5 /5 Ché: TL;DR this church saved my faith. In 2020, discouraged by the lack of pastors preaching unity from the pulpit in the midst of racial tensions, I left the church altogether. I spent 2021 deconstructing a faith I’d been born into. After realizing that life without God in community is no better, I decided to dip my toe in church life again, and was led to Park Hill. By the grace of God, I entered a community group where the topics I was struggling with were directly addressed, and was even invited into the racial reconciliation cohort. Here, I had a safe space to wrestle through the issues that pushed me away from church in the first place. The lead pastors were even part of that cohort, not to speak and be heard but simply hear what the vulnerable members of their congregation had to say. I can tell you from experience, that this willingness to hear how the Church had done the vulnerable, wrong, is not a commitment I have seen at other places. The leadership leaning in and making change from the pulpit, preaching against division in this country and emphasizing God’s heart for unity through sound scripture, helped heal my heart for the church. I got to know the lead pastors from a few interactions over the years, and I can tell you that their heart is truly burdened for their flock and for sound biblical teaching in an increasingly divided landscape. To those who put down leadership behind the scenes: it’s true, they’re not perfect, and running any size church is hard. To the person who said the pastors walked right past you: have grace. New people come in all the time, and if you introduce yourself they will welcome you warmly. From my experience and that of many I had met there — genuine Christ followers trying to grow and learn and do better — Park Hill fosters environments that challenges us to put our flesh aside and grow as a body. We need more of this now, Christians unafraid to stand on scripture FOR people, not against them, than ever.
