Tucked into the rolling country of the Beauregard community just south of Opelika, Alabama, Providence Baptist Church has anchored the same stretch of Lee County since 1884. Now more than 140 years old and still led by the pastor who answered the call in 1984, the congregation worships across two campuses along Lee Road 166 and serves a region that stretches from Auburn down to the rural roads of southern Lee County. The church's own motto sums up its purpose: it is a "visible, active expression of the life, work and ministry of Jesus Christ in this community and beyond, to the Glory of God."
A History Filled with Christ
Providence Baptist Church was organized in 1884 in the Beauregard community and affiliated with the Tuskegee-Lee Baptist Association in 1904. Evidence of earlier worship in the area dates back to around 1880, but church records from before 1884 were lost in a house fire. Through three centuries, the congregation has grown from a one-room wooden-frame meeting place to a larger concrete block building in 1948 to the present-day facility, which includes a sanctuary built in 1965 and a children's education building added in 1973. In January 2001 the church voted to build a "West Campus" across the street after acquiring forty-one acres of land, creating the two-campus ministry that shapes everything from Sunday worship to the children's program today.
The earliest members gave out of poverty and plenty. Hams, chickens, eggs, butter, and firewood went to support the pastor in those lean early years. That same spirit of generous giving carries forward: a percentage of every week's tithes and offerings supports the Cooperative Program, association missions, world hunger, children's homes, retired pastors, home missions, and other benevolent ministries. Sunday School began in 1930 at the urging of Mrs. Mary Mayberry, who wanted the community's children to learn Scripture; Bible study remains central to the church's identity. The Women's Missionary Union was organized in 1943 and still shapes the church's missions outreach, while the Church Training Union (Discipleship Training) started in 1935 and survives today in the Deeper Roots classes.
The music ministry has been one of the congregation's largest organizations for half a century, built largely by Dr. Thomas R. Smith, who came to Providence as Minister of Music in 1974. Graded choirs start as young as age four and continue up through senior adults. In 1970 a kindergarten program opened in the church basement under Mrs. Shirley Dismukes, moving in 1973 into the new children's building; it is now a state-licensed, star-rated Church Weekday Education program with capacity for sixty-four children.
The church has licensed and ordained more than twenty people to the Gospel Ministry, and twenty-one pastors have been called to lead the congregation since 1904. The current pastor, Dr. Rusty J. Sowell, accepted the call in April 1984 and has served ever since.
Sunday at Providence: Two Services, Two Campuses
The weekly rhythm at Providence centers on two Sunday morning worship services held on the West Campus. The early service begins at 8:00 a.m. and the late service at 10:45 a.m. Between them, at 9:30 a.m., Sunday School meets for every age group across the East Campus education buildings. Children's Church for 4-year-olds through third graders runs at the same hour as the second worship service, with children joining their families in worship before moving during the quieter moments to the Children's Church building on the West Campus. The nursery, located in the Nursery Modular on the West Campus, cares for newborns through age three during both morning services.
Sunday evenings offer a full slate of programs on the East Campus from 5:00 to 6:15 p.m. Children's Choirs and Missions meet together (Mission Friends for 4- and 5-year-olds, Girls in Action for girls in grades 1-6, Royal Ambassadors for boys in grades 1-6, and children's music for the entire range). The Student Choir for grades 7 through college rehearses at the same hour, and Deeper Roots discipleship classes are open to anyone wanting a deeper study of Scripture. The Providence Praise Team, made up of students in seventh grade through adult, also rehearses on Sunday afternoons from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. to prepare for leading youth worship on Wednesday nights.
Wednesday Nights and Midweek Discipleship
Midweek life at Providence begins with the Golden Notes senior adult choir at 5:00 p.m. on the West Campus. At 6:00 p.m., a livestreamed Prayer and Devotion time goes out from the West Campus on Facebook, while at the East Campus the youth gather for KINECT, a Wednesday-night program of worship and praise band led by the Providence Praise Team. The schedule for KINECT is drop-off after 5:30 p.m., worship at 6:00 p.m., dinner at 7:00 p.m., and pick-up by 8:00 p.m. At 6:45 p.m. the Church Choir gathers on the West Campus to rehearse for the coming Sunday, followed on the first and third Wednesdays of each month by the Providence Singers, a smaller adult ensemble.
