Staff

A native of Rincon Georgia, Rusty moved to Prattville, Alabama, at the age of 12 and graduated from Autauga County High School in Prattville, Alabama. Rusty received his Associate of Arts degree from Clarke College in Newton, Mississippi and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Mobile College. Rusty began his seminary education at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary receiving his Master of Divinity and then his Doctor of Ministry at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.

Rusty has served as Pastor of Providence since May, 1984.

He and his wife, Gina, have two children, and one grandchild, Megan, Zack and his wife Tracy and their son, Jackson.

Bro. Chuck has been with PBC either part or full time since 2004. He graduated from Leavell College of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2008 with a B.A. in Christian Ministries and in 2019 with a Masters Of Theology from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Bro. Chuck has been married to Karesa since 1987 and they have two daughters, Jessi (Michael) and Kadie (Dustin) and, three grandchildren, Lyla, Charli and Wyatt.

Bro. Chuck accepted the call to ministry and has served his entire time as a minister here at PBC.

Coming to Auburn University in 1972 as Director Choral Activities, Tom Smith served briefly as Interim Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Auburn. In 1974, he answered the call to become Minister of Music at Providence. He and his wife, Gayle, have been a part of the Providence family since that time. Their two children, Marisha and Eron, also were an active part of Providence during their “growing up’ years. Now married, Marisha and Roby Robinson have two children, Ella and Luke. Eron is married to Mary and they have four children, Zoe, Juliette, River, and Oaklen. Tom has a B.M. degree in Church Music from Samford University, a M.A. degree in Music Theory from the University of Iowa, and the D.M.A. from the University of Colorado. In addition to his work at Providence, Tom is Professor Emeritus of Music at Auburn University, and is conductor of both the East Alabama Youth Chorale and the Alabama Singing Men.

Deana, a native of Enterprise, Alabama, began her ministry at Providence in 1984. She served as the church pianist and her soon-to-be husband, Greg, served as the Youth Minister. Deana earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Auburn University, and taught school for twenty years. She retired from teaching in 2010 and worked as a church secretary in various ministry rolls over the next ten years. During this time, God opened the doors for Deana to work with senior adults, which she believes is the calling the Lord has on her life.

Deana has four children: Sydni (Justin) Boyd, Drew (Leslie) Stone, Kendall (Derek) McFarland, and Chloe Stone. She also has three wonderful grandchildren, Brenn, Stone, and Maebry, and a fourth grand on the way.

Jennifer, having grown up in the Providence family, officially joined the Providence staff in August of 1991. Jennifer’s family dates back to the early years of Providence as does her husband, Tim’s family. Jennifer and Tim have married children, Nathan (Morgan) and Alison (Marc) and four grandchildren, Bayleigh and Grayson, Keegan and Keely. Jennifer, a native of the Beauregard community, graduated from Beauregard High School and studied Computer Science at SUSCC. She is Administrative Assistant and serves as the Church Clerk. Jennifer is grateful to work with the media outreach of the church and with the children’s and preschool departments.

Gayle is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. She graduated from Samford University with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education. She holds a Master of Music Degree from Auburn University. After teaching in the schools of Florida, Colorado, Opelika, and Auburn, she retired from full-time teaching in 2006 and taught part-time at Chattahoochee Valley Community College until 2015. Gayle is the director of Alabama Singing Women, the state Baptist choir for women, and the founding director of the East Alabama Children’s Choir.

She and her husband, Tom, are celebrating 52 years of marriage. They have two married children and six grandchildren. Their family has been active at Providence for forty-six years. She is the Discipleship leader and interim organist at Providence.