Parrhesia is a New Testament word. It means speaking boldly and plainly, holding nothing back. The apostles prayed for it in Acts 4, and God answered: “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
The Parrhesians is our attempt to practice it. Here you’ll find long-form writing, three podcasts, and the books of Parrhesian Press, from the pastors and friends of Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.
If you’re new, here is where to begin.
Five essays to start with
The Sentence That Changed My Life
One sentence in a college ethics textbook, and the teacher who wrote it.
No Neutral Ground
Why the church can’t stay silent in the public square.
How the Early Church Made Christians
What the first Christians meant by knowing and loving God, and what we lost along the way.
Four Convictions
From a series on growing up in the church, leaving it, and coming back.
Millennial Mission
First published in Touchstone (2018). Handing on the faith is not a new task.
Why we left the EPC
In January 2025, Beverly Heights voted to leave the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Since September 2026 it has been a member church of the CREC. Read the story in order.
Listen
The Parrhesian Podcast
Long conversations on the church, the culture, and the nerve to say what is true. A good first episode is The “Scary” CREC, with Douglas Wilson.
We Make Christians
The church’s first job, from the pastors of Beverly Heights.
The Scattered Seeds Podcast
With Tom O’Boyle.
Read the books
Parrhesian Press publishes God and His Household, Longing for Obedience: A Conversation with Eugene Peterson, and The Mud Pie King.
Meet the writers
Meet the Parrhesians, and read Tom O’Boyle’s column, O’Bservations.
Stay in touch
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