“The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.”
Welcome to our News for the Pews.
Our online source for current and past Church news, events, and media for all of our community to view and enjoy.
November 10. 2024 - New Member November, Veterans Day Honorarium & the Baptism of Madison Ehlinger - If you missed Sunday, you missed a jam packed, well attended, service in the life of First Presbyterian. We baptized Madison Anne Elinger, the daughter of Emily and Brendan and the first grandchild of Keith and Anne Davis. We also welcomed Kimberly Pauley and Jaye Mahoney into the membership of the congregation. There was wonderful music and a sermon that encouraged us to make the most of today, and we prayed for our country, gave thanks for our veterans and prayed for God’s world. As if that was not enough, we also had a stewardship message from Midge Fowler, and we reported that 35 pledges have been returned so far towards next year’s budget. It really was a wonderful Sunday in the life of the Church. If you did miss it, I have two bits of goods for you. One, you can still watch it online. Two, there is always next week.
November 1, 2024 - Happy Halloween from FPC! This year, First Presbyterian Church collected candy for trick-or-treaters. With decorative help from the Youth Group for their carved pumpkins and helping hands from, Miss Terry Stubelek, Teal and Steve Vella, Charlie Roe, and Pastor Paul, the church steps were filled with frightful and festive faces.
Thank you to all those who donated candy to make Halloween, indeed a very happy one! See you again next year for a spooktacular time! For now, its time to gear up for the holiday season.
October 27, 2024 - the Youth Group met for a festive SPOOKTACULAR time of pumpkin carving and tacos to decorate the steps of the church for Thursday's Halloween festivities.
With faith in Christ, you can face anything.
With October's arrival and the autumn changes beginning to take hold, we are reminded that changes are not only inevitable but they can also be beautiful.
The Lord's presence is in every storm, changing leaf, whisp of wind, and each rising and falling of the sun.
Do not be afraid of change for you are strengthened by your faith in the Lord.
August 29, 2024 - Evening in the Garden Party: On a beautiful summer season evening, members of the First Presbyterian Church hosted their annual Garden Party. Attended by visitors and residents from the Hamptons community, the evening was filled with laughter, fun, and delicious food from Golden Pear Catering. One of FPC’s own members, Chris Kline, made a special appearance as musical entertainment for the evening, with his soulfully smooth voice and gentle strumming, the atmosphere left little to be desired for all those able to attend.
The evening also featured three raffles: a 50/50 raffle, golf foursome raffles, and a basket raffles. The proceeds for the evening will be going towards the historical preservation of First Presbyterian Church.
Special thank you to Jeanne White, Kristin White-Wilson, Amanda Wilson and Jamie Wilson; Cynthia Kolbenheyer, Connie & Ed Moneypenny, Lori & Michael Schneider, Pamela Jackson, Keith & Anne Davis (Golden Pear), Christopher Kline (Music), Charlotte (Charlie) Roe(Photography/Administration), Rev. Paul Lent and all of our sponsors for the event. Please also view our social media for more photos and videos from our events.
July 28, 2024 - The Blessing of the Animals: Yesterday's 8:30 service went to the DOGS, and lucky for everyone, no cats were present or harmed in the Blessing of the Animals service! Today, it is raining cats and dogs, making it a perfect day to reflect on such a joyous and sunny summer Sunday! With over 50 humans, and 25 (5 photographs) furry friends present at the service and one snail present at the 10 o'clock service, characteristically late with his slow pace, there was not a question about what an impact animals have made on each and everyone of our lives. Our front lawn was filled with God's creatures feisty and timid, pint sized to monstrously large, and with smiles and chatter brought on by the combination of 2 and 4-legged personalities. We are all an expression of God’s wisdom. Each cat, each dog, each snail, each bird — each of US here have been created by our loving heavenly God, and each of us, whether a rabbit, a sheep or a horse, reveal something of our Creator in all our being. Not only were we reminded that it's our responsibility to take care of our pets, and fellow creature but we are also invited to bring a gift to an animal shelter to help homeless pets in need of attention and love.
If you missed the Blessing of the Animals, head to our Instagram to view our recorded livestream of the event! If you missed the service in our Sanctuary, please head to our website to view it there. If you care to donate to the Southampton Animal Shelter, please click here.
