Here at First Presbyterian Church, you will find that we are a unique expression of classic Christian faith and practice in that we understand ourselves to be at once:
Mainline, Reformed and Evangelical.
Our Expressions, Mission, Distinctives
Mainline - We are "mainline" in that we are a long-standing congregation in an historic Protestant denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Reformed - "Reformed" describes how we understand our faith as built on the foundation stones of the sovereignty of God, the grace of Christ, and the enabling and empowering work of the Holy Spirit. As such, we claim a theological heritage through the likes of Augustine, John Calvin, John Knox, John Owen, George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge and Charles Spurgeon, along with contemporaries like J.I. Packer, R. C. Sproul, and the late James Montgomery Boice.
Evangelical - "Evangelical" describes our emphasis on the necessity of being "born again" through faith in Christ and our eagerness to be used by God to take the message of His salvation to all who will hear.
Our Mission
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you;
and you will be my witnesses..."
Our God is a missionary God who has gone to extraordinary lengths to save us. As Christians mature, not only will we increasingly share our Father's character, our lives will increasingly reflect our Lord's priorities and compassion. Because of the Holy Spirit's work in His people, we will become mission-minded, zealous that God be glorified everywhere by everyone and concerned that Christ's compassion be demonstrated.
"...in Jerusalem and in all Judea..."
We have many opportunities for involvement with ministries in Reading and Berks County, through hands-on labor as well as our resources. Motivated Moms, a ministry to the non-English speaking population, provides language training, parenting and survival skills in a loving evangelistic outreach to adults and their young children.
Some of the other local ministries we support include: Reading/Berks Conference of Churches, Freedom Gate (prison ministry), Habitat for Humanity, Mercy Crisis Pregnancy Center, Migrant Ministries, Homosexuals Anonymous, and Opportunity House.
"...and Samaria, even to the ends of the earth." Jesus of Nazareth, Acts 1:8
Not only do we support a number of Presbyterian and interdenominational missionaries throughout the world, but we send teams of our own members on short-term missions to visit ministries we support or to take part in cross-cultural outreach. We have sent teams to Ecuador, Japan, Kenya, Zambia, and Ethiopia . Recently teams went to minister in Costa Rica and Lame Deer Reservation in Montana.
What's a Presbyterian?
Some of us are Presbyterians because that's the church we grew up in. Others are Presbyterians because, after searching, that's the church where we felt we belonged. "Presbyterian" actually refers to the way we organize ourselves as Christians. Our name comes from a Greek word (the language spoken by the individuals who wrote the New Testament) which simply meant "elder". Presbyterian churches, then, are churches that are led or governed by elders. In the New Testament, an elder was someone who was a mature believer, of rock-solid character, who was recognized and set apart by the church as having been gifted by God for the work of leading the church. Elders oversaw the life and ministry of the church, preached and taught in church and homes, guarded the faith handed down to them by the apostles and made decisions for the well being of the church. Today, Presbyterian elders exercise much the same role, sharing the work of ministry and the oversight of the church with the pastor, who is himself or herself an elder with specific responsibilities as preacher and administrator of the sacraments.
But Presbyterian means more than just the way we govern ourselves. Most fundamentally, it should mean to be a Christian. As a Christian, a Presbyterian accepts the Bible as God's Word, authoritative for life and faith. We also accept the major ecumenical and reformed creeds (like the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds) as being right and true expressions of Christian faith for their times and marking the boundaries for Christian faith today. But most of all, being a Christian has to do with our relationship with Jesus Christ. As Christians, we Presbyterians affirm that Jesus is both our Savior (God Himself coming as a man, taking upon Himself our punishment for sin and dying in our place under God's wrath on the cross, so that we might be forgiven and reconciled with God) and our Lord (Risen from the dead and thereby proven to be Lord, to whom Christians joyfully submit, subsequently leading lives of fulfilled obedience under God's blessing and hope of eternal life.)
