Parker Evangelical Presbyterian Church, or PEPC, gathers on Miller Road in Parker with a vision of helping spiritually hungry people turn from sin, become like Christ, and share God's transforming Word with the world. It is known for gathered worship that brings Scripture, prayer, confession, song, the table, and mission into one rhythm, then carries that rhythm into education, care, intergenerational relationships, and mission work in Parker and beyond.
Two Sunday Gatherings on Miller Road
PEPC's regular worship services gather at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Sundays at the church's 9030 Miller Road address. From South Parker Road and Mainstreet, drivers travel east on Mainstreet for about two and a half miles to Miller Road, then turn right at the street beyond Canterbury Parkway. The main entrance is on the right, and the property stands beside Ave Maria Catholic Church.
The gathered worship pattern follows the church's conviction that worship is more than singing. Deep but joy filled songs, intentional prayer and confession, the reading and preaching of Scripture, and participation at the table all lead the congregation toward a life of witness. People are not assembled simply to hear a sermon; they are formed as a community of worshipers, then sent out to proclaim Jesus.
PEPC's music crosses generational and stylistic lines. Gathered song lists have paired traditional pieces such as How Great Thou Art, In Christ Alone, and Jesus Paid It All with contemporary songs such as No Longer Slaves, What a Beautiful Name, and Build My Life. The worship philosophy keeps music in its proper place: worship is the church's response to God's revelation, and music serves a gospel shaped focus on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rather than becoming the definition of worship itself. Sunday services can be watched through Join Stream.
Biblical, Relational, Intergenerational, Missional
Four values explain much of life at PEPC:
- Biblical: Scripture is the foundation of worship and every ministry of the church.
- Relational: people were created for community, so PEPC seeks to combat isolation through relationships that encourage growth and allow people to know and be known by others.
- Intergenerational: the church intentionally brings generations together for relationships that can strengthen them mutually.
- Missional: faith is lived daily inside and beyond the church, in Parker, across Colorado and the nation, and around the world.
That framework includes a specific biblical confession. PEPC affirms the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as a complete and unified witness to God's redemptive acts, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and supreme and final in authority where Scripture speaks. The church describes Scripture as Truth that calls for unreserved submission in every area of life.
From a Middle School to the Miller Road Campus
Parker Evangelical Presbyterian Church began in 1984 as Parker Presbyterian Church and first met in a local middle school. In 1985, the congregation purchased 55 acres of the Miller homestead from the Tallman family. A Round up Sunday brought people onto the hillside to survey the land, and photographs from that period show members walking up from the white farmhouse. A cross was later erected on the hillside, where a gathering was held in 1991 and an Easter Sunrise service took place in 1994.
The congregation joined the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in 1987 and changed its acronym to PEPC in 1990. Its original building, sanctuary, and classrooms were completed in 1996. What is now the Student Center was expanded in 2000, while a 2005 addition reshaped the lower level with sanctuary, lobby, and classroom space. The church's history therefore moves from a school gathering to a wooded Parker property and then through several stages of construction into the ministry campus used today.
Children Start in Worship and Move to Classrooms
PEPC Kids serves children from six weeks through fifth grade at both Sunday services. A family arrives together, checks in at the children's desk in the main lobby, receives a name tag and a parent pickup ticket, and begins worship with the congregation. After the children's sermon, leaders meet the children in the lobby and take them to classrooms divided by age.
Each week includes a biblical lesson and activities that help children connect Scripture with everyday life. The first part of class emphasizes relationship because the leaders believe children learn best when they know and are known by others. After worship, parents or grandparents present the pickup ticket and collect their children from the designated classroom. PEPC also gives families tools for discussing the week's lesson and helping them become their children's spiritual leaders.
