When Antioch’s reconstituted resident Session held its first meeting in November 2024, it resolved to hold two regularly occurring annual congregational meetings. One of them is “an annual congregational meeting each January regarding the ministries of the church, commencing in 2026.” Now, over a year later, we are in January 2026, and it is time to hold our first such congregational meeting.
There are two parts to this intended-to-be-brief annual informational meeting that you can expect:
- Retrospective Look at Antioch’s Ministry: In this first part of the informational presentation, I (Pastor Groff) will set before the congregation a snapshot report on overall attendance and participation in our services and prayer meetings as well as ministry developments made and significant sessional actions taken in the previous calendar year. I will also give a brief update on the financial health of the Church, having passed the midpoint of our fiscal year (which runs from July 1 through June 30).
- Prospective Look at Antioch’s Ministry: In this second part of the presentation, I will comment on any anticipated or envisioned changes, developments, and campaigns (e.g., evangelistic, educational/training, discipleship, missionary, financial, etc.) scheduled for the coming calendar year.
The Lord is at work at Antioch, and we give thanks for His faithfulness and His Church’s fruitfulness in our shared ministry of worship, prayer, and Christian vocation. What follows is a written overview of some of what I will cover this coming Lord’s Day.
Sessional Activity
In 2025, the Church was served by its very own resident Session for the first time since the opening months of 2020. Though your Elders spent significant time dealing with several disciplinary actions, departures, and other difficult situations, the vast majority of our time together was spent in the blessed work of praying for, visiting with, and applying God’s Word to the flock of God here at Antioch. We completed two multi-year sermon series (on Job and Matthew), began new series (on Romans and Exodus), launched an adult Sunday School class on the Westminster Larger Catechism, and conducted home visits to every member household of the Church at least once (and in most cases, twice) in addition to ad hoc hospital and home visits.
That being said, the Church’s ordained leadership consisting solely of Elders also spent a considerable amount of time on matters pertaining to the Church grounds, property, facilities, and finances, all of which are committed to the direct management of Elders only in the absence of Deacons. We introduced a clarified and substantially expanded policy for the governance of the Antioch Graveyard, oversaw a renovation on our Fellowship Hall, selected different pest control and lawn care professionals, had the roofs of the Church structures replaced, improved ventilation into the attic of the worship building, hounded Spartanburg County to remove debris from Hurricane Helene, updated the front ramp and painted both front decks, moved the Pastor’s study from our worship building to the garage of the manse (which men of the Church prepared for use as my pastor’s study), arranged for the repair and organization of the Church’s utility shed, as well as other important, necessary, and at-times-expensive projects to improve our facilities. Going into 2026, we continue to make improvements to our space as we catch up on deferred maintenance and pursue renovation efforts.
Officer Nominations & Training
While the Elders were diligent to handle diaconal matters in lieu of a diaconate, the Session also opened up nominations for additional officers in September. Following a nominations period in the first half of September, weekly officer training sessions began on Wednesday nights with four nominees to the office of Deacon. Efforts to identify, train, and eventually ordain/install additional officers (Elders and Deacons) run continually in a healthy church, and so we continue to pursue God’s gifts of ordained leaders as we go into 2026. I will share more details at the congregational meeting on the current state of these efforts. For growing congregations with dynamic membership rolls, it is normal to conduct an officer nominations and training period annually.
Pastoral Interns & Their Training
In 2025, Antioch was pleased to recognize the completion of one pastoral internship (Josh Marcus, who is now a member of Emmanuel Upstate PCA preparing for potential ministry opportunities in a Spanish-language context), the commencement of two new pastoral internships (Nate Tunnell and Timothy Pierce), and the addition of another candidate under-care (Cabot Cullen). We presently have three Seminary students on staff as pastoral interns (Pastor Ronaldo Andre, Nate, and Timothy), three additional men in our congregation who are candidates under-care of Calvary Presbytery (Ryan Simpson, Isaiah Spivey, and Cabot), and three more seminary students (two with GPTS, and one with Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) presently enrolled in Church membership (Nick Trahan, Austin Zueck, and Corey Powell). We continue to be a proving ground and training hub for the next generation of Presbyterian pastors and missionaries. We praise God for our continuing partnership with Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, both in this capacity and through Dr. Joseph Pipa’s involvement in both institutions. This Spring, we expect three of our men to complete their studies at Greenville Seminary and move into calls.
