North Macon Presbyterian wants you to ‘enjoy and glorify God’

It’s not hard for a conversation with the Rev. Hunter Stevenson to turn to the Westminster Confession of Faith, a mid-1600s document used throughout history by multitudes of Christians as a premier statement of belief.

Stevenson is senior pastor at North Macon Presbyterian Church and the church’s mission statement takes off squarely from the confession’s tenets.

“Our mission is to glorify God and to enjoy God, to love and equip his people for the work of his ministry, and to make disciples of all the nations,” Stevenson said. “I’m teaching a Sunday School class right now on the Westminster Confession and what it means. Essential to that is that man’s chief purpose is to enjoy and glorify God through a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.”

But enjoy God? Doesn’t that run counter to many people’s modern perception of the Supreme Being?

“The God of the Bible is the greatest, most beautiful, creative and delightful being imaginable and at his center is absolute graciousness, forgiveness and love,” Stevenson said. “If we truly know him — what’s not to enjoy? Jesus showed us the kindness and compassion God longs to bring to each of our lives as well as his willingness to sacrifice for our good. That may be most beautifully seen in scripture in Romans 5:8 where it says while each of us were still sinners — while we were at odds with God — he came and died for us. He didn’t do it while we were at our best, he did it while we were at our worst. That kind of love isn’t found anywhere else. That kind of love should be enjoyed.”

North Macon Presbyterian is aligned with the Presbyterian Church in America, a conservative evangelical denomination solidly centered in Reformed theology and tradition.

“Major factors of Reformed theology certainly include the authority of scripture, the sovereignty of God, God’s glory, the importance of grace and faith, and the centrality of Jesus Christ. Each impacts us in different ways. Certainly, as a pastor and Bible teacher, the place of scripture and my faithfulness to it is always in mind. I believe the Bible is the inspired, authoritative word of God and I endeavor to present a passage clearly and with practical application.

“A prayer I pray regularly is from 2 Timothy 2:15, that I correctly handle the word of truth. Everything at North Macon Presbyterian flows from a desire to be biblical, whether it’s related to our large gatherings, small groups, Sunday School classes or our approach to evangelism or other activities. We work together to incorporate God’s word in our daily lives, families and vocations.”

Stevenson said the commitment to scripture is reflected in the church’s desire to equip members for ministry and to make disciples. He said owing to that, one of the church’s primary outreaches and services is its North Macon Preschool, which provides Christ-centered preschool education to children 12 months old through kindergarten in a small, nurturing environment.

“We feel our preschool is top notch and one of our greatest ministries,” he said.

Stevenson said the desire to educate and train, plus provide meaningful fellowship, is key to the church’s Sunday School classes, new member classes and small group gatherings.

Josh Garrett, associate pastor at the church, helps Stevenson administer such groups and other church ministries.

“We’re trying to grow our small group ministry and do small groups well,” Garrett said. “We’ve noticed that people in north Macon live very fragmented lives. They belong to many different communities reflecting different activities and interests, but often they don’t really get to know others in those groups. In the 1950s, that wasn’t so. Neighborhood, church and work were often closely related and people knew one another. Our small groups offer a place for members to get to know others and do life together, living out their Christian faith. It gives them a practical chance to be around people in a similar stage of life with similar interests and struggles.”

Garrett said that while small groups are about “doing life together” with a small element of teaching, the church’s Sunday School classes stress teaching on specific subjects. He said classes run quarterly with members being given options to take various subjects of their own choosing resulting in a large variety of material being covered over time. He said topics generally include Christian living, learning orthodox doctrine, reaching out to others and the exposition of scripture.

“We encourage a balance of these,” Garrett said. “Whether the emphasis is a doctrine or some other subject, the goal is to see what it means to follow Jesus.”

Garrett said during the summer the variety approach is dropped and the entire church studies a book of the Bible together.

“We see God telling a story about Jesus and the redemption and renewal of all things,” Garrett said. “We want people to know that story and to find their own story within it. Then it’s lived it out in their vocation, their family and in every area of their life. It effects everything.”

Stevenson said North Macon Presbyterian Church was begun in 1987 by Macon’s First Presbyterian Church. The church first met in the lunchroom of First Presbyterian Day School on Foster Road then moved to its location near the corner of Bass Road and Rivoli Drive in 1991.

He said the goal was to create a congregation to meet the needs of the growing north Macon community.

Stevenson has been pastor at North Macon Presbyterian since 2010 but has been in Macon much longer. In fact, he was youth pastor at First Presbyterian prior to taking the senior pastor role at North Macon.

Stevenson’s wife, Heather, is a Macon native. The two have four children.

Stevenson, originally from Greenville, South Carolina, has an associate of science degree from Montreat College, bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Furman University and master of divinity degree from Reformed Theological Seminary. He also has done coursework there toward a master of theology in Old Testament.

He previously taught math at Spartanburg High School in South Carolina.

“My desire to teach the Bible to high school students simply became greater than my desire to teach them math,” Stevenson said. “My heart really broke for the kids I was teaching, and though math is great to know and important in helping us think logically and succeed in the world, it just doesn’t compare to teaching the life of Jesus and helping others know him. I had the opportunity to go to seminary and afterward I came straight to Macon.”

Stevenson and Garrett said the church expects to break ground on a new sanctuary toward the end of the year, expanding seating capacity at the church from 300 to 600. He said as the church nears the 600 mark in attendance, it plans to plant another church rather than grow larger.

Garrett said the congregation is well on its way to having 75 percent of the expected $4 million cost in hand when the project begins.

Stevenson said equally as important to the congregation as a new building is that it expands ministries to north Macon and furthers its ongoing cooperation with such area ministries as Campus Clubs and Reformed University Fellowship groups at Wesleyan College and Mercer University. He said members at the church are encouraged to take part in other community ministries, and many are involved in the work of organizations like the Rescue Mission of Middle Georgia, Covenant Care and Out of Darkness.

“We don’t have to create duplicate ministries in every area just to bear our name,” Stevenson said. “It’s more important to equip people in our church to go out and take their place in the community in a great variety of ministries meeting many needs. We’re not here to be flashy — we just want to love people well, teach the Bible accurately and help as many people as we possibly can know Jesus.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 6:55 AM with the headline "North Macon Presbyterian wants you to ‘enjoy and glorify God’."