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Welcome To First Christian Church! We know how it can feel walking into a church and having no idea what it is like, so we would like to answer a few common questions.
There are various Sunday School classes at 9:00 following by Coffee and Conversation at 10:00.
Our Sunday worship begins at 10:30, but come earlier and enjoy coffee and conversation with others. Our service is about an hour and half in length.
Our worship is a blend of informal and formal moments. The service includes a variety of musical styles including praise songs, old Gospel, grand hymns of praise, etc.
Worship is designed to bring us closer to God. You are welcome to join in worship if you like, but if you are not comfortable with this, simply listen with an open mind and heart.
We celebrate Communion every week as a regular practice; the pastor and other leaders share in serving Communion. All who are followers of Jesus Christ are welcome to partake of communion as it is passed within the pews.
We do not recite a creed during worship, but we often pray the Lord’s Prayer in unison.
The weekly message is designed to emphasize the connection between God’s Word as recorded in the Bible and how it applies to our daily lives.
The Offering is given by members and friends as an act of worship to our giving God. Our guests and visitors should not feel obligated to give.
Large print bulletins are available outside the main doors to the sanctuary.
Hearing assist devices are available at the sound booth in the back of the sanctuary.
The style of dress is relaxed and varied. Some people come in suits and dresses while others dress in jeans and sandals. It’s important to remember that God looks at the soul, not at the clothes.
Infants and toddlers are welcome to come to the Nursery where our nursery workers provide age-appropriate activities. Our nursery workers are quite compassionate and patient with children and have passed background checks and we have dual custody supervision of the children.
We have a large parking lot close to the church with some reserved handicap parking spaces as well as some reserved spaces for visitors. There is a covered drive up area were passengers may get out. There is covered walkway to the building with no steps. It is a bit of an incline if pushing a wheelchair but someone is always close by the door to help. Just Ask.
There is additional printed information in the lobby as well as an information table highlighting all the events happening at the church in the near future.
Our History
History of First Christian Church of Peoria 1845 to Present
The City of Peoria and First Christian Church were both organized in 1845. I am sure that the twelve (12) people that gathered together in worship in those days, had no idea that during that 170 years, their ministry would eventually birth six other congregations in and around the Peoria area and begin a Christian Movement that would span over a century and a half. First Christian Church has always focused on spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout the Peoria area. First Christian Church of Peoria has been a community leader and has had 5 homes on 4 locations. The congregation moved to its present location in 1974 even before it was popular to do so. It led the way for many other congregations. First Christian Church of Peoria has had 8 ministers and 9 Timothies. There is no way of knowing the number of lives that have found Jesus Christ because of members of this congregation or a sister congregation. But as a member of the Disciples of Christ, we are a movement for Christian Unity as we partner with other faith communities to work for bringing about wholeness – healing and justice – in the world. This is what it means to be “ecumenical.” One example is our cooperative work with the United Church of Christ in Global Ministries for the past 25 years and our newer effort to share staff in the area of family ministries.
We also honor the heritage of Christian unity by staying together in covenant as a witness to the world that even when we disagree we can still make room, welcoming all to the table as Christ has welcomed us. It is in that spirit that:
We declare ourselves to be an Open and Affirming congregation, professing that all people are God’s children and deserve full inclusion in the life, leadership, ministry, fellowship, worship, sacraments of marriage, communion, baptism, and ordination, responsibilities, and blessing of participation in our congregation. With open hearts, open minds, and open doors, we invite anyone who seeks God’s amazing grace to join our church family. (A full history of First Christian Church is available at the church office)
“We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.”
What It Means To Be A Disciple Of Christ
ALL are welcome to the Lord’s Table for the sake of mission and for the sake of the world as the one family of God. Most congregations do this by celebrating communion every Sunday. That’s why we use a chalice as our logo.
A person makes the choice to follow God’s call rather than the choice being made for them as an infant. Baptism is the basis of membership in the Church and also a mark that every person is called to serve God – the idea of the “priesthood of all believers.” Just as the baptism represents the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it symbolizes the death and burial of the old self of the repentant believer, and the joyous birth of a brand new being in Christ. Those who founded the Disciples movement taught baptism by immersion as the accepted form. First Christian Church of Peoria accepts all types of believer baptism for membership.
We honor our heritage as a movement for Christian unity by cooperating and partnering with other faith communities to work for bringing about wholeness – healing and justice – in the world. This is what it means to be “ecumenical.” One example is our cooperative work with the United Church of Christ in Global Ministries for the past 25 years and our newer effort to share staff in the area of family ministries. We also honor the heritage of Christian unity by staying together in covenant as a witness to the world that even when we disagree we can still make room, welcoming all to the table as Christ has welcomed us. Our spiritual ancestors were fond of saying, “unity, not uniformity.”
We are called to study and read scripture for ourselves. Rather than having tests of faith and creedal statements, we critically and thoughtfully study scripture, taking into account the history and background – the context – in which it was written.
We move to answer God’s call for justice particularly in the areas of care for the earth, the challenges for women and children, poverty and hunger and immigration. We seek to do this work in cooperation with other people of faith. Some say we “get dirty for Jesus” as a way of conveying the hands-on mission orientation of many of our faith communities.