Formation of the
Southern Hills Parish

One of the successes in the Presbytery of Ohio Valley has been the development of multi-church parishes. While the need for these parishes arises because of financial challenges, opportunities for fellowship and mutual ministries soon emerge. The Southern Hills Parish is one such endeavor. The five member congregations trace their ties to the 1940’s, when they and eight others formed the Todd-Dickey Rural Training Parish, a cooperative effort of one of our predecessor presbyteries and Louisville Seminary. The partnership lasted for over twenty years, and is remembered fondly by those who were part of it.

With upcoming pastoral vacancies in these five churches, conversations began among presbytery leaders to build upon those ties. We invited each session to send three representatives to form an exploratory council. Months of group building, conversing, budgeting, and planning led to a formal decision by each congregation to join the parish, commit to a three year plan, and ask the presbytery to assist in the search for an organizing parish pastor. This pastor will preach in each congregation monthly, and will serve as head of staff for the seminary students, retired pastors, and ruling elders who will help fill the pulpits. Congregations will host one another for special services, Bible studies, and joint fellowship events. Officers and members will be equipped and encouraged to participate in the ministry of pastoral care. Other nearby congregations may also be invited to join the parish as pastoral leadership transitions occur.

Elders Jean (a certified coach) and Mike (a commissioned ruling elder) Beaver have been facilitating the work of the exploratory council. "We helped set the table by providing encouragement and guidance, but they have created this parish. They have embraced their cultural differences and built on the similarities. They saw what a rich, vital and cohesive entity the parish was becoming, and they began to infuse their culture into that bigger entity. It has been an exercise in pure joy."

Jean goes on to say:

"Forming the Southern Hills Parish is much like the parable of the mustard seed, particularly as the parable speaks of faith and hope. As liberation theologian Rubem Alves said, ’Hope is hearing the melody of the future. Faith is to dance to it.’

"As the three representatives from each church worked together in the formation of the parish, they proudly designed a parish that was their hope for the future. Indeed, they began to clearly hear the "melody" of that future. With each meeting, each decision point, and each step forward they grew in that hope. They bonded together in deeper ways as each voice was heard and each idea honored while acknowledging unequivocally that they were walking hand in hand with the Holy Spirit on their journey.

"Now, as these churches ’dance in faith’ to the melody of their future parish, much of that faith is knowing that God will send the pastor who will lead them in deepening their spiritual growth, broadening their service to those in need, and strengthening their dedication to living out lives Jesus would have them live."