July 7, 2024 - Our Outdoor Worship Series is here! - Summer in the Hamptons provides the perfect opportunity to get outside and enjoy the beauty of the Church lawn! Bask in the glorious sun and warmth of God’s creation and fellowship, and stay for Coffee Hour sponsored by @goldenpearcafe. During inclement weather, the outdoor worship will be moved to our Sanctuary!
Sunday's beautiful services and gathering outdoors for fellowship and refreshments, leaves you with opportunities of reflection. We were asked during the services if we were in need of a shepherd and if so, how to seek and accept the guidance from the Shepherd. It reminded me of a quote "what lies behind us and what lies before us are small compared to what lies within us." I am reminded that the Lord, our Shepherd is never not with us, His grace and strength are always within us, no matter our time or subject of need, we need only to believe in Him.
Come let your light shine with us at our Outdoor Worship Sunday Service, beginning at 8:30am on our Front Lawn.
New Member Sunday!
What a great Sunday we had yesterday, as we brought our season of cake to a close. Six talented, wonderful people joined the Church. The children learned that all hammers are not created equal, in fact, there are many different kinds of hammers for many different kinds of jobs, not unlike God made each one of us. In addition, we heard a sermon on David and his one-hit wonder, and we were encouraged that with faith we too can slay giants.
As we truly enter the summer season we have a challenge ahead. How do we welcome summer, its change in rhythm and pace, and keep the energy and the vitality on Sunday morning? Being my first Summer out here, the truth is, I don’t know. But it seems to me, that attendance is key. So, for those of you who were here yesterday, thank you and keep it up. For those of you who were not, I hope you had a wonderful weekend, and I hope to see you in church soon. I hope to see you all often this summer, it really does make a big difference.
Welcome to our new members of First Presbyterian Church, Diana and Fausto Hinojosa, Laura Mackenzie, Christine Lent, Joseph Antretter, and Genie Egerton-Warburton.
June 16, 2024 -
If you missed yesterday in Church, you missed a great deal. Founder’s Day, Scholarship Sunday, Father’s Day, beautiful music, and a sermon highlighting Duct tape. (We even finished in an hour) It is really awe-inspiring to me that we start our 385th year as a congregation. So many changes, so many lives changed for the better, so many bonds of love and service shared. What do you think God has in store for us in the year ahead, or the next decade and a half on our way to a 400th birthday? I’ve asked myself this question often over the last 9 months and I keep coming back to one truth, we need you. How much nicer yesterday was in church, because we had about 100 people in attendance. It matters, so thank you, those of you who were in Church yesterday, and for those of you who were not, we missed you and hope to see you soon. I hope you share my sense of optimism, even with such a great history, when it comes to living in faith with our God, you ain’t seen nothing yet!
May 19, 2024 - Pentecost and Confirmation Sunday:
If you missed yesterday in Church, you missed a spirit-filled service on Pentecost. We had a great attendance, as we welcomed 5 confirmands into the membership of the church. The music was wonderful, with the handbell choir and a guest organist Ken Dake, the retired music director at Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan (Amanda was in NYC yesterday seeing her son perform at Carnegie Hall).
The Sermon was, “If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” As we celebrated the gift of the spirit to the Church on Pentecost, we remember we have gone far and we are called to an exciting long journey, that lies ahead of us as a congregation.
If you missed the service you can still watch it @ Pentecost & Confirmation Sunday, May 19, 2024 - Twitch
May 12, 2024 - Mother’s Day: A beautiful Mother’s Day Worship was led by our own Elder Kristin White. Our sanctuary was filled abloom once again with florid geraniums honoring and memorializing the countless mothers and care givers that have touched our lives.
Kristin conducted a sermon that was "Something About Love." She elaborated on the complexities of love not just from a husband and wife, or mother to a child, but God's love for us as well. God's love for us is unconditional and is present for us regardless of our own reciprocity. Kristin reminded us of the commercializing of Mother's Day that happens today, by reading 1 Corinthians.
Similar to God's love, a mother's love is boundless and incomparable to any other "job". Mothers are not perfect and their love may not be either, but what a mothers' love is, is pure! And a pure love is always worth celebrating.
Thank you Kristin, for setting our spirits up for a day of appreciating our Mothers love and celebrating our love for mothers!
Thank you for choosing to honor your loved one through a Mother’s Day flower dedication.
