Events, News & Announcements
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Storytelling Campaign 2021
Gathering glimpses of First Presbyterian past - First Presbyterian right now - First Presbyterian future.
You are invited to connect with church members through your stories! Follow this link to a google form that will collect your story for the campaign.
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Please limit responses to 100 words total and respond to one of the following prompts via the link:
1. Share a memory of something we’ve done together. A memory of our church community. 2. Tell us what’s going on with you now? How are you finding joy these days? How are you spending your time? What occupies your hours? 3. Imagine what we will do when we can be back together again. What can’t you wait to do? Is it a favorite hymn that you can’t wait to sing together? Is it enjoying donuts or passing the peace? Is it something we’ve never even thought of before? Please share a photograph of yourself to include along with your story, by emailing it to office@firstpresmemphis.org—so that your church community can read your stories with your face in mind! You can also include a photo or image that goes with the story you have shared. Make sure to include your name or any details along with the photo. Stay tuned to the newsletter for stories from our church members! |
Stewardship begins Sunday, November 15 with the theme Restoring & Reimagining. Join us for virtual worship as we celebrate the restoration of our historic sanctuary and the creative spirit which has helped us to reimagine life together in this year through our worship and service.
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Worship with us virtually on facebook live Sundays at 11am. We will alert you when we are ready to resume in person worship. |
Facing Racism: Let's do this work together.
We begin our study of the PC(USA) Antiracism Policy, found here, with the topic "Biblical Imperative to Antiracism." Our lunchtime Zoom conversation (password is firstpres, ID: 910 3207 1845) on Tuesdays from 12:15-1pm will follow the Study Guide found here.
As our brothers and sisters of color cry out for racial justice, the session of First Presbyterian Church approved a motion to place a Black Lives Matter banner on our property. On Monday, June 8th we committed to holding intentional conversations about how we might respond to calls for justice, and about what Black Lives Matter means in our lives, and in the life of our church.
Stay connected with First Pres during the pandemic through weekly virtual coffee hours Sundays at 10:30am and Thursday afternoon Bible study at 3:30pm. Join on a computer or smartphone by clicking the graphic, or following the link below. To dial in for audio only, call 1(312)626-6799 and enter the meeting ID # (listed below).
Meeting ID: 985 0661 1988 Link: https://zoom.us/j/98506611988
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Meeting ID: 931 2918 0818 Link: https://zoom.us/j/93129180818
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UPDATE: The 'pop-up shelter' has found a safer and more sustainable location for the women to shelter in place more effectively. We were grateful for the opportunity to serve and respond to an immediate need in a collaborative effort with our longtime ministry partners, the Hospitality Hub, Constance Abbey and several faith based feeding ministries who provided meals for the efforts.
Letter regarding action to establish emergency shelter for women at First Presbyterian.
A letter written on March 18, 2020
Dear First Presbyterian Family,
Yesterday was an extraordinary day in which we banded together to adapt, move quickly and meet an emergency need in the midst of this pandemic.
We received a call to action from the leaders of our longtime mission partners, Hospitality Hub (The Hub), after Room In The Inn (RITI) shut down their rotating church shelter services. In short, we are collaborating with The Hub, Constance Abbey and RITI to provide emergency shelter from 5pm-7am each night for 20 women in our fellowship hall. Our session passed the emergency action to open the doors of our building and provide shelter in the midst of this crisis.
As I said in Sunday’s sermon, Memphis churches have a history of resilience. We as a church have survived numerous yellow fever and cholera outbreaks. But not without sacrifice, determination and a whole lot of love, patience and prayer. This is a big collective effort as we are attempting to meet the need of our neighborhood. The Hub and RITI, who are experienced in the intake process, are staffing and overseeing the overnight shelter. The women will be shuttled to the Abbey for showers, and churches are teaming up to providing dinners and breakfasts. If you or someone you know would like to provide a dinner or breakfast for 20 please let me know!
