As a follow-up to The Good Soil Tour event on June 22, the Rev. Laura Colee will lead a second session on Jeff Chu’s book The Good Soil; all should feel free to attend regardless of whether you attended the June 22 conversation.
Jeff Chu, an award-winning journalist, author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?, and co-author with the late Rachel Held Evans of the New York Times bestseller Wholehearted Faith—and ordained minister who will be guest preaching at First Church on this Sunday—will read from and lead a candid conversation about his new book, The Good Soil. He will explore lessons he learned as a farmhand at Princeton’s Farminary and discuss themes of belonging, family, grief, and love.
This program is part of Jeff Chu’s national book tour. Free copies of the book are available through the church office ahead of the program; the book will also be available for sale at the event. The event is free, but registration is required!
Join us on a family-friendly outing to the Farminary, in Princeton NJ, on Saturday, June 7, from 10 AM to 2 PM (lunch will be provided), to engage directly with God's good creation (get our hands dirty!) while learning about the farm and what tending the soil can teach us.
The Farminary at Princeton Seminary works to "challenge society’s 24/7 culture of productivity by following a different rhythm, one that is governed by the seasons and Sabbath."
During the months of May and June, Adult CE will focus on the theme of "rest" in preparation for and in connection with Baron's upcoming sabbatical.
Join Elaine Hanby to learn about various types of rest and how different community members practice these types of rest. It's not just sleep, and this session will facilitate the chance to learn from one another about what is rest and how we rest. The session will leave you with practices to consider implementing into your own life – or just a moment of quiet.
During the months of May and June, Adult CE will focus on the theme of "rest" in preparation for and in connection with Baron's upcoming sabbatical.
Our first programs, on May 4, at 9:45 AM and 12:30 PM, will be led by Nate Stucky of Princeton Seminary's Farminary, which works to "challenge society’s 24/7 culture of productivity by following a different rhythm, one that is governed by the seasons and Sabbath." Join us for a discussion of faith in an exhausted world, the hope of a Sabbath rest, and the deep implications of God’s love for a weary world. The programs at 9:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. will be different and complementary - all are invited to come to either or both!
Celebrate the 55th anniversary of Earth Day by learning more on the history of the first Earth Day and early conservationists on both sides of the Delaware River – and how that same spirit rings true in a moment of profound ecological peril and political attacks on our environment. Join Doug O’Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey and FPC member, who will talk about how this same activism led to the passage of our landmark environmental laws – and can be re-channeled into building a broader consensus for environmental preservation, protection of our drinking water and a strengthened resilient clean energy grid. And how we can learn to be sustainable ambassadors of environmental stewardship, as children, parents and grandparents, and talk about the changes we are making with our friends and neighbors. (MacColl Room)
The Reverend Cindy Jarvis will lead this three-part Bible study as a time to talk together about how we are feeling about and responding to all that is happening to our democracy. We are not the first to find ourselves in this sort of crisis. The biblical narrative invites us seek wisdom from the stories of God’s people who have gone before us.
Three sessions will be held on Sundays @ 12:30 PM in the MacColl Room:
March 30 - Session I: “The Shadow of Tyranny in Scripture”
April 6 - Session II: “The Foreshadowing of Mary’s Magnificat”
April 13- Session III: “The Prophetic Voice”
Read the complete syllabus here. The readings from Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny are offered as an additional resource but not necessary for participation in the conversation. Please email or call (215-567-0532) the church office to reserve a copy of the book.
The Reverend Cindy Jarvis will lead this three-part Bible study as a time to talk together about how we are feeling about and responding to all that is happening to our democracy. We are not the first to find ourselves in this sort of crisis. The biblical narrative invites us seek wisdom from the stories of God’s people who have gone before us.
Three sessions will be held on Sundays @ 12:30 PM in the MacColl Room:
March 30 - Session I: “The Shadow of Tyranny in Scripture”
April 6 - Session II: “The Foreshadowing of Mary’s Magnificat”
April 13- Session III: “The Prophetic Voice”
Read the complete syllabus here. The readings from Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny are offered as an additional resource but not necessary for participation in the conversation. Please email or call (215-567-0532) the church office to reserve a copy of the book.
