A Hundred Years on Oxford Place
Myers Park Presbyterian Church sits at 2501 Oxford Place in Charlotte's Myers Park neighborhood, a few miles south of uptown. With more than 4,500 members and a staff of roughly fifty, it is one of the largest congregations in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a long-standing presence in Charlotte religious life. The community has gathered since 1926, when neighborhood residents went door to door to organize a new Presbyterian church and petitioned the Presbytery of Charlotte to charter it. As the congregation enters its centennial, that door-knocking identity remains central to who it is.
The church's mission statement reads: "Claimed by the Love of God in Jesus Christ, we are called into this community of faith; living out our love for God in worship, study, and service; loving and supporting one another as we join God's transforming work in our city and in the world." The church describes itself as "a purposeful, inclusive, spirit-filled community of faith." The campus centers on the Sanctuary and Oxford Hall, with the Outreach Center a short walk away on Providence Road and a five-star Weekday School sharing the property with the congregation.
Two Sunday Mornings at Ten
Sunday mornings at Myers Park Presbyterian gather two different worshiping communities, each at 10 a.m., under one roof.
The Traditional service takes place in the Sanctuary, where the choir, the organ, and the congregation join in hymn-singing from the red hymnals in each pew. Hymns are listed in the bulletin handed out at the door. The order of service includes prayer, scripture reading, and a sermon from one of the pastors. The service lasts about an hour.
The Celebrate service meets at the same hour in Oxford Hall, a more contemporary setting led by a worship band with singers. Christian praise music is projected on screen alongside prayer, scripture, and the sermon. The notes for the service read simply, "Come as you are." The service lasts about an hour.
A children's moment is part of both services. Children are welcome to stay with their families or move to the nursery on the first floor of the B-building, which is open during Sunday School and worship for children from birth through age four. Worship bags with crayons and drawing sheets are available at the door. Visitors are not singled out, and pastors and church leaders greet newcomers after worship.
Both Sunday services are livestreamed. A separate digital offering called Work in Progress extends the church's reach beyond the Sanctuary: short video series produced by the pastors on scripture, prayer, and the Christian life, designed for screens rather than pews and hosted on the church's YouTube channel.
Weekday Rhythms: Morning Prayer and Daily Devotions
Weekday mornings begin with two online offerings. Morning Prayer meets on Zoom at 8 a.m., offering fifteen minutes of scripture and prayer to ground the day. Daily Devotions, written by the pastors, arrive in email inboxes at 6 a.m. on weekdays and offer a short reflection on the day's key verse.
For members and visitors who cannot attend in person, recordings of each Sunday's sermons are posted the following Tuesday, and a sermon podcast is available through the church's media pages.
Music Across the Worship Life
Music at Myers Park Presbyterian is described by members of the church as both ministry and spiritual expression. The Director of Worship Arts leads a program that includes a choir, a worship band, an organist, and the church's pipe organs and carillon. Sundays, the liturgical year, and the special services of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, All Saints, and Music Sunday draw on this musical life across classical and contemporary styles. The traditional service highlights congregational hymn-singing and choral and organ repertoire, while the Celebrate service uses a band and contemporary songs.
Children and Their Families
The Children and Their Families Ministry, led by Associate Pastor Lisa Hickman, organizes the year around a long-running series of Faith Milestones. Each milestone gathers parents and children around a foundational aspect of Christian faith - Worship, Sacraments, Prayer, Bible, Mission, and more - and each child receives a special box to collect symbols of each milestone along the way.
Milestone programs move from year to year: Kindergarten covers Introduction to Worship; First Grade covers Sacraments; Second Grade covers Introduction to Prayer; Third Grade covers the Bible; Fourth Grade covers Stewardship; Fifth Grade covers Faith and Sexuality; and a joint Fourth-and-Fifth-Grade Mission milestone. Sixth grade focuses on Identity and Baptism, seventh on Prayer Practices, eighth on Faith and Science, and ninth on Faith Family. Older youth continue with milestones for Driver's License, Leadership, and Call and Vocation.
Sunday School meets from 9 to 9:45 a.m. on Sundays, organized by grade. The nursery is open from 8:45 to 11:15 a.m. Sprout Outreach introduces children ages four through second grade to local mission partners, and Mission Kids gives third through fifth graders a first step in leadership and service. Vacation Bible School, family events, and a year-long Children's Faith Formation calendar round out the year.
Youth and Their Families
Youth Ministry, led by Associate Pastor Michelle Thomas-Bush, walks with middle and high school youth through the "joyous and turbulent waters of adolescence." A Middle School Coordinator, a High School Ministry Coordinator, and a year-round intern round out the team.
