On a quiet stretch of SW Martin Highway in Palm City, Florida, Palm City Presbyterian Church has been a fixture of the community since 1984. The ECO Presbyterian congregation is known for a robust Sunday morning schedule that runs the gamut from classical hymns to contemporary worship, a children's program that draws families from across Martin County, and a mission footprint that stretches from downtown Palm City to the Middle East. The church welcomes skeptics, seekers, and long-time believers alike, and frames itself plainly as "sinners saved by grace."
Three Sunday Mornings, One Sanctuary and One Family Life Center
Sunday is the heart of life at PCPC, with three distinct worship services. Two traditional services are held at 8:20 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. in the sanctuary, where the choir and a brass ensemble lead hymns, anthems, and spirituals. A contemporary service meets at 9:30 a.m. in the Huizenga Family Life Center (HFLC), led by the Cornerstone worship team with current and classic contemporary Christian music. The 11:00 traditional service and the 9:30 contemporary service are both broadcast live online each week.
The Lord's Supper is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month, as well as on Maundy Thursday and Christmas Eve. The church teaches that the meal is a sacrament through which God works by the Holy Spirit to strengthen faith in the promise of forgiveness. Anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ is invited to participate, regardless of church membership or denominational background.
Families with children will find programming layered around every service. Abide Kids, the Sunday school program for ages 3 through sixth grade, meets from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. in Langill Hall with age-appropriate classes: Tiny Treasures (birth through age 3) is offered in the nursery during the 9:30 and 11:00 services, Little Lambs covers PreK 3 through PreK 5, Kingdom Kids is for kindergarten through third grade, and Next Level is for fourth through sixth graders. Children's Church is also offered midway through the 8:20 traditional service, with children escorted to Langill Hall for worship, activities, and Bible skills so that parents can choose either worship style while their kids are well cared for. A secure check-in system, trained NextGen staff, and a nut-free policy help keep the children's areas safe and welcoming.
A Music Ministry Built Around a Hybrid Organ and Two Worship Teams
Music is a defining feature of PCPC. The traditional services feature the adult choir, the Bells of Praise adult bell choir (which rings on the second Sunday of each month), and a brass and percussion ensemble of ten to twelve musicians. The contemporary service is led by Cornerstone, a worship team of vocalists, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, keyboards, and drums whose repertoire spans current and classic Christian music. Cornerstone rehearses Sunday mornings at 8:00 a.m. and on select Wednesday evenings.
At the center of the sanctuary sits a four-manual organ with eighty-one stops, built in 2006 and 2007 by the Walker Organ Company (digital stops) and R.A. Colby (pipe component), paid for by a gift from the Triss Shirley Foundation and dedicated in her memory. Beyond its pipes and digital stops, the organ is connected to a MIDI module with roughly two thousand additional sounds and the ability to record and play back music performed on the keyboard. Choir rehearsals are held Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., the bell choir rehearses Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and the music ministry produces a Christmas Cantata and a Christmas Bell Choir Concert each December, as well as a spring piano concert.
Faith and Fellowship Nights for Adults
Mid-week life at PCPC centers on Faith and Fellowship Nights on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in Langill Hall. The evenings combine a shared dinner, prayer, worship, and a rotating slate of adult studies. Recent offerings have included Pastor Bryan Wenger's Emotionally Healthy Spirituality class, which walks through topics like confronting unhealthy spirituality, integrating silence and sabbath, and designing a lifelong plan to live in God's love, as well as a four-part study on Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Adult Sunday School meets Sundays from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. in the library, beginning with informal conversation and moving into a short video by a recognized Bible scholar and facilitated discussion. The current study walks through the books of Luke and Acts using the teaching of New Testament scholar Dr. Darrell Bock. Wednesdays also host a long-running Community Bible Study (CBS) that meets from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the school-year rhythm, with classes for men, women, and youth, an online women's group, and nursery care; recent studies have included Jennifer Rothschild's seven-session walk through Psalm 23, a study of the book of James, and a 24-week study of Genesis. Other adult offerings include Financial Peace University on Sundays from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., an in-depth study of the book of Judges led by Cathy Coco, a Widows Connection dinner group, a Bunco night for ages 14 and up, and a long-running women's ministry known as Sisters in Christ that is celebrating its twentieth year.
Rooted Youth for Middle and High School Students
PCPC's youth ministry, Rooted Youth, is built around two weekly gatherings. Middle school students meet Wednesdays from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the HFLC, where food, games, and solid biblical teaching are paired with room for honest questions and real friendships. High school students meet Sundays from 10:45 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the HFLC youth room, following the contemporary service. The church also partners with First Priority at Hidden Oaks Middle School (HOMS) to support a student-led faith club on that campus, meeting in room 2-58, and hosts a Monday afternoon youth pickleball league for children in grades 2 through 6.
Rooted Youth emphasizes five marks for every student: being known, grounded in Scripture, connected in community, growing in daily habits of faith, and living on mission. A confirmation class for eighth and ninth graders meets twice monthly through May of each year in the office conference room, taught by Pastors David Mauldin and Bryan Wenger. The class hears the stories of spiritually mature believers, engages in ministry, and culminates in each student writing a personal statement of faith. Every adult leader at Rooted Youth completes ministry screening and training, and the church maintains a written safety and parent handbook.
