A Reformed Church in the Heart of Greenville
The Story of Second Presbyterian Church
On a cold winter Greenville night in March 1892, members from First Presbyterian Church who lived beyond the Reedy River gathered to discuss the urgent spiritual needs of the downtown and West End communities in O.P. Mills’ building now known as the Smoke on the Water restaurant on Main Street & Augusta.
As our name indicates we are the Second Presbyterian Church in the city of Greenville, South Carolina, and since 1892 we have sought to be biblically faithful and gospel-driven from our historic home in Greenville’s West End District.
We love the Bible. We are unashamedly committed to the Bible, believing the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be inerrant and infallible and our only rule for faith and practice.
We are Confessional by affirming the great truths of the Protestant Reformation. Our officers affirm the theology of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as the best understanding of Holy Scripture.
We are Presbyterian, being governed by elders according to the New Testament example. We are also a founding congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, the largest Bible-believing Presbyterian denomination in the English speaking world.
We delight in knowing God through the “ordinary means of grace” consisting of preaching, the sacraments and prayer – these being the principle ways God blesses His people through his church by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We love to worship God by gathering each Sunday to actively participate in services that are regulated by the Word and which are full of the best songs of praise from two millennia of Christendom. Our corporate worship is about the edified mind and the reverent heart celebrating God’s sovereign grace in life’s joy and sorrow. Our church is committed to expository preaching and we love to begin and end each Lord’s Day together with the Household of Faith.
We are passionate about the Great Commission as we share our faith through evangelism and missions, supporting over 20 missionary families, including several that have gone forth from our congregation. We also participate and actively support a variety of institutions involved in local missions and gospel endeavor.
We are a family and we are committed to one another. We believe in the biblical principle of the communion of the saints. As such we are deliberately not “program-driven” but intentionally seek to foster genuine community through Christian love, service and fellowship. Our Senior Minister is Dr. Richard D. Phillips.
In 1973 Second Presbyterian Church became a founding member of Calvary Presbytery and the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Our church continues to serve the urgent spiritual needs of God’s people in South Carolina by planting new Reformed churches including:
- Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Greer
- Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church in Simpsonville
- Christ Church Presbyterian in Charleston
Our Mission is Reaching Out, Folding In, Growing Up for the glory of God
Significant Dates in our Church History
March 17, 1892 | Twenty-seven people met to organize Second Presbyterian Church led by Rev. Nickels John Holmes who later was installed as founding minister of Second Presbyterian Church in a service conducted by Enoree Presbytery of the old Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS) held at our mother church – the Washington Street Presbyterian (now First Presbyterian Greenville).
May 14, 1893 | Our first sanctuary building dedicated to the worship of God.
“…the name of the church…is the “Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville, S.C.” and he stated it was the object of [the] church to build as near the center of the city as practicable and while it would be on the West side of the river, it was decided that any who wish to unite with the new organization from any part of the city would be welcome”
From the Original Motion to Form the Church by Captain Smythe March 17, 1892
December 29, 1895 | Rev. Samuel Rhea Preston, D.D. a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary installed as the second Minister of Second Presbyterian Church. He also served as President of Chicora College, a Presbyterian school for women. During his ministry, the first missionaries came out of the congregation.
October 29th, 1899 | Rev. George Gregg Mayes, D.D. installed as the third Minister of Second Presbyterian Church. The Mayesville, SC native was also associated with the leadership of Chicora College. He was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary.
“God’s kind providence has nurtured the infant church thus far”
February 1905 | Rev. Edward Payson Davis, D.D. a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary installed as the fourth Minister of Second Presbyterian Church. The church prospered during his 20-year ministry.
January 19, 1913 | Our current Sanctuary building dedicated. Memorials were placed in the Sanctuary in honor of several of our founding church fathers soon thereafter.
Mr. George Mackey, founder of the Mackey Boy’s Choir served the congregation as Director of Music.
“The Second Presbyterian Church stands for the Bible as the only infallible rule of faith and practice, as interpreted by the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of the church, for Presbyterian doctrine, government methods, sacraments and worship. Pastor, officers and people are all governed by the constitution of this church.”
March 1917
January 26, 1926 | Rev. Flournoy Shepperson, D.D., a graduate of the Union Theological Seminary (VA) installed as the fifth minister of Second Presbyterian Church.
