ABOUT US

Our Beliefs

We are a Christian, Confessionally Reformed, and Presbyterian church. We are committed to the authoritative, inerrant, and sufficient Word of God for faith and practice, adherence to the historic and Reformed faith as found in the Westminster Standards, and obedience to the Great Commission. We are a congregation of the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America).

The Bible

We believe the Bible is the written word of God, divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is inerrant and infallible in its original manuscripts, kept pure by God throughout the ages. It is our final authority, and has been given by God to be the rule of faith and life. Regardless of the time or culture we find ourselves in, God's Word is unchanging and unyielding in its authority. The 66 books of the Old and New Testament are sufficient, containing the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life. Therefore, nothing at any time is to be added to it. There is no "continuing revelation", or "new words from the Lord." It is a closed canon. We don't add anything to them, nor do we take anything away.

God

We believe the God of the Bible is the one and only true God. He exists eternally as one Being in three distinct Persons, the same in substance, equal in power and glory: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. He created all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good. He sovereignly preserves and governs all his creatures, and all their actions.

Man

We believe that all people are made in the image of God. We are spiritual, rational, and moral beings, uniquely made with souls.

Sin

We believe all people are born fallen into an estate of sin and misery after the sin of Adam and Eve. Apart from Christ, all humanity is born totally depraved. Though we are not as bad as we possibly could be, the totality of our being has been corrupted by sin. By nature, we are born dead in sin, inclined towards evil, hostile to and separated from God, incapable of understanding spiritual truth, incapable of doing any spiritual good, and as a result, deserving of eternal and conscious death in a literal place called Hell.

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is the divine, second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, who has always existed, who had no beginning, who is fully God, coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, who became incarnate, became a man, by taking to himself a body and soul, being conceived of the Virgin Mary, and so was, and forever will be fully God and fully man, two distinct natures, in one person, forever. He is the only Redeemer of God's elect, our prophet, priest, and king, who revealed to us by His Word and Spirit the will of God for our salvation, who offered up himself as a penal substitutionary atonement on the cross to satisfy God's wrath and to reconcile us to God, and who sovereignly rules and reigns over all. He lived, he died, he was buried, he rose again, he's seated in heaven, and he's coming back again to judge the world at that last day.

Salvation

We believe that salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, all to the glory of God alone. The glory of salvation belongs to God alone as He sovereignly and graciously saves without any human individual merit, or foreseen faith. God the Father unconditionally and sovereignly elects those whom will be saved. God the Son lived and died to accomplish redemption for those particular people whom the Father elected. God the Spirit irresistibly and effectually applies that redemption to the those particular people. Those whom the Father unconditionally elected, whom the Son particularly redeems, whom the Spirit irresistibly saves will persevere until the end. Through the perfect and complete atoning work of Jesus Christ imputed to us, believers are completely declared righteous before God, adopted as sons of God, and are being sanctified after the image of God until they die and are glorified in the presence of God.

The Church

We believe that the Church is both invisible, consisting of all the elect that have been, are or shall be gathered into the body, and visible, consisting of all those throughout the world who profess the true faith along with their children. It is to this visible church, which is the kingdom of Christ and family of God, that Christ has given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints. The King and Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ, has appointed a government in his church. He has given elders (presbyters, presbuteros in the original Greek) to the Church to act as His representatives. To these officers Christ has given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the ministry of the word and sacrament, and the authority to enact church discipline when necessary. "Presbyterianism" is our form of church government. Presbyterian government is representative and interconnected government, governed by presbyters, aka elders. The Church is governed by three courts: the Session, which is comprised of our local church's elders; the Presbytery, which is comprised of all the local church's elders within a set geographical area (our Presbytery, the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley is all of central Mississippi and part of Louisiana); and the General Assembly, which is comprised of all the elders from all the churches from all the presbyteries.

