First Presbyterian Church (Houston)
| First Presbyterian Church | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Country |  USA |
| Denomination | ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians |
| Previous denomination | Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |
| History | |
| Dedicated | 1839 |
The First Presbyterian Church is a church in the Museum District of Houston, Texas.[1] As of 2012[update] it had 3,567 members.[2]
History
The church was founded in 1839 by Rev. James Weston Miller.[3][4] He was from Pennsylvania as a foreign missionary in the Republic of Texas. The congregation consisted of 13 charter members. Later the congregation become a prominent member of the Southern Presbyterian Church, and planted several Presbyterian congregations in Houston. The church grew rapidly. First Presbyterian begun mission efforts to South Korea and Brazil.[5]
In 2001 B. William Vanderbloemen was elected as the church's pastor.[1] Vanderbloemen resigned in January 2007 after taking leave in December 2006.[6]
In February 2014 the church voted whether or not to sever ties with the PCUSA, following a policy change in which the latter organization opened the possibility of the ordination of openly gay ministers. First Presbyterian narrowly voted to stay with the denomination.[7][8]
In November 2016, despite the election results, the church session decided to leave the PCUSA and align with ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.[9][10]
The senior pastor is Jim Birchfield.[11]
School
Presbyterian School is on the grounds of the church.
See also
External links
References
- ^ a b "Minister elected to lead First Presbyterian Church". Houston Chronicle. 2001-11-12. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) "Vanderbloemen said First Presbyterian is in the middle of a growing Museum District that is attracting new residents." - ^ http://www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/research/pdfs/2012-cs-table6.pdf www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/research/pdfs/2012-cs-table6.pdf
- ^ Carole E. Christian, "MILLER, JAMES WESTON," Handbook of Texas Online <http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmi18>, accessed October 08, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- ^ Robert Finney Miller, 'Early Presbyterianism in Texas as Seen by Rev. James Weston Miller, D. D.', The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 2, 1915, pp. 159-183 [1]
- ^ http://www.fpchouston.org/history.php www.fpchouston.org/history.php
- ^ Vara, Richard (2007-02-03). "Vanderbloemen resigns senior pastorate of Houston's First Presbyterian Church". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Walters, Edgar (2014-02-23). "Houston Church Opts Not to Defect From Denomination". Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Tolson, Mike (2014-02-24). "First Presbyterian narrowly votes to stay with denomination". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ http://www.christianpost.com/news/texas-presbyterian-megachurch-votes-leave-pcusa-for-conservative-eco-171803/
- ^ http://fpchouston.org/denomination/
- ^ http://www.fpchouston.org/senior_pastor.php www.fpchouston.org/senior_pastor.php
29°43′40″N 95°23′20″W / 29.7277°N 95.3888°W
  | This article about a church or other Christian place of worship in Texas is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This Houston-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |