A Parish Story from Bayview/Hunter’s Point | San Francisco, CA

In a San Francisco neighborhood that is experiencing gentrification and whose African-American population decreased by 37% from 2020 to 2019, Pastor Kirk Davis is committed to practicing a Theology of Place by inhabiting his Parish.

Pastor Kirk calls it “re-entrification”–he moved back into the neighborhood of his childhood in order to embrace its beautiful and messy and broken past, to help build for a better future for the Black community in the neighborhood, and to embrace the beauty and brokenness of all cultures and ethnicities. Pastor Kirk takes long, sometimes 3 hour walks in his neighborhood because he believes that to be truly present, he needs the vantage point that walking gives him, when so many people just choose to drive through. Click to listen to Kirk’s interview on Soul Search Podcast to hear more about his walking route.

Kirk Davis

‘Re-Entrification’ is a way to move back into my old neighborhood. It’s a way to recapture its history, its beauty, its struggle, its pain, its soul.

Kirk Davis is a true Parish pastor and spiritual mentor to so many church leaders and neighborhood influencers in his city of San Francisco and beyond. Kirk and his wife Denise run KAIROS, an organization focused on innovating, empowering disadvantaged neighborhoods, and equipping churches to be a catalyst in impacting their communities. They serve as pastors, facilitators, and space-holders for the movement they envision–a community in which activists, artists, and misfits can engage scripture, participate in community and provide spiritual support for each other.

We are thankful to Pastor Kirk for showing us what it looks like to be a faithful presence in his place. Click to learn more about KAIROS or to read more of his words on Thoughts of an Urban Pastor in San Francisco.