“Growing in God’s Grace”
In the early twenty-first century, First Presbyterian Church adopted this phrase as its guiding principle. In numbers, in prayer, in outlook, in action, in the confident assumption of God’s infinite grace, we look forward to fulfilling this ideal.
Mission Statement
We believe that God in love created us, calls us to be His people and redeems us through Jesus Christ. Therefore, as a community of believers guided by the Holy Spirit, we strive to follow Christ in word and deed through worship, Bible study, prayer, service to others, and sharing the Good News of the Gospel.
Our Denomination: PC(USA)
First Presbyterian Church is a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the mainline Presbyterian denomination in the United States. For over four centuries, Presbyterians have been responding to the call of Jesus Christ, taking the gospel into the world and bearing witness to Christ’s saving love to the ends of the earth. Today the Holy Spirit is still on the move, calling us to share in what God is doing in the world. Shaped by its Reformed theology, history, and representational form of leadership, the PC(USA) faithfully works to serve Christ in the world through new and existing communities of faith, hope, love, and witness. Learn more about what Presbyterians believe at the PC(USA)’s website.
Our History
The congregation of First Presbyterian Church was organized on May 2, 1878. In the early years, services were held in various places: small school rooms, rooms over stores, and in the homes of members. By 1884, the congregation had its first regularly installed pastor, the Revered Mr. R. S. Burwell, and moved into its first building, located on Elm Street and known affectionately as the “Little Red Church.” By the second decade of the twentieth century, this first wooden building was unable to meet the needs of the congregation, and a new stone building (the “Rock Church”) was built on the same site in the style of an English gothic revival parish church. In 1928, the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the congregation, membership had grown to 246.
Only a few decades later, the building and location offered little space to grow, and the congregation moved again, this time to its new permanent home on University Drive. During the last service at the “Rock Church” on June 27, 1965, each person carried a hymn book, formed a procession in cars, and proceeded to the new church where the service was concluded. The new sanctuary was designed to equally emphasize the three symbols of Presbyterian theology: the pulpit, the communion table, and the baptismal font. Above these hangs the Celtic Cross. The pastor at the time, Rev. Mr. Martin Thomas explained: “For us, these three symbols suggest the acts of God, and each will have equal significance… The Celtic Cross hanging above the table is the reminder that we are under the judgment and protection of the Cross whereupon the justice and love of God were revealed. The ring of the Cross symbolizes the eternal nature of the sacrifice of our Savior.” The church had again grown at the time of its centenary in 1978 with membership rolls at 430 and with the construction of Erwin Hall, a large fellowship hall and gymnasium.
First Presbyterian met the challenges of the twenty-first century head on, building a new multipurpose wing in 2004, livestreaming services starting in the pandemic, and opening the Little Free Food Pantry in 2021. Today, the heart of this congregation beats as strongly as ever.
