First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga, Tennessee is a historic, downtown congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and the first Christian congregation founded in Chattanooga. First Presbyterian Church began in 1838 by missionaries of the David Brainard Mission. It was, at first, a mission to the Cherokee Indians. After the "Trail of Tears" the missionaries began to work among the English, Scots-Irish, and Welsh in the community and helped plant First Presbyterian Church, the first Christian church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Through the years, the congregation grew and its present location was dedicated in 1910. There have been twelve pastors of the church with such notable clergy as Thomas McCallie (whose sons founded the The McCallie School), Johnathan Bachman (former Confederate chaplain, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 1910), James Fowle, and Ben Haden.

The congregation has, through its history, sponsored other local congregations in Chattanooga as well as in other parts of the United States of America. The congregation has a history of support for foreign missions and is active today, through partnerships with other churches and agencies, in numerous parts of the world. The church sponsors a year round camp and conference center, Camp Vesper Point. According to a history of the church (see reference), the church's Sunday morning live radio broadcast is the oldest continuing religious broadcast of its kind in America.

The stated vision of the church on its web page is to be a "ministry of God's grace, with lives transformed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ." The stated mission is to "gather, grow and send forth strong disciples of Jesus Christ."