Lee and Carole Hord joined the Gym at Peachtree when they were still dating. Carole had been raised in the church. Lee had not. Carole shares, “I felt like something was missing and wanted to get back into going to church. Since we liked the folks we met at the Gym, we decided to try Peachtree.” They joined in 2000, soon after Dr. Vic Pentz became the new Senior Pastor.

6 years later, The Hords were struggling with a negative diagnosis for one of their twin boys. They had started volunteering in Sunday School when they met a young boy with Cerebral Palsy. “I’ll never forget meeting John Drambel, in his wheelchair, arms swirling and with the most beautiful smile and eyes. I could not take my eyes off him.”

“Several weeks later, we heard an announcement about needing volunteers for special needs kiddos in Sunday School, and I was determined that Lee and I would be John’s buddy. Being around John and his whole family, especially looking into John’s eyes, you saw love every time. Not perfection, but love, the kind of love Jesus teaches us to offer our neighbors. Witnessing that for so many years helped me, shaped me.”

As Lee found community in Ironmen and Carole in the Women’s Ministry, their twin sons, Robert and Daniel, grew up surrounded by friends and leaders at Peachtree. Today, their sons are high school sophomores and fully involved in Student Ministry. “Peachtree has been a 20+ year community that has evolved with us, just as our family and life has evolved. We have loved the diversity we are seeing in the church and hope the church will one day reflect the diversity in our community.” The Hords look forward to what God will do next at Peachtree Church.