Involvement in Church Courts & the SC Statehouse
Antioch sent three Elders (Pastor Groff, Mr. Danes, and Mr. Marcus) to General Assembly in 2025, and all of our Elders have actively participated (to different degrees) in the work of Calvary Presbytery. Mr. Long is presently serving as Clerk of Session, and I am serving as Moderator of Session. Two related overtures originating with the Antioch Session came before the 52nd General Assembly, and one passed. We give thanks to God for our historic connection with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) as a charter congregation originally founded in 1843. In recognition of our recent 180th anniversary, the South Carolina Legislature resolved to bestow the name “Old Antioch Church Way” onto SC-417 from the Enoree River (and County line) to its intersection with SC-101. We are grateful to Rep. Bill Chumley for his kindness in offering the resolution to his colleagues in the Statehouse.
Membership & Worship Servics
Antioch welcomed four households and several individuals into membership in 2025 for a total of 15 new members (nine communing and six non-communing). However, we also bid farewell to 14 of our members, including Mrs. Carolyn “Sissy” Pipa who was transferred to the Church triumphant by divine decree on August 18, 2025. Our membership going into 2026 includes 44 communing members, 31 non-communing members, and six associate members for a total of 81 members of one kind or another. Four of our members currently live at a distance from us, and several are homebound. Our worship service attendance in 2025 averaged 72 attendees in the morning (up from 64) and 57 attendees in the evening (down from 63). Our overall average across all services dropped from 66 in 2024 to 65 in 2025.
We were able to share in the Lord’s Supper one last time with Mrs. Pipa in the evening service of July 13, 2025. Beginning in August, the Session appointed the third Lord’s Day evening service of each month to include the Lord’s Supper, which now observe twice monthly. We have increased the frequency of our Lord’s Supper observance because we believe that this more “frequent expression of love” in the covenant meal is a means of divine grace as Christ spiritually communes with us in a special manner in the Supper.
Looking Ahead to 2026
In 2026, we are reformatting our Christian Education program to accommodate the changing distribution of ages in our Sunday School classes. This year, the Pre-K class (up to 4 years old) will continue to meet in the Fellowship Hall with a teacher and two class assistants (a change from having just one assistant in the past). Our primary class (ages 5-9 years old) will meet in the Champion Room (Library) with one teacher and one assistant. Our secondary class (ages 10-14 years old) is being folded into the adult class (ages 14+ years old) due to space constraints. As we prepare to welcome at least six new babies into the congregation in the first half (or so) of 2026, the training room will be available for use by parents with infants as needed/desired. Of course, parents of infants are welcome to remain in the adult class with their infants in-arms.
The Elders are committed to continuing the regular schedule and routines of pastoral care that we have been able to maintain in the past. Additionally, the paid staff of the Church (pastors and interns) are meeting regularly to coordinate Lord’s Day logistics and volunteer teams. Members (and friends) can expect incremental improvements and slight changes in how we coordinate activities and manage communications this year.
We are prayerfully seeking to expand our outreach, evangelism, and discipleship efforts even as we thank the Lord for a steady stream of regular visitors to the Church’s worship services, remembering that the church’s ultimate mission is the worship of God in Christ. The greatest organizational needs the Church has at this point include the following:
- An expanded roster of officers – We are praying that the Lord would raise up at least one additional Elder and three Deacons in His timing.
- An expanded parking lot – This is an urgent (and expensive) need at this point, and the need will not be ameliorated before it is met. We have a provisional schematic drawing for a parking lot expansion from our current 13 spots to a fully paved and graded 39-spot lot, but there is much preliminary fundraising and planning/design work to be done before any progress can be made on this initiative.
- Increased involvement in prayer meetings – Our mission is spiritual, and so too are the means of accomplishing it. While we delight in praying for one another and various physical needs, our primary focus and purpose in our prayer meetings is petitioning the throne of grace for the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom through the propagation of the gospel, the extension of the Church, and the edification of His people.
- Enhanced coordination of ministry efforts – The ordained leadership and staff of the Church are committed to addressing ongoing needs related to the week-in, week-out ministry of the Church in an organized and coordinated fashion. The initiatives we are pursuing are not without their difficulties as we manage divergent schedules and limited availability of those involved in managing organizational systems and channels of communication.
As you pray for and involve yourself in these matters, thank you. We are delighted to be praying and laboring together for the glory of God in Christ. We remember at all times the words of the Apostle Paul, who described his (and by extension, our) ministry and teaching as “according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted” (1 Tim. 1:11).