The Reverend Cindy Jarvis will lead this three-part Bible study as a time to talk together about how we are feeling about and responding to all that is happening to our democracy. We are not the first to find ourselves in this sort of crisis. The biblical narrative invites us seek wisdom from the stories of God’s people who have gone before us.
Three sessions will be held on Sundays @ 12:30 PM in the MacColl Room:
March 30 - Session I: “The Shadow of Tyranny in Scripture”
April 6 - Session II: “The Foreshadowing of Mary’s Magnificat”
April 13- Session III: “The Prophetic Voice”
Read the complete syllabus here. The readings from Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny are offered as an additional resource but not necessary for participation in the conversation. Please email or call (215-567-0532) the church office to reserve a copy of the book.
Monthly discussions on Reformed theology, based on chapters of Daniel Migliore’s Faith Seeking Understanding, are open to all, including those new to the Reformed tradition and those seeking to deepen their theological understanding. Books are provided for all registrants. The group meets on the third Sunday of most months at 10 AM in the MacColl Room.
The March discussion is “Finishing the Trinity”
Suggested: Chapter 11 - The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life"
To receive a copy of the book, please register online or email the church office.
The Adult Christian Education Committee is sponsoring a five-week Lenten Bible study on Mondays, March 10 through April 7, from 11:30-12:00 PM. The series will be held exclusively online, via Zoom.
Led by our seminary intern Robbie Bendelius, the study will be based on the Gospel of Luke, from which this year’s Easter Sunday scripture will be taken. Over five weeks, we will look at key passages that prepare us for Holy Week. No prior reading is necessary, and while the study will build over time, each week can be taken as a stand-alone study.
Please register to receive the zoom link. You may also register by calling the church office (215-567-0532).
In the Presbyterian Church (USA), women were first ordained as elders in 1930, and they were first ordained as ministers in 1956; today, women serve at every level of the church. In recognition of Women’s History Month, join a discussion of women in the ministry and leadership of the Presbyterian Church (USA) with Rev. Cindy Jarvis and Rev. Laura Colee on March 2 @ 9:45 AM in the MacColl Room.
Are you interested in learning more about how theology is relevant to public life in divisive times? We will dive into the work of notable theologian James H. Cone to understand how we can work in and around racial and social divides in our present era. We will meet on February 23 at 9:45 AM in the MacColl Room.
Redlining is an illegal practice by which lenders avoid providing credit or financial services to communities of color based on their race or national origin. Unfortunately, the practice has a long and enduring history in the United States and has greatly contributed to wealth inequality among its citizens. In particular, it has defined the neighborhoods in Philadelphia from the 1920s to the present day.
The 57+ Blocks Coalition is a group of over 70 organizations around Philadelphia dedicated to reducing gun violence. The premise of the Coalition is that gun violence is most prevalent in the formally redlined areas of Philadelphia: specifically, major portions of North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and lower Germantown. Join a discussion of solutions to reduce that gun violence led by Greg Holston, a social and racial justice activist who previously served as a senior advisor on policy and advocacy at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
A Sunday morning Advent program will be held from December 8 - 22 @ 9:45 AM, in the Whitefield Room (on the basement level). In this three-week class, the Rev. Barbara Chaapel will lead us in discussing the book Learning to Walk in the Dark, by Episcopal priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor. The book will be available to participants who register for the class, although reading it is not required for participation. Please register here, or contact the church office to register and reserve a copy of the book.
A three-week Bible study will be offered on Wednesdays from 12:15-12:45 PM, on December 4, 11, and 18. This study will be held exclusively online, via zoom. It will be led by Rev. Laura Colee and Dr. Baron Mullis, and will focus on Advent texts. The study is intended to help fit Advent reflection into a busy holiday schedule, so we will start on time and end on time. Please register online to receive the zoom link. You may also register by calling the church office (215-567-0532).
