A year ago, as we resumed operational control of the church property at 2344 Center Street, the Session decided to schedule a contemporary-style worship service at 9 am and a traditional-style service at 10:30 am each week, more or less matching the worship practice in recent years for the congregation....

Free workshop on Restorative Practices offered at First Presbyterian Church Local author Robert Costello will present an informational workshop, “Restorative Practices: Changing Our Response to Wrongdoing” on Saturday, Jan. 26 at First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem, 2344 Center St. The workshop, which runs from 9 am-noon, is free and open...

PASTOR’S MESSAGE FROM REV. J.C. AUSTIN: Sudden Events = Lasting Impact I just learned this week that PNC Bank does an annual calculation of the actual cost of all the presents that are supposedly given in the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” This year, they warned that the devoted...

A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR J.C. AUSTIN: Christmas Blessings Merry Christmas!!! One of the odd things about the Christmas season, of course, is that the cultural observance of Christmas essentially ends on Dec 25, when that is only the beginning of the Christian season of Christmas. As even the secular song...

A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR J.C. AUSTIN: Christmas Reality When I first visited the “other” Bethlehem (the one where Jesus was born!), we first visited the Church of the Nativity, which marks the traditional spot where Jesus was born. The church sits at one end of a large public area called,...

A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR J.C. AUSTIN: Waiting for the Light to Come This coming Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, has the Advent theme of Joy. That is why one of the candles is pink; it goes back to when Advent was primarily a season of personal penitence, like Lent,...

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 and friends established an endowed fund at First Presbyterian to honor the McKnights and to encourage individuals to participate in the life-changing experience of visiting...

A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR J.C. AUSTIN: “What’s the Deal with… the Offering (and Pledging)?” (part of an occasional series on aspects of being Presbyterian) When you talk to people who have little experience with Christian worship, one of the things that often strikes them as the most odd when they...

Remembering All Saints November 1 is designated as All Saints’ Day on the Christian calendar every year. This year, we’ll be observing it in worship this Sunday, November 4. But what is All Saints’ Day? In the early years of the Christian church, during the time of Roman persecution of...

Lifting Up Our Hearts: Spiritual Practices Across Faith Traditions Wednesdays: November 7, 14, and 28, and December 5 (no meeting on November 21) 7:00 -8:30 p.m. in the Parlor Often when we hear the words “interfaith dialogue,” we think of discussions about what our various traditions believe, and about areas...

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 Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus.”  As Gulley notes, “It is apparent, after several millennia of experimentation, that the Ten Commandments we Christians all know and...

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 that your children can’t go to school because you can’t afford their uniforms, books, or lunch.  Imagine for a moment that your cataracts are so...