The Shepherd Program: A Forty-Year-Old Ministry of Care
The church's signature pastoral care ministry is the Shepherd Program, which began in 1984, the same year the church itself was planted. About sixty shepherds are currently active. Each shepherd is given the names and contact information of members who attend the same worship service; shepherds pray for their flock, greet them at services, stay in touch by phone or note, and send greeting cards. If someone is hospitalized, facing surgery, or going through a difficult season, a coordinator alerts the shepherd so that prayers and cards can follow quickly. The church provides all cards, home visits are not required, and the work can be done conveniently from home.
Beyond the Shepherd Program, PCPC also hosts a confidential caregiver support group for anyone caring for a loved one, regardless of diagnosis. It meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 10:00 a.m. in the library and is led by Rev. Dr. Lyn Snow. The group is open to the wider community, not only PCPC members.
Local and Global Mission Partners
Missions are built into the identity of PCPC. The Mission Committee evaluates requests for financial and volunteer assistance each year through a formal application process and channels support to a wide network of local and global partners. Local partners include The Salvation Army (which PCPC supports through an annual red-kettle bell-ringing campaign), Care Net (supported through an annual Baby Bottle Campaign that raised more than $6,000 in 2026), Love and Hope in Action (LAHIA), which serves the homeless in Martin County, Good Samaritan Ministries, and The Refuge Ranch, a Christ-centered residential addiction recovery program for women. Internationally, PCPC partners with Iran Alive Ministries, hosting visits from leaders like Rev. Shah Ahmadi, Director of Strategic Alliances, whose ministry reaches millions of Iranians and Farsi speakers across the Middle East through satellite broadcasting, online church gatherings, leadership training, Bible distribution, and underground church support.
PCPC members also serve hands-on. The Grandmothers and Others sewing fellowship gathers once a month from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the sewing room adjacent to the nursery, using donated fabric to sew clothing for local children in need. The church collects food and personal-hygiene items to assemble homeless care bags, including small snacks, sanitizer, gallon-size Ziploc bags, deodorant, razors, combs, tissues, sunscreen, Band-Aids, shampoo, conditioner, feminine hygiene products, soap, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. Each Advent, members bake and deliver Christmas cookies to Dunklin Memorial Church for their holiday celebration.
The Annual Turkey Trot and Other Fellowship Traditions
Each Thanksgiving morning, PCPC hosts its Palm City Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk and Kids Fun Run, a 15-year-old tradition that draws more than 600 participants and spectators. The chip-timed 5K is a flat, fast loop beginning and ending at the church, with awards for overall, masters, and division winners and a commemorative medal, coffee, and breakfast for finishers. Proceeds rotate each year among local mission partners; recent beneficiaries have included The Refuge Ranch, Love and Hope in Action, and Good Samaritan Ministries.
The church's fellowship calendar includes a number of recurring traditions. The Women's Fellowship hosts an annual Advent Gathering in December in the HFLC, with sixteen beautifully decorated, Christian-themed tables, each seating eight guests. A monthly nature walk meets at Maggy's Hammock Park in Port Salerno. The Walkercise group gathers upstairs in Langill Hall on Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m. for an easy one- or two-mile walking workout. The contemporary service is followed by Linger Longer, a coffee-and-treats fellowship in the HFLC lobby. The MomCo group gathers mothers of all stages for connection and encouragement. PCPC's annual Christmas Cantata and Christmas Bell Choir Concert fill the sanctuary each December, and a spring piano concert rounds out the musical year.
An ECO Presbyterian Identity
PCPC identifies as an ECO Presbyterian congregation, part of A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. The church's faith is grounded in Scripture and expressed in two foundational documents: the ECO Essential Tenets, a concise summary of the congregation's most important beliefs, and the ECO Confessional Standards, which include the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Westminster Standards, and the Declaration of Barmen. Both men and women may serve as ordained elders; the congregation elects elders to three-year terms, and the title "Presbyterian" comes from the Greek word presbyteros, meaning "elder."
The church teaches that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, with Scripture alone as the authority for belief and life, all to the glory of God alone. Following Jesus is described as a team sport, lived out in community with other believers. PCPC produces a ten-class video series on the Essential Tenets and a seven-class series on the Confessional Standards, both taught by Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. David C. Mauldin and available through the church's resources.
The church's stated mission, called the 40/50 Vision, asks how PCPC will make disciples in Palm City over the next ten years. The congregation collects celebration stories of lives changed through the church's ministries as a one-year milestone toward that goal.
Staff and Leadership
The pastoral team is led by Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. David C. Mauldin, who joined PCPC in August 2017 after fourteen years as pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Mobile, Alabama. He holds a B.A. from Milligan College, an M.Div. from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and a D.Min. from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. Associate Pastor Bryan Wenger came to PCPC from Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Southern California, where he served as Associate Pastor of Administration and Care for six years; he holds a B.A. in accounting from Grove City College and an M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. John Nelson, a commissioned lay pastor with ECO, is enrolled at the Flourish Institute of Theology and grew up attending school in East Africa. Reva Rogers directs the traditional music ministry, and Rob Huff directs the contemporary music program. Jennifer Osborne serves as Children's Ministry Specialist, bringing more than twenty-five years of experience in private child care schools.
Visiting Palm City Presbyterian Church
The church sits at 2700 SW Martin Highway in Palm City, with offices open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The phone number is 772-286-9958. Visitors are invited to fill out a connection card or new-here form online so that a staff member can follow up. Giving is available online through the church's secure giving page, and tithes and offerings can also be placed in the offering plate or mailed to the church office. A campus map is available online to help newcomers navigate between the sanctuary, the Huizenga Family Life Center, and Langill Hall.