March 30, 1941 | Rev. Samuel Dwight Winn, D.D., a graduate of the Union Theological Seminary (VA) and a long-time missionary to Korea, who wrote Korean language Bible Commentaries was installed as the sixth minister of Second Presbyterian Church. He and served the church well during the war years.
December 14, 1947 | Rev. James Phillips Noble was a native of Learned, Mississippi and graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary, installed as the seventh minister of Second Presbyterian Church.
October 9, 1955 | The Education Building dedicated. The chapel was named in honor of Dr. Winn.
“the new building was dedicated to the worship of God in spirit and truth, and to the service of man in righteousness and love”
April 7, 1957 | Rev. Leonard Enfield Woodward a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary, installed as the eighth Minister of Second Presbyterian Church.
January 31, 1965 | Rev. Gordon Kenworthy Reed, D.D. a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary installed as the ninth Senior Minister of Second Presbyterian Church. During his ministry the church prospered and was revitalized. The Session first expressed formal concern over the theological liberalism within the old Southern Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Reed would serve as a member of the “Committee of 30” that formally planned the Presbyterian Church in America and was an early denominational leader and was also active in the formation and governance of Reformed Theological Seminary.
April 8, 1971 | The new gymnasium building dedicated.
July 8, 1973 | The congregation of Second Presbyterian Church voted to withdraw from the Presbyterian Church in the United States and to affiliate with what would later become The Presbyterian Church in America.
December 4, 1973 | Ruling Elders J. Ligon Duncan, Jr., C. Stuart Patterson and Doug Patton represented the congregation at the first General Assembly in Birmingham, Alabama signing the “Message to All Nations” of the new denomination.
“The Presbyterian Church in America was founded in 1973 as a Reformed, Evangelical denomination that would be true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
August 29, 1976 | Rev. Paul Gunter Settle, D.D a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary installed as the tenth Senior Minister of Second Presbyterian Church. During his years at Second the church prospered and in 1976 hosted the sixth PCA General Assembly and the first annual Missions & Bible Conferences were held. Major renovations to the building also occurred.
Dr Settle would serve as a Moderator of the PCA General Assembly, the first Coordinator for the PCA’s Christian Education & Publications, Ridgehaven’s Camp & Conference Center Director, and a Board Member of Westminster Theological Seminary. His first wife Georgia founded the PCA’s Women in the Church Ministry.
Furman Professors Dr. Dupre Rhame and Shirley Ledford Duncan served the congregation as Directors of Music.
November 24, 1991 | Rev. William Rodney Clay a graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary was installed as the eleventh Senior Minister of Second Presbyterian Church. He would serve as a Moderator of Calvary Presbytery and a Board Member of the Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
David White, founder of the Boys Choir of the Carolinas, served the congregation as Director of Music.
July 8, 2007 | Rev. Richard Davis Phillips, D.D, a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary was installed as the twelfth Senior Minister of Second Presbyterian Church. Dr. Phillips who is a 3rd generation United States Army Officer was called into ministry through the pastorate of Dr. James Montgomery Boice. He has authored numerous books and Bible commentaries and has served as the Moderator of Calvary Presbytery, The Gospel Coalition Council and a Board Member of Westminster Theological Seminary.
In 2013 Second co-hosted the 43rd PCA General Assembly in Greenville. The church has played a significant role in the formation of the Gospel Reformation Network and began holding the annual Greenville Conference on Reformed Theology each fall. In recent years the church has had significant campus improvements and renovation. By God’s grace this congregation is continuing to prosper as it approaches its 130th year.
Verlyn D. Smoker joined the congregation as its Director of Music in 2014.
