Brian Parker has been the Lead Pastor at Hillcrest since December 2007. He and his wife, Melissa, drove up the Al-Can Highway in the middle of winter to get here. They believe you can’t be a true Alaskan unless you’ve driven the highway at least once!

Originally from North Idaho, Brian grew up in Post Falls which is nestled in between Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Spokane, Washington. Melissa also grew up in Idaho, spending time in Nampa, St. Maries, Lewiston, and Kellogg. Brian and Melissa were married on September 29, 2007.

Both graduated from Northwest Nazarene University. Brian graduated in 1997 with a degree in Sociology. Melissa graduated in 1999 with a degree in Psychology. Then, both Brian and Melissa went to graduate school after college. Brian graduated from Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, with a Master of Divinity in 2002. Melissa graduated from Washington State University with a Master of Arts in Human Development (emphasis in Early Childhood) in 2003.

When it comes to the Church, the phrase that Pastor Brian dislikes the most is: “We’ve never done it that way before!” Brian has been heard to say many times, “If we do what we’ve always done, then we’ll get what we’ve always got!” Brian’s passion for Hillcrest Church, is that all who are a part of this local church body, will be introduced to, and nurtured in, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ! He has two favorite passages of Scripture that guide him in ministry:

John 15:16a / NIV – You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

 Ephesians 4:11-16 / NIV – 11It was [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

 14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.