship.
The church holds that civil government is divinely appointed, and its leaders are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed except when their commands oppose the will of Christ. It affirms sexual activity only within marriage between a man and woman and rejects homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography as sinful.
Providence holds that human life begins at conception, calls abortion the unjustified taking of unborn human life and identifies it as murder. It prohibits believers from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes, while allowing insurance claims for injuries when pursued without malice or slander. Its doctrine also describes angels as spirit beings created by God who do not reproduce or die and whose purpose is to minister to God and his people.
Christ's Return and the Last Things
The church affirms Christ's bodily resurrection, ascension and personal, visible return. It holds that the dead in Christ will rise first and explicitly teaches a pretribulation rapture, followed by Christ's thousand-year reign in righteousness. Providence also believes in the literal biblical accounts of Heaven and Hell and in an enduring distinction between the righteous and the wicked.
Together, these beliefs connect Scripture, salvation, Spirit-led covenant, worship, mission and personal conduct at the center of Providence Baptist Church's life together on purpose.