The curriculum is called Orange, whose simple message is The Church + Home = Greater Impact. Monthly themes, memory verses, interactive songs, Bible stories, crafts, and activities help children remember and practice what they learn. The Bible Bucks program reinforces participation through actions such as wearing a name tag, bringing a Bible or offering, memorizing the monthly verse, taking part in discussion, and making connections to Scripture. Children begin in the congregation rather than being sent to a separate room before church starts, making the family unit part of the church's worship rhythm.
Learning That Holds Home and Classroom Together
The PEPC Early Learning Center serves children from six weeks through six years old in infant, toddler, early preschool, preschool, junior kindergarten, and transitional kindergarten classes. Programs are offered on different weekly combinations from two days through five days. The educational goal is to nurture the whole child academically, spiritually, socially, and emotionally while working closely with families and differentiating instruction for individual needs.
The Early Learning Center uses Orange Bible Curriculum, American Baby Sign Language, Spanish, Handwriting Without Tears, and Frog Street. The academic program introduces letters, numbers, quantities, shapes, early mathematical thinking, science inquiry, writing, reading, social interaction, and classroom routines. American Baby Sign Language is integrated into infant, toddler, and early preschool classrooms to give preverbal children another way to communicate. Orange supplies the biblical framework, while Frog Street supports early preschool and kindergarten learning.
Music and worship are daily parts of the center's life. Children sing, dance, play instruments, explore different forms of music, and participate in a large group chapel with praise, prayer, and Bible lessons. Preschool chapel is held twice each month on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. in the PEPC Worship Center and can also be joined through Facebook Live. An outdoor music classroom adds another setting for movement, exploration, and expression.
Students and Young Adults Take the Gospel into Daily Life
PEPC Students describes parents as the primary disciple makers of their teenagers. Staff and volunteers seek to come alongside families rather than replace them, using biblical and relevant teaching, small groups, worship, recreation, service, and outreach. The ministry also tries to reach students who do not attend church by showing up in schools and the wider community.
- Middle school: Wednesdays from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., with an after school program at 3:30, open gym at 5:00, and large group at 6:00.
- High school: Sundays from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., with open gym at 5:00 and large group at 6:00.
Young adults who have graduated high school and are in their twenties meet for worship nights, social events, church service, and service in the local community. The ministry emphasizes meaningful connection, authentic faith, purpose, and friendship as people navigate college, early careers, and new relationships. Pickleball at the Student Center on the first Tuesday of each month provides one regular setting for that community to gather outside worship.
Small Groups, Meals, and Intergenerational Gatherings
PEPC calls its small groups Home Fellowship Groups. These small communities meet weekly or every two weeks to share a meal, study God's Word, pray, and serve one another. Their five guiding practices are especially concrete: the meal builds family relationships, commitment protects deep community, study draws people toward Jesus, prayer shares joys and sorrows in a trusted setting, and service carries love into the home, church, neighborhood, city, and world.
Men's Bible studies meet at several times during the week: Mondays from 6:30 to 8:00 a.m. at FIKA Mainstreet, Mondays from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. in the PEPC lobby, Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:00 a.m. in the Ministry Center, and Fridays from 6:30 to 8:00 a.m. in the Ministry Center. The wider men's ministry includes softball, mountain getaways, mentoring, Bible study, and a monthly breakfast built around fellowship and an invited speaker. Mentoring pairs an experienced Christian man with someone who may be younger in faith, offering encouragement, challenge, and a listening ear.
Women's Ministry is designed as a place of acceptance and nurturing where women are known, loved, celebrated, and equipped to use their gifts. Its life includes Bible studies, retreats, service projects, mentoring, and fellowship. A MOMS in Prayer grandmothers group meets at PEPC on Mondays from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. and follows four movements: praise, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession. Stitchin' With a Mission meets on the second and fourth Thursdays from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m., using knitting, crocheting, and sewing to make items for nonprofit ministries.
