October 2, 2026
CLARKSVILLE, Ga. — At Hills Crossing Baptist Church, real faith meets real people. Members focus on discipleship that begins at home, then touches the lives of the body of Christ, and impacts its community and the nations.
When Pastor David Stancil was called to be the church’s pastor in January of 2019, he came to a healthy church. “I inherited a good church because the former pastor, Walter Singletary, had served the people with faithfulness and compassion," he said. "It was a church that loved each other and wanted to do God’s business.”
Stancil refuses to take any credit for the good things that are happening at Hills Crossing, but his vision for the church is both biblical and Christ-honoring.
He's placed a significant interest in the family. He emphasizes the importance of the family worshiping together, reading the Bible together, memorizing and obeying the Scripture, and journaling. He is teaching the people at Hills Crossing to follow the path outlined in Deuteronomy 6:6-7: “And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your (children), and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up” (NAS).
Stancil wants to see families that are spiritually healthy, with children who are brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
The Hills Crossing pastor is also focused on discipleship. He explained, “While there is a priority on corporate worship, we encourage everyone to be involved in a small group community. We have approximately twenty different discipleship groups, and when new members come into our church, we stress the importance of them getting in a 'D Group.'
“These groups meet all year long. Some of them meet in homes, and some have met in fast-food restaurants. In fact, when those who meet in restaurants take a week off, the restaurant staff lets them know they were missed. Our end goal is for our disciples to become disciple makers as Jesus commands in the Great Commission.”
When he arrived at Hills Crossing, Stancil emphasized, “We must prepare the table before we can invite people to the table.
Tony Gray, the Georgia Baptist associational mission strategist for the Habersham Association, is a member of Hills Crossing, and he commented, “Other churches in the area want to know what Hills Crossing is doing, because the church is making an impact. The church is committed to living out the truth of Acts 1:8. There are four geographical regions mentioned in that verse, and the people of Hills Crossing are trying to be missionaries locally, in the state, the nation, and internationally.”
Gray continued, “We try to be a sending church, and many in our fellowship are involved in ministries and missions. Some are involved in children’s ministries, including backyard Bible clubs, free soccer camps, and Good News Clubs in our public schools. Others work regionally with mission partners, and some are engaged with our Georgia Baptist Partnership in Lima, Peru. Our church is truly committed to missions.”
The church has between 125 and 140 in worship on Sunday morning, and 70 to 100 in Sunday School, but some of the members occasionally are scattered out to assist other churches in times of need. For example, the church has gifted pianists, who have used their talents to accompany congregational singing, and some of their members have been used over the years for pulpit supply.
Stancil stated, “We are not trying to build a great church for ourselves. We desire to send families to other churches to help them get new life and become spiritually stronger. We have been privileged to raise up some leaders for other churches, but we long to send out many more.”
The Hills Crossing pastor added, “Some years ago, I thought God wanted me to be a church planter, but the Holy Spirit said, 'You do not need to become a church planter, but you need to pastor a church that helps to start and strengthen other churches that are struggling.'”
On Friday morning, there are faithful church members who offer free coffee and hot chocolate to their community, along with pastries from a nearby bakery in Cornelia. Their purpose is to represent Christ, and to offer encouragement where it is needed.
The church also has a Nightingale Ministry for ladies in the church who wish to devote themselves to helping women in distress, whether they are struggling physically, emotionally or spiritually.
The Clarksville church is substantially involved in a ministry called “Love Packages.” This ministry is designed to gather Christian literature to send around the world to advance the gospel of Jesus and to equip those who lack biblical resources. This missions organization ships over 2,000 tons of recycled gospel literature to the mission field every year.
One distributor in Eswatini on the continent of Africa, explained, “Pastors who did not have the money to buy even a sample of a gospel Scripture, do now have access to a lot of used literature, Bibles, and books that you shipped to us. I can’t tell you the great difference it has made.”
Hills Crossing has multiple ministries, including special events on the holidays, all designed to touch lives for the cause of Christ. Scores of people are intricately involved in these events, which are specifically planned to point people to Christ.
The members at Hills Crossing Baptist Church do not just go to church, they are the church in word and deed.
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