[At our congregational meeting on December 3rd, 2023 I presented to the Evergreen congregation the session’s plans to begin holding two identical worship services each morning beginning in January of 2024. This is a big change for any church, and so the following article is a distillation of what was said in that congregational meeting … Read More
There is an old joke (not very funny) that the thing that destroys churches is not theological controversy or scandal, but the age old question of what color the carpet ought to be. Every pastor knows that aesthetics and decoration can be a very fraught subject, and so we tend to fear it. However, I … Read More
In my sermon on Sunday, July 2nd, I made an unplanned comment that I’d like to clarify. In the context of the sermon I was discussing the “Secular Jesus Follower” movement. The people who participate in this movement appreciate some version of Jesus’ teaching but do not believe that he was who he claimed to … Read More
To the Editors of ByFaith, As the official magazine of the denomination of the Presbyterian Church in America, of which I am a teaching elder, I am concerned with the discernment you used in printing the recent article from David Cassidy titled “Prayer and Work in the Face of Violence” in which he called gun … Read More
Pastor Adam Parker My heart is very heavy. I’m referring, of course, to the shooting that took place at The Covenant School in Nashville, TN yesterday (March 27th). A 28 year old former student entered the school and fatally wounded three 9 year-olds, a custodian, a substitute, and the headmistress of the school before responding … Read More
Pastor Parker “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, for the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 A few weeks ago I wrote about the need for us to be thoughtful about our devotional habits in the new year – how will we be systematically reading Scripture and … Read More
Pastor Adam Parker When people are experiencing grief, we often may struggle with what to say, or how to treat them. Should we say something? Should we say nothing? How do we think about our own role as a brother or sister in Christ, especially to a fellow church member who is experiencing grief? To … Read More
Pastor Parker As we enter 2022, I am sure that we all need God’s word, and we need encouragement to immerse ourselves in it. We need our thoughts to be saturated in it, we need our hearts to be filled up with its message, and we need our prayers to be fueled by its truths. … Read More
One year ago today, I was installed as Pastor of Evergreen PCA. It was an absolutely beautiful summer night.
As the Pastor, I felt this would be a golden teaching opportunity for us to remember why the offering is included in our service to begin with, and why we don’t just continue to have the offering bag in the back of the sanctuary. While I suspect many of us like the “low pressure” approach to giving that this encourages, I also believe that this method of giving obscures the fact that giving really is a means of worshiping God and giving thanks to Him.
