Rick Atchley

I’ve been the Teaching Minister at The Hills since 1989, so one of my great joys has been the privilege of raising my kids in a church that values children.

I grew up in a religious tradition that taught me to fear God, but not to love him. Even worse, I was not sure God really loved me. That’s one reason why I am such a believer in the power of gospel preaching. I was blessed in college and in my young adult years to hear the gospel of God’s grace preached, and over time I began to believe in a God who loved me, who was for me, and who did through Christ what I could never do so that He could spend eternity with me.

That’s why Romans 8 is my favorite chapter in the Bible.  I love the strong declaration that “there is no condemnation in Christ,” and still am moved by the realization that “if God is for us, who can be against us?”

My desire is for The Hills to be a church where that same strong message of the grace of God is declared clearly and boldly. It is the good news that can save anyone, and the only news that can save everyone.