On Tuesdays during the school year, King's Kids meets at the East Campus from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. for kindergarten through sixth grade, with scripture memory, crafts, games, singing, service projects, and a Bible story at the center of every evening.
PBC Kids: Birth Through Sixth Grade
Children's Director Tammy Senn leads the PBC Kids ministry, which exists to "partner with families in leading babies through sixth-graders to grow closer to Jesus." Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. (9:15 a.m. for Sunday School itself, ending in time for the late worship service) offers classes at every stage from bed babies to sixth grade, using LifeWay's Bible Studies for Life curriculum in both preschool and children's divisions. The preschool division is divided into bed babies through age three and 4- and 5-year-old Pre-K and Kindergarten. Children's Division covers grades 1-2, grades 3-4, and grades 5-6, with the goal of leading children to recognize their need for a relationship with Jesus by studying Old and New Testament people and the life of Christ.
Worship Arts runs from preschool through grade 6, with the Joyful Noise children's choir meeting from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday as part of PBC Kids. The Royal Ambassadors collect food for the East Alabama Food Bank every November, and a Spring Mission Project during spring break sends kids into the community for two days of mission work and fun. VBS, called "Illumination Station: Shining a Light on Who Jesus Really Is," runs for one week in early June with the family night kick-off on the West Campus and the rest of the week on the East Campus; VBS 2026 runs Sunday, June 7 through Thursday, June 11, from 6:00 to 8:15 p.m. for kids entering kindergarten through sixth grade. The Fall Festival each October turns the East Campus recreation fields into a community event with games, face painting, a fish pond, and a cake walk.
PBC Youth: Grades 7 Through College
Associate Pastor Rev. Chuck Adams leads the Student Ministry, which he has served in part or full time since 2004, after graduating from Leavell College of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2008 and earning a Master of Theology from NOBTS in 2019. Sunday School for grades 7-12 meets in the basement of the East Campus at 9:15 a.m., with classes led by Jason and Michelle Conner for both junior high and senior high. The Student Choir, directed by Dr. Tom Smith, rehearses Sunday evenings from 5:00 to 6:15 p.m. and takes an annual summer tour.
The Wednesday-night KINECT program blends praise music and Bible study aimed at middle and high schoolers, with dinner served at 7:00 p.m. Discipleship classes and Worship Arts are also offered during the Sunday evening hour, with classes adjusted each semester to meet the needs of teenagers. Crawford Morris serves as Junior Youth Pastor. Mission opportunities stretch from local to international, with students invited to participate in local, state, national, and international service throughout the year.
Sunday School for Every Age
Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. offers classes for every age group on the East Campus education buildings, with three curricula running across the church. Bible Studies for Life, used by the preschool, children's, and several adult classes, is designed to connect the unconnected, strengthen families, and disciple people with wisdom. The Gospel Project, used in the youth division and some adult classes, is a Christ-centered chronological study that traces the Bible's big story of God rescuing His people through Jesus Christ. Explore the Bible, a book-by-book study used in some adult classes, takes participants deep into the context of each book. D-Life, a biblical, missional, reproducible disciple-making process, is used in the adult Joy class and several other small groups meeting on Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings.
The preschool division covers bed babies through kindergarten. The children's division covers grades 1 through 6. The youth division covers grades 7 through 12. The adult division is loosely arranged by age and includes College & Career (Wanda Dotson), Engaged & Newly Married (Mitch and Dawn Lazenby), Young Married (Wes and Prissy Goodson), Young Women (Ashley Rusk), One Accord median coed (Paul and Karen Self), Whosoever median ladies (Melissa Claunch), TLC median coed (Jim Chaffin), D-Life Couples (Eddie Owen), Joy senior adult ladies (Belva Guy, meeting Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. on the West Campus), Encourager senior adult coed (Bill Etheridge, meeting in the Sanctuary), Adult II (David Bradshaw, West Campus), Omega senior adult ladies (Judy Watson), and Senior Adult Men (Doug Smith). Visitors are encouraged to try a few classes before settling in.
