Mountain Park United Methodist Church sits on Rockbridge Road Southwest in Stone Mountain, a community it has served for more than six decades. The two Sunday worship services, the Wednesday night table, the Mountain Park Preschool out front, and the small groups meeting all over the campus give the church a rhythm that residents of Stone Mountain and nearby Lilburn have come to rely on. Its motto, painted across its mission statement and spoken from the pulpit, captures the whole effort: Living Jesus. Loving Community.
Living Jesus. Loving Community.
Everything the church does flows from a short mission: connecting communities with Jesus to transform lives. In its own words, "at Mountain Park United Methodist Church, we believe God's love is wider than our divisions and deeper than our differences." Because every person is created by God and beloved by God, members strive to be a community where all people are welcomed with hospitality, treated with respect, and invited to participate fully in the life of the church.
The vision is built on three movements: gather, grow, and go. The church gathers to build Christian community, grows to become more faithful followers of Jesus, and goes to serve and love all people in Jesus' name. Five core values flow from that vision: engaging worship, intentional discipleship, life-changing service, a thriving next generation, and radical welcome.
The church has named 2026 as a year to "grow young," investing intentionally in children, youth, and young adults. A goal sheet, ministry council minutes, and regular meetings are all part of how the congregation lives into its calling.
Two Sunday Services, One Worshiping Family
Sundays at Mountain Park UMC begin at 11:00 AM and run through noon. Two distinct services share the same hour.
The Traditional Worship Service takes place in the Sanctuary and is led by Dr. David Walters, Director of Traditional Worship. Sacred hymns fill the room, supported by choirs, organ, piano, and other instruments. Lyrics, prayers, and liturgy are projected on screens so that visitors and members can sing or simply follow along. The service is livestreamed on the Mountain Park UMC Traditional Worship YouTube channel, and a worship guide is available for those joining from home.
The Contemporary Worship Service takes place in the Family Life Center, led by Rev. Joe Lee, Associate Pastor, and Rontray Miller II, Director of Contemporary Music. The musical style is similar to what might be heard at a modern praise service, supported by vocalists, keyboard, guitars, drums, and other instruments. Lyrics and liturgy are again projected on screens, and the service is livestreamed on a separate Contemporary Worship YouTube channel.
From time to time the two services combine into a Unified Worship Service, alternating or blending traditions depending on the focus of the day. World Communion Sunday, Back to School Sunday with Blessing of the Backpacks, and Christmas Worship and Brunch are examples of these gatherings. The purpose is to gather the church family together for unity in Christ and fellowship.
Casual dress is the welcome at every church. The atmosphere, in the church's own words, is "exciting, casual, and welcoming." Newcomers are invited to come as they are and expect to be greeted as guests when they step onto the campus or watch online.
Children in the Park
Children have a dedicated space called the Park, an indoor Park-themed room down the hallway from the front office. Worship in the Park (WitP) meets every Sunday at 10:45 AM during the 11:00 AM worship services for children in Kindergarten through fifth grade. The Park gives kids a place to worship and develop a growing relationship with Jesus on their own level.
Nursery care is offered for infants through two-year-olds during both worship services. For a child's first visit, families are asked to arrive ten minutes early for the check-in process, which the church prioritizes for safety.
Sixth through twelfth graders are encouraged to worship with their families in the service of their choice during the Sunday morning hour. Their own programming takes place on Sunday evenings.
Sunday Night Youth
Middle and high school students gather for Sunday Night Youth from 5:00 to 7:00 PM in the Youth Room during the school year, pausing for holidays and the summer. Programs include worship nights (often student-led), game nights, service projects, and activities around the community. Grace Norton-Rogers, Director of Youth Ministry, focuses the program on four pillars: fellowship, discipleship, service, and worship.
The church also hosts the Kumanta Youth Choir, founded in 2023 by a group of Filipino American mothers and their children who shared a love of music and community. Kumanta rehearses on Saturday afternoons, performs at church concerts, and welcomes new members ages 7 to 17, regardless of prior choir experience.
A Church That Grew from Eleven
Mountain Park UMC was planted on April 12, 1964, when eleven Christians gathered with a vision of planting a Methodist church in the Stone Mountain area. The founders hoped the church, much like the mountain, would be a place of God's majesty and glory. From the beginning, the small congregation understood that the church was called to serve rather than to be served.
Rev. Charles W. Barnes, who served as pastor from 1971 to 1980, later wrote that the small group he found when he arrived understood their church was supposed to serve rather than to be served. "A history of mission was established, and that emphasis has grown ever since," he wrote. "From supporting the local Co-Op to feeding hungry children through Lunches of Love, to establishing ministries in Kenya and Honduras and our support of the Methodist University in Africa. Mountain Park has become a leader among congregations in local, national, and world outreach."
