Welcome!
From The First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles
Worship
Worship is at 9:30 am every Sunday! As you approach the Church (sun, rain snow, weddings, memorials, Sunday morning) the pastor greets and welcomes the Village. The Church has ample parking (off-street), ramped access to the Sanctuary, an elevator to classrooms, restrooms, fellowship, meeting spaces. Entering the Sanctuary, you immediately witness this is an historic sacred space, beautiful in stained glass and wood, open, bright, with the centrality of pulpit, table and font. This is a dramatic inspiring space with a new 40 rank Casavant pipe organ whose gold pipes seem to reach all the way to heaven, Bell Choirs whose tones reverberate in the arches, Chancel and Children's Choirs that inspire and delight. This is a very real, Open Community of faith, where the worshipping body listen, enjoy laughter, share tears, and are surrounded by an aura of the Spirit of God. Worship begins as children toll the Tower Bell, carry the Pulpit Bible and light the Candles, then the pastor pours out the pitcher into the font emptying all our concerns before God naming that we all are Called in Baptism. Our preacher believes the sermon is a conversation with: the Biblical text, the Congregation, God, and the preacher's own soul. There are large print Bulletins, Bibles and Hymnals, as well as a clear clean sound system in an acoustically dynamic Sanctuary. First Presbyterian Church is a worshipping community that consider worship as sacred; who believe in the reality of prayer and acts of faith; who do not take ourselves too seriously; and who enjoy being surprised and awed in worship. You can read more about worship at our church on our Worship page.
Mission
The working Mission Statement of First Presbyterian Church is "to play with what Google cannot answer". Our specific Mission is "To serve as a calalyst in the community. We are called from different walks of life to continually grow in commitment, to meet the needs of societal change, locally and with partnerships throughout the world." At First Presbyterian Church we recognize there are many circumstances in life that do not have specific, or easy, or absolute answers. Instead, we journey together discerning possibilities, always keeping the door open to where God may lead next. Please read more about the church's mission on our Mission page.
Weddings
First Presbyterian Church intentionally makes the Sanctuary and pastor available for celebrations of members and non-members, recognizing the church has a vital role in he community. In order to be married in the Church, the Session require that the persons want to be married before Almighty God; vow to be married to one another for all their life; have a valid NYS Marriage license; meet with the pastor as many times as they need to plan the celebration to be their marriage.
Visitors and Membership
First Presbyterian Church believes our responsibility is to graciously act as host to one another. We welcome folks to come, claiming the church for all we offer. We consider membership to be like the responsibility of greeting guests at a great celebration! God is the real host and we are doing everything possible to represent the host in their house. Children are always welcome! We recognize visitors have probably come for a current reason in their lives, and that entering in is taking a risk, so we try to go out of our way to minister to others.
Happenings
There are many things happening at the church at any given time, feel free to peruse our calendar or the News page for a complete list of our events.
Contact Us
We are located at 97 East Genesee Street in beautiful downtown Skaneateles. We can be reached by phone at (315) 685-5048, or e-mail at info@skanpresby.org. For a full list of our staff and contact information please visit our Contact Us page.
