We’re So Glad You Are Here!
Seneca Presbyterian Church (USA) is full of warm and welcoming people. You’ll experience that on your first visit. We offer ways to connect thru worship, community, and by serving others.
We connect with God through worship because that is what He wants us to do.
We connect with God and others through community. We invite you to join us because the church belongs to God and he welcomes everyone…just as you are.
We connect with God through serving others by devoting our time, resources, and our gifts in helping those in our community.
Our Core Beliefs
We are a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) We are connected with over two million fellow Presbyterians worshiping in 10,000 congregations across the United States.
Presbyterians have been around for almost 500 years. We trace our theological heritage to John Calvin and share that heritage with other denominations in what we call the Reformed family of faith. Presbyterians are known for our colleges and our educated clergy. We embrace the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper).
We believe we have a thoughtful faith – one that engages both mind and heart. We believe we should use that mind in interpreting the Bible and in understanding who God is and what God is doing in the world. We also believe that we don’t have to agree on everything about what it means to be a Christian. We do believe in an important core of faith, but we also know that faithful Christians can disagree even on important concerns.
Beyond that important core, we don’t believe anyone can tell you what you have to believe in order to be a Christian. Listening to the Bible, to others, and to the Holy Spirit, we believe God will guide you as you grow in faith. And what is that core? Jesus Christ is Lord. The love and grace of God is available to all.
More on PC(USA) beliefs here.
Membership at SPC
Open to All. Please join us!
Membership is open to all who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and who are willing to serve this church with their prayers, presence, gifts, and service. We offer a Discover SPC class a couple of times each year that covers what it means to become part of the family of SPC. We’d like to talk to you more! Please fill out the inquiry form and we will be glad to help guide you through the membership process.
The SPC Story
Seneca Presbyterian Church (USA) has been involved in the life of Seneca and Oconee County since its 1875 start. Members have served on the city council, the county commission, and even as mayor. We have diverse backgrounds including teachers and principals, plant managers, insurance salespersons, factory workers, and farmers. The lakes make our county a beautiful site for families and retirees alike, and we are blessed with transplants from all over the country including Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Maine and more.
You can learn more about our church and its current activities through this website or by reading our annual report.
Our Ministry Leaders
Interim Pastor
Search in Process
Seneca Presbyterian Church is currently in a Pastoral Search process. Part of that process will include an interim period served by an ordained Presbyterian Church USA minister who will facilitate the ministry of our congregation as we continue the search for our permanent pastor.
Church leadership and administration may be contacted through the link below or at (864) 882-2505.
Interested applicants may download our Ministry Information Form (MIF) which includes our Pastor Nominating Committee contact information.
Richard Caldwell
Parish Associate
Richard served as the Interim Pastor of Seneca Presbyterian Church from 2007-2010. Ironically, what Presbyterians call the hand of God, our former pastor Nancy Morris served with Richard while he was pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church in Macon, Georgia. When Seneca Presbyterian called Nancy as pastor, Richard was invited and graciously consented to serve as our Parish Associate. It is a volunteer position for him.
Richard serves in the ministry of visitation and often as the “guest” preacher. Richard holds degrees from Wheaton College and Columbia Theological Seminary. He served as pastor, associate pastor, and interim pastor in congregations located in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina for over forty years prior to retirement. He is married to Susan and their blended family includes 5 children and 12 grandchildren.
Ernie Lombard
Parish Nurse
Ernie became our Parish Nurse in August 2014. He received his Bachelor of Science in nursing degree from Clemson University and is a native resident of Oconee County. Ernie’s nursing background includes work at Oconee Memorial Hospital in the Emergency Department and as a Case Manager.
After employment at Seneca Presbyterian, he completed the Foundations of Faith Community Nursing curriculum at Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Rosalie Hovencamp
Director of Music / Administrative Assistant
Rosalie started her music ministry with Seneca Presbyterian Church in September, 2019. She directs the choir, plays piano and organ and sings lead or with the choir.
She has an Associates of Art degree with a concentration in music from Daytona Beach Community College (now Daytona State College) and a Bachelor’s degree in Business, Sociology and Public Administration through Georgia Southern University.
You can reach the Administrative Assistant via email at Rosalie.Hovencamp@sprez.org.
Shawn Thomas
Director of Communications / Assistant to the Director of Music
Shawn joined the SPC family in November, 2022 after 7 ½ years of leading worship in South Florida and 13 years of full-time travel in music ministry. His ministry has served as a training resource for churches including consultation on tech/media, audio/video, and branding/communication. He is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a BA in Music Industry and Recording Industry Management. He and his husband of 14 years, Brian Ladd, live in Central where their Australian Eskimo, Murphy, allows them to share space.
Shawn is the host of Worship-Together.com (an online social media feed), providing Christian fellowship, resources, and support for the faith community including weekly worship breaks, “Good News” Broadcasts, a podcast, and live worship events/concerts.
Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion – it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
