Category Archives: Good News

Evansville, First Avenue: 143 Years!

 On September 27, 2011, First Avenue Presbyterian Church (Evansville, IN) will celebrate its 143rd birthday. 

First Avenue church began as a Sunday School mission church in 1868, on Second Avenue.   It was chartered in Vincennes Presbytery on September 27, 1872, and has been located at First Avenue and Virginia Street ever since.  Its pastor is the Rev. Gene Feagan.

The Sunday Worship on September 25, at 9:oo a.m. Central Time (10:00am Eastern), will commemorate the founding of the church, recalling many interesting moments in the long history of First Avenue Church, which continues to worship in the original sanctuary and sings hymns to the accompaniment of the original pipe organ, in continuous use since it was a gift to the congregation by the industrialist, Andrew Carnegie, in 1919.

Vernon Presbyterian: 186 Years

The Vernon Presbyterian Church will celebrate 186 years of Christian service to their community on Sunday, May 15, 2011.

The day’s events will begin at 10:00am (EST) with visitation before the 10:30am church service. A potluck luncheon will follow the worship service, about 12:00pm, in the church basement.

Church History:

The Vernon Presbyterian Church was founded on May 11, 1825. Reverend John Finley Crowe had come to the Vernon area with the intention of beginning an academy. After preaching, he conducted a meeting at which 8 members joined the church. He continued to serve Vernon as pastor, but decided to locate his college in Hanover.

Vernon Presbyterian Church | 69 Washington Street | Vernon, IN 47282

Memorial Cross Dedication at Mount Vernon

Celtic Cross

A special worship service will be held Sunday October 17 at 10:15am (CT) at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church for the dedication of the sanctuary cross to the glory of God. This beautiful memorial celtic cross was designed, built, and installed by local artist Curt Schmitt. Curt is a resident of New Harmony and well known in his community as a master wood worker and owns his own cabinet shop.

The cross is made of hackberry wood and stained to match the sanctuary. Creating the curvature for the Celtic circle was the greatest challenge in this more than 100 hour project. The cross is suspended from the ceiling. This modern look blends into the classic look of the sanctuary. Funds for the memory of Dr. William Kennedy, former clerk of session, were used for this project. The completion of this cross is the fulfillment of one of his dreams for the Mount Vernon church.

Terre Haute Central Student Receives Scholarship

Congratulations to Central Presbyterian Church (Terre Haute) member, Katie Guell, who received a scholarship from the PCUSA Financial Aid for Studies (Wales-Fulkerson Educational Fund)!

Central’s Christian Educator, Cheryl Moles, saw the information about the available scholarships in the 09/15/10 POV E-news and sent it on to Katie.  She and her family quickly pulled the application together and received the good news at the end of September.

Katie is a sophomore chemistry major at Purdue University.

Spencer-Bethany Presbyterian Church – News from the Pulpit

As one drives north from Spencer along U.S. highway 231 you will notice the picturesque tree covered hills and valleys giving way to great fields of corn, wheat and soybeans with an occasional pasture containing livestock.  And if you watch closely, about eight miles up the highway, you will notice a small white church, typical of country churches.  What makes it unique is the window over the main entrance with the word ‘Bethany’ etched into the stained glass.  Entering the vestibule one may observe hanging from the wall a copy of the original minutes of the church, dated March 20, 1820.  This makes us one of the older churches in this presbytery and, we believe, the oldest church of any denomination offering continuous service in Owen County.  Entering the sanctuary, perhaps the most striking scene is rows of pews made from native timber with a wide board for a seat and another for the back, a clear indication of the proud heritage felt by the congregation.

Today we are still a small country church.  And as one becomes involved in the life of the congregation, you begin to feel both the pride in their heritage and the closeness of a church family.  Are we content with where we are?  No. Would we like to grow?  Yes.  Are we waiting until we have grown to become more active?  No!  While we are too small to even consider such programs as pre-school, we are not too small to make and distribute lap robes and bibs to the residents of local nursing homes.  In fact, this year the ladies have made and distributed over 300 bibs and 48 lap robes.  And this project is ongoing.  We expect to do the same next year.

We are partnering with the Spencer Presbyterian Church’s food pantry to help the needy of Owen County.  Toward this effort we collect donations of food at the church, some of our members work in the pantry and we have a produce table where those of us who garden bring our surplus, making it available to those who can use it and excepting donations from recipients.

As I watched on TV the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti, and seeing children with no food, no clean water, no one to care for them and considering the possibility of my own grandchildren in the same situation, it became almost too much to bear.  What has made it bearable is the money we have raised to send to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to assist in this catastrophe.  As of Sunday, September 5th we topped $1,000, pretty remarkable for a small congregation.  A few years ago Moderator of General Assembly was quoted as saying ”I’m sinfully proud of the Presbyterian Church”.  I’ll paraphrase “I’m sinfully proud of Bethany”.

Bert Brantley, in his report on his triennial visit, called us a healthy congregation and an effective ministry.  It is my prayer that we have lived up to his generous assessment of Bethany and that we will continue to do so.

— Dick Poff, CLP