“Embrace your uniqueness.
Time is much too short to be living someone else's life.”
Kobi Yamada

For over fifty years, Park Road Baptist has served the Charlotte community as a progressive Baptist Church. We have been active through the years in promoting social justice and the equality of all persons. Members of this congregation represent a broad theological spectrum, ranging from the very liberal to the traditionally conservative.

One of the hallmarks of this congregation is its commitment to open theological discourse, with members of the larger Christian community as well as with those representing other faith traditions. In parallel with this commitment is our openness to seek truth, wherever it might take us, even if this means beyond the scope of traditionally formulated doctrines. The phrase "where truth is a becoming more than a having" is an apt description that has for many years characterized the open journey of our understanding of discipleship. Persons seeking a community in constant dialogue and open to discovery will find this church a refreshing home; those seeking a fellowship of conformity to dogma will likely find their home elsewhere.

We claim a heritage of "free and faithful Baptists" with great pride, emphasizing historic Baptist principles such as the autonomy (freedom) of the local church, the freedom of scriptural interpretation, and the freedom of believers to be priests to themselves and to one another.

As Baptists, we encourage public baptism as an act of commitment by those who seek to follow in the Way of Jesus. We practice baptism by immersion, yet emphasizing "free and faithful," we do accept into our membership persons of other traditions, upon statement of their faith, and of their stated desire to participate in this Christian community. Because of this policy, many years ago this congregation was removed from the fellowship of the local Southern Baptist Association. Because of our longstanding commitment to the ordination of women into all forms of Christian service, and due to the increasingly conservative movement of the Southern Baptist Convention, shortly thereafter the church withdrew all formal support for the SBC.

In 2003 the Diaconate conducted a formal study of our Denomination Affiliations, and recommended a three-pronged approach, which was later adopted by the church. According to that strategy, our current affiliations are with:
1) the Alliance of Baptists (www.allianceofbaptists.org), The United Baptist Association, and the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (www.bpfna.org),
2) the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship — national (www.thefellowship.info) and North Carolina (www.cbfnc.org),

Community is important to our congregation, as our commitment to one another based on trust, mutual respect, and honesty is essential to our vision of Church. Within a community based on such commitments, there is room for great diversity. Any person, regardless of race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or theological belief, who seeks to live in Christian community will find welcome here.