Park Cities Presbyterian Church sits at 4124 Oak Lawn Avenue, just off Wycliff Avenue in the Park Cities neighborhood of Dallas. From a single worship service in a high school auditorium in 1991, it has grown into a Presbyterian Church in America congregation whose reach now stretches across the city through a parish system organized by neighborhood. Three Sunday services at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 a.m. draw members and visitors in, and on Wednesdays a quieter communion called Word & Table offers a weekly pause in the middle of the week. The congregation's tagline, "Welcome Home," is paired with a purpose statement that has shaped it from the start: "extending the transforming presence of the Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Dallas and to the world."
Sundays in Three Services
PCPC plans its services as acts of worship that engage "the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the Scriptural means of prayer, the reading and preaching of the Scriptures, singing, confessing the faith, receiving the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the giving of tithes and offerings." The three Sunday services are identical in shape and differ mainly in size. The 8:00 a.m. service is the earliest and the quietest; the 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. services are paired with the congregation's Sunday Morning Communities for adults and the heaviest programming for children and youth. Children are always welcome in worship, and families are encouraged to sit together, although volunteers are ready to carry little ones to a classroom for any portion of the morning.
A typical morning brings a sung call to worship, congregational singing led by the Chancel Choir and a roster of vocalists and instrumentalists, prayer, the public reading of Scripture, expository preaching, a corporate affirmation of faith, and an extended pastoral prayer. The order of worship is archived and available for review, so first-time visitors can follow along beforehand or look back on a recent service. Mark Davis, the senior pastor, regularly preaches at the Sunday services and is the teaching voice behind the ongoing sermon series. The current series, "Ephesians: Walk in Love," is the most recent in a long line that has walked through Jonah, the Gospel of Matthew, Advent, Holy Week, and the shorter WinterGrace gatherings held each February.
Wednesday Word & Table
At noon on Wednesdays during the fall and spring terms, the congregation gathers in The Chapel on the Oak Lawn campus for Word & Table. The service is intentionally quieter than Sunday morning and follows a short pattern of prayer, singing, confession, and communion. It exists as a midweek pause, a way to be renewed in God's grace before the rest of the week unfolds. The service draws a regular crowd of older adults, downtown workers, and parents with younger children, alongside anyone who can step away from the day for an hour. Communion is celebrated weekly at Word & Table, making it, in practice, the most accessible communion service of the week.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper
In keeping with the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the Presbyterian Church in America observes two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. PCPC celebrates both infant and adult baptisms as visible reminders of God's grace and our union with Christ. Parents and individuals who come forward for baptism are walked through a baptism preparation process that the church describes as reflecting "both reverence and joy in this sacred act."
The Lord's Supper is observed weekly at the 8:00 Sunday service and at the Wednesday noon Word & Table service. At the 9:30 and 11:00 services it is observed once a month. On Maundy Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. the congregation gathers for one of the high points of the liturgical year. The Lord's Supper may be received by members of PCPC and by baptized members in good standing of any evangelical church that loves and proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Shorter Catechism's definition of a sacrament frames the congregation's practice: "a holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers."
For children whose families want them to share at the Lord's Table before they have made a profession of faith, PCPC offers a Communicants class. The six-week course is open to students in 6th through 12th grade who believe they are ready to be admitted to the Lord's Table by making a credible profession of faith, and a parallel class walks younger children and their families through the same conversation.
Sundays for Every Age
The campus is arranged so that the building itself tells the story of growing up in the church. The Lower Level is the home of the Nursery for infants through toddlers. Level One holds the Preschool classrooms for three-year-olds through kindergartners, plus the Middle School meeting space and the gym used by middle schoolers on Sunday mornings. Level Two is the home of the Elementary classrooms and the High School meeting space, called The Loft. Children move through these floors with the same volunteers and teachers for years, building relationships that stretch across elementary years and into the youth ministry.