Baptism

We believe that Baptism is a sacrament of the new covenant, commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ as an initiation rite into the visible church, and as a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of cleansing, and union with Christ. It is to be administered with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, by a minister of the gospel, to those that profess faith in Christ, and to their children. Signifying the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and being sprinkled clean by the blood of Christ, pouring or sprinkling are the preferred modes of baptism. Immersion, though permissible, is unnecessary.

Life

We believe that God made us to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. All areas of our lives are to be lived in joy to the glory of God, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The thoughts we think, the words we speak, the actions we take, the decisions we make should all be done in conformity to God's Word, the pursuit of holiness, and the aim of God's glory.

Our Pastor

Rev. Danny Ruth

danny@steenscreekpres.org

Danny was born and raised in Grenada, MS. He has ministered in churches in Clinton, MS, Summit, MS, and Gulfport, MS. He has also served as a missionary in China, Hawaii, and Peru. It was on the mission field in China that Danny and Carlye met. They have been married for ten years and have four children: Liam (5), Sammy (4), Nora (2), and Charlotte (3mo).

Our Worship

What are the Sunday service times?

10:00 AM and 5:00 PM.

What is the worship service like?

We aim for our worship services to be Scriptural, simple, spiritual, reformed, reverent, joyful, historic, Christ-centered, and corporate. In our worship, we pray, we hear the Word of God read and preached verse-by-verse, we sing psalms and hymns, and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper are administered. In all that we do, our chief goal is to give glory to the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

How long is the worship service?

Our services are ordinarily around 60-70 minutes long.

What should I wear?

On Sunday mornings most of our congregation dress more formal, with attire typically ranging from suits and ties, to button downs and slacks. On Sunday evenings it is typically more casual. At either service, we welcome you to come as you are in whatever you feel most comfortable wearing.

What do my children do?

We believe that children are a blessing from the Lord, and love having them in our worship services. We heartily welcome the chorus of coos and cries that come from a church where children are present and worshipping alongside their families! Children, no less than adults, need the ordinary means of grace - the word of God read, preached, prayed, and sung. Therefore, we encourage families to stay together during worship. We do have a room for families to take their child to if the need arises, with a changing table, crib, and small play area.

What is your philosophy of worship?

The regular gathering of the people of the Lord, for the worship of the Lord, on the Day of the Lord is crucial to the health of any local church. Whether it be a new church plant, or a centuries old church, a small church, or a large church, we must not forsake the assembling of ourselves on the Sabbath. Scripture makes clear that the Lord's Day, Sunday, is the Christian Sabbath, and that it must be kept holy unto the Lord, and that we do so in large part through the public, corporate exercise of His worship. Therefore, we are committed to consecrating the Sabbath day to the Lord, beginning and ending the day in worship together every week.

In this worship, God does not ask for our creativity, or ingenuity, but rather has made clear that the acceptable way of worshipping Him has been instituted by Himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men. It is then with a humble confidence in, and joyful commitment to the ordinary means of grace that we gather to worship Him every Lord's Day. The reading and preaching of His Word, prayer, singing of psalms and hymns, and the adminstration of the sacraments are the ordinary and essential means by which God has determined to build Christ's Church, by both the perfecting of the saints and the addition to its membership of such as are being saved, all to His glory. (Ex. 20:8; Acts 2:42-47; 20:7; Heb. 10:25; Dt. 12:32; Mt. 15:9; WCF 21; BCO 47-3, 9)

Our Story

Our story begins decades ago in the prayer closets of faithful families asking the Lord for a Presbyterian and Reformed church in Florence, Mississippi. In early 2022 that prayer was answered when the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley approved a mission church. A group began gathering in homes for prayer, bible study, and fellowship, and in August of 2023 Rev. Danny Ruth was installed as Pastor.

Trusting God to build His church through the ordinary means of grace, we launched worship services and a midweek prayer meeting immediately. Now, by God's grace, we have 56 members and are continuing to grow. In April of 2025, thanks to the generosity of many individuals, as well as several other PCA churches, we were able to purchase the property we had been renting with no debt.

God has planted this church and is growing it. Our prayer is that the Lord would continue to use us here in our community to glorify Himself and build His kingdom!

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