May 5, 2024 - First Communion, and the Baptism of Whitney Downey Beem: The first Sunday of May, we had the pleasure of welcoming the Downey-Beem family into our fellowship, and welcoming Miss Whitney Downe Beem in as a member of our Presbytery. Baptism signifies God's love in its portrayal of cleansing and renewal. Just as water washes away impurities, baptism symbolizes the cleansing of sin and the beginning of a new life in Christ. This act of purification reflects God's unconditional love and forgiveness, and God's love through its representation of adoption into His family. By being baptized, you are initiated into the covenant community of believers, becoming heirs to God's promises and recipients of His grace.
The love and faith of the Downey Beem family was witnessed by many and the congregation also vowed to guide and uphold the sanctity of Miss Whitney’s baptism and induction into our community of faith. We look forward to her presence within our Church.
May 3, 2024 - 2024 Deacon’s Auction:
Our 2024 Deacon’s Auction on May 3rd was a great success! Fun was had by all as well as $7, 000 was raised in the effort of First Presbyterian’s children’s education scholarships funds. We thank all of those who participated in the event and especially to the Board of Deacon’s for yet another wonderful auction!
April 21, 2024 - A Message from Maureen’s Haven: Maureen’s Haven at 1st Presbyterian Church of Southampton has come to the end of another successful season. I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to the community for a job well done and for making it possible to host the guests one weekend a month from Nov 1 to April 1. Thank you for providing your goods, services, helping hands and with set up to serving dinner and clean up. You have all truly been a blessing to this program and our community. I am looking forward to your help in the 2024-2025 season in November 2024 and we are always looking for volunteers.
Thank you to the following:
Suffolk Laundry-laundry
St.John’s Episcopal Church-meals
Rotary Interact Club -meals
First Presbyterian Church Deacons-breakfast
First Presbyterian Church Mission council - meals
Fresco’s Pizza & Deli –dinner and snacks
North Sea Ladies Auxiliary -meals
New Thought Spiritual Center-food
Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church and the Edwards family-food
Southampton Laundry-laundry
Sincerely,
Katelyn Corwith, Coordinator
April 7, 2024 - The second Sunday of Easter is of course, the follow up of Easter, which is less exciting, and does not grab the headlines the same way that “Christ Is Risen Today!” does. Instead the follow up is to start again a journey of faith, to put the power, the importance, and the learning of Easter into practice. The follow up to Easter is to, little by little, start to live, serve and love having experienced the Risen Christ. At first it may seem strange that we start that journey talking about doubt, thanks to doubting Thomas, a story that reminds us that there are some things we have to experience for ourselves.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and the put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
- John 20: 24-28
If you don’t know the story the first Easter evening Thomas was missing from the group when Jesus appeared to them. As a result, he was skeptical that Jesus was alive. Thankfully, he was present the next week, and that made all the difference for him, but Jesus also said to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” It is here that faith and specifically blind faith comes into play about the Lord’s return and continuous presence in every moment. Thomas’s presence that following week was not because he thought Jesus was going to be there but because he was still his disciple. Jesus’ presence threw Thomas’ doubts aside. If Thomas without continuing to believe and show up, hadn’t been present, his faith would have waivered. Which is why the follow up to Easter is just as important as the day the Lord had risen!
March 31, 2024 - Easter Sunrise Community Service - Christ is Risen!
Cooper’s Beach was met with over 300 worshippers on Sunday to celebrate the second coming of Jesus. Where the crisp morning air and cold sand met the soft crashing waves, Southampton congregants joined together for a joyous and welcoming service. Victor Vacarro of the Hamptons Pipes & Drums opened with “Amazing Grace” that gave notice to the later-comers of the service’s commencement. Viccaro, accompanied by Ted Turpin on the piano brought a lively energy to the morning crowd.
After the service, attendees were met with coffee and juice, and bagels and pastries provided by Keith Davis and the Golden Pear Cafe of Southampton.
March 31, 2024 - Easter Sunday Worship - Christ is Risen! The fragrant smell of Easter flowers, purchased in memory and honor, filled the Sanctuary Sunday morning. Its aromatic ambiance set the scene for worshippers of all ages, adorned in their hand-picked celebratory attire, to shuffle into First Presbyterian. As each member stuffed closer together filling the pews, more community members of all ages continued to process down the aisles, whilst being welcomed by bagpipes and festive greetings.