For the duration of this pandemic, the session leadership are meeting weekly for an online conference to find creative ways in which we can take care of one another and connect as a church community. Our church office remains closed, with work happening from home in efforts to meet CDC recommendations. Our in-person worship continues to be suspended, as we work together with area PC(USA) churches, rotating preaching and worship leadership to offer livestream and radio broadcast on 96.1 every Sunday at 11am. Our weekly Soup Kitchen and the 901 Ummah feeding ministry will enact “to-go” serving to feed our food insecure neighbors.
We give thanks to God for each one of you and ask you to pray and support each other. In this extraordinary time that we are living, let us take note from the letter to the Thessalonians and, “encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
Many blessings,
Rev. Kori Phillips McMurtry
Dear First Presbyterian Family,
Yesterday was an extraordinary day in which we banded together to adapt, move quickly and meet an emergency need in the midst of this pandemic.
We received a call to action from the leaders of our longtime mission partners, Hospitality Hub (The Hub), after Room In The Inn (RITI) shut down their rotating church shelter services. In short, we are collaborating with The Hub, Constance Abbey and RITI to provide emergency shelter from 5pm-7am each night for 20 women in our fellowship hall. Our session passed the emergency action to open the doors of our building and provide shelter in the midst of this crisis.
As I said in Sunday’s sermon, Memphis churches have a history of resilience. We as a church have survived numerous yellow fever and cholera outbreaks. But not without sacrifice, determination and a whole lot of love, patience and prayer. This is a big collective effort as we are attempting to meet the need of our neighborhood. The Hub and RITI, who are experienced in the intake process, are staffing and overseeing the overnight shelter. The women will be shuttled to the Abbey for showers, and churches are teaming up to providing dinners and breakfasts. If you or someone you know would like to provide a dinner or breakfast for 20 please let me know!
For the duration of this pandemic, the session leadership are meeting weekly for an online conference to find creative ways in which we can take care of one another and connect as a church community. Our church office remains closed, with work happening from home in efforts to meet CDC recommendations. Our in-person worship continues to be suspended, as we work together with area PC(USA) churches, rotating preaching and worship leadership to offer livestream and radio broadcast on 96.1 every Sunday at 11am. Our weekly Soup Kitchen and the 901 Ummah feeding ministry will enact “to-go” serving to feed our food insecure neighbors.
We give thanks to God for each one of you and ask you to pray and support each other. In this extraordinary time that we are living, let us take note from the letter to the Thessalonians and, “encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
Many blessings,
Rev. Kori Phillips McMurtry
UPDATE: Worship with us virtually as the area PC(USA) clergy co-lead worship, hosted by Idlewild Pres. Follow this link to livestream at 11am on Sunday or tune in to 96.1 FM. March 15-June 28. |
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A Letter from the Session on Coronavirus Covid-19
A letter written on March 13, 2020
Dear First Presbyterian Family and Friends,
We write this letter to inform you that the session met last night, online, to pray, discuss and plan our way forward as we face of the pandemic that is striking our community, our country and our world. We voted to suspend gathering in person for worship beginning this Sunday, March 15th and will update you weekly going forward. We have also suspended any additional activities that have been planned for the foreseeable future, including Saturday's craft day, next week's Grace Circle and Food Stamps. We don't take these actions lightly because we find comfort, support and joy from meeting together, especially in times of crisis. At this time however, public health experts are advising social distancing as the best form of protection, and we aim to do our part in this by suspending gathering together in person.
We are exploring options to worship virtually, via facebook, live streaming, and in collaboration with a Presbyterian church who broadcasts worship weekly on the local radio station, 96.1. Please stay tuned to our website and facebook for updates and changes, those will be the most current sources of information after 4pm today. Our session is working on calling our less web savvy members, to make sure everyone is informed. But you can do your part by checking in with one another throughout these weeks.
We discussed our feeding ministries, and plan to serve food on Saturday and Sunday. We know that our food insecure neighbors depend on this nourishment. We will enact hygiene and safety protocols to best protect ourselves and our guests.
It is possible that we will need extra volunteers during those days. If you feel so called, you are welcome to serve. But we implore those of you in high risk categories, and those who are experiencing ANY symptoms to take care of yourself and others by staying at home.
