Serving with the Park Kids Team

This past Sunday, September 22, Gary gave an announcement about serving on the Park Kids Team. We’ve set a goal of adding 40 Park Kids Team members to be prepared for the fall. Use the video linked above to learn why this Team matters so much to our church family.

New to Park Church and our Teams? The Park Kids Team is a community that grows as leaders and helps establish the next generation of believers. To join us in the communal joy of showing kids the Gospel, learn more and apply using the button below.

Learn More & Apply

Jason Procopio Update: July 2024

On Sunday, July 21, one of our longest-standing global missions partners was able to join us in person. Jason Procopio and his family have been faithfully serving and planting churches in the heart of Paris, France for more than ten years. Jason updated us on Église Connexion, their exciting, missional growth as a church, and their current opportunity to secure a permanent location in the middle of Paris.

Watch the video above to learn more!

New Elders: Dan Boryla & Chance Coe

On Sunday, May 26, we had the joy of ordaining two new elders at Park Church: Dan Boryla and Chance Coe.

What are Elders?

Elders at Park Church bear covenantal responsibility for the local church and are charged by God to serve the church by providing shepherding care, theological leadership, and organizational oversight as we pursue our mission together. The overall set of responsibilities incumbent upon the elders includes four primary areas: to know, feed, lead, and protect this local expression of God’s people under their shepherding care.

Learn more about Eldership at Park Church using the button below.

Eldership at Park Church

Jennifer Hudson’s Sabbatical

This Sunday, May 5, we were happy to announce that Jennifer Hudson, Director of Park College and our Residency Program, is entering a three-month Sabbatical starting this week.

A sabbatical is a extended period of rest, rejuvenation, and reconnection with God and with family. It’s considered a “best practice” in healthy churches to send pastors and staff on sabbaticals periodically (at Park Church, this is every seven years). Watch the video of Jennifer’s Sabbatical “sending” above to learn more, and contact Neil Long, Executive Pastor, with any questions at neil@parkchurch.org.

Please join us in prayer for Jennifer and Jonny during this time! We’re grateful for the opportunity to send them and we look forward to what God will do in their lives.

Brooke Frazier on Parenting Safe Children

A word from a Park Church parent and leader on why to consider joining us for Parenting Safe Children, a one-day workshop to train parents and those who work with kids in how to prevent the sexual abuse of children in our homes and church.

 

Parenting Safe Children Seminar

Sunday, January 27 • 9am–3pm

RSVP Now

World Vision Impact Update: 2023

On Sunday, January 14, we were joined by Dave Wagner from World Vision for an update on Park Church’s impact through World Vision in 2023 (including our Colfax Marathon team!). If you missed that, use the video above! To keep up with World Vision’s ongoing work in Morungatuny, Uganda, bookmark this page.

2024 Colfax Marathon Team

We’re running for World Vision again on May 19, 2024. To learn more or to sign up to join us, click here!

Prayer: Asking Through Scripture

When we ask things of God in prayer, praying with and through God’s Word helps us be in line with God’s will. Though in some traditions it appears “fake” to have a written prayer that isn’t “straight from the heart,” many Biblical examples of petitions before God show careful structure and deliberate thought. While God certainly hears our prayer whether we speak stream-of-consciousness or take the time to write our prayer, pleading our case with more intentionality, using patterns of prayer from Scripture can guide our thoughts and instruct us toward a healthy posture before God.

With the work of Rebecca Olsen from our Storytelling Team, we’ve created a guide for anyone who would like a resource for writing their own prayers of petition from Scripture. Additionally, we’ve written and collected similar prayers from members of our community, demonstrating from our own stories how Scripture can guide us in our asking, from the biggest requests to our everyday sustenance.

Download Guide (PDF)

Scriptural Prayers of Petition from our Community

Madelyn St Clair: On Homelessness

Psalm 91, 136; Matthew 10

Sovereign God, would You save Your people living in the streets?
Keep the darkness from surrounding them,
We beg for Your light to shine through

Hear our prayer Lord
See Your people

Would Your people know You love them:
You’ve numbered all the hairs on their head
Your steadfast love endures forever

They have a home in You
Would that feel true

Your Word says we will not fear the terror of the night
For we are hidden under the shadow of Your wing.
Would we find refuge in that?

