We are Kennewick First Pres. This is who we are.
God has given us this little plot of land on Kennewick Avenue in Kennewick, Washington, upon which, years ago, a church was planted to reach, teach and go into the world in His name. We strive every day to live up to that responsibility.
Men and women lead our church, side-by-side, and we grow from the gifts each one of us can bring as we follow and serve Jesus.
We have a sanctuary, not an auditorium, that we honor as sacred space to come into the Holy Presence of God Almighty.
We use natural light as much as possible, not spotlights and dimmed lights, because the natural light fills our souls, lights up our surroundings and refreshes our spirits.
We have pews, and on occasion, we need to scoot closer together, and we relish that.
We recognize God’s people sing and pray and praise through music, but not everyone finds worship through every style of music. And that’s why we offer two services with very different styles of music.
Some people are called closer to God through services of liturgy and tradition. Others prefer a less formal style of worship. We honor both and offer both. Sometimes we even raise our hands, maybe just a little, and clap.
Many of us move between services in order to appreciate the way God has gifted musicians with talents in a variety of forms and worship styles that reach us, fill us and send us out into the world to be His hands and feet in different ways.
We love kids in worship and their ‘joyful’ noise reminds us the church is alive! We also offer childcare and a playroom as options.
We are an intergenerational family. And, that is the best. We believe we are better as followers of Jesus when we learn from people of all ages, listen to each other’s stories and experiences, and when our little ones have lots of extra aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas in their lives.
All kids matter. We strive to see them all through the eyes of Jesus, loving them as He does and leading them to see that love from the God who created them for something special.
Following in our Presbyterian tradition, we baptize people of all ages, including children, and as a congregation, we stand together and pledge to help nurture that child in their faith.
We have a long history of adult education and learning. We want our members to think, to wrestle, to pray and even, sometimes, be a bit uncomfortable as we listen to what God is teaching us about understanding Him and what He tells us through His Word, and then in the living out this thing called faith.
We strive to be people of many persuasions who challenge each other, who listen and respect our differences, remembering that ‘the main thing is the main thing.’ Sometimes we are better at this than others.
We want to be a brave space. A safe space.
We are always aware that our ‘church’ is not a morning of worship, once a week, in our sanctuary. We are not a party we put on for ourselves on Sunday mornings. Our church is 24/7 – Yes, we gather weekly together, but most of our calling is what happens the other hours of the week, where we spend our dollars and time, how we serve our neighbors, and how we love one another from the clerk at the store or the person at the other end of an unsolicited phone call to the child who needs help with their homework.
We are the church.
Are we what some would call a ‘traditional’ church? Maybe. Maybe not. We have history and roots that hold us strong. We treasure that. We are not afraid of change, even though it can be painful at times, because the needs of people do change and God’s call to us is to be continually serving His people in His name.
We have a story to tell at First Pres. It’s His Story. We are humbled to be called to be a part of it.
We invite you to join us.
God has given us this little plot of land on Kennewick Avenue in Kennewick, Washington, upon which, years ago, a church was planted to reach, teach and go into the world in His name. We strive every day to live up to that responsibility.
Men and women lead our church, side-by-side, and we grow from the gifts each one of us can bring as we follow and serve Jesus.
We have a sanctuary, not an auditorium, that we honor as sacred space to come into the Holy Presence of God Almighty.
We use natural light as much as possible, not spotlights and dimmed lights, because the natural light fills our souls, lights up our surroundings and refreshes our spirits.
We have pews, and on occasion, we need to scoot closer together, and we relish that.
We recognize God’s people sing and pray and praise through music, but not everyone finds worship through every style of music. And that’s why we offer two services with very different styles of music.
Some people are called closer to God through services of liturgy and tradition. Others prefer a less formal style of worship. We honor both and offer both. Sometimes we even raise our hands, maybe just a little, and clap.
Many of us move between services in order to appreciate the way God has gifted musicians with talents in a variety of forms and worship styles that reach us, fill us and send us out into the world to be His hands and feet in different ways.
We love kids in worship and their ‘joyful’ noise reminds us the church is alive! We also offer childcare and a playroom as options.
We are an intergenerational family. And, that is the best. We believe we are better as followers of Jesus when we learn from people of all ages, listen to each other’s stories and experiences, and when our little ones have lots of extra aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas in their lives.
All kids matter. We strive to see them all through the eyes of Jesus, loving them as He does and leading them to see that love from the God who created them for something special.
Following in our Presbyterian tradition, we baptize people of all ages, including children, and as a congregation, we stand together and pledge to help nurture that child in their faith.
We have a long history of adult education and learning. We want our members to think, to wrestle, to pray and even, sometimes, be a bit uncomfortable as we listen to what God is teaching us about understanding Him and what He tells us through His Word, and then in the living out this thing called faith.
We strive to be people of many persuasions who challenge each other, who listen and respect our differences, remembering that ‘the main thing is the main thing.’ Sometimes we are better at this than others.
We want to be a brave space. A safe space.
We are always aware that our ‘church’ is not a morning of worship, once a week, in our sanctuary. We are not a party we put on for ourselves on Sunday mornings. Our church is 24/7 – Yes, we gather weekly together, but most of our calling is what happens the other hours of the week, where we spend our dollars and time, how we serve our neighbors, and how we love one another from the clerk at the store or the person at the other end of an unsolicited phone call to the child who needs help with their homework.
We are the church.
Are we what some would call a ‘traditional’ church? Maybe. Maybe not. We have history and roots that hold us strong. We treasure that. We are not afraid of change, even though it can be painful at times, because the needs of people do change and God’s call to us is to be continually serving His people in His name.
We have a story to tell at First Pres. It’s His Story. We are humbled to be called to be a part of it.
We invite you to join us.