The Nursery welcomes children from three months to thirty-six months during the 9:30 and 11:00 services. Rooms are staffed by trained, screened volunteers who guide little ones through play, songs, simple Bible stories, and prayer moments. Signs and greeters point first-time families to the Lower Level.
Preschool programming meets on the Main Level at 9:30 and 11:00 for children ages 3 through Kindergarten. Each Sunday includes Bible stories, songs, Scripture memory, a worship time called Cherub Church, and crafts. Parents check children in at a station just outside the classrooms.
Elementary-aged children have two Sunday tracks. At 9:30 a.m., Worship Explorers is offered for first and second graders and walks them through the elements of corporate worship in a child-friendly setting. At 11:00 a.m., Kids Court gathers first through fifth graders for large-group teaching and small groups that focus on prayer, Scripture, and discussion. The Elementary check-in desk sits on Level Two of the Children's Ministry building, and volunteers walk families from the entrance to their child's room.
On Wednesday evenings during the school year, Children's Choirs turn the building's upper floors into a humming, laughing community. Cherub Choir (ages 4-5), Carol Choir (Kindergarten-1st grade), Chapel Choir (2nd-4th grade), and Covenant Choir (5th-8th grade) rehearse in staggered half-hour and hour-long windows from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. No auditions are required, only a willing heart. The children's choirs regularly help lead the congregation in worship on Sunday mornings. A separate program called Prelude, taught on Monday mornings by Deborah Waterman, offers a graded music curriculum for newborns through age 4 and their caregivers.
Middle School, High School, and the Next Step
Middle schoolers meet at 11:00 a.m. in The Hangout and the gym on Level One. The morning begins with games and conversation in The Hangout, moves into sung worship, and then opens the Bible with peers and adult leaders for teaching. Sunday morning small groups for middle schoolers are split by gender and meet on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. during the school year. The Communicants class is offered during these years for students ready to profess faith and join the Lord's Table.
High schoolers gather at 11:00 a.m. in The Loft on Level Two. Each Sunday begins with time to catch up with friends and meet new people before moving into worship. Teaching follows, with leaders walking the students through Scripture and how the gospel speaks into the realities of high school life. Small groups for high schoolers are organized by grade and gender and meet in homes during the week, led by adults who walk alongside the students for years at a time. The Communicants class is available for any student in 6th through 12th grade. PCPC also publishes a Middle School Podcast and a High School Podcast through Spotify, so youth ministry teaching extends beyond Sunday mornings.
The youth ministry is also intentional about serving the city. Young Adult Serve Saturdays gather singles, young married couples, and college-age students for hands-on service in the Dallas area.
Sunday Morning Communities for Adults
At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings, while children and youth are in their own programs, adults gather in Sunday Morning Communities across the campus. These are the church's small-group Bible studies and form the primary relational network for adult members. New communities are added as they are needed; current groups include Believers' Fellowship, Cornerstone (for young married couples in their twenties and thirties), Covenant, Doulos, Good News, Good Shepherd's Fellowship, Ground School, Kaleo, New City, New Covenant Creations, Shalom, The Well, Veritas, Vineyard, and the Young Adults SMC. Each community meets in a designated room on Sunday mornings for Bible study and prayer, and most gather for fellowship outside the campus as well.
Pastor of Community Robby Higginbottom, in concert with the Community Team, oversees parish life. The church is divided into parishes organized by neighborhood so that members can know and pray for the people who live closest to them. Parish regions include Uptown and Oak Lawn near the church; the Park Cities elementary school parishes around Armstrong, Boone, Bradfield, Hyer, and UP; Love Field, Northwest Dallas, and Preston Hollow to the north; Lake Highlands, Old East Dallas and Lakewood, and other regions east of I-75; Addison, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, and the far north reaches; Oak Cliff and the south regions; and the west-of-I-35 region. Across all of these parishes, the Community Team hosts parish prayer meetings several times a year, parish dinners during a particular month, and parish home groups for those who want deeper community between Sundays.
