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 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]

The building behind the Carnegie Library served from 1896 until it burned down in 1932.

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

References

  1. 1 2 "Minister elected to lead First Presbyterian Church". Houston Chronicle. 2001-11-12. Retrieved 2017-02-16. "Vanderbloemen said First Presbyterian is in the middle of a growing Museum District that is attracting new residents."
  2. ↑ http://www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/research/pdfs/2012-cs-table6.pdf www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/research/pdfs/2012-cs-table6.pdf
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ 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
  5. ↑ http://www.fpchouston.org/history.php www.fpchouston.org/history.php
  6. ↑ Vara, Richard (2007-02-03). "Vanderbloemen resigns senior pastorate of Houston's First Presbyterian Church". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  7. ↑ Walters, Edgar (2014-02-23). "Houston Church Opts Not to Defect From Denomination". Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  8. ↑ Tolson, Mike (2014-02-24). "First Presbyterian narrowly votes to stay with denomination". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  9. ↑ http://www.christianpost.com/news/texas-presbyterian-megachurch-votes-leave-pcusa-for-conservative-eco-171803/
  10. ↑ http://fpchouston.org/denomination/
  11. ↑ http://www.fpchouston.org/senior_pastor.php www.fpchouston.org/senior_pastor.php

Coordinates: 29°43′40″N 95°23′20″W / 29.7277°N 95.3888°W / 29.7277; -95.3888


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