Welcome
Welcome to the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana! We believe that everyone who enters these doors is God’s guest. This is a safe place, to search for and find God, to ask questions along with others who know that the life of faith is not about having all the answers, and to open doors to paths that might be familiar and some that might be entirely new. Read more …
PCUSA News
- A journey of reconciliation leads to an apologyFebruary 22, 2020 A formal apology by the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy to African Americans for what the presbytery calls “the sin of slavery and its legacy” occurred this month following a “Journey of Reconciliation” last fall to two institutions in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to telling the stories of enslaved black people and those terrorized by […]
- Just in time for LentFebruary 21, 2020 An array of Lenten resources designed to help congregations, mid councils and individuals mark Jesus’ journey to the cross and, just days later, his victory over the grave, have been gathered into one place on the website of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
- Committee offers recommendations on improving the PC(USA)’s financial sustainabilityFebruary 21, 2020 Like the other committees, teams and commissions created by the 223rd General Assembly, the Special Committee on Financial Sustainability and Per Capita Review completed its report this week in time to meet Friday’s deadline.
- Harbors and Horizons: Faith and life shaped by bothFebruary 21, 2020 The Reverend Dr. Edward J. Thompson | Special to the Presbyterian News Service A good number of yesterdays ago, I grew up amidst fathomless harbors and fantastic castles. I now celebrate 25 years living amidst wide horizons and waves of wheat. I think of my faith journey and life pilgrimage as one […]
Calendar
Facebook Posts
Sunday, February 23, 2020 - Transfiguration of the Lord
Worship – 9:30 a.m.
Childcare is available for infants through preschool age, downstairs in Rooms 4 and 5
Children & Youth Sunday School – after worship
Seminar: Faithful Citizenship – 11:00 a.m.
Christian Mysticism Discussion Group – 6:30 p.m.
“Courtroom Hearing, Civil Rights Protest, Nashville, Tennessee,” in the Vanderbilt University Archives.
In his last speech the night before he was assassinated, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “I’ve been to the mountaintop.” He was not referring to the mountain of Transfiguration, but Mt. Nebo, where the Torah tells us that God took Moses so that he could see the Promised Land from its summit. Like Moses, Dr. King had the feeling that he would not be allowed to enter the promised land of racial and economic justice. But that last night, he wanted those sanitation workers in Memphis, and those who were protesting in solidarity with them, to know that the promised land was within sight. The mountaintop was not the destination, but only the place from which the destination could be glimpsed. The Gospels tell us that Jesus took three of his disciples with him up a mountain where he was transfigured before them. Peter, speaking probably for all of them, wanted to build three booths, or shrines, for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. He wanted to capture the wonderful experience and make the mountaintop a destination. Who can blame him? But Jerusalem and the Cross was the destination for Jesus and his disciples. Our glimpses of “glory” are not just for us. These glimpses God grants us are given to sustain us as we work for transformation in this dark and tasteless, this unjust and unequal world. That’s what A. Phillip Randolph, Thurgood Marshall and Diane Nash were doing in Nashville in 1961. Join us on Sunday as we consider the questions Rev. Jill Duffield asks this week in her lectionary commentary for The Presbyterian Outlook. “Where is Jesus leading us, apart and away from our normal places and tasks, in order that we might see his transfigured, divine identity and listen to him?... What liminal, uncomfortable, unfamiliar territory are we being called to traverse in order to hear the voice of God, recognize the presence of the Son of Man and reorient our lives to better reflect God's instructions from the law and the prophets and the Messiah?” When we hear Jesus and respond with lives of faithfulness, that faithfulness will be evident back down the mountain where we live in the valleys of fear.
Pastor David
Today we honor Henry Highland Garnett, a Presbyterian minister whose religion fueled his work as an abolitionist. #blackhistorymonth
February 17th was the birthday of Huey Newton, co-founder with Seale of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. At the McKinley Foundation tonight we screened the powerful film "The Hate U Give," which features scenes of the father of the main character, Starr, teaching his children the 10 Point Program. Here it is, a statement of power, a statement of empowerment, for a beloved community. No. 7 is the heart of the film.
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.Today we celebrate Barbara Jordan, an advocate for checks and balances in the U.S. government. She was the first woman and the first African American to deliver a keynote at the Democratic National Convention. #blackhistorymonth