Reverend Lent was thrilled to see the Sanctuary so fill, and Sunday school so well attended with young impressionable faces. Rev. Lent presented each child with a Gladiola bulb to symbolize the planting of the seed of love and Christ. Rev. Lent reminded us that showing up for Easter is part of the goal of Christianity, but the hope is that the seed is planted so that we may put the message of “Christ Is Risen,” that he has started the journey ahead of us. That we may grow in faith, in love and in God. That when we find ourselves in times of sadness, despair, or fear, that we remind ourselves “that He is ahead of us” and He will be there waiting for us. That even death is not the end, as Christ has proven.
The Chancel Choir, lead by Music Director Amanda Jones opened with “Let All Who Have Breath Praise the Lord,” creating an energy within the Sanctuary that remained through worship. Continuing with arrangements like “Resurrection Victory” and “Christ Is Risen, He Is Risen Indeed” the energetic feeling carried on after worship and onto the front lawn. Families were met with sun-filled spring day complete with a petting zoo of festive bunnies and fancy chickens, coffee and treats, and beautiful fellowship!
March 24, 2024 - Palm Sunday at First Presbyterian brought almost 90 attendees to Sunday’s Worship service. “A Day to Choose” was the topic of Rev. Lent’s sermon. He reminded those in attendance that Palm Sunday, in the Jewish tradition, was the day to choose your lamb (or goat) for Passover, and that it is no coincidence that Jesus was marched into Jerusalem on this day. He was welcomed with joyous waving of palms as he rode a colt into the city, talking of loving thy neighbor as opposed to military praise and wealth that was shown for Pontius Pilot that same day. That day in Jerusalem, one was asked to choose whom to follow, the Kingdom of God or the Empire of Caesar. Today, Rev. Lent asks us to choose whom to follow, but also asks us to answer that question through actions, “that you might understand that Jesus showed up for us… that just like the first Palm Sunday long ago, people will always have a choice where they look for their salvation… and that Jesus asks us to show up for him.” Rev. Lent’s message emphasizes to not just passively watch but to actively participate in the choosing of the Lord every day, and to show up for Him, the same was He presented himself to us on Palm Sunday.
March 15, 2024 - On Friday evening, the First Presbyterian Church, courtesy of Amanda Jones, Music Director, hosted a wonderful group of talented, hard working and kind singers. Messiah University Concert Choir and Chamber Ensemble performed works from a program titled I Love To Tell The Story. The repertoire spans the centuries to share stories faith, from Renaissance motets to newly-composed pieces by Messiah University faculty, arrangements of beloved spirituals and hymns, ancient prayer texts and musical reflections on current events. Spirits in the Sanctuary were not only filled but also lifted but the gifted students performance.
The choir and ensemble tour was conducted by Dr. Joy Meade, and took the 48 member group to churches and high schools in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, completing their tour on March 17, 2024. If you missed the Messiah University Concert Choir on March 15th. Follow the link to view the recording.
March 3, 2024 - First Presbyterian Church is pleased to officially welcome Pastor Paul Lent to our Cornerstone of Faith in Jesus and our Family of Love and Service. Rev. Lent is the First Presbyterian Church’s 33rd Pastor and was installed by Rev. Donald Adams, Moderator of Long Island Presbytery, Rev. Kathryn Jones-Calone, the acting General Presbyter & Stated Clerk of Presbytery of Long Island, and Rev. Michael Smith of Shinnecock Presbytery. Also in attendance were Rev. Susan Case Cardon, Reverend Dr. Richard Reifsnyder and Rev. Charles M. Cary.
Pastor Lent’s installation service was followed by a celebratory luncheon that was attended by many!
We look forward to Pastor Lent’s time here at First Presbyterian, and the joining of his wife, Christine and two children, Helena and Daniel, to our fellowship.
December 9, 2023 - First Presbyterian Church participated in the 20th Annual Polar Bear Plunge hosted by Heart of the Hamptons. The FPC team “Frozen Chosen” helped raise over $4,000.00 totaling, $4,356.50, putting the team in 8th place this year on the Heart of the Hamptons 2023 Leaderboard.
The FPC is a proud supporter of the Heart of the Hamptons, a community initiative that provides clothing, food, and other household materials to those in need.
Thank you to all of our generous friends who made this possible!
