Sunday was our annual Music Sunday worship service, when we hear the Christmas narrative through Scripture and song. Here are some scenes from the day, which also included our annual Christmas-cookie event between the worship services.
Your first introduction to the Gideons was likely in a hotel room during your travels as you noticed a Bible placed in the room by the international group. We asked Russ Lawrence, a First Pres covenant partner who volunteers with Gideons, to share more about the...
Scott Dove, one of First Pres' commissioned lay pastors and a deacon, recently shared his faith story on the podcast "What Are We Even Doing Here?" with Daryl Updike. "From being bullied as a quiet kid, to now preaching the Word of God in a few different churches, I...
by Mary Duryea Why select Psalms, with 150 chapters, when there are 66 books to choose from, for a brief six-week study? That question echoed in my head as I kept coming back to the decision. It made much more sense to select a short book and do the whole thing....
Our community has suffered a great loss after an act of violence took the lives of a Bridgewater College police officer and a security officer. Today, we are praying this prayer as we mourn and lament. We awake today, Lord, wishing it was a bad dream. But the...
Raise your hand if you’ve played Wordle. Better yet, hit share and show us your squares. For those who haven’t gotten on board the global word craze, Wordle is an online word game that gives you six chances to guess a five letter word, with hints along the way about...
Have you seen the #10yearchallenge, where you post a pic of yourself 10 years ago now, and everybody gets to see how much you've changed (of for the fortunate ones, how little you've changed). That got me thinking about how grateful I am that though my hair gets gray...
The leaders of First Pres read a lot of varied books in 2021, so we wondered what some of the best were. Here's what they told us. "Pursuing a Heart of Wisdom" (John C. Kwasny) Associate Pastor Billy Craig: This book was about counseling teenagers biblically and by...
We asked our worship team what music drew them closer to Jesus in 2021. Here's what some of them told us. Take a listen and let this worship music propel you into 2022. "House of the Lord" (Phil Wickham) One of my favorite praise songs from the past year was “House of...
Facilities committee chairman Marshall Price updated Session recently on the progress of the new courtyard. While the courtyard project has encountered numerous unexpected delays, progress continues, and the committee is hopeful that completion is nearing. In addition...