Our Mission Statement

"Changing lives through God's love in Christ"

Our Vision Statement

"We are a welcoming community FIRST UNITED in proclaiming FAITH in Jesus Christ, sharing HOPE for the future, and inspiring LOVE for our neighbors."

Proclaiming Faith

Our faith in Jesus Christ as Head of the Church, and the authority of Scripture, calls us to share the Good News through dynamic worship, intergenerational education, and community involvement.
 
Sharing Hope

We provide a community of faith which glorifies God through serving others, generosity, and fellowship.
 
Inspiring Love

God’s justifying grace calls us to be welcoming, compassionate, and caring of our neighbors and congregation.

Our Theology

As Presbyterians, we believe that our salvation through Jesus Christ is God’s generous gift to us and not the result of our own accomplishments. Therefore, even though we share common beliefs, we understand that God alone is Lord of the conscience, and it is up to each individual to understand what these principles mean in his or her life.
 
As a congregation, we challenge ourselves to remain strongly rooted in our Presbyterian heritage which is part of the Reformed Tradition. As members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) we believe in the priesthood of all believers, which is why the Presbyterian Church is governed at all levels by clergy and laity, men and women alike.
 
We believe unity is God’s gift to the Church in Christ. To be one with Christ is to be joined with all those whom Christ calls into relationship with him. In Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God unites persons through baptism regardless of race, ethnicity, age, sex, disability, geography, or sexual orientation. Therefore, there is no place in the life of the Church for discrimination against any person. In the name of Christ, we welcome all whom God calls into fellowship and community at First United Presbyterian Church.
 
We seek a new openness:  to the sovereign activity of God, our membership, our institutions, and to God’s continuing reformation of the Church Ecumenical.

Who Are Presbyterians?

"In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God's new heaven and new earth praying, 'Come, Lord Jesus.'"  -  from A Brief Statement of Faith.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is distinctly a confessional and a connectional church, distinguished by the representation of Ruling Elders - laypeople - in its government. The church has a membership of 2.3 million in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Currently there are nearly 11 thousand congregations, over 21,000 ordained ministers, 1,100 candidates for ministry and more than 94,000 Ruling Elders.

In America, the first Presbytery was organized in 1706; the first Synod in 1717; and the first General Assembly was held in 1789. Today's Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was created by the 1983 reunion of the two main branches of Presbyterians in America separated since the Civil War - the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The latter had been created by the union of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the United Presbyterian Church of North America in 1958.

Presbuteros, the Greek word meaning elder, is used 72 times in the New Testament. It provided the name for the Presbyterian family of churches, which includes the Reformed churches of the world. Both Presbyterian and Reformed are synonymous with churches of the Calvinist tradition.

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