Services: 8:30 a.m. contemporary, 11 a.m. traditional
Average Sunday attendance: 250-300
Minister: the Rev. Ron Stoker
Denomination affiliation: Presbyterian Church USA
Address: 3615 Macland Road, Powder Springs, GA 30127
Phone: 770-439-1548
Website: www.macland.org.
Mission statement:
“To Reach the Lost, To Raise Disciples, To Relieve Suffering, all in the name of Jesus, our Lord.”
History:
In the summer of 1993, 11 people began meeting for Bible study in a private home. By year’s end, the group was worshipping at Tapp Middle School with 60 people. On May 22, 1994, 100 members chartered Macland.
A new church building opened in August 1995 with 126 people at the first service. Over the next decade, the church's attendance grew to about 600, and a gym and fellowship hall were built.
Pastor’s path:
The Northeast Pennsylvania native said he “had the blessing of wonderful spiritual leaders from the earliest I can remember.” He worshipped in Methodist to charismatic churches before landing in the Presbyterian denomination.
As a youth, Stoker felt the impulse to be involved in ministry, and he pursued that by enrolling in the Philadelphia College of Bible. A college friend invited him to a Presbyterian church, an event he called “a very powerful experience. It’s amazing how just inviting someone to go to church can have a powerful, long-lasting effect. The seeds of being a Presbyterian were planted.”
After graduation, Stoker went to Jerusalem, where he studied archaeology. When his studies there were complete, he came home to visit family and decide his next move. “Do I pursue ministry or go back to Israel and put down roots careerwise? I decided to stay in the States. I felt it was an easier transition to bring archaeology into the ministry than bring ministry to archaeology.”
He began the ordination process through the Presbyterian Church and earned a master’s of divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary. He likes to say “I left Princeton with a lot more than I came in with” because that’s where he met the woman who would become his wife, who’s also an ordained minister.
Stoker enjoyed his summer internships in Kentucky and Louisiana so much that he decided to move south to begin his career, which has taken him to Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina before moving to Georgia in January.
Ministries:
The active youth ministry at Macland appealed immediately to the Stokers, who have two young boys. “You don’t get a do-over in raising your children,” the pastor said.
The church hosts a preschool program and offers meeting space for community groups, such as Boy and Girl Scout troops.
Macland has a partnership with Compton Elementary School, offering tutoring at the school and donating school supplies. Volunteers also work at the Extension, an organization that helps chemically dependent men and women.
For the ninth year, Macland is hosting the area’s annual Spring Chicken Run, a fundraiser for the Christian Aid Mission Partnership that is set for March 26.
Thoughts from the pastor:
“Macland is a tremendously loving community with an open and diverse group of people. It doesn’t matter who you are when you walk through the door, you’re God’s child and we love to embrace that. What makes Macland Church is the people. We have beautiful facilities and a gym, but it’s the connection with the people that makes us unique. It’s a unique feeling and a spirit in the air that I’ve never experienced.”
About the Author
