Union Branch Baptist Church sits along Union Branch Road in southern Prince George County, just outside Petersburg, Virginia, and has been gathering in that part of the Tri-Cities for over 150 years. The congregation's simple hope is to see people come to know Jesus Christ and grow in their Christian faith, and to keep spreading that good news from a quiet stretch of road in South Prince George into the wider community and the world.
Worship at Union Branch is grounded in the Bible and shaped by a warm, expressive Baptist tradition. Ushers are ready to help newcomers settle, and visitors will find a congregation that openly welcomes people of every background.
Sunday Mornings on Union Branch Road
Sunday is the heart of the week at Union Branch. Sunday School opens the morning at 8:45 a.m., giving adults and children a chance to study and talk through Scripture before the gathered service. The Morning Worship Service follows at 9:45 a.m., with Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Archie German Sr. preaching. Music is part of the gathered time, and the congregation is invited to clap hands, stomp feet, and praise the Lord in a style that blends older Baptist hymnody with the energy of gospel-rooted praise.
On the fourth Sunday of every month, Communion follows the worship service at 11:00 a.m., giving the body of Christ a regular rhythm of remembering the Lord's death and resurrection at the close of worship.
First-time visitors do not need to dress a certain way or know the songs ahead of time. The ushers greet at the door, the order of service is straightforward, and the Bible remains the standard for songs, prayers, and preaching.
Midweek Prayer and Bible Study by Phone
The congregation does not wait until Sunday to keep in touch with God and with one another. On Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m., Union Branch hosts a combined Prayer and Praise and Bible Study session. Because so many members and friends live across the Tri-Cities and beyond, the church runs that hour on its free conference call line, opening the door for people who cannot easily come to the building on a weeknight to join in prayer, song, and study alongside those who can.
Joining is simple: anyone can dial the worship line, enter the passcode, and drop into a prayer-and-Bible-study hour that has become a fixture of the church's week.
Mornings on Zoom with Minister Ross Gordon
Two mornings a week, Union Branch gathers again, this time on Zoom. On Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:00 a.m., Min. Ross Gordon leads Morning Motivational Moments, a short devotional prayer and scripture reflection that the UBBC Media Ministry has made open to all who want a focused, encouraging start to the week. Members, friends, and curious newcomers across the country have dialled into the same Meeting ID and passcode, turning the weekday commute into a shared hour of prayer and study.
Rev. Dr. Archie German Sr., Senior Pastor
Union Branch's Senior Pastor is Rev. Dr. Archie German Sr., who brings a Doctor of Divinity along with a Bachelor of Theology and Master of Divinity from Richmond Virginia Seminary. Born in the Bronx in June 1945, Dr. German is a second-generation preacher, the son of the late Rev. Noah German of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Virginia Watson German of Farmville, Virginia.
He answered the call to gospel ministry in September 1990, was licensed to preach in January 1992, and was ordained at Cedar Street Baptist Church of God on April 24, 1993. Over the years he has served as Senior Pastor of Chester Grove and Pilgrim Baptist Church in Amelia and Beulah Baptist Church in Mosley, Virginia; as a long-time trustee, Christian education director, and Senior Choir officer at Mount Hermon Baptist Church in the Bronx; and as Interim Pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Petersburg.
Dr. German joined Union Branch as Interim Pastor in March 2018 and was approved by the congregation as the permanent Senior Pastor on June 2, 2019. He has also served the wider community as Director of Saturday Morning Bible Study, a trustee and professor of New Testament Greek at Richmond Virginia Seminary, Vice President of the Amelia County Branch of the NAACP, first president of the Amelia chapter of the AARP, and Vice Moderator of the United Baptist Protective Association and Allied Bodies. He often points to Psalm 143:10 as the prayer that frames his own ministry: Teach me your will, for you are my God; may your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.
Other Voices in the Pulpit
Union Branch is not the preaching of one voice alone. Rev. Deborah Willis and Min. Ross Gordon both bring their own ministry to the pulpit and the prayer line. Rev. Willis preached at Revival Night 2 with the message "If It Had Not Been For The Lord On My Side," and Min. Ross Gordon opened the revival series with "I'm Expecting Something To Happen" and continues to lead the Tuesday and Thursday morning devotionals. The result is a church in which the same small congregation hears a regular teaching pastor but also keeps room for revival nights, guest speakers, and devotional leaders who are working out their own calling.
Worship Wherever You Are
Reaching people beyond the sanctuary walls has long been part of how Union Branch thinks about ministry. Worship services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel and shared on Facebook, so members at home, traveling, or housebound can join the same songs, prayers, and sermon that fill the building on Sunday morning. Recorded sermons are also posted, with both video and transcript, so anyone can catch up on a teaching or send a sermon link to a friend.
The church maintains a Prayer Wall where members and visitors can post requests and mark that they have prayed for others, an open, ongoing chain of intercession that connects to the Wednesday night prayer line.
Giving and Supporting the Work
Tithes and offerings can be given online by one-time or monthly gift, applied to the general fund, building fund, Sunday School, missionary work, media ministry, or another designated purpose. The church also continues to receive traditional offerings during Sunday worship for those who give in person, and gifts can always be mailed to the church's address on Union Branch Road.
One Hundred Fifty Years in the Same Place
For more than a century and a half, Union Branch Baptist Church has kept a steady witness in South Prince George. The same road name that now leads to the parking lot has followed the same calling: to gather for worship, study the Bible, pray for one another, and live out the Christian faith in a quiet stretch of Virginia between Petersburg and the surrounding counties.
Today that long work continues each Sunday with Sunday School and worship, each fourth Sunday with Communion, each Wednesday evening on the prayer and Bible-study line, and each Tuesday and Thursday morning on Zoom, carried forward by a small congregation that welcomes anyone who walks through its doors or dials into its calls.