The Legacy Fund was established to ensure the continuity and financial viability of Mountain Park UMC so that the vision of those eleven founding members might be realized for generations to come.
Wednesday Night Dinner and the Family Life Center
The Family Life Center is the busiest room on campus on Wednesdays. At 5:30 PM, Ferrell Wooten and an all-volunteer staff begin serving the Wednesday Night Dinner, billed as "the best food value anywhere in Atlanta." Adults eat for $9, children for $3, and families of two adults and two children for $20. The dinner runs from 5:30 to 6:30 PM, and an online menu is published each week.
After dinner, the upper education building hosts a series of rotating adult studies. Recent offerings have included the Agape Reconciling Community's six-week study on the United Methodist Social Principles, a six-week Bible study called "From Tent Dwellers to Tentmakers: How Ancient Hebrews Became Jews and Christians," led by Rev. Tom Edmondson and Dr. Millie Kim, and other small group series. The church describes Wednesday nights as a time to gather, eat, and learn together.
Sunday School for Every Generation
Sunday mornings from 9:45 to 10:45 AM are reserved for Sunday School, called Small Groups or Life Groups by the church. Classes meet across the campus in rooms named for those who shaped the church's history.
- The Barnabites-Friendship Class (Upper Education Hall, Room 203/205) is named for Rev. Charles Barnes, pastor from 1971 to 1980, known for his persistent hospitality. Average size of class: 20 to 25.
- The Herb Chisenhall Class (Rooms 206/208) honors the pastor who served from 1988 to 1992 and challenges members to go deeper through Bible and book studies.
- The New Song Class (Room 209) focuses on a weekly book study and is largely composed of joyfully retired members.
- The Sam Howson Class (Room 211) honors a beloved member whose life of generosity shaped the church's outreach to the homeless.
- The Sarah Johnson Class (Lower Main Building, Room 133) is one of the longest running classes, currently studying the Psalms.
- The Seekers Class (Room 212), the Younglings Class (Room 128), and the Drop-In Bible Study (the Parlor) offer more informal, contemporary, and conversational settings.
- The Son-Shine Class (Room 216) welcomes adults with developmental challenges and uses the "Access" curriculum.
Music as a Form of Gathering
Music is treated as a ministry of its own at Mountain Park UMC. The Chancel Choir is a mixed ensemble open to adults of all voice types and experience levels, rehearsing Wednesdays at 7:00 PM and singing at the 11:00 AM Traditional service each Sunday. The Festival Chorus convenes twice a year, ahead of the Christmas and Spring Concerts, and welcomes singers from the church and the wider community for a limited engagement. The Handbell Choir features a 5-octave set of Schulmerich handbells and a 4-octave set of hand chimes, rehearsing Sundays from 3:00 to 4:30 PM.
Each year the Mountain Park Concert Series presents the Christmas and Spring Concerts, benefit performances that feature the Festival Chorus and guest artists from around the Atlanta area. The Stone Mountain String Summit, hosted at the church, welcomes adult string players of every level for a weekend of rehearsing, performing, and connecting.
The Amplify ATL Youth Chorus kicks off its season each fall with an open rehearsal at the church. Dr. David Walters oversees the traditional music program, while Rontray Miller II brings experience as a conductor, vocal performer with the Kinnara professional chamber ensemble, and director of the Stone Mountain Chorus to the contemporary side.
Serving Stone Mountain and the World
The church lives out its mission through a fleet of serve partnerships serving stone Mountain, Atlanta metro, the greater Gwinnett area, and several international locations.
The Lilburn Cooperative Ministry partnership helps provide food, clothing, rent, and utility assistance to Gwinnett County residents. The church gives a financial donation from its budget each month to support the Co-Op, and members donate food and volunteer service.
Lunches of Love, in partnership with Action Ministries' "Smart Lunch, Smart Kid" program, makes hundreds of lunches each morning during the summer and delivers them to children in the Stone Mountain area who receive free and reduced-price lunches during the school year. Over the past eight years the program has served more than 100,000 lunches to children in need.
Trinity Table sends volunteers into downtown Atlanta twice a year to serve hot meals and to-go food bags to the homeless at Trinity United Methodist Church. Volunteers cook, serve, donate food, and provide new men's underwear.
The Honduras Team makes an annual eight-day mission trip to serve through construction and Bible School lessons. The Kenya Team partners with the Kenya Project to support Mountain Park Academy, providing education and meals to more than 900 children. Sponsorship is available at $30 per month to cover school fees, uniforms, and two meals a day. A trade school has opened for children who do not pass the eighth grade and for high school graduates.
