A West Baltimore Church That Opens Wide Its Doors
On a corner of Edmondson Avenue in southwest Baltimore, set back from the street behind a stretch of front lawn, Hunting Ridge Presbyterian Church has spent more than nine decades as a quiet, persistent presence in the Hunting Ridge, Edmondson Village, and Ten Hills neighborhoods. The English Tudor building is large enough to house the congregation itself, a Falam-speaking fellowship from Myanmar, a Spanish-language Bible study, an Amharic Ethiopian Orthodox community, an after-school program, and a psychiatric rehabilitation program for youth and adults, all under one roof.
The church describes itself in three words: Welcoming. Compassionate. Diverse. That same triad shapes everything from the way guests are greeted at the door to the partnerships the congregation maintains from Baltimore to Cuba and Cameroon, and from the encouragement in its worship bulletins to the food drives it runs for the surrounding neighborhood.
From Lafayette Square to Hunting Ridge (1880 to Today)
Hunting Ridge traces its history back to 1880, when it began as Lafayette Square Presbyterian Church in another part of the city. In 1930 the congregation moved outside the city to its present location on Edmondson Avenue and renamed itself for the surrounding Hunting Ridge neighborhood. To honor that earlier chapter, members brought the marble baptismal font along to grace the new worship space, where it remains a link to the church's downtown origins.
Across the decades, Hunting Ridge has supported missionaries in Korea, Iran, Japan, Nepal, and Mexico. In the 1990s the members made a deliberate decision to become a multicultural congregation, celebrating the diversity of races and ethnic backgrounds that has become one of its most distinctive features. Today the church belongs to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is part of the Presbytery of Baltimore.
The congregation has long-standing ties with neighboring churches in southwest Baltimore. It has taken leadership roles in the Presbytery of Baltimore, and the local ecumenical relationships have shaped both the church's mission and its identity.
The English Tudor Building and Its Front Yard
The church's English Tudor building was set back from Edmondson Avenue so that a larger sanctuary could be built closer to the street in a later phase. That second phase never came, and the congregation is glad of it. The grassy front yard is now a place where children play after worship, and the single structure has proved roomy enough to share with a remarkable number of partners.
Inside, the sanctuary seats the main worshiping body and houses the historic marble baptismal font that traveled from Lafayette Square. A Fellowship Hall accommodates other gatherings, and a network of classrooms and meeting spaces supports the church's educational programming, community partners, and youth services throughout the week.
Sunday Morning at 11
Worship is at the heart of the week at Hunting Ridge. Sunday worship begins promptly at 11 a.m. in the sanctuary on level three of the Edmondson Avenue building. The service generally runs an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes and is also broadcast on Zoom, with a dial-in phone option for members without internet access.
Childcare is available for infants and children through kindergarten beginning at 10:45 a.m., allowing parents to settle in before the service begins. Older elementary children have their own dedicated hour on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from 10 to 11 a.m., when they gather for Kid's Time in the church's education wing.
The congregation that gathers on Sunday mornings reflects members from Haiti, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, the Dominican Republic, and the United States, among other places. The blended worship at 11 a.m. includes both centuries-old hymns and contemporary praise songs, with music that draws from the jazz, classical, and global traditions that shape the music director's own background.
Sermons at Hunting Ridge are preached with a relational and connective bent, linking Scripture to the lived realities of the surrounding neighborhood and the wider world. The pastor's preaching has explored an unusually broad sweep of themes across a single sermon series, from piety and reconciliation to stewardship, justice, race, and the everyday practice of following Jesus in a complicated city.
A Building That Shares Its Welcome
Few churches in Baltimore share their campus with as many neighbors as Hunting Ridge does. The building on Edmondson Avenue is home, in various time slots, to several other faith communities and human service programs:
- WIN Family Services, a community mental health provider offering psychiatric rehabilitation services to youth and adults with social, behavioral, and mental health conditions.