Care That Walks Beside Hurting People
Care and Counseling is one of the largest areas of ministry at PCPC and operates from a deep theological conviction that the church is God's instrument to care for people as they really are. The Care Team's mission is "to come alongside others through individual or couples counseling, small group interaction, and large group training on topics such as grief, divorce, fear, worry, anxiety, depression, sexual brokenness, infidelity, and substance abuse or addiction." Pat Hobin serves as Director of Counseling and Care, and the department's work is anchored by a commitment to confidentiality and to walking beside people who are willing to be vulnerable about real struggles.
Several ongoing groups meet through the year. DivorceCare meets on Wednesday evenings in a 13-week cycle and walks participants through topics like deep hurt, anger, grief, loneliness, fear, family, finances, forgiveness, and single living. The Grief Support Group meets Thursday mornings for ten sessions in The Parlor. Alongside is a fall and spring group for women facing the pain of betrayal in their marriage or significant relationship. Treasures in the Waiting is a Tuesday evening group for women walking through infertility, miscarriage, or the loss of a baby.
Men's Care Ministry provides structured, Scripture-based groups for men. Men's Integrity Groups focus on freedom from unwanted sexual behavior and the shame that surrounds it, while SLAM (Spiritual Life of a Man) meetings are open gatherings for any man seeking deeper community, accountability, and intimacy with Jesus. A facilitator training hub is available for men who want to lead an Integrity Group themselves.
A pastoral prayer line is staffed through the church office at 214-224-2680, so members and visitors can ask a pastor to pray for a specific need.
Women, Men, and the Shape of Midweek Study
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays a deep bench of Bible studies for women meets across the mornings and evenings. Tuesday morning offerings include Precepts AM, A Mother's Heart AM, and, parallel to the AM session, the same study continues under A Mother's Heart PM. Tuesday evenings add Precepts PM and the Young Women's Bible Study. Wednesday brings the Early Morning Bible Study at 7:00 a.m. and Wednesday Watchmen, a women's study led by a roster of teachers that includes Becky Bain and Carroll Turpin, each year shaping a new study in a book of the Bible. Leslie Newman leads the women's ministry team and Kari Stainback serves as Senior Director of Women's Ministries, supported by Maggie Wills on the women's ministry staff.
On Tuesday mornings from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m., the Tuesday Morning Men's Bible Study ("From One Man to Another") meets in the church. A series on 2 Timothy currently walks men through the pastoral letters of Paul under the teaching of Pastor Robby Higginbottom and guest teachers, including a message Mark Davis preached in the same series. Past series have included "Act Like Men," "Six Men," and "The Gospel of Matthew (Focus Bible Study)," the last taught by Kay Gabrysch.
Additional midweek offerings for adults include a Thursday morning study on Matthew; the Focus Bible Study; the Ambassadors Sunday Morning Community aimed at men in their twenties and thirties; and various Care & Counseling groups that run across the week. The 60+ Community gathers older adults for fellowship, study, and events that keep a large and active older adult population connected to one another.
Marriage Ministry and the Path to the Altar
The Marriage Ministry at PCPC exists to build marriages that "are sustained and nourished through Christ and His Word," proclaim the gospel, and live out a mission that continually refreshes each marriage. UNION is the central offering: a nine-week course for seriously dating, engaged, and newly married couples that meets on Tuesday evenings from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. in The Loft. Each week covers topics like the Biblical meaning of marriage, expectations, communication, in-laws, roles of husband and wife, money and stewardship, conflict management, forgiveness, and intimacy. Large-group teaching is followed by small-group discussions, and the cost is $30 per person to cover materials and a celebration dinner on the final night. Couples who complete the course receive a completion certificate that awards a $60 discount on a Texas marriage license.
Foundation Groups gather four to five newly married couples with a facilitator couple for twelve to eighteen months of marriage-focused study and prayer. Cornerstone, a Sunday Morning Community for young married couples in their twenties and thirties, extends that same conversation into Sunday morning life.