The 55+ Ministry serves people nearing or entering retirement with the aim of helping them Finish Strong and remain faithful to God's purpose and calling. Its first Wednesday luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. at a local restaurant, creating a monthly setting for food and fellowship. Older adults also participate in the church's changing men's and women's Bible studies and Adult Sunday School, which gathers on Sundays around reflection on the sermon theme.
Care Ministries Built for Practical Support
Care at PEPC is grounded in Jesus's command to love one another and is organized into ministries facilitated by people in the congregation. Its purpose is both spiritual and practical, with support for needs in families, marriages, health, grief, loneliness, emergencies, and daily life.
- Care Portal and Deacons' Fund: Care Portal helps the church respond to needs identified through local child and family, court, and adoption services. The Deacons' Fund provides a designated way to offer emergency assistance.
- Meals and Handyman Ministry: volunteers prepare and deliver meals during illness or after hospitalization, while the Handyman Ministry assists with household repairs for people such as single adults, widows, and older adults.
- Stephen Ministry: trained Stephen Ministers listen, encourage, and provide emotional and spiritual support during crisis or difficult seasons. The support is biblical, confidential, and free.
- GriefShare: a Christ centered seminar that lasts 13 weeks and offers information, support, and space for people grieving the death of a loved one.
- New Beginnings, COPE, and Hopeful Hearts: New Beginnings meets on the second Sunday for adults who have lost someone through divorce or death. COPE meets on the third Sunday from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. for people living with chronic pain or illness. Hopeful Hearts meets on the second Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for women attending church without their husbands.
- Mental health support: OVERCOME and Fearless provide faith based groups for adults and teenagers navigating emotional and mental challenges, with space for questions, strength building, resilience, and reduced stigma.
- Military care: the ministry packs care packages on the second Wednesday of each month for people serving overseas and stateside. Donations include toiletries, snacks, socks, games, books, puzzle books, and other requested items.
- Prayer, cards, and quilts: the Freedom Prayer Team, Card Ministry, and Prayer Quilt Ministry use prayer, handmade encouragement, and Scripture to support people facing illness, grief, addiction, fear, or other difficulties. The Card Ministry meets on the third Monday at 9:00 a.m.
Marriage support is also available for couples at every stage. Douglas County Christian Counseling adds licensed professional care for children, adolescents, and adults, including families affected by trauma. Its counselors speak English and provide bilingual Spanish services. The practice works with younger children, attachment, sensory and behavior concerns, perinatal and postpartum challenges, grief, suicide prevention, and evidence based therapeutic approaches. It accepts Medicaid and insurance and serves people who are unable to afford private rates.
A Mission Circle From Parker to the Ends of the Earth
PEPC organizes its mission thinking around the geographical model in Acts 1:8. Its mission committee identifies individuals and ministries in distinct regions, learns about their roles, defines the nature and duration of support, and seeks personal relationships with missionaries. The same model supports gatherings within the church's own community, mission relationships elsewhere in Colorado and the nation, and work in countries beyond the United States.
Mission Relationships Near Parker
Parker Task For Human Services assists residents of Parker, Franktown, and Elizabeth who need short term help and remains organized by unpaid volunteers. D.C. Oakes provides a personalized alternative high school setting for students seeking another path to a diploma. Campus Life, associated with Youth for Christ, focuses on evangelism and discipleship among young people in Parker schools. These relationships place the church's mission emphasis alongside education, practical assistance, and youth outreach in its home area.
Colorado and National Connections
Denver Rescue Mission meets people at physical and spiritual points of need through programs and outreach. Pikes Peak Academy provides a private alternative high school education in a Christian setting. Outside Colorado, PEPC has supported relationships with Servant Partners in Philadelphia, Men in the Arena, Casa Misionera in the Dominican Republic, and New Horizon in Haiti. Their work includes local leadership development, media for Christian men, leadership training for young adults, and care for children at risk.
