Pastor's Blog

What to Say (But Mostly What Not to Say) to the Grieving*

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

Bible Reading and Devotional Recommendations for 2022

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 later

One year ago today, I was installed as Pastor of Evergreen PCA. It was an absolutely beautiful summer night.

The Giving of Offerings as an Element of Worship

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.

Pastor’s Book Recommendations

During Sunday School it is my custom to recommend books to those in class. Someone today recommended that I put all of my book recommendations together in one place so that those interested could find all of them easily. What follows is the recommendations I’ve made in the course of this year’s Sunday School class … Read More

Does God Intend Us to be United On Masks and Vaccines?

When the pandemic first began I think a lot of elders out there sensed that the unity of their churches would be tested by 2020 and 2021. I’m starting to believe that we are entering a new phase that is equally challenging.

Living as “Elect Exiles”

Christian, will you let God, not the news or pundits, remind you of who you are in this world? We do not live in an age of triumph and conquest; we live in an age where we are called to humble and persistent faithfulness.

Fencing the Table in the PCA and Church Membership

I have received numerous questions from members who are curious about our practice of what is called fencing the table. In the wording that I use, I say that if someone is a member of our church “or a member in good standing of another evangelical church” they are invited to the table. To some this may seem overly restrictive or judgmental – especially if they aren’t used to the practice of fencing the table.

On ‘Selfish’ church attendance

One of the current charges leveled against Christians (largely on social media, of course) is that Christians are being selfish by insisting on worshiping even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. My argument here is simply that for churches to meet during a time of pandemic is not necessarily selfish.