By Pastor Ellis White At 4pm on a Sunday afternoon, November 17, 1963, a small group gathered for the very first service of Chapel Hill Church. They opened with a hymn: “The Church’s One Foundation.” This Sunday, we’re opening our service with the same hymn. I keep thinking about that. Nobody in that room could […]
Category: Weekly Blog
How Are You Really Doing?
By Rachel White, Pastor of Next Steps I have a friend in my small group who asks a question most of us learn to dodge: “How are you really doing?” Not the hallway version we’re all fluent in (fine, busy, hanging in there), but the real one. The kind that waits for an actual answer, […]
When Worship Walks Out the Door
By Julie Hawkins, Pastor of Ministry Some of the moments I remember most clearly from my years in outreach ministry didn’t happen inside a church building. They happened while serving alongside someone, hearing a story I might never otherwise have heard, or watching a volunteer discover that a need they had thought about from a […]
6,579 Days
By Ellis White, Senior Pastor I have a math degree. I like precision, and I like things that can be measured. Parenting has cured me of both. You can read every article, ask every friend with older kids, plan the perfect response to a bad morning—and somehow still get it wrong by 8:15 am. There’s […]
Roll Away the Stone
By Rachel White, Pastor of Next Steps My siblings are coming to stay with me this month, and I’ve been thinking about how easy it is, when you’re around family, to get remembered for who you used to be. I was the typical big sister. Bossy. Arrogant, if I’m honest. They probably thought I was […]
This Sunday, We’re Making Room
By Ellis White, Senior Pastor Last Sunday, a dad walked through our doors for the first time, two elementary-age daughters in tow, looking for kids’ check-in. Our remodel is still catching up with itself in one embarrassing way—with all the changes, we didn’t have the signage up yet to guide him. He stood there for […]
The Most Important Room in the Building
By Julie Hawkins, Associate Pastor of Ministry I grew up in the church, this church. Chapel Hill was the place where my faith came alive. It was in Sunday school classrooms and Wednesday night programs, in the care of adults who showed up week after week to teach, to pray, to notice me. Somewhere in […]
There’s No Better Time Than Right Now
By Ellis White, Senior Pastor Something happens in September. The slow, untethered pace of summer gives way to something more structured. Kids go back to school. Routines return. People start thinking again about what they want their weeks to look like—and what they want their lives to look like. Psychologists call it the “fresh start […]
Parenting Without Having It All Figured Out
By Rachel White, Pastor of Next Steps It hit me recently, somewhere between Evelyn’s birthday and getting Ezra ready for his first year of middle school, that we don’t have an elementary schooler in the house anymore. Evelyn just turned 13, so we are newly, officially parents of teenagers, and Ezra is right behind her. […]
Put Sunday on Your Calendar First
By J.J. Bland, Director of Chapel Hill Preschool As summer begins to wind down, I always reach that moment when reality settles in. The slower pace, spontaneous backyard barbecues, late-night teen gatherings around the fire pit, and unhurried evenings are coming to an end. Our preschool teachers are already stopping by their classrooms, decorating bulletin […]