Church of the Hills PCUSA, Evergreen

09/02/2026

Join us for fellowship and fun at our Fall Kickoff with an outdoor service, lunch, trivia and a raffle on September 13th starting at 10:00am.

This is "Fall Kickoff" by Richard Aylor on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

08/26/2026

Thank you to John and Valorie for hosting the annual Outdoor Service and picnic at their beautiful ranch!

08/05/2026

Special times at Church of the Hills!

07/15/2026

Thank you to David and Julia for a wonderful Spares and Pairs potluck!

07/10/2026

“Pray, then, in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.”

- Matthew 6: 9-13

Prayer is an important part of our lives, both individually and for our church community. Since I have been your pastor, one of my favorite parts of our worship service is the prayer time. Sharing our prayers and concerns informally before we move into formal prayer is very special.

This Sunday and next, I am going to preach on a prayer we pray every Sunday as a part of our Prayers of the People. We pray it so much most of us can recite it by heart without thinking. It’s the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray together: the Lord’s Prayer.

Since it’s a prayer we pray every Sunday and Jesus specifically taught us t pray it, I think it’s appropriate to dig a little deeper into this prayer we all know. The first Sunday will be on the importance of praying as a community and the first half of the prayer. The first half of the prayer is more about God and the kingdom. On the second Sunday, I will preach on the second half of the prayer, which is more focused on us, specifically forgiveness and temptation. This is when I will talk about the difference in debts and trespasses and my opinion about which tradition says the prayer correctly. You don’t want to miss it!

I look forward to preaching on the Lord’s Prayer and sharing what I’ve learned. I certainly have more of an appreciation of the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. I hope you will, too.

May the Love of God be with you,
Pastor Richard

06/30/2026

A great time was had by all at Spares and Pairs last Friday evening!

06/23/2026

A successful mission trip!!!!

06/16/2026

Our Pura Vida Mission team arrived safely in Guatemala!

06/09/2026

Congratulations to Judy Jensen, our very deserving Service Award winner for 2026!

06/05/2026

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”- Matthew 28: 19-20

Next week, a group of us from COTH are heading to Guatemala for the Pura Vida mission trip. I am very excited! Church of the Hills is the sponsor for the English Camp this year. I give thanks for the generosity of our church that ensures camps like this happen. Four others will be joining me from COTH: Briana, Heidi Smithson, and Donna and Jerry Bucholz. Former member Joanna Cook will also be going.

In case you don’t know about the English camp, I will give you a brief overview. We are based in Chichicastenango, which is a town in the Guatemalan highlands known for its famous market days. The Catholic Church in the heart of the market is pictured below. The Each day, we travel outside of the town to Lemoa, a small village with a beautiful lake. On the shores of this lake is a Methodist Camp, where we set up for the week. For 5 days, local students are brought to the camp, and we teach them English. Education is so important for children in Guatemala. It’s one of the ways they can break the generational cycle of poverty. Pura Vida supports these students with scholarships and by hosting these camps where they learn English.

This will be my second time going to Guatemala to teach at the English Camp. Like a lot of mission trips, the first time was a life-changing experience for me. I really enjoyed working with the children and getting to know them. I may have taught them some English, but I learned a lot from them, too. I hope to see some of the same children again, and I’m also looking forward to meeting new children that were not at the camp the last time I was there.
There are many ways to share Jesus as we do mission work. I’m excited to share Jesus by teaching English. But I’m also exciting for what the children will teach me. I suspect my eyes will be opened in more ways than one, and I will come back inspired to do more mission work.

Please keep us in your prayers for safe travels and a successful trip, filled with blessings, both for us and all those we meet.

May the love of God be with you,
Pastor Richard