First Presbyterian Church at Dayton

Who We Are

 

Since 1869, the First Presbyterian Church at Dayton has been a gathering place for the Christian community - drawing people in to experience the Word and sending people out as bearers of God's light.

 

The people that make up this family of faith represent a multitude of things.  Some can trace their family history to the church's earliest days, with third generations now coming into leadership.  Some have been here for years, raising their children up through Sunday school and young adulthood.  Some come because this is where they've found friends.  Some are brand new to the community.

 

Some are here because being Presbyterian is part of their identity.  Some come from other faith traditions, having no idea what being Presbyterian is about.  Some have never been to church before or haven't been in a long time, walking through the doors out of a longing to live into the truth that God knows and cares for them.

 

All who come through our doors become part of this community, shaping it through their presence, prayers and praise. It's Scripture that explains how this is possible:

 

                 You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body.

                Your body has many parts - limbs, organs, cells - but no matter how many parts you can name, you're

                still one body.  It's exactly the same with Christ....A body isn't just a single part blown up into something                               huge.  It's all the different-but similar parts arranged and functioning together...no matter how significant

                you are, it is only because of what you are a part of...What we have is one body with many parts, each its  

                proper size and in its proper place...The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our

                lives together as a church:  Every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts

                we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't.  If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the

                hurt, and in the healing.  If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exhuberance.                  

                                                                                                                                                               1Corinthians 12, select verses*

 

We are children of God, of different ages, abilities, races, orientations and identities.  We are seekers and sojourners who share and serve.  We are the Dayton Church, where the welcome is wide.

 

 

*Scripture is taken from THE MESSAGE.  Copyright @ 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2002.  Use by permission of NavPress Publishing Group