Worship Arts: Music, Drama, and Creative Movement
Worship Arts at Providence is led by Dr. Tom Smith as Minister of Music and Pam Morris as Music Assistant, with Suzanne Harris serving as pianist and Gayle Smith as organist. The choirs span every age. The Church Choir, open to adults including college students, rehearses Wednesdays from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. and presents special programs at Christmas and Easter, joining the Providence Singers on an annual tour. The Providence Singers, a smaller adult ensemble directed by Dr. Smith with Pam Morris as assistant director, rehearses the first and third Wednesdays from 7:45 to 8:15 p.m. The Student Choir for grades 7 through college rehearses Sunday evenings and tours each summer. The Golden Notes Choir for senior adults, directed by Pam Morris, rehearses Wednesdays from 5:00 to 5:45 p.m., participates in Senior Adult Day, the Senior Adult Music Festival, and other music events. The Joyful Noise Choir for grades 1-6 and the younger children's music groups rehearse Sunday evenings from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Providence Praise Team, directed by Jason Conner, leads the Wednesday-night KINECT youth worship. The Drama Team, directed by Gayle Smith, contributes regularly through skits, song interpretation, monologues, and the drama for musicals. The Creative Movement Team, directed by Anna Hovey, offers dance as a form of worship expression for students in seventh grade and up.
Dr. Smith also serves as Professor Emeritus of Music at Auburn University and conducts the East Alabama Youth Chorale and the Alabama Singing Men. Gayle Smith directs the Alabama Singing Women and is the founding director of the East Alabama Children's Choir.
Senior Adults: Pacesetters and Golden Notes
Deana Stone leads the Senior Adult Ministry, which is designed for adults fifty-five and older. The group is known as the Pacesetters, and events include monthly Meet & Eat gatherings at local restaurants, the Cowboy Dinner after church each fall, the Celebrators Conference trips (the 2026 trip goes to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, October 12-15), and the annual Hymn Sing at the Harbor, where Pacesetters join residents at The Harbor at Opelika each month for an hour of hymns and songs. The Joy Sunday School class for senior adult ladies meets Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. on the West Campus, and the Encourager senior adult coed class meets in the Sanctuary. The Golden Notes Choir gives senior adults a place to sing sacred choral literature and serve in worship throughout the year.
Men's, Women's, and Marriage Ministry
The Men's Ministry, which calls itself "Men of Providence," aims to "meet men where they are" and equip them to be stronger Christians in their homes, church, and community. A monthly Men's Breakfast at the West Campus brings men of all ages together for connection, laughter, and encouragement, with a different speaker each month. D-Life groups for men meet on Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings in various locations.
The Women's Ministry is called WOVEN, standing for Women of the Vine Encouraging and Nurturing, and is led by a team that includes Linda Brooks, Lynda Caswell, Adrain Horky, Michelle Johnson, Pamela Pattillo, Ashley Rusk, and Billie Wood. WOVEN is open to women eighteen and older. The monthly Gathering Table, held at the West Campus, teaches women how to use their Bibles to grow in their personal relationship with God through their prayer life, with all tabs, highlighters, and inserts provided. The PieceMakers crochet and knitting group meets monthly on the East Campus, with yarn donated for newcomers. The Sonshine Basket ministry delivers baskets filled with scripture cards, a devotional, personal care items, and other surprises to women facing hospital stays, surgeries, or other difficult moments. A WOVEN newsletter is published regularly.
The church's statement on marriage, drawn from its confession of faith, defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong promise, reflecting the union between Christ and His church, and calls husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church while wives respond with respect and servant support.
Child Development Center
The Child Development Center at PBC is a state-licensed weekday education program operating Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for children six weeks through age five. The center uses a child-centered curriculum that helps children grow mentally, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually, and provides breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack. The Director or Assistant Director is on site at all times, and parents are welcome anytime under an open-door policy. Educational field trips run throughout the year. Director Mandy Steward leads the program, with weekly rates of $160 for five days, $110 for three days, or $85 for two days, plus an initial registration fee of $100 and a yearly $50 consumable supplies fee. A Summer Camp for children who have completed kindergarten through second grade runs from the Tuesday after Memorial Day until the start of Lee County Schools, with weekly rates of $150 for five days, $100 for three days, or $80 for two days.
Missions: Local, National, and International
The PBC Mission Team partners with a wide network of organizations across the region, the country, and the world. Local missions include Harvest Evangelism Ministries, the Big House Foundation, the Food Bank of East Alabama Community Market, Women's Hope, the Tuskegee-Lee Baptist Association, Presbyterian Community Ministry, and a prison ministry. National missions include the North American Mission Board, Carpenters for Christ, and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. International missions include the International Mission Board, Honduras missions (partnering with First Baptist Opelika), Spanish Bibles to Missionaries, support for missionaries and church members serving abroad, and Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child.