Pastor of Marriage Ministry Tommy Overton and his team also provide pastoral marriage counseling, and the chapel itself, with its central place in the life of the congregation, hosts small weddings on Sunday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. when the church calendar allows.
Music, Choirs, and the Performing Arts
Music is ministry at PCPC. The Chancel Choir leads the congregation in worship at the 9:30 and 11:00 services week by week, and adds its voice to concerts and special services throughout the year. Open to all adults, the choir welcomes both experienced and developing singers, with rehearsals on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., late August through June.
The Children's and Youth Choirs include every child who wants to sing. Cherub Choir (ages 4-5) rehearses on Wednesday afternoons from 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. Carol Choir (Kindergarten-1st grade) rehearses from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. Chapel Choir (2nd-4th grade) rehearses from 5:00 to 5:45 p.m. Covenant Choir (5th-8th grade) rehearses from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. in Cambridge Hall on Level Two. No auditions are required, and the choirs regularly help lead the congregation in worship, perform at the annual Christmas Concert, and lead worship on Family Christmas Eve. J. Marty Cope serves as Director of Music and Arts; Nathan Davy is Associate Director of Music and Arts and Organist; Stephen Bond coordinates Music and Arts and the Chancel Choir; Katie Haring leads the Children's and Youth Choirs; and Bryan Varenkamp serves as Music Specialist.
The Performing Arts Series offers concerts throughout the year that bring guest artists and PCPC choirs together for evenings of Christ-centered music. All concerts are free and open to the public, with a voluntary offering supporting the series. Doors open thirty minutes before each concert.
The PCPC Concerts page encourages people to join the performing arts mailing list to receive concert updates, featured artist highlights, and invitations to future events.
Library, Bookstore, and Christian Formation
The PCPC Library and Bookstore serve the whole church by offering resources that nurture faith and understanding. The adult library next to the Sanctuary holds more than 10,000 volumes and serves pastors, teachers, and members looking for depth in God's Word and the Christian life; the collection is Reformed and Presbyterian at its core but includes respected titles from the broader evangelical tradition, along with biographies, church history, and resources on missions and education. The Children's Library, near the Preschool Welcome Desk by the south entrance, holds picture books for the youngest readers and inspiring stories for older children and teens. Together the libraries hold more than 26,000 books, audios, and videos for every age.
The PCPC Bookstore is open whenever the church is open, including Sundays, and uses a self-checkout kiosk that accepts credit or debit cards. The full inventory is also available online through the bookstore's dedicated site. PCPC publishes a weekly sermon podcast and a podcast called Deep Light, alongside a sermon archive that goes back years, a set of Bible study recordings, devotionals including "Every Thought Captive," and an extensive prayer guide library.
Christian formation at PCPC is described as "the path of discipleship whereby we are renewed in our whole person - heart, mind, body, and soul - to become more like Jesus Christ." Matt Fray, the Pastor of Christian Formation, oversees this work. Members are encouraged in three habits: Believing (growing in understanding of the Bible and doctrine), Praying (resting in Christ and listening to God), and Extending (sharing the gospel through word and life).
Missions Inside and Outside the City
The Missions team operates in three streams. Church Planting supports the planting of new churches through the Southwest Church Planting Network, a network of PCA churches planting churches in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona. Dustin Hunt serves as Pastor of Church Planting, and the church supports members exploring whether God is calling them to serve in this work.
City Missions partners with ministries across Dallas and equips PCPC members to serve their neighbors where they live, work, and attend school. The team regularly hosts service days, school partnerships, and outreach events. ESL classes for adults in the Dallas community are organized under the City Missions umbrella, and PCPC seeks volunteer teachers throughout the year.
