Hi! Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Parris Patrick. I’m a husband of 16 years, father of 4 wonderful children, Pastor of Agape Community Bible Church and most of all a Human.
As a husband of 16 years, my wife and I have a heart for ministering to couples who are contemplating marriage, in marriage or having a difficult time in marriage. God did such a wonderful healing work in the 5th year of our marriage that we decided to “pay it forward” by sharing our testimony and the wisdom that we have learned with other couples. The 1st five years of our marriage could’ve easily defined as “a young, arrogant, prideful man and a spoiled, unforgiving, prideful young woman who got married too early.” Near the end of our 5th year of marriage, divorce had become an inevitable possibility that we both looked forward to but neither of us wanted to be the one to initiate the process. After getting sternly spoken to by my father about the kind of man I was being, I asked God to fix me and heal my marriage. Within days it became my mission to love my wife as Christ loved me. As I devoured what the bible had to say about being a husband I was transformed by the love of Christ and now, 11 years later, seek to help other men and husbands have the same amazing transformation I did.
Being a father has been one of the great joys of my life. God has put a personal call on me to be a father to fatherless children. So in addition to our 3 children; Isaac, Daniel and Parker, we have adopted 1 teenage boy, Andy, and I have become “dad” to many others. I have extensively studied the negative effects of fatherlessness both in the bible and in history and discovered that God is deeply concerned with this issue and that was all I needed to go into action. With the permission and encouragement of my wife and my children, I spend as much time as I can mentoring young people as a father would and guiding them into a life that pleases God.
Pastoring is why I exist, it is who I am, it is my purpose on earth. When I was between 6-8 years old I had a dream that I was preaching in a large church to a congregation of what seemed to be thousands of people. As they kept saying over and over again “please tell us the truth, we just want the truth” I woke up and began to ask my father about the dream who quickly responded, “son, God has called you to be one of His ministers.” That was all I needed. While my peers were aspiring to be doctors, lawyers, sports stars and business people, I was dreaming of becoming a great pastor. My heart for ministry is to cause people to fall into love with God, to help usher in His presence in their life freeing them from strong holds and sin problems, and to heal and recover broken family relationships. In short God has asked me to be an agent of transformation making effective and relevant in practical ways the verse that says:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
I am Human! I say that because, before I am a Husband, a Father, a Pastor, or even an Afro-American, I am Human. God has allowed me to have a life experiencing many of the worst things that plague the human race. Everything from abortion (no we did not go through with it), drug addiction (pain pills), molestation as a child, and yes racism. Once I became serious about following Jesus Christ it became very clear that these experiences would be used to glorify God. I’ve shared parts of my testimony and story with many different types of audiences and it’s clear to me every time I do that what came into my life for evil, God turned into something that would glorify Him and bless me.
If you are interested in having me share my testimony or speak at your event please contact me by clicking here.
To listen to my sermons from Agape Community Bible Church, please click here.