As part of the Advent season, our families with young children will have the opportunity to participate in some fun Christmas-inspired activities and service projects! Children ages 2-to-10 years old are invited to join us from 9:50-10:30 am in the back of Old Buttonwood Hall for our special Advent activities. Here are the activities we have planned in December:
December 1 - Advent Wreath Making and Christmas Tree Decorating
December 8 - Christmas Card Making
December 15 - Christmas Cookie Decorating
December 22 - Christmas Ornament Making
Note: We will be handing out wrapped Christmas books to our kids this day. Please let us know if you cannot attend the Celebration service on 12/22 and we will mail them the books to you.
December 29 — No Sunday School this week
On Sundays in November, a series on end-of-life issues will address issues of stewardship during that season.
The November 10 session will focus on estate planning, with estate planning attorney Nego Pile.
The November 17 session will address end-of-life heath care decision-making and support for caregivers. This session will be led by Dr. Scott Halpern, the John M. Eisenberg Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy, at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
The November 24 session will be led by Rev. Matthew Arlyck, our Minister for Congregational Care, and will focus on end-of-life spiritual connections.
Each session will be held at 12:30 p.m. in the MacColl Room.
On November 3 at 12:30 PM in the MacColl Room, Jeff Jarvis will speak on the age of artificial intelligence, the internet, and what a printing press from 1450 can teach us about how these technologies will develop and shape our societies. Mr. Jarvis directs the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism and is the Leonard Tow Professor of Journalism Innovation at the CUNY Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
Part two of our series on the history of the organ, taught by Director of Music and organist, Dr. Bálint Karosi, will cover romantic and modern organs in the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and the United States.
Part 2 will take place in the sanctuary.
Part 1 of a two-part series on the history of the organ, taught by Director of Music and organist, Dr. Bálint Karosi, will cover the development of the organ from the Roman Hydraulis through the golden age of tracker organs in the Baroque until the mid-19th century.
Part 1 will take place in the MacColl Room.
(Part 2 is scheduled for October 27 in the sanctuary, and will cover romantic and modern organs in the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and the United States.)
On Sunday, September 29, at 9:45 a.m. in the MacColl Room, Dr. Michael “Chip” Rotolo, a former seminary intern at First Church, will speak on religious parenting and the transmission of faith and values. Dr. Rotolo is a Research Associate at Pew Research Center in Washington, DC. This program grows out of his research examining the interplay of religion, morality, and politics in the United States, as well as his own experience in the Church and as a parent.
Beginning Sunday, September 15, we invite children ages 2-to-10 years old to join us for Sunday School after our Celebration! Service from 9:50-10:30 AM in Old Buttonwood Hall. We will be reading Bible stories, making crafts, and learning about how to share Christ’s love to the world. We will primarily be using curriculum from Godly Play, which explores stories from the Old and New Testament using play-based story-telling.
Parents are invited to fill out our 2024-2025 Sunday School Registration Form during the first few weeks of Children’s Sunday School so we can best care for your kids in class.
Coming off the hottest year on record, and one of the warmest winters on record, climate change has become an ever-present factor in our lives. But how much progress are we making at the state and national levels? And how much can our individual actions impact a clearly global problem? Doug O'Malley, Director with Environment New Jersey and FPC member, will do a run-down on progress made over the last year on both the state and federal level. Doug will break down impacts of climate change on everything from our drinking water, our insurance rates and the pace of single-use plastics in our lives. He will also do an Earth Day tune-up on green plans made in past years and provide some key tips for all of us to incorporate into our daily lives, from young parents to grandparents. Come join Doug O'Malley in the MacColl Room at 9:45 AM on Sunday, April 21, as part of this year's Earth Day teach-in.
Join us for a special Earth Day Children’s Sunday School on Sunday, April 21, from 9:45-10:30 am in Old Buttonwood Hall. We will explore together how God calls us to take care of the earth. We will then complete an Earth Day service project. Children of all ages are invited to join! Parents and guardians are invited to attend the Adult Education Earth Day program in the MacColl Room at this time.
The Adult Christian Education Committee is sponsoring a four-week Lenten Bible study on Wednesdays, February 28 through March 20, from 12:15-12:45 PM. The series will be held exclusively online, via Zoom.
Led by Dr. Mullis and Rev. Colee, the study will be based on the Gospel of Mark, from which this year’s Easter Sunday scripture will be taken. Over four weeks, we will look at key passages that prepare us for Holy Week. No prior reading is necessary, and while the study will build over time, each week can be taken as a stand-alone study.
