A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Share your ‘good words’ A few weeks ago, I announced that we will be starting a sermon series after...

Many thanks to our Sunday School teachers and friends for bringing our Sunday School experience to us at home! Please share this with a friend...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Going forward “It’s time to talk about what we learned today.” That’s the question that generally gets asked at...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Signs of hope and renewal This Sunday is the third Sunday of the season of Easter, which is fitting,...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Engaging the Biblical Witness While the day of Easter is now behind us, we are in the season of...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: PREPARING FOR THIS HOLIEST OF WEEKS Friends, as you are reading this, we are already into Holy Week, with...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: AN UPDATE ON CONGREGATIONAL SINGING I’ve been asked by several people recently about when we might be considering a...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Looking ahead to Holy Week Next Sunday, March 28, is Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week, the most important...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: RESILIENCE – SUPPORT – FAITHFULNESS – LOVE As you all know, this Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of our...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Fulfilling an important role that has been anticipated and prepared As I write these words on Thursday, March 4,...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. SUE BENNETCH: Preparing for a Storm I live close to Shop-Rite and can see their parking lot from my window. It...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: INDISCRIMINATE KINDNESS As most of you have realized, music of all kinds is very important to me in terms...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: THE REAL MEANING OF LENT Friends, as I mentioned last week, we are coming up on the beginning of...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: REFLECTIONS ON COMMUNION This Sunday is the first Sunday of February, and so, as usual, we will be celebrating...

FPCB’s Discipleship Committee’s learning opportunities are always open to anyone interested in participating. ** On January 6 we presented “Creating Your Spiritual Family Tree”; if...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Preparing for Ash Wednesday Friends, it may be hard to believe, but we’re only a few weeks away from...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: CALLING OUR LEADERSHIP Friends, the Annual Meeting of the Congregation and Corporation of First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem is...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: The universal call As you probably know, Presbyterians talk a LOT about the idea of “call,” of vocation; of...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15) This comes from the Apostle Paul towards...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. SUE BENNETCH: The Spirit of Giving Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Waiting and Preparing Three years ago, I began serving as your pastor at the beginning of Advent. As I’ve...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Grieving Our Losses For the second year in a row, a snowstorm has disrupted our “Longest Night” Service, this...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. SUE BENNETCH: Looking ahead to our Longest Night Service The year 2020 is going to be an unforgettable one. We as...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: STEWARDSHIP DEDICATION SUNDAY PLANS Presbyterians have not historically done “testimonials” as a common element of our worship tradition. I...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: WAITING AND WATCHING Happy New Year! This Sunday marks the beginning of a new year on the Christian calendar,...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: with both supplication and thanksgiving In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he says, “Do not worry about anything, but...

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BETHLEHEM’S DISCIPLESHIP CLASSES & RACIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY Rev. J.C. Austin’s special message of June 6: Opposing Racial Injustice Spotlight Newsletter Article:...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: A BIT DIFFERENTLY It is hard to believe it, but Thanksgiving is two weeks from today, and Advent begins...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: THE EXPERIMENTS CONTINUE On Wednesday night, we held our most recent in-person outdoor service, this time a special service...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: RESPONDING WITH FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE Last Sunday, we gathered for our most recent “hybrid” worship service, in which...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: A RESPONSE TO UNPRECEDENTED TIMES It has become a cliché to talk about how we are living through “unprecedented”...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: RESPONDING AS A CONGREGATION It has been said that any budget is a “moral document,” meaning that it articulates...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: AN EXPERIMENTAL CHURCH For the last three years, we’ve identified as an “experimental church.” If you play out the...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: AN INDIVIDUAL MINISTRY One of the things I have heard the most from people over the last six months...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: A new option to connect One of the blessings that has emerged for me in the midst of everything...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Exploring and evaluating ‘in person’ options “Are you open?” This question has been floating around church circles (and, indeed,...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: CALLING OUR LEADERSHIP Before I left for a short vacation in August, I told you that the Session would...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: IN PERSON AS WELL AS IN SPIRIT Last Sunday was a new experiment for us as a church, as...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: LOOKING AHEAD TO SUNDAY People have asked me from time to time what’s the hardest part about digital worship,...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: The dog days of summer We are in what is sometimes called “the dog days” of summer. I always...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. SUE BENNETCH: AT THE TOP OF OUR LIST During the last five months, the Covid-19 virus has been utmost on our...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. SUE BENNETCH: CALMING THE DISTRESS Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: GETTING IN GOOD TROUBLE As I’ve mentioned in a few sermons, the concept of “home” is a little complicated...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: The Work Continues On Tuesday evening, we concluded the initial offering of our 21-Day Racial Justice Immersion Project with...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Advent in July This has been a particularly difficult week for many people, which is saying something, given the...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: ALREADY BEGINNING TO HAPPEN When I was a child, Advent always made a lot more sense to me than...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY This coming Sunday is the last Sunday of the Christian year; “New Year’s Day” on...

Wednesday, Nov. 27: Thanksgiving Eve Service, 7 p.m. On Thanksgiving Eve, we gather together in worship to celebrate the many ways God has blessed us to...

This Sunday (Nov. 17) First Pres is hosting an event by the Bethlehem Interfaith Group from 2:30 – 5 p.m. The event is focused on...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: PLEDGE DEDICATION SUNDAY For the last few weeks in worship, we’ve been exploring the mission priorities that the Session...

As you know, this year our annual stewardship campaign is focused on the mission priorities the Session has identified for our congregation over the next...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: BUILDING OUR CAPACITY Last week I spent three days at the “Stewardship Kaleidoscope” conference of the Presbyterian Church (USA)....

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: WORLD COMMUNION SUNDAY What unites us is greater than what divides us The first Sunday in October is celebrated...

NEW LEARNING OPPORTUNITY: “How to Support LGBT Spirituality” Wednesday, May 8 6:30 – 8 p.m. in Fellowship Hall NOTE: You are welcome to come to...

As we did last year, we will be offering a Community Lenten Supper series, beginning Wednesday, March 13 through Wednesday, April 10. All are welcome. We’ll...

Jim and Minnie McKnight were Presbyterian missionaries who served for 15 years prior to World War II in the Sudan region of Africa. Their family...

HEARTS AND MINDS will start this year in room 400 with an examination of Quaker author Philip Gulley’s provocative and engaging classic, “If the Church were...

By Leslie Pohl FPCB Elder Imagine for a moment that you have to walk two hours just to get to a doctor’s appointment.  Imagine for a moment...

A MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Those who rejoice and those who weep This Sunday is Mother’s Day, which is not a Christian holiday, but...