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Meet First Pres’ commissioned lay pastors
First Pres has commissioned six lay pastors for service during the coming year. These commissioned lay pastors have received additional training for their roles, which are renewable annually. Here are the covenant partners who will be commissioned. Scott Dove As part...
Blog Archive
12 Books to deepen your faith in 2025: Take the challenge!
Are you busy thinking about the hope and promise that a new year holds? Are you planning for ways that you can challenge yourself and grow in 2025? How about reading? Whether you're an avid reader or an "I never read" kind of reader, the Adult Discipleship committee...
Isaiah 117 House helps defend the fatherless
Isaiah 117, a national ministry that has recently gotten a local chapter, is First Pres' local missions focus in December. We want you to know more about the group, and on the final Sunday of the month you can contribute to its work during our missions offering. We...
Photos: Live Nativity in downtown Harrisonburg
Here are some scenes from the Live Nativity at the First Pres Courtyard in downtown Harrisonburg. We enjoyed meeting so many of our neighbors as we celebrate Christmas together. Special thanks to the Pugh family and the Hannah family, whose contributions in memory of...
Honoring a Bright Light: The Story Behind the New Star at First Pres’ Live Nativity
During First Pres’ live nativity last year, Wayne Hannah noticed a missing “character.” The wise men were there, and the shepherds, and of course Mary and Joseph and a baby doll for Jesus. But above them? No star. So Wayne got to work designing one with the help of...
Photos: Music Sunday and cookies kick off Advent and Christmas at First Pres
One of our traditions to start the Advent and Christmas season at First Pres is by holding our most musical (and sweet) Sunday of the year. On Music Sunday, we hear the Christmas story in music and scripture. Between the two services, we enjoy Christmas cookies...
Mission team brings hope and healing to flood-stricken North Carolina
As floodwaters rose, an elderly man near Hendersonville, North Carolina, carried his wheelchair-bound wife through waist-deep waters and placed her in a canoe with neighbors. He returned to his flooded house and clung to life until the water began to recede. For the...
Where to go if you need some perspective
There is something about sitting in the sanctuary and being in worship that puts things in perspective. Maybe you've experienced it, or maybe you need to. The Psalmist did. He starts Psalm 73 proclaiming God's goodness, but then quickly adds a "but": He almost slipped...
During the election, how are you praying: with joy or anxiety?
It's Election week. How are you praying? With anxiety? Or joy? Paul writes in Philippians 1:3 that he always prays “with joy.” That convicts me, because on my good days I can say I pray with gratitude, but most days I pray with anxiety and not with joy. With the...
Unplug to put things in perspective
I was recently in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho where I’d joined my brothers for their mule deer hunt. Being in the mountains and being disconnected from the news – family, church, community and the world alike, as we had no cell service – put things in...
An update from our sister church in Ethiopia
We recently received an update from Solomon at our sister church in Ethiopia. Here is the letter he sent. As you may know, September marks the start of the new year in Ethiopia, as well as the opening of schools for student registration. We took this opportunity to...