Sunday mornings at 9 a.m., middle schoolers gather in the Cornerstone House for faith formation and fellowship before worship. High schoolers meet monthly for Mental Health Check-Ins on the first Wednesday evening of the month, sharing a meal and practicing a tool for hard days. Middle schoolers engage mental wellness through regular youth group gatherings.
Throughout the year, the youth participate in monthly service projects - food boxes for hungry neighbors, snack bags for Room in the Inn guests, Jubilee shopping for Charlotte Family Housing families, a weekend of pie-baking, and a grocery store challenge. A youth podcast, "And Also With You," gives the youth a voice beyond the church walls.
The year includes an active rhythm of trips: a Middle School Ski Trip, a High School Escape to Montreat, the Charleston Youth Mission trip for rising sixth through eighth graders, a sailing pilgrimage on the Chesapeake Bay for current ninth through twelfth graders, and the Montreat Youth Conference. Confirmation is offered both during the school year and as an immersion week in the mountains during the summer for current seventh graders.
Adult Faith Formation
Adults learn through Sunday morning classes, weekday Bible studies, circles, retreats, and book groups. Most Sunday morning classes meet at 9 a.m., in time for 10 a.m. worship. Offerings include:
- Rhodes-Johnston-Boyce, a long-running Bible study led by Union Presbyterian Seminary professor Rev. Dr. Richard Boyce.
- Feasting on the Word, a lectionary-based study led by Executive Pastor Millie Snyder.
- Fellowship, a discussion class exploring faith, art, and current issues.
- The Gathering, for members in their twenties, thirties, and forties.
- The Refresh, for couples who study and pray together.
Weekday offerings include a Men's Bible Study on Tuesdays at 7:15 a.m., a Dads of Young Children Bible Study on Fridays at 7:30 a.m., and a BookIt! lunch on the second Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
Presbyterian Women organizes women's ministry through Circles - small groups for study, prayer, and fellowship. Circles include Morning Time with God on Thursdays at 7:15 a.m., a Women's Bible Study on Thursdays at 11 a.m., Parenting the Teen Years for parents of adolescents, and a study at senior living communities led by John Magnuson. Larger PW events include Tables for Ten dinners, the Christmas Communion service, the annual Women's Retreat in Montreat, the Women of Faith Luncheon, a spring Consignment Sale, and a Mahjong event.
Men's Ministry gathers monthly for breakfasts and fellowship, plus a larger annual fellowship breakfast with a featured speaker, a Tuesday Bible Study, and a winter retreat in Montreat.
For independent learners, the church curates podcasts, study Bibles, and self-guided courses including a 21-day Race Equity Challenge, recordings such as Disunity in Christ, and a year-long Bible reading project.
Care for the Whole Person
The Mental Health Ministry takes seriously the link between spiritual wholeness and emotional well-being. Led in part by Parish Associate Alison Messick-Watkins, the ministry offers structured support groups such as the fall Understanding Your Grief series and the Parents of Young Adults Support Group on second and fourth Mondays at 5:30 p.m. The church keeps an extensive list of regional and national resources, from the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 to the Charlotte Mobile Crisis Team, Steve Smith Behavioral Health Urgent Care, Atrium Health Behavioral Health, Mental Health America of Central Carolinas, and NAMI Charlotte.
The pastoral team offers hospital and home visits, prayer lists, and a 24/7 on-call pastor. Births, deaths, and hospitalizations are all occasions for the church to show up.
Outreach: Love Builds Up
The Outreach Ministry organizes its work around the phrase "Love Builds Up a Family, a Home, and the World."
A Family. The church partners with local agencies serving families with the resources they need to thrive. Disciples tutor reading and math at Billingsville Cotswold Elementary, sort donations at the Crisis Assistance Ministry Free Store, collect household items for Roof Above residents, and serve with long-standing partners including The Learning Collaborative, Classroom Central, Baby Bundles, the Diaper Bank, and many others.
A Home. From December through March, the church's Room in the Inn program opens the Outreach Center to neighbors without shelter, providing two meals, a bed, and a community of volunteers. Year-round, members serve alongside Roof Above, Supportive Housing Communities, Moore Place, Hope Haven, the Harvest Center, and others addressing homelessness and housing instability.
The World. The church maintains long-term global partnerships with PC(USA) churches and other organizations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, El Salvador, Hungary, and Uganda. The pattern is long-term: partners set priorities and the church walks alongside them.
