In this J29 Coalition Podcast episode, pastors Jackie Parks and Andy Littleton explore what it means to lead churches through cultural polarization, political tension, and spiritual formation in vastly different Arizona contexts. Jackie, who planted a trauma-informed, justice-driven congregation emerging from a homeless ministry, shares how missional life together can become a prophetic alternative to tribalism. Andy, serving a post-Christian, artistically inclined population in Tucson, reflects on how Scripture subtly but persistently forms a political imagination when preached with humility and curiosity. Together, they reflect on building trust, embracing discomfort, and leaving space for the Spirit to form people through lived experience and communal discernment. Their honest and hopeful conversation models how pastors can be both prophetic and pastoral without giving in to fear or false certainty.
Jackie Parks is the founding pastor of South Scottsdale Presbyterian Church, a community born out of a long-standing ministry to people experiencing homelessness. Ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO), Jackie leads a church deeply shaped by justice, inclusion, and trauma-informed discipleship.
Andy Littleton is the founding pastor of Mission Church in Tucson, Arizona, a congregation rooted in the heart of a post-Christian, creative, and justice-seeking neighborhood. He also writes and reflects on faith and culture through his online platform, A Little Mission.
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