Global Missions supports missionaries and partners around the world, with a monthly prayer calendar that members are encouraged to download and use. Short-term mission trips are organized around the year, and an annual Short-Term Missions Showcase lets members hear from missionaries and learn about upcoming opportunities. Kevin Joseph serves as Director of Missions, Sam Leopold as Pastor of Missions, and Sarah Morrison as Ministry Leader of Mobilization.
Becoming a Member
PCPC welcomes new members through a New Member Class that meets on Sunday mornings in the fall (September to October) and again in the spring (January to March), with joining dates in early December and early May. The class introduces ministry leaders, describes the church's beliefs and purpose, and walks through the membership vows. Pastoral staff and parish leaders then help each new member find a Sunday Morning Community and a parish group in the part of the city where they live.
The Diaconate, made up of deacons elected by the congregation, oversees the physical and spiritual needs of the people. The Session, made up of the senior pastor, associate ministers, and ruling elders, is responsible for the spiritual oversight of the church.
Membership vows include a commitment to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of one's ability. Baptized members who join from other evangelical churches are welcomed as members under the same expectations.
Our Theological Identity
PCPC describes itself with seven terms, each treated as a distinctive of its ministry. It is evangelical, taking its stand with all who hold to the fundamentals of the faith (the triune God, the deity and virgin birth of Jesus, his substitutionary atonement and physical resurrection, his sure return, and the infallibility of Scripture). It is evangelistic, taking the Great Commission seriously and inviting all people to drink of the Water of Life. It is Reformed, holding to the historic principles that come from Luther, Calvin, Knox, and other reformers, including the doctrines of God's sovereignty, election by grace, and justification by faith alone.
It is confessional, holding the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms as an accurate summary of the Bible's teaching, and recognizing that ruling and teaching elders affirm these standards. It is covenantal, believing that the unifying principle of Scripture is the one covenant of grace that God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and ultimately with His people in Jesus Christ. It is Presbyterian, governed by elders who rule jointly in sessions, presbyteries, and the General Assembly. And it is kingdom-centered, believing that the Kingdom of God is not only future but present because Jesus Christ presently reigns from Heaven.
Acceptance of all seven distinctives is not required for church membership; one can join as a participating member by holding to the evangelical distinctives alone. Elders and deacons, however, affirm all seven.
A Short History
PCPC held its first worship service on May 26, 1991, at Highland Park High School, with about 1,500 worshipers in attendance. On June 9 of the same year the congregation began worshiping as guests in the Highland Baptist Church sanctuary, alternating worship and Sunday School classes with its gracious hosts for more than two years. The church voted to take the name Park Cities Presbyterian Church on June 23, 1991. The congregation purchased the Highland Baptist property in early 1994 and later added an education building.
The church's first senior pastor, Skip Ryan, was called by unanimous vote on December 22, 1991, and served until 2006. On May 11, 2008, Mark Alan Davis was installed as senior pastor. In its first year, PCPC grew to 1,824 charter members, a number that has continued to grow into a large congregation that today serves members from across the Dallas area.
The Pastoral staff now includes two pastors emeritus (Pete Deison and Bill Lamberth), along with pastors of Christian Formation, Community, Family Ministries, Congregational Care, Marriage, Missions, and Church Planting, plus a Pastor and Theologian in Residence. The Diaconate and Session together share responsibility for the life and ministry of the congregation.
What to Expect on a First Visit
First-time guests at PCPC will find three Sunday services to choose from. The 8:00 a.m. service is the smallest and quietest and includes weekly communion. The 9:30 and 11:00 services are identical in shape and offer full children's and youth programming alongside the Sunday Morning Communities for adults. Greeters and signs will help families navigate to the right floor of the Children's Ministry building, and the Nursery, Preschool, Elementary, Middle School, and High School teams are ready to receive children before the service begins. Communion is open to members of PCPC and to baptized members in good standing of any evangelical church that loves and proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ. Wednesday Word & Table at noon in The Chapel offers another way to participate, especially for those who want to experience the congregation's communion-centered worship without the activity of a Sunday morning.