Lord, do what only You can do
Would You shelter them
Would You save them
Would You bring them into Your family?
You’re the only one who can

Father of orphans, Prince of peace, God With Us,
You are our Sovereign God and Sovereign over this too.

Rebecca Olson: For a Friend in Perpetual Seasons of Challenge

Luke 9

Father, my heart breaks for my friend who has experienced so many difficult seasons. It seems she never gets a break from one great sorrow or stress to the next. Like the man in Luke 9, I ask that all of her hardship would be for the purpose of displaying your works in her life. May her life shine brilliantly with the goodness of your hand guiding her in her hardships.

Rebecca Olson: General Asking from the Lord’s Prayer and High Priestly Prayer

Matthew 6, John 17

Our Father in heaven, we praise your holy name. You, in your kindness and goodness, have taught us to pray in this way, and so today we ask that your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth, amongst Park Church, as it is in heaven.

Lord, just as Jesus prayed for us, we pray that we would know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent, that by knowing this we would glorify you for all eternity.

Oh Father, but yet for a little while we are still in this world, and we ask for your protection. Protect us by the power of your name so that we might be one. The evil one comes to steal and kill and destroy, and we need your protection. Save us from lies that steal our joy, kill our hope, and destroy our love for one another. Teach us more of your word, which is truth, and make us holy, set apart for you through that Truth.

Father, give us our daily bread. We have nowhere else to go for our daily bread, for you are our bread of life. Give us everything we need for today; patience in traffic, gentleness with our loved ones, peace about the week to come, and self-control tonight when we’ve allowed our exhaustion to weaken our reserve to get to bed on time.

Forgive us our debts, the things we have done and the things we have left undone. As we remember the grace we have received from you, remind us to give grace generously to those around us, even to those who have sinned against us.

Father, we are but little children, so please deliver us from temptations and crippling doubt. We want to be known in our homes, our church, and our community for our love that comes straight from you.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.

Gary McQuinn: Petition for Unity in the Body of Christ

John 17, Matthew 6, Ephesians 4

Father, Son, Spirit. One God in three Persons. You exist in perfect Unity. You’ve created us to reflect Your communal love and harmonious unity in diversity. But in sin and selfishness we are prone to divisions.

Jesus, You laid down Your life to show us love and to bind us together in covenant love. You said the world will know that we are Your disciples by our love for one another. And You said that our oneness would help the world know that You were sent by the Father to restore the kingdom.

Help our church to be one. Even as You and the Father are one. (John 17)

Deliver us from the evil one; his schemes and his designs to divide and destroy what You are building. (Matthew 6)

Help us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4)


Back to Series Page

Prayer: A Liturgy of Rejoicing

Although there is so much to rejoice in together, we chose a handful of truths and stories from our community that cause us to remember characteristics of God. We celebrated with this call-and-response liturgy, led by Kira Lang from our Storytelling team.


Leader:
For the colors, climate, mountains, and meadows of our state all declaring the handiwork of God, for the rain this summer, and the opportunity to see the bounty of flowers and plants in our backyards.

Congregation:
We rejoice in God’s delight in beauty!

Leader:
For the many groups at Park Church that focus on loving and sharing the Gospel with their communities:

For the numerous volunteer leaders at Park Kids, Park Students, and Park College who enthusiastically give to the next generation, bearing the image of God in love.

For the 16 people this spring who joined Alpha—a safe space to discuss what it means to follow Jesus—wherein two made decisions to follow Him. For the GCs and individuals who supported Alpha though providing meals and more.

For the consistency and support MomLife has provided in serving the moms of our church and our neighborhoods, and for the selfless and passionate moms who have made MomLife happen.

Congregation:
We rejoice in God’s pursuit of people He loves through volunteer leaders in our community!

Leader:
Because, after many years of prayer and faithful work, last Sunday the Bartol family celebrated the first gathering their long-dreamt church plant in Olomouc, in the Czech Republic, which is the only country in Europe where the majority of people identify as non-religious.

Congregation:
We rejoice in God’s pursuit of people He loves through missionaries abroad!

Leader:
Because a member of our congregation who came to know Jesus several years ago has now had the opportunity and support systems to walk with his brother as he’s turned from drug addiction, causing a chain reaction in their family.

Congregation:
We rejoice in God’s rescuing love, both for this family and for each of us who are in Christ!