about us

The River South story, our history

At Christmas 2000 a new congregation was founded by First Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge in Prairieville, LA just across the parish line of East Baton Rouge Parish in Ascension Parish. It was named River Community Church. First Presbyterian contributed about 50 members to help it get started. The pastor of the new church was (is) Garnett Slatton, one of the Associate Pastors at First Presbyterian where Russ Stevenson was pastor.

Russ served as pastor of First Presbyterian for 20 years. He retired in October of 2004 and with his wife Sherrill went to northern New York State for 8 months, where he wrote a book. While there Garnett Slatton invited him to begin another church in Ascension Parish 15 miles further toward New Orleans on the I-10 corridor.  Russ agreed and settled with his wife in Pelican Point, a growing development in the area. They moved in the summer of 2005 and began work on founding a new congregation with River Community Church serving as the “mother church”— as First Presbyterian had served for River Community Church five years earlier. The new church is called River Community Church South.

Two Bible studies were begun in the Fall of 2005, and in January of 2006 Russ taught an “Alpha Course” in the Pelican Point Clubhouse, attended by 50-70 folks—over half of them Catholic—who were invited to join the course with the understanding that they were simply interested in the learning it afforded, rather than in leaving the Catholic Church to become part of the new congregation.

At Easter, 2006, River Community Church South held it’s first regular worship service in the “Old Schoolhouse” of the Cabin Restaurant at the intersection of Routes 44 and 22 in Ascension Parish.  The schoolhouse has a venerable history as the first school for the children of freed slaves in the State of Louisiana.  The building was originally built in Convent, LA, by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1865.  Only recently has it been moved from Convent to the property of the Cabin Restaurant.  Now a new church meets in it, an old building with an ancient and honored legacy.

Services are at 10:30 a.m. with a Sunday School for children meeting at the same time in another building.  Sunday School meets concurrently with the worship service.

The River South staff, new faces

Russ Stevenson, (second from left), River South pastor, is a graduate of Princeton University, Fuller Seminary and Princeton Seminary.  He has served as pastor of churches in Tupper Lake, NY, Niagara Falls, NY, and First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge, a church of 1600 members. He and his wife Sherrill (second from right) have four married daughters and twenty-one grandchildren. Just last year, Russ and Sherrill moved into their home in Pelican Point and are Cabin Restaurant neighbors.  Sherrill serves as Russ’ volunteer secretary.

Worship director Steve Wallace (at far left) was Director of Student Ministries at River Community Church just prior to joining the staff at River South.  Steve is a graduate of UT at Dallas, studied at Reformed Theological Seminary, and is currently in a Masters Degree program at Indiana Weslyan University.  He has served in the ministry for thirty years, and also works as a writer. He and his wife, Carole, River South’s Media Coordinator, (far right) have three adult children—two married, one a sophomore at LSU.  They have two grandchildren.