While suspending gathering together in worship and fellowship may seem counter-intuitive to who we are as Christian community, we seek to love our neighbor, by protecting one another from spreading the highly contagious Covid-19 virus.
In this time, be good to one another, be of good courage and know that you are loved.
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. —Romans 1:8
In Christ's everlasting peace,
Rev. Kori Phillips McMurtry and the Session of First Presbyterian Church
Dear First Presbyterian Family and Friends,
We write this letter to inform you that the session met last night, online, to pray, discuss and plan our way forward as we face of the pandemic that is striking our community, our country and our world. We voted to suspend gathering in person for worship beginning this Sunday, March 15th and will update you weekly going forward. We have also suspended any additional activities that have been planned for the foreseeable future, including Saturday's craft day, next week's Grace Circle and Food Stamps. We don't take these actions lightly because we find comfort, support and joy from meeting together, especially in times of crisis. At this time however, public health experts are advising social distancing as the best form of protection, and we aim to do our part in this by suspending gathering together in person.
We are exploring options to worship virtually, via facebook, live streaming, and in collaboration with a Presbyterian church who broadcasts worship weekly on the local radio station, 96.1. Please stay tuned to our website and facebook for updates and changes, those will be the most current sources of information after 4pm today. Our session is working on calling our less web savvy members, to make sure everyone is informed. But you can do your part by checking in with one another throughout these weeks.
We discussed our feeding ministries, and plan to serve food on Saturday and Sunday. We know that our food insecure neighbors depend on this nourishment. We will enact hygiene and safety protocols to best protect ourselves and our guests.
It is possible that we will need extra volunteers during those days. If you feel so called, you are welcome to serve. But we implore those of you in high risk categories, and those who are experiencing ANY symptoms to take care of yourself and others by staying at home.
While suspending gathering together in worship and fellowship may seem counter-intuitive to who we are as Christian community, we seek to love our neighbor, by protecting one another from spreading the highly contagious Covid-19 virus.
In this time, be good to one another, be of good courage and know that you are loved.
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. —Romans 1:8
In Christ's everlasting peace,
Rev. Kori Phillips McMurtry and the Session of First Presbyterian Church
Ash Wednesday, February 26
Dinner with our Methodist neighbors at 6 pm and worship at 7 pm
Sundays in Lent, March 1-April 5, 11am
March 1st is the first Sunday in Lent, we will share the sacrament of communion and the children will lead us in a creative faith alive moment that invites the spiritual theme of wilderness into our worship space. Each Sunday in lent we will expand upon the theme of Wilderness, knowing that the Spirit guides us in whatever wilderness we might find ourselves. The thematic resources come from A Sanctified Art.
Word for the Wilderness Daily Spiritual practice
Follow along with Pastor Kori each day as she offers a brief word and prayer for reflection. You can select your own word for the week from the display in our entry way.
Mid-week dinner & programming, March 11 and 25 from 6-7 pm. Dinner is $7, followed by a brief time of devotional conversation and reflection.
Lenten Preaching Series, Thursdays at 11:30 am, we'll meet at the Waffle Shop to enjoy lunch together, and attend the service.
Children's Easter Egg Hunt, April 4, 3 - 4 pm
Palm Sunday, April 5
City prayer service at 10 am.
Worship and dramatic readings, prayer and music at 11 am
Holy Week Services, April 9 and 10
Easter Sunday, April 12
Breakfast followed by worship at 11 am
Dinner with our Methodist neighbors at 6 pm and worship at 7 pm
Sundays in Lent, March 1-April 5, 11am
March 1st is the first Sunday in Lent, we will share the sacrament of communion and the children will lead us in a creative faith alive moment that invites the spiritual theme of wilderness into our worship space. Each Sunday in lent we will expand upon the theme of Wilderness, knowing that the Spirit guides us in whatever wilderness we might find ourselves. The thematic resources come from A Sanctified Art.
Word for the Wilderness Daily Spiritual practice
Follow along with Pastor Kori each day as she offers a brief word and prayer for reflection. You can select your own word for the week from the display in our entry way.
