Our Church

About Our Church

Our Church ministers within the suburban communities around Yorktown, NY. We belong to a group of 11,456 churches known as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), a denomination with a membership of 2,742,192. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is divided into 16 geographical areas called synods. The First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown is in the Synod of the Northeast. Each synod is divided into smaller areas called presbyteries. Our church is in the Hudson River Presbytery.

About Our People

Our Church is 404 members strong, with a total constituency of 975 men, women, and children of all ages -- young and not-so-young, from a variety of church backgrounds, drawn together to be God's people in this place and time.

An inclusive faith community -- the First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown - is a "More Light" congregation that encourages inclusiveness and the full participation of all people regardless of race, age, gender, income, marital status or sexual orientation.

Our Mission

Our Mission as God’s People is:
To Invite All into a Dynamic Relationship with Jesus Christ through Worship, Prayer, Study and Fellowship.
To Work for God’s Peace, Justice, and Human Dignity by Reaching out to the World in a Servant Ministry.

As a "More Light" Church, we endorse the More Light Presbyterian mission statement:

"Following the risen Christ, and seeking to make the Church a true community of hospitality, the mission of More Light Presbyterians is to work for the full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of faith in the life, ministry and witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA)."

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What is “more light”? The phrase “yet more light” originated in Pastor John Robinson’s (1575-1625) sermon sending the Pilgrims off to the colonies, in which he stated the belief that God does not reveal God’s whole truth to any one person in any one point in history, and that we must continually be open to hearing the new things God is saying to us through the Word. The phrase is used in the Book of Order (G-18.0101) in support of the Presbyterian principle of the Church reformed and always reforming.

Our goal as a Faith Community is to provide a spiritual home for all, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, (LGBT) and to meet the spiritual and physical needs of those around us.

What it Means to be a Presbyterian

You do not have to be a Presbyterian, or a formal church member, to attend worship with our church family. We welcome all who are searching for their spiritual paths, as well as those established in their faith. We are an inclusive church family that accepts all, regardless of their faith background, race, gender, sexual orientation, or financial status.

Presbyterians do not have a set list of formal beliefs, other than accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord. Like the Apostle Thomas, many of us have doubts and are searching for our place in this world. Our Church helps us in that search.

We generally hold the following to be true:

God is the Creator of the universe
Christ is the incarnation of God on earth
The Holy Spirit is the presence of God in the world and in the believer
The church is a universal community of Christ's followers
Forgiveness is possible through Jesus' experience of the human condition, even a painful death on the cross.
Life everlasting is shown by the resurrection of Jesus
The Bible is the inspired Word of God

The Presbyterian Church is a nationwide Protestant Reformed Christian Church:

"Protestant" and "Reformed" refer to the movement that protested Christian practice in the 16th century, leading to reforms in governance and theology
The Presbyterian Church started in Switzerland, then spread through Scotland to the United States and worldwide
"Presbyterian" comes from a Greek word that means "elder". It refers to the Church's practice of leadership democratically elected from among the membership
The church organization includes Presbyteries that each oversee multiple churches, Synods who oversee multiple Presbyteries, and the General Assembly that handles nationwide governance
Each individual church is managed by an elected "Session" of elders
The single most distinguishing characteristic of the Presbyterian church is the source of authority in the church. For Presbyterians, church authority arises neither from pastors nor bishops, nor from the congregation, but rather from the elected elders (the “Session”) guided by the scriptures
Each church elects its own Pastors under the guidance of the church organization. Pastors lead their churches in proclamation of the Word and celebration of the Sacraments, in prayer with and care for their congregations, in mission to the local community and the world, and as Moderator (chair) of their Sessions

(footnote: some text drawn from "Learn about Being a Presbyterian" and "The History of the Presbyterian Church", both published by Classic Scriptography)

Other Information about our Church

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