Three annual offerings shape the church's missions giving: the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missionaries, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missionaries through the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering for Alabama missions. Each fall the church collects Alabama WMU Christmas Backpacks for the Mississippi River Region and Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, with the 2026 collection running from August through October.
Weddings and Hospitality
Weddings at Providence are described as "meaningful, spiritual and beautiful, just as you want it to be." All weddings held at the church require the services of the Church Wedding Coordinator, and arrangements are made through the Church Office. Two wedding packets, one for church members and one for non-members, lay out the facility guidelines and fees; Jennifer Hughes in the Church Office handles wedding inquiries. The Community Luncheon, held monthly on a Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. with doors opening at 11:00 a.m., invites neighbors in for a shared meal and fellowship, with attendees asked to bring a covered dish.
What the Church Believes
Providence holds to a traditional Baptist confession of faith built on eighteen articles, beginning with the full authority and inerrancy of Scripture and the doctrine of one living and true God revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The church teaches that man was made in God's image, that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and that it involves regeneration, justification, sanctification, and final glorification. The church practices believer's baptism by immersion and observes the Lord's Supper as an act of obedience. It recognizes two church offices, pastor and deacon, and limits the office of pastor to men who meet the scriptural qualifications. The church teaches the eternal security of the believer, the priesthood of all believers, the separation of church and state, the sanctity of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and the responsibility of Christians to engage in evangelism and missions at home and abroad. The Lord's Day is recognized as the first day of the week, and cooperative work with other Baptist bodies and Christians of good will is encouraged.
Leadership
Dr. Rusty J. Sowell, a native of Rincon, Georgia, who moved to Prattville, Alabama, at age twelve, has served as Senior Pastor of Providence since May 1984. He holds an Associate of Arts from Clarke College in Newton, Mississippi; a Bachelor of Arts from Mobile College; a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; and a Doctor of Ministry from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. He and his wife Gina have two children and several grandchildren.
Rev. Chuck Adams, Associate Pastor and Student Ministry leader, has been on staff at the church since 2004. He holds a B.A. in Christian Ministries from Leavell College of NOBTS and a Master of Theology from NOBTS.
Dr. Thomas R. Smith has been the church's Minister of Music since 1974, having come to Auburn University in 1972 as Director of Choral Activities. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Church Music from Samford University, a Master of Arts in Music Theory from the University of Iowa, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Colorado. He serves as Professor Emeritus of Music at Auburn University and conducts the East Alabama Youth Chorale and the Alabama Singing Men. His wife Gayle is the church's organist.
Deana Stone, Senior Adult Director, has been on staff at Providence since 1984, when she and her husband Greg, the youth minister at the time, came to the church. She holds a Bachelor's in Music Education from Auburn University and taught school for twenty years before joining the church staff in her current role. Crawford Morris serves as Junior Youth Pastor. Tammy Senn serves as Children's Director. Mandy Steward directs the Child Development Center. Pam Morris has served as Music Assistant since 1995, conducting the children's choirs and the Golden Notes Choir. Suzanne Harris has accompanied the Golden Notes, Youth Choir, Providence Singers, and Adult Choir for more than thirty years. Jennifer Hughes, who grew up in the Providence family, has served as Church Secretary and Clerk since 1991. Lydia Stringfellow serves as Financial Secretary.
Getting There and Getting Online
Providence Baptist Church sits at 2807 Lee Road 166, Opelika, Alabama 36804, on the western edge of the Beauregard community. The East Campus and West Campus lie across Lee Road 166 from one another, with the West Campus built in the early 2000s on forty-one acres acquired across from the original property. The church phone is (334) 745-4608, and the mailing address for the office is the same as the street address. Live Streaming of Wednesday Prayer and Devotion and other services is available on the Providence Baptist Church Facebook page. Weekly sermons are posted to the Facebook page and archived through the church's online calendar. Online giving is available through the church's Realm giving page, and the calendar of events, sermon archive, and church newsletter are available online. The Alabama Baptist newspaper's weekly "Messenger" column from Providence is published in print each week, with a digital edition available online.