Please register to receive the zoom link. You may also register by calling the church office (215-567-0532).
As a follow-up to our Conversations Worth Having seminar with Dr. Brian Blount, Adult Christian Education is sponsoring a three-week program which will continue and expand on the conversation of Christian Nationalism.
On Sundays February 25, March 3, and March 10, Dr. Heath Carter, Professor of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary, will address how questions about the future of U.S. democracy—indeed, whether democracy in this country has a future—have come to the fore of public life in recent years. In this series, he will explore the significant part that Christians have played in the making of our present crisis and whether there is anything in our past that we can hold on to as we seek to contribute to a better future.
Sessions will be held in the MacColl room beginning at 12:30 p.m. Sandwiches will be provided.
Remote attendance will be available via Zoom for those who are not able to attend in-person. Click below to register or call the church office (215-567-0532) to receive the Zoom link. (Those attending in person do not need to register!)
The series schedule is as follows:
February 25: Deep in the Soil:
A look at the deeper roots of what scholars and journalists alike have taken to calling white Christian nationalism.
March 3: Seeds of Possibility
A brief history of now, with attention to some of the surprising contingencies, unexpected breakthroughs, and roads not (yet) traveled that are also part of the story.
March 10: Cultivating Hope
An opportunity to reflect together on what it might mean to move forward in faith.
A three week Bible study will be offered on Wednesdays from 12:15-12:45 PM, on November 29, December 6, and December 13. This study will be held exclusively online, via zoom. It will be led by Rev. Laura Colee and Dr. Baron Mullis, and will focus on Advent texts. The study is intended to help fit Advent reflection into a busy holiday schedule, so we will start on time and end on time. Please register online to receive the zoom link. You may also register by calling the church office (215-567-0532).
During Advent this year the Adult Education Committee will offer a special program on interpreting our dreams, led by the Rev. Susan Teegen, a colleague of Barbara Chaapel and a minister and counselor who lives and practices in Delaware County. The four sessions will be held on Sunday mornings November 26, December 3, December 10, and December 17 from 9:30 to 10:45 am.
Rev. Teegen holds a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and has certifications in Gestalt coaching and counseling, and clinical pastoral education. She is experienced in exploring the wisdom and inspiration of dreams as a spiritual practice. She believes that God is accessible to us through our dreams, and that they offer us insight and guidance for our lives of faith and in support of our wholeness.
The class welcomes those new to dream work and those who seek to deepen their practice; it will be limited to between eight and ten participants and those who register are strongly urged to plan to attend all sessions. Register online or by calling the church office (215-567-0532). The sessions will be held in the Whitefield Room on the lower level of the church.
Children’s Sunday School is back, starting Sunday, September 17th!
We invite children ages 2-to-10 years old to join us for Sunday School every Sunday after our Celebration! Service from 9:50-10:30 AM. We will be reading Bible stories, making crafts, singing songs, and learning about how to share Christ’s love to the world.
We are planning additional Children’s Education activities outside of Sunday School for the fall and winter and we will keep you posted on upcoming gatherings.
Children’s Education Survey: We’d love to hear what parents of young children are looking for in Sunday School and Children’s Education at FPC by filling out our survey.
Become a Sunday School Volunteer! We’d love to have you volunteer with our children’s Sunday School program. If you are interested in helping lead Sunday School with Pastor Laura a Sunday or two a month or if you have any questions about or dreams for Children’s Education at FPC, please contact Laura Colee.
Join us for the 2023 Earth Walk on Saturday, May 6 at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens. This event is jointly sponsored by the Children’s and Adult Christian Education committees. The arboretum is a 92-acre public garden located in Chestnut Hill. Originally a private estate, the arboretum maintains forested paths and gardens and supports environmental conservation and education. FPC member Jeannie Boehner will lead a nature walk geared to children, but open to everyone. Or you may walk and explore at your own pace. If you have not been to the Morris Arboretum, this will be a great opportunity to enjoy a unique open space in Philadelphia.
Please register, selecting the appropriate registration type for yourself and those in your party; the Christian Education Committee will purchase tickets for the arboretum in advance.