Ministry Across the World
Farther abroad, Petros Network focuses on church planting with indigenous pastors in Ethiopia and Sudan. Hope Haven Rwanda uses education and discipleship to support Rwandan families. Pillar of Hope supports children in Reynosa, Mexico, through education, job training, and outreach. Transformasia has developed centers in Cambodia involving children at risk, church planting, feeding, health care, and job training. Other mission relationships have involved CRU in Central Asia, SIM in Bolivia, MorningStar Development in South Central Asia, and Youth for Christ work in Asia involving children's homes, preschool, prevention programs, family rehabilitation, counseling, farming, and community ministry.
Adult and student mission trips have included both short and extended stays. The recurring pattern reaches church planting, medical outreach, construction, physical resource development, clean water, leadership, humanitarian work, and education. This wider circle is not separate from the church's local life; it is an extension of the missional value expressed through worship, relationships, service, and sending.
Beauty, Truth, and Gospel Shaped Worship
The Worship Arts Ministry states that worship is the response to God's revelation and should center on the glory of God rather than individual preference. Philippians 2:3-5 serves as a model for corporate worship: humility, concern for others, and the mind of Christ should shape how an intergenerational congregation participates together.
The ministry also teaches that art can communicate essential reality through honesty and beauty. Because the present world contains both beauty and pain, artistic work is expected to celebrate the richness of life as it is now, acknowledge present brokenness, and point toward the future glory God will bring. Musicians, vocalists, instrumentalists, technical teams, and other artists can find ways to serve, with individual auditions and skill reviews offered throughout the year.
Learning, Giving, and Shared Ministry
Sermons are preserved in an audio and video archive that also includes Scripture readings and gathered worship song lists. Bible in a Year offers an extended journey through Scripture, while the Earth Like Heaven podcast explores emotionally healthy spirituality through conversations about the image of God, the mission of God, and the church.
Participation also includes worship arts roles, teaching and support roles in children's and student ministries, group leadership, service projects, mentorship, mission activity, facilities support, communications, and counseling. These ministries make room for people who contribute through teaching, music, production, writing, practical work, leadership, prayer, or encouragement.
Giving supports the ministries and operation of PEPC through online contributions, recurring gifts, the church app, and text giving. The church's work is sustained not only by Sunday attendance but by financial giving, service, mentorship, teaching, facility care, production, counseling, administration, and many other forms of participation.
Lay Elders and a Team of Ministry Leaders
PEPC is governed through elders, staff, and deacons. In Presbyterian practice, ruling elders are laypeople nominated and elected by church members. They gather to discuss the church's vision and direction and entrust implementation of that vision to the staff. This structure is intended to keep the church connected to its grassroots and to the people it serves.
Dr. Doug Resler serves as Senior Pastor and a teaching elder. Janet Specht serves as Executive Pastor. Matt DePriest leads Worship Arts, Will Freyschlag leads Community Life, and Gary McCusker leads Care Ministries. Outreach Pastor Dan Lynch connects the church to missions, while Megan Spaulding leads Young Adults, Mason Moon leads Students, Ben Trujillo leads discipleship, and Kate Lobis and Gianna Rubino lead PEPC Kids. Holly Sprague directs the Early Learning Center, and Darrin Kessler directs Douglas County Christian Counseling.
The ruling elders are Royal Benjamin, Joe Bradley, Dianne Daniels, Greg Johnson, Jared Lamb, Mackenzie Munoz, Eric Russell, Scott Sellers, and Dana Schultz. Teaching elders serve alongside them as pastors and teachers. PEPC ordains both men and women to the offices of elder and deacon, making lay participation part of its Presbyterian identity.
At PEPC, the pattern remains centered on a conviction that Scripture shapes worship, worship shapes relationships, and those relationships carry mission into families, classrooms, care ministries, Parker, and the world. The church that began in a middle school now gathers across a Miller Road campus where children learn, students and adults study, leaders serve, families share meals, grieving people find companionship, counseling brings professional care, and worship sends people out to pursue the transforming Word of God.