The Scriptures
The Bible is the Word of God — fully trustworthy and our final authority for what we believe and how we live.
Who we are
Reformed. Confessional. Rooted in Christ.
A confessional, Reformed congregation (PCA) gathered weekly in Killeen, Texas — and a church plant still taking root, with room for you to help build it.
Why we're here
A mission work in a strategic place.
To build a faithful, confessional church that will reach Killeen and the soldiers and families of Fort Hood with the gospel of Christ — for generations to come.
Hill Country Church is a church plant — a mission work of the North Texas Presbytery (PCA). We are the only confessionally Reformed congregation sitting right beside one of the largest military communities in the country, and we are convinced that God has placed us in this unusually strategic spot for the gospel.
Being a church plant means we are not a finished product. We don't yet have the building, the programs, and the ministries you would find at a large, established church — and that is part of the invitation. We are laying a foundation, and we are looking for people who are ready to roll up their sleeves and help build something that will outlast us all.
If you are looking for a place to be needed, not just to attend, we would love to build alongside you.
Many who worship with us are soldiers and families stationed at Fort Hood — if that's you, we'd love to be your church home in Killeen.
What we believe
Old truths, for every generation.
We hold to the faith the church has confessed for centuries — summarized in the Westminster Standards and shared across the Presbyterian Church in America. There are other Reformed-leaning churches in our area; what makes us distinct is that we are a confessional one.
The Gospel of Grace
We are saved not by our own effort but by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone — to the glory of God alone.
The Reformed Faith
We confess the historic Reformed faith as summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms — the same standards held across the PCA, OPC, RPCNA, and ARP.
Visiting from another tradition?
A familiar home for confessional Christians.
If you've worshiped in a confessional Reformed or Presbyterian church — the OPC, RPCNA, ARP, URCNA, or another NAPARC denomination — and the Army (or life) has brought you to Central Texas, you'll find familiar ground here: the Westminster Standards, Reformed preaching, the historic shape of worship, and a covenant community that takes membership seriously. As a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, we share that confessional heritage, and we'd be glad to be your church home while you're here. If you're transferring from another NAPARC church, we warmly receive letters of transfer.
Leadership · Our Stated Supply
Rev. Jeff Shamess.
Jeff Shamess serves as the stated supply of Hill Country Church. A 2001 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, he served as an Air Force officer before being called to ministry, earning his Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in 2013. He then served as one of the pastors of Harvest Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for six years.
In 2017 Jeff answered a call to the military chaplaincy and today serves as an active-duty Army chaplain, walking alongside soldiers and their families at Fort Bragg, Fort Carson, and now Fort Hood — which gives him a particular heart for the military community of Killeen, who know the moves, the deployments, and the longing for a church home.
Jeff and his wife, Jenny, have been married for twenty-three years and have five children — Miriam, Jacob, Esther, Daniel, and Sophianna. Jenny loves to garden and Jeff to get to the gym, and as a family they are happiest playing soccer, hiking a trail, or spending the day at the beach — their favorite place in the world.
Leadership · Our Session
Provisional Session
As a church plant (or "mission" church), Hill Country Church (PCA) is led by a provisional session of pastors and ruling elders drawn from the North Texas Presbytery — reflecting our Presbyterian conviction that the local church is accountable to, and cared for by, the larger body of Christ.
Teaching Elder
Rev. Jeff Shamess
Ruling Elder & Moderator
Mr. Bill Thomas
Teaching Elder
Rev. James Poteet II
Teaching Elder (Retired)
Rev. Lou Best
A mission work of the North Texas Presbytery
Hill Country Church is a church plant of the North Texas Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Until we are organized as a particular church with our own elected elders, the presbytery shepherds and oversees our life and doctrine.
Come worship with us.
We'd love to meet you. Join us this Sunday at 10:30 AM.