The Sunday plate offering - money collected in worship - is distributed to outreach partners rather than supporting the operating budget. The church describes this model of giving as unique to Myers Park Presbyterian.
CROSS Missions
CROSS Missions is the church's urban mission hosting program. Born from a 1998 summer mission trip to Portland, Oregon, by MPPC youth and adults, CROSS began in 1999 with Session approval and grew to be self-supporting by 2004. Over more than two decades, more than 20,000 people from hundreds of churches, colleges, and schools across the country have come to Charlotte to serve through CROSS, partnering with more than 40 nonprofit agencies across the city.
Three program tracks reach different groups. Summer trips run from June through early August, with middle and high school groups serving two ministry sites a day, evenings of social-justice programming, and a closing worship on Thursday night. Weekends run from September through April and offer Friday-to-Sunday immersions for youth, college students, and intergenerational groups. Alternative Breaks tailor experiences for college groups through the academic year and can include housing at the church's Cornerstone House.
CROSS is staffed by a Director, a Program Coordinator, and a team of summer interns who live on campus for ten weeks, guiding youth groups through Charlotte's neighborhoods.
The Weekday School
Since its founding decades ago, the Weekday School has shared the campus with the church, growing into a five-star licensed early-childhood program. The full-day program serves children from six weeks through age five, year-round, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The half-day program serves children from twelve months through age five from September through May, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Small class ratios and The Creative Curriculum for Preschool shape the day, alongside intentional faith moments - weekly chapel, classroom prayers, and Christian education woven through the daily rhythm.
The school is led by a Managing Director, two Operations Directors - one for each program - and Program Coordinators. The Weekday School also partners with families through Mabel's Labels and Minted fundraisers and a Harris Teeter VIC card link.
Weddings, Baptisms, and Memorials
The church hosts weddings for members and non-members, with member and non-member fee structures and a music library of preludes, processionals, and recessionals drawn from organ, choral, and classical repertoire. Weddings are not scheduled during Holy Week, Easter, the Fourth of July, Christmas, or New Year's Eve.
Baptisms for infants and adults are scheduled at Sunday worship services throughout the year. Presbyterian practice requires that at least one parent or guardian be a member of the church (or present a session letter from another PC(USA) church). A baptism class is offered for families new to MPPC baptisms.
Memorial services are coordinated with the pastors, with a reception afterward. The church also maintains a Columbarium Garden for inurnment.
Generosity and the Endowment
"We give because we have first been given to." Members support the church through annual pledges, fulfilled across the year by check, online giving, text-to-give, qualified charitable distributions, donor-advised funds, gifts of stock, and the Sunday plate offering.
The endowment, established by the Session in the 1970s, has given the congregation flexibility and stability across decades. Investment services are provided by The Armillary Group at Morgan Stanley. Undesignated, outreach, worship and music, faith formation, congregational life, facilities, and vocational and denominational funds direct endowment income to specific ministry areas. The Legacy Partners program recognizes members who have made provisions for the church in their estate plans.
The People Who Lead
Joe Clifford serves as Pastor and Head of Staff. Millie Snyder is Executive Pastor and leads the pastoral residency program. Lisa Hickman is Associate Pastor for Children and Their Families; John Magnuson is Associate Pastor for Discipleship; Michelle Thomas-Bush is Associate Pastor for Youth and Their Families; and Alison Messick-Watkins is Parish Associate with a focus on mental health ministry and pastoral care. Alexis Schutz and Annabelle Beavers are Resident Pastors, two-year program positions for seminary graduates.
Ministry directors include Mark Kemp (Director of Worship Arts), Cameron Moore (Coordinator of Contemporary Worship & Arts), Erika Funk (CROSS Missions Director), Patty Arcia (Outreach Director), Monty McCullough (Wellness Program Manager), Heidi Truong (Managing Director of the Weekday School), Lauren Mulcahy (Director of Development, Major Gifts, and Planned Giving), and Josh Richard (Communications Director). Tom Robak is Organist; Brianna Bamberg is Children's Ministry Coordinator; Amanda Fox is Middle School Coordinator; Gena Koehler and Jodi Martin are High School Ministry Coordinators; and Ciara Samana is New Member Coordinator.
The church is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and is part of the Presbytery of Charlotte. The Session - the church's governing body of elected elders - directs the life of the church, advised by Deacons.
The doors at 2501 Oxford Place open onto a campus that has been gathering neighbors in worship, formation, and service for a hundred years, and the next hundred years continue the same neighborly work begun by the door-knockers of 1926.