The Appalachia Service Project (ASP) sends teams each summer to Central Appalachia to make homes warmer, safer, and drier for the winter months. The trip is open to anyone in sixth grade and up, with a special emphasis on youth. Heaven's Helpers provides repairs, light construction, and ramps for church members, locals, and seniors in the Gwinnett area.
The church also hosts the annual Lilburn Co-op Golf Tournament Fundraiser, supports the Sari-Sari World Holiday Market (a celebration of Filipino Christmas traditions and global holiday cultures), and offers free American Red Cross Blood Drives several times each year.
Becoming a Church for a Diverse Community
Mountain Park UMC has taken intentional steps to live into its commitment to radical welcome. The Agape Reconciling Community (ARC) is a group of members leading efforts to understand the needs of the LGBTQUIA+ community and to serve them accordingly. ARC hosts group studies, documentary screenings with discussion, and discernment gatherings.
The Be the Bridge initiative is a growing group of members who use Be the Bridge resources to learn about racial reconciliation and engage in helpful ways. The church recognizes the range of ethnic diversity in the surrounding communities and seeks to reflect that diversity within the congregation.
The Fresh Expressions team hosts Global Grub, a Friday night dinner experience that walks through the food and stories of a different country each time. Recent Global Grub evenings have featured Sudan, Honduras, and an upcoming series of countries from around the world. Proceeds from some Global Grub dinners go directly to support the Honduras Mission Trip.
Care and Support for Every Stage of Life
A network of care ministries walks alongside members and neighbors through life's challenges. Stephen Ministry provides one-to-one, confidential Christian care to people who are hurting, both within the church and throughout the community. Stephen Ministers are congregation members trained by their Stephen Leaders to meet weekly with a care receiver for about an hour. Mountain Park partners with Stephen Ministry teams from other local churches to extend care to Stone Mountain, Lilburn, Smoke Rise, Snellville, and Lawrenceville.
The Grief Support Group meets on Wednesdays at 2:00 PM in the Parlor. The group opens with a prayer, a song of encouragement, and a reading, then shares problems and positive updates in a safe and loving space. The H.U.G.S. (His Unsurpassed Grace Surrounds) ministry gathers to pray and crochet prayer blankets for anyone in need of being surrounded in prayer.
Alcoholics Anonymous meets at the church as part of the international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. A Dementia Caregivers Support group, led by trained counselors, meets on Thursdays from 12:30 to 2:00 PM in the Parlor, except the first Thursdays of the month.
The church also partners with outside organizations to extend care. Family Promise of Gwinnett provides shelter and development opportunities for families experiencing homelessness. The Nettwork Campus, in partnership with HomeFirst Gwinnett, provides emergency shelter space for women and children in Gwinnett. The church makes the 988 National Mental Health Hotline available for crisis care.
Mountain Park Preschool
Mountain Park Preschool is a ministry of Mountain Park UMC and welcomes children to play, learn, and grow through Christ. Director Beth McWilliams leads a team that provides hands-on learning experiences with engaged teachers and diverse classrooms. Children grow through daily artistic and cultural enrichments, large and small group activities, and plenty of outdoor play. Preschool classes are available for several ages, and tours can be scheduled online or by calling the preschool office.
Seniors Are Special
The Seniors Are Special (SAS) group gathers on the first Thursday of each month (and sometimes more) in the Youth Room. Doors open at 11:30 AM, lunch is served at noon, and the meal costs $9 at the door. Each gathering features a guest speaker and a full lunch with lemonade and tea. Recent speakers have included the lead pastor, a funeral pre-planning advisor, and members of the church's own Agape Reconciling Community. SAS is open to all adult members of MPUMC and friends in the community.
Giving and Connecting
The church welcomes one-time and recurring financial gifts online, by mail to its P.O. Box, or by text message to 73256 with the message "give2mpumc." The Legacy Fund accepts cash, life insurance policies, securities, retirement assets, real property, and gifts through a will, with the principal balance remaining invested and the earnings used for ministry needs and capital improvements. Stewardship, finances, and Legacy Fund questions can be directed to the stewardship and Legacy Fund leaders.
Church office hours are Monday through Thursday, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The office is closed on New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Easter Monday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and the day after, and Christmas Day and the day after.
Mountain Park United Methodist Church gathers, grows, and serves from its campus on Rockbridge Road Southwest, a light on a hill in Stone Mountain that has been shining for more than sixty years and is still finding new ways to live.