Dear church family,
It was eighty years ago that the First Presbyterian Church of Sylva was formed. Up until this point, there had never been a Presbyterian congregation in Jackson County. Those who were committed to this expression of the Christian faith had to travel elsewhere for worship and fellowship in the Reformed tradition. That is, until a group of women, led by Elizabeth Cope and Roberta Hooper, starting meeting for Bible study in homes across Sylva. The Lord formed within them an imagination for something new and different: a Presbyterian church in the town they loved. Soon thereafter, with backing from the nearby Bryson City Presbyterian Church, they formally organized a congregation in the Legion Building. The date was June 4, 1941, and there were 12 charter members. Our church family, as a part of the larger body of Christ, was born.
November 1949
Over the next eight years, amidst the challenges of World War II, the church grew. We acquired land and eventually built a sanctuary and Fellowship Hall in 1949. Much has happened in the meantime, of course. Folks have come and gone, our buildings have expanded, and our town has grown. But one thing has stayed as constant as the Plott Balsam mountains: our commitment to love one another, to love our community, and to love Jesus Christ, who first loved us.
In honor of this eightieth anniversary, we will be holding a special celebration on Sunday, September 26. The celebration will begin with a worship service at 11:00am, during which we will hear and respond to God’s Word as we have done every week for the past eight decades. Following the service, we will move to the church pavilion for a barbecue lunch, in which we will celebrate our past and once again dedicate our future to the glory of God. This celebration is being coordinated by a Session-approved task force, so please let us know if you have ideas or support you would like to contribute.
Celebrating is always important, but it seems especially necessary given the year we have all endured. We hope this celebration will be a homecoming and revival of sorts, with friends new and old joining together in the name of Jesus and recommitting themselves to his way of life and love. As Jackie Painter wrote in her reflections on our fiftieth anniversary, “The work of this church has not always gone smoothly, but each year has given the people blessings and strength. Isaiah 40:31 tells us, ‘Yet those who wait upon the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not get tired; they will walk and not become weary.’”
Whether we wait, mount up, run, or walk (or all of the above), I hope you will join us for this celebration and other upcoming events in our life together. God is doing great things in Sylva, Jackson County, and all over the world. And like those who have come before us, we have a part to play.
See you Sunday,
Blake