- Evangelical Baptist Church, a thriving congregation of immigrants from the mountainous regions of Myanmar, who worship in their native Falam language and fill the sanctuary at 1 p.m. each Sunday.
- Berea Centro de Oración y Estudio Bíblico, a Spanish-language Bible study and prayer fellowship that meets in the sanctuary on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 7 to 10 p.m.
- St. George Ethiopian Orthodox Church, an Amharic-speaking community that gathers in the Fellowship Hall at 6 a.m. on Sundays.
- An after-school program for neighborhood children.
- A psychiatric rehabilitation program for youth and adults.
The reach of the building extends a few blocks beyond its own walls. Hunting Ridge is one of eight congregations that make up the Rosemont Community Interfaith Coalition, working alongside faith communities about a mile and a half to the east to provide healthy, safe activities for children and senior adults in the Rosemont neighborhood. An outdoor summer camp organized through the coalition brings together children of multiple ethnic backgrounds for song, prayer, faith stories, and fun. Ongoing programs throughout the year include community movie nights, field trips, and a reading group for younger elementary students.
Presbyterian Identity and Beliefs
Hunting Ridge is a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA), part of the Presbytery of Baltimore. Its mission statement reads: As a welcoming, compassionate congregation that celebrates diversity, we glorify God through inspirational worship, intentional spiritual growth, and the continual pursuit of justice and peace.
In its teaching on what it means to be Presbyterian, the church highlights five core convictions shared across the denomination:
- God alone is Lord of all life.
- God's relationship with humanity is understood in terms of a covenant, a sacred promise.
- The congregation gratefully receives God's grace in Jesus Christ, God's Son and our Lord.
- Scripture shapes, forms, and informs the faith and life of the church.
- The Christian faith is lived out in the world through service, witness, and justice.
The name Presbyterian comes from the Greek word presbuteros, meaning elder, because each congregation is led by a group of male and female elders elected by the members. Hunting Ridge is governed by an active Session, with members ordained and installed in the congregation's regular worship services.
Worship at Hunting Ridge draws on the prayer patterns of scripture, the creeds and sacraments of the Reformed tradition, and the contribution of a musically diverse congregation. Communion is celebrated on a regular basis, and believers of all backgrounds are welcomed to the Lord's Table. Baptisms are performed in the sanctuary beside the marble font that traveled with the congregation from its Lafayette Square days.
The Cuba Connection: Sagua la Grande
One of Hunting Ridge's most distinctive long-term partnerships is with Sagua la Grande Presbyterian Church in the city of Sagua la Grande in central Cuba. The relationship began in 2014 and is built on shared prayer, exchanged letters, visits in both directions, and a deepened understanding of one another's life and ministry.
Members of the two congregations worship together when travel allows and stay in touch through correspondence between trips. The Cuban partners contribute a daily devotional, Su Voz, which is published online in both Spanish and English for use by the Baltimore congregation and anyone else who wants to follow along. The partnership has also opened doors for broader international connections. Hunting Ridge has been helping to fund the cost for the Sagua la Grande pastor to learn about connections between the Baltimore congregation and Christian communities in Ghana and Kenya, part of a broader effort to build relationships across continents.
Beyond Cuba, the church has maintained global mission relationships through denominational channels. Over the years it has partnered with PC(USA) mission efforts around the world, including support for communities in Cameroon through relationships such as the one with RELUFA, a Cameroonian network that works to combat systemic poverty, hunger, and environmental injustice.
Reaching Out in Baltimore and Beyond
The serving arm of the congregation is organized by a Justice and Peace team. Several long-standing local partnerships define that work:
- 40 West Assistance and Referral Center, the local food pantry and emergency assistance agency that serves residents of the 21229 and 21207 zip codes. Hunting Ridge helps stock the shelves through regular food collections and supports the agency financially each year.
- The Centsability offering, collected by the children of the congregation on the first Sunday of each month. Members set aside five cents for every meal they eat and pool those pennies to support local food pantries, soup kitchens, and feeding programs.
- My Brother's Keeper, a local soup kitchen and social service agency that helps neighbors find jobs and provides a midday meal. Hunting Ridge sends cooked food items and extras like fruit, vegetables, milk, and meats to be used for the lunch service.
- Thomas Jefferson Elementary/Middle School, which sits directly behind the church on Edmondson Avenue. The congregation collects school supplies, supports a uniform fund for students in need, and provides volunteer tutors, readers, and classroom helpers throughout the school year.
The church's outreach also extends through donations to RELUFA's work with internally displaced people, indigenous communities such as the Baka and Bagyeli, and food security initiatives in rural Cameroon.
Worship itself has a missional component. The Justice and Peace team organizes service opportunities and welcomes new volunteers for any of the partnerships listed above.
Music, Children, and the Next Generation
Music at Hunting Ridge is shaped by Craig Sparks, who serves as the Director of Music Ministry. A composer, vocalist, pianist, and conductor, Sparks also directs the Bowie Senior Chorale and leads his own jazz combo, The Craig Sparks Swingtet. He holds a bachelor of music degree from Towson University and a master's from the University of Pittsburgh, with a certificate in ethnomusicology focused on African music. That range of training shows up in the Sunday service, where jazz, classical, and global music all make their way into the musical life of the congregation.
Children are a significant part of the church's ministry. Childcare is offered for infants through kindergarten every Sunday beginning at 10:45 a.m. The Saturday Kid's Time gathers elementary-age children for faith formation on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from 10 to 11 a.m. The church also has a choir that welcomes young singers.
Middle and high school youth in grades six through twelve are invited to participate in youth group twice a month on Sunday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m., along with choir, missions and outreach activities, and preparation for confirmation. The church's youth ministry includes opportunities for intergenerational connection, including a church book group that meets to discuss books on faith and contemporary issues.
For adults, Creating Community meets at a local Dunkin' Donuts on Fridays from 10 to 11 a.m., an informal drop-in gathering open to anyone who would like to start the day with conversation over coffee.
First-Time Visitors: How to Find and Join Us
First-time visitors have a designated route through the building. Hunting Ridge sits at 4640 Edmondson Avenue, between Glen Allen Drive and Winans Way, in the Hunting Ridge community of southwest Baltimore City. Parking is available in the church lot, which is entered from Glen Allen Drive, with limited on-street parking on Winans Way as a backup.
There are two entrances:
- From Edmondson Avenue: enter through the double glass doors, take the elevator to level three, or walk up the stairs to the left.
- From Winans Way: enter through the wooden doors and take the stairs up to the sanctuary.
The HRPC Welcoming Team supports new members and guests throughout their first visits. Sunday services are available in person in the sanctuary, on Zoom (Meeting ID 578 492 595, Password Grace), and via dial-in (301 715 8592). Recordings of recent sermons are also available on the church's YouTube channel.
The church office is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Anyone interested in learning more about the church's ministries, arranging a visit, or finding a place to serve can reach the office at hrpc@hrpc.comcastbiz.net or by phone at 410-566-2926.
Beyond Sundays, the building offers other ways to enter the community. Visitors curious about a Sunday morning service can simply show up; those curious about mid-week life can stop by Creating Community on a Friday morning or reach out about joining a youth group, choir, or one of the regular food and school supply drives.
A Community Hub on Edmondson Avenue
In an era when many urban congregations have closed their doors or moved to the suburbs, Hunting Ridge has chosen a different path: keep the doors open, share the building, and look outward. The presence of so many other faith communities and human service programs under one roof reflects an understanding of the church that goes beyond Sunday attendance. As the congregation's mission statement puts it, Hunting Ridge glorifies God through inspirational worship, intentional spiritual growth, and the continual pursuit of justice and peace, in a southwest Baltimore neighborhood that is never quiet and never quite the same from one week to the next.
The members call it simply by its tagline: Welcoming. Compassionate. Diverse. Anyone driving past the corner of Edmondson Avenue and Glen Allen Drive on a Sunday morning will see why those words were chosen.