Mid-week dinner & programming, March 11 and 25 from 6-7 pm. Dinner is $7, followed by a brief time of devotional conversation and reflection.
Lenten Preaching Series, Thursdays at 11:30 am, we'll meet at the Waffle Shop to enjoy lunch together, and attend the service.
Children's Easter Egg Hunt, April 4, 3 - 4 pm
Palm Sunday, April 5
City prayer service at 10 am.
Worship and dramatic readings, prayer and music at 11 am
Holy Week Services, April 9 and 10
Easter Sunday, April 12
Breakfast followed by worship at 11 am
Enrich your Christmas experience by journeying with us through Advent, December 1-24, 2019.
New Member Sunday is November 17th! Join us as our shared ministry grows.
Thanks to all who participated and organized our annual Family Camp & Worship in the Woods. Scenes from Around the Table: Where everyone is welcome, there is always enough, and sometimes magic happens! November 8-10, 2019 at Pinecrest Retreat Center. |
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Sunday, October 27th from 1:30 - 3:30 pm is our Community Open House.
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Our Gratitude Grows!
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Join us on Sunday, September 15th at noon for our Annual First Pres Fish Fry with our very own Fish Fry Guy. We will have an important building update, and opportunities to sign up for how you can be a part of our community's future. Jon will provide the fish and hushpuppies, please bring side dish to share!
Schedule of Events:
12:00pm: Food Served
12:15pm: Presentations
12:30pm: Table Conversations
12:40pm: How YOU can help!
12:50pm: Sanctuary tours begin
Because of repairs being made in our historic sanctuary, we are currently holding Sunday services in the fellowship hall. A church member will greet you at the parking lot entrance (off of Exchange Street) and point you in the right direction. Join us for worship (and coffee & donuts) at 11:00, then help us turn the chairs around, so that we can serve our neighbors soup and sandwiches at 2:15!
Join us for Pentecost Sunday~June 9th at 11am. This is a family friendly service of worship with a time for all ages to creatively engage in activities about the Holy Spirit.
Happy Easter! We turned the ugly cross, a symbol of death, into something more beautiful—A symbol of beauty, new life, and hope. Thank you to all who brought flowers on Easter and participated in this lovely tradition.
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Scenes from Maundy Thursday services, prayer stations, a laying down of burdens, music and holy communion.
The Lenten season is a time of spiritual reflection, discipline, self-examination, contemplation, prayer and growth. Journey with First Pres this year, as we follow Christ's journey to the cross. Every Sunday we worship at 11am, child care is available. Free parking in lot on Exchange Street.
Wednesday, February 27, 6-7:30pm, join us for a First Pres Mardi Gras Potluck BBQ! Revel in community, friendship, and liveliness. We'll have mask making and beads for all. Milton Ward will provide his famous BBQ, Pastor Kori will bring the King Cake. Please invite a friend and bring a side dish to share.
Youth Sunday is February 24!
Join us on Sundays at 11am for the season of Epiphany, January - March 3, 2019. Epiphany is a season of growth, when we are invited to see how God is made known to the world, specifically through the life and public ministry of Jesus Christ. Throughout this season we look for glimpses of the holy in our rhythms and routines. How might our life's journey involve noticing God in the everyday?
Baptism of the Lord Sunday is January 13, 2019 — FAITH ALIVE DAYS:
Epiphany Story, Song and Poetry Service of Worship:
Welcome Christmas with candlelight at 5pm December 24th.
Wednesday is our Advent and Christmas Hymn Sing,
join us at 6:30pm to take Buddy the Elf's advice and sing loudly for all to hear!
Blue Christmas Service of Healing and Wholeness, Wednesday, December 19 at 6:30pm:
A prayer as you decorate for Christmas, or drive around looking at Christmas lights:
As you prepare for Christmas, or any other shopping needs, support First Pres through Amazon Smile!
Make some time in your advent season to focus on community,
God and the hope of light overcoming all darkness. Wednesday dinners are at 6pm and Sunday worship at 11am.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL: Looking for ways to reconnect with your Maker during your daily routine? Try visiting d365.org, or download the free app on your phone.