Our Story

Our first house of worship was a catfish restaurant! A small group started meeting on Sunday mornings at the old David’s Catfish Restaurant, now the site of CVS at Hwy 31 & 181. We used the cracker baskets for offering plates, and the majority of gifts went to help those in need throughout our community. That heart for serving our community continues today from our church building on Jimmy Faulkner Drive. We are a growing congregation actively searching for ways to share God’s love in our community and beyond. Come and serve with us!

Missions 

Providence UMC was founded with a missional heart. During our first worship service, an offering was collected and used entirely for mission work here along the Eastern Shore. From that first service to today, we have always strived to share God’s love through missions in our community, our state and beyond! Ten percent of our annual budget goes toward these efforts each year.

Rev. Jack Allen

Pastor

A native of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Jack Allen grew up at Trinity United Methodist Church. While in college and interning at Trinity, Jack answered the call of Christ to ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church. 

He received his undergraduate degree from Huntingdon College and a Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He was commissioned a provisional elder in the Alabama-West Florida Conference in 2020 and in 2015 was appointed as an associate pastor at First United Church of Montgomery. Bishop David Graves appointed Jack to serve as senior pastor at Providence UMC in 2018. 

Jack and his wife, Heather, have three sons: Bruce, Thomas and Josiah. Jack enjoys running, camping, playing any kind of sport, and refereeing the occasional high school soccer game.

Rev. Bob Sweet

Pastor Emeritus

Rev. Bob Sweet serves as pastor emeritus at Providence UMC. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1975, earned his “Wings of Gold” as a Navy pilot in 1976, and began a career in the Navy. He retired from the naval service in 1994 and enrolled in seminary at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated magna cum laude in 1997, earning a Master of Divinity. He was ordained an elder in the Alabama-West Florida Conference and has served several churches, including 10 years as pastor of Providence UMC. He and his wife, Rhoda, have three children and four grandchildren.