OUR PASTOR & FIRST LADY

The Rev. Aaron L. Parker, Ph.D., revered academician, theologian, preacher and pastor, has built his life's work in the academy and the Church on a mandate that promotes a climate of love and service to the local community and extends to become a global witness for Christian faith. As Pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church (ZHBC) in Atlanta, GA, Dr. Parker has spent the last 30 years dedicating his life to sharpening the spiritual aptitude and expanding the theological proclivity of some of the nation’s most accomplished pastors, preachers, teachers and the growing body of believers of his beloved pastoral charge. Dr. Parker is most appropriately described not as a preacher, but as “an educator who answered the divine call to preach“.

 

A son of the church, being the seventh child born to the late Reverend P. F. Parker and the late Mrs. Amy C. Parker of Canton, Mississippi; Dr. Parker is a 1975 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College and earned a Master of Arts in Religion and the Doctor of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Emory University's Candler School of Theology.

 

Dr. Parker accepted the call to pastor the historic Zion Hill Baptist Church in 1994. Now in his 30th year as Pastor of Zion Hill, Dr. Parker also continues to mold and shape male youth into Morehouse Men as an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Morehouse College, where he has taught and mentored for nearly 45 years. Many of his students have become nationally renowned preachers and pastors as well. His first action as Pastor was to present and coin the church's new declarative creed, “Living to Love and Loving to Serve“. During his 30 years of leadership, membership has grown to nearly 4,800, with robust programs established to enrich the worship and church life of Zion Hill members and extend strategic service efforts to improve communities, locally, nationally, and throughout the world.

 

As the visionary shepherd of what was coined as The Zion Hill “Rock Project“, Pastor Parker spearheaded a $31 million building initiative, to accommodate the Church's growing membership and expansion of ministries to continue changing lives and serving with love.

 

Foremost, Dr. Parker is leading the vibrant congregation to deepen its focus on service to the community through the church's expansive Care to Love Outreach Ministry that has resulted in the formation of more than 50 ministries during his pastoral tenure, designed to impact the region and the world. Notable among them are the nationally recognized Rites of Passage Program for youth ages 13-18, with more than 1000 alumni, and the church's founding and support of the Zion Hill Community Development Corporation (ZHCDC) in 2002, a non-profit organization devoted to spiritual, economic, and educational enhancement.

 

Dr. Parker has inspired and led the Zion Hill congregation through the implementation of innovative spiritual and educational programs and community outreach ministries, which are supported by tithes and offerings and an Outreach Endowment Fund, which began with pre-existing funds in the amount of over $300,000 and now stands at approximately $2.5 million. Since 1994, through Dr. Parker's leadership, Zion Hill has contributed more than $4.5 million for outreach and disaster relief and over $1.5 million in scholarships. The outreach programs, include annual donations to Morehouse College and all the Atlanta University Center Schools; African Initiative Ministry Program, called the Mission of Hope Meal Program; and provisions of disaster relief following hurricanes and tornadoes.

 

The Reverend Dr. Parker is an ordained minister, a member of the Concerned Black Clergy of Atlanta, the Society for the Study of Black Religion, the American Academy of Religion, among other leadership positions. Dr. Parker is married to Shelia Smith Parker, his high school sweetheart, and they are the parents of two children, Aaron Larry Parker, Jr., Asha Liana Parker, and proud and adoring grandparents of Laila Marie Parker Booth.

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Zion Hills Leading Lady, Mrs. Shelia S. Parker, is known for her commanding presence in every facet of her life. Born the fifth of six children to James and Ruth Eva Smith in Canton, MS, this analytical intellectual was serious about her life at an early age. Chosen as one of a small group of advanced students to leave high school following her 11th grade year, she attended college early, to earn both a B.A. in Math from Spelman College and a M.A. in Math from Atlanta University. During the span of her 30-year corporate career, Mrs. Parker has worked with some of the nation's leading companies including General Motors, Hewlett Packard and AT&T. As a computer programmer and network analyst with AT&T, formerly Bellsouth, and Electronic Data Systems, she has managed some of the largest network accounts in the digital age including the nationwide 9-1-1 Emergency System. Her scope of influence does not end there. Putting her analytical skills to work within the church setting, Mrs. Parker is a phenomenal organizer and planner, often behind the scenes leading the execution of the church's major events and managing the integration of new technology and database management for the steadily growing congregation. A strong advocate for women's empowerment, she has also been instrumental in helping to shape some of Zion Hill's most integral ministries for women including serving as former leader of S.I.S. (Sisters in Sync), Zion Hill's ministry for women. A confident, compassionate and assertive leader and teacher, Mrs. Parker has helped to shape the futures of generations of young women throughout this community and beyond. Mrs. Parker is currently the Program Director for the church's Rites of Passage Program, a widely recognized program implanted by Dr. Parker in 2004, which invites community teens to participate in a 13-week program that teaches them skills and values for becoming successful, productive adults. Her example has inspired young women to greatness and her legacy is fabulously fashionable, fortunately fruitful and most of all, fundamentally faithful. She is a powerful and supportive force beside her husband and high school sweetheart, Pastor Aaron L. Parker, and the proud mother of two adult children Aaron Larry, Jr. and Asha Liana.