A Progressive Baptist Voice for Charlotte
Park Road emphasizes independent thought, community service, social justice, and interfaith understanding.
A Progressive Baptist Voice for Charlotte
Park Road emphasizes independent thought, community service, social justice, and interfaith understanding.
There's a place for you here ...
Russ and Amy Jacks Dean
Co-Pastors at Park Road
Park Road Baptist Church is a diverse community of individuals committed to supporting one another as we travel our own paths to truth, spiritual growth, and discovery of real meaning in our lives.
Park Road welcomes you no matter where you are in your faith journey or other churches you have attended. Do you have doubts? Questions about faith? Questions about organized religion? Or have you been a follower of Jesus for some time? We invite you come with us as we seek to experience God and to follow Jesus in ways that are relevant to our individual lives.
We’d love to have you join us on a Sunday morning so we can meet in person and perhaps travel this path together.
Grace and peace to you.
Russ and Amy Jacks Dean
Our Core Commitments
Believing in the inherent worth of all people, we base our core commitments on the ethic of love, which we have experienced in the life of Jesus.
Our Core Commitments
Believing in the inherent worth of all people, we base our core commitments on the ethic of love, which we have experienced in the life of Jesus.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
As Christians, we are committed to follow Jesus’ command from Mark 12.30–31. This verse forms the basis for our core commitments to our faith; to our community; and to each other...
…WITH ALL YOUr Heart:
Park Road Baptist Church is a warm, caring, inter-generational community in south Charlotte. Members know and love one another, care for each other in times of need and reach out to people beyond our walls.
...with all your Soul:
Park Road values “soul freedom.” Members are responsible for their own spiritual understanding and growth in an environment which encourages discernment and exploration. Not all churches encourage such independence of thought - Park Road does.
...with all your MIND:
Park Road is a thinking congregation. Members express diverse theological perspectives but approach faith with an open mind, acknowledging other perspectives and appreciating the insights of all religious traditions.
...with all your STRENGTH:
Park Road is an active congregation. Members are active in missions, from a local elementary school to our Cuban church partnership, believing in a social gospel that changes communities and systems, not just individual hearts.
…and you shall love your NEIGHBOR:
Park Road is an inclusive, open, affirming, and accepting community. We open our campus facilities to a variety of community organizations, reach out to our unhoused neighbors through several ministries and work with members of other faith traditions to foster understanding and cooperation.
Our Story
Park Road offers an outspoken voice on the issues of the day while promoting social justice and the equality of all persons.
Our Story
Park Road offers an outspoken voice on the issues of the day while promoting social justice and the equality of all persons.
Park Road Baptist Church was founded in Charlotte, NC in 1950 to minister to the growing neighborhood on Park Road. Since the 1960's, Park Road Baptist has challenged its members to be at the forefront of social issues in our community. We have been a historic leader among Charlotte churches in promoting social justice and the equality of all persons.
Our congregation actively supported the Civil Rights Movement, opened the first interracial church Child Development Center in the city, was one of the first Baptist congregations in North Carolina to recognize the ordination of women, has championed the cause of recognizing same sex marriage, and we work everyday with those suffering the effects of the growing economic inequalities in our country.
Any person, regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender identity or non-gender identity, socio-economic status, or theological belief, who seeks to live in Christian community will find welcome here.
“We invite you to be part of our history as we continue our journey towards truth, justice, love and compassion for all peoples.”
Today, Park Road is a vital congregation of almost 500 members, averaging about 160 in worship each Sunday morning. Our campus is used every day not only for our own activities, but also by our various campus partners.
Community is important to our congregation. Our commitment to one another is based on the trust, mutual respect, and honesty that are essential to our vision of Church. Within a community based on such commitments, there is room for great diversity. Any person, regardless of race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or theological belief, who seeks to live in Christian community will find welcome here.
One of the hallmarks of this congregation is its commitment to open theological discourse, with members of the larger Christian community as well as with those representing other faith traditions. We are open to seeking truth wherever it might take us, even if this means beyond the scope of traditionally formulated doctrines.
Members of this congregation represent a broad theological spectrum, ranging from the very liberal to the traditionally conservative.
Progressive Baptists
Baptists have always been independent-minded and you will find that independence and freedom of thought celebrated at Park Road.
Progressive Baptists
Baptists have always been independent-minded and you will find that independence and freedom of thought celebrated at Park Road.
Park Road claims a heritage of “free and faithful Baptists” with great pride, emphasizing historic Baptist principles such as the autonomy (freedom) of the local church, the freedom of scriptural interpretation, the freedom of believers to minister to themselves and to one another, and the separation of church and state.
Park Road is an open, affirming, and accepting community. Park Road expressly welcomes all people, into full membership, participation, and leadership including communion, baptisms, ordinations, weddings, and funerals. We are a welcoming and affirming community of faith committed to creating a safe space for LGBTQIA+ members, while encouraging all to live as their authentic selves.
Because of our longstanding commitment to the ordination of women into all forms of Christian service, and due to the increasingly conservative movement of the Southern Baptist Convention, Park Road withdrew all formal support for the SBC in 2007.
In 2003, Park Road decided to adopt multiple affiliations that better represented the diversity of thought, inclusive nature, progressive theology of our church. Our current denominational affiliations are Alliance of Baptists, United Baptist Association, and Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.