By RE Melton Ledford Duncan, Church Historian
with the assistance of former church historians: Marion & Iris Dillard, Shirley Duncan, Dr. Barry Waugh and Ministerial Intern Brendon J. Branigin
The Church Staff by years of Service
Mrs. Judy Grant, Administrative Assistant (1999) a covenant child of Second
Mrs. Cyndi Player, Administrative Assistant (2006)
Mrs. Jane Warner, Bookkeeper (2007)
Rev. Dr. Richard D. Phillips Senior Minister (2007)
Mr. Melton L. Duncan, Church Administrator (2010) a covenant child of Second
Mr. Verlyn D. Smoker, Director of Music (2014)
Mr. Nathaniel A. Johnson, Director of Media and Facilities (2015) a covenant child of Second
Rev. Chad T. Bailey, Associate Minister of Congregational Care (2016)
Rev. Jeffrey J. Windt, Assistant Minister of Youth & Families (2018)
Mrs. Kitty Swillen, Cook (2018)
Ms. Sarah Swillen, Assistant Cook (2018) a covenant child of Second
Mr. Jeff M. Early, Ministerial Intern (2018)
Mr. John T. Gentry, Jr., Organist (2019)
Mr. Brendon J. Branigin, Ministerial Intern (2020)
Sons of Second Church Congregation and Former Staff in Ordained Pastoral Ministry
- The late Paul Anderson, OPC Pastor, Falls River, MA Presbyterian Church
Former Member /SPC Staff - Brendon Branigin
Member / Currently Serving as Ministerial Intern and pursuing ministry within the PCA - Kyle Brown, OPC US Army Chaplain
Former Member / SPC Intern - Richard Burguet, PCA Senior Pastor, New Hope-Eustis, FL
Former Associate Minister - Richard Brueck, PCA Senior Pastor Waxhaw, NC
Former Member / SPC Intern - Scott C. Cook, ARP Pastor Seneca
Former Member / Assistant Minister - Ezekiel Dean
Member / Pursuing ministry within the PCA - Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III, PCA Chancellor & CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary
Former Member - Jeff Early
Member / Currently Serving as Ministerial Intern and pursuing ministry within the PCA - Dr. Gabriel N. E. Fluhrer, ARP Associate Minister First Presbyterian Church Columbia, SC
Former Member / Assistant Minister - John Furman
Former Member / Served as a PCA Minister - Dr. W. Douglas Griffith, PCA Sr Minister, Carriage Lane Presbyterian of Peachtree City, GA
Former Member / Assistant Minister - Rob Hamby, PCA Church Planter Charleston, SC
Former Member - Russell Hightower, PCA Pastor Los Angeles, CA
Former SPC Intern - Matthew Holst, OPC Pastor, Shiloh Presbyterian Church Raleigh, NC
Former SPC Intern - John Hutchinson
Former SPC Intern / Served as a PCA Minister - Sam Joyner, PCA Pastor, PCA Grace Coastal Okatie, SC
Former Member / Assistant Minister - Ben Kenopa
Former Member / SPC Intern / Served as a PCA Minister - Luther Marchant
Former Member / SPC Intern / Served as a PCA Minister - Josh Martin, PCA Senior Pastor, Palmetto Hills Presbyterian Church Simpsonville, SC
Former Member /SPC Intern - Todd Matocha, PCA Senior Pastor Main Street Presbyterian Church Columbus, MS
Former Member / SPC Intern - James E. McCarthy, PCA Senior Minister, First Hattiesburg
Former Member / SPC Youth Director - David Oliphant
Former Member / Former SPC Staff / Served as a PCA Minister - David Osborne, PCA Senior Pastor, Christ Presbyterian Church Greenville, NC
Former Associate Member / SPC Intern - Steve Perkins
Former Member / Served as a PCA Minister - The late James Preston, PCUS
Former Member in the 1890s’/First Missionary of the Church - Dr. W. Duncan Rankin, ARP Professor – Reformed Theological Seminary
Former Member / SPC Intern - Greg Skipper, PCA Director of Calvary Home for Children
Former SPC Intern - Josh Sparkman, PCA Senior Pastor, Christ-Mobile, AL
Former Member / SPC Intern - Seth Starkey, PCA Associate Madison Heights, Jackson, MS
Former Member / Assistant Minister - Stephen Spinnenweber, PCA Senior Pastor Westminster Jacksonville
Former Member / SPC Intern - Wallace Tinsley, PCA Senior Pastor Filbert (SC) Presbyterian Church
Former Associate Minister - Steve Wallace, PCA Chief Operating Officer Reformed Theological Seminary
Former Associate Minister - John Wheeler, SBC Assistant Pastor First Baptist Waycross, GA
Former Member - Jeffrey J. Windt
Former Member / Currently serving as Assistant Minister
Former Ruling Elders by years of Service
- Alfred H. Wills (1987 -2022)
