Classes and Fellowship Groups– First Presbyterian Church

Sunday Mornings, September – May, 9:00-9:45 am in Room 211 (Hebrews) on the second floor

Using short term series, we explore the Christian faith through what we believe about the Bible and its texts, through theological questions that have shaped the church, and through discussion of current issues to help us as Christians continue to wrestle and grow in our faith in the modern world. Past topics have included; “All Theology Has and Adjective : a Study of Various Theological Perspectives”, “One Nation Under God: The How and Why of the Rise of Christian Nationalism”, and “What Do Presbyterians Believe? ” For more information on these short term series, please check the events button below and look for the “HeBrews” events.

Are you looking for an inclusive, caring community of women to nurture your faith and work together to strengthen the church through study, prayer and service? A Presbyterian Women Circle might be the group for you. We gather for study, fellowship, laughter, support, and service.

We have three groups to choose from – pick whichever fits your schedule

1. After Work Bible Study – 4th Monday of the

Month at 5:30 pm on Zoom. Contact us for

the Zoom link

2. First Wednesdays of the Month (September

– June except January) at 9:30 am in Room

107 (by the Main Office)

3. Third Thursdays of the Month (September –

June except December) at 1:30 PM in Room

107 (by the Main Office)

These famous words, attributed to scholar and activist Cornel West, remain just as true today as when he first uttered them. In that same spirit, Lincoln / Lancaster County’s new justice ministry organization, Justice in Action, aims to “love our neighbors” by taking direct and tangible action to eradicate injustices in our community.

The interfaith, non-denominational, non-profit formally launched on Thursday, November 10th, 2022. Over 20 faith communities in Lancaster County gathered for the “Community Problems Assembly,” which served as both a kick-off, as well as a productive work session during which the groundwork was laid for the future of the organization. The attendees voted on the permanent name, executive committee members, and the first two community problems the group will take action to remedy.

Over the course of 88 small group “Listening Sessions” in and around Lincoln, 627 participants were asked, “What problems in our local community keep you up at night?” The justice ministry team collected and consolidated the answers, looked for recurring themes, then narrowed down the list to the ten issues most frequently mentioned. At the meeting on November 10, almost 300 attendees cast their final votes to determine the two issues that our new Justice in Action organization will focus on first. Those are mental health and criminal justice reform.

Those are huge categories – so what does it mean for us to tackle these issues? Our next step is to form research teams to dive into each issue, and identify specific issues within them that would have an impact on the health of our communities and those who live in them. Out of that research will come specific proposals for change. We may propose accountability where we find neglect. We may propose efficiency where we find waste. We may propose new, fresh ideas where we find stagnation. We may propose redemption where we find falleness. It depends on what the research reveals. This is just the beginning.

In our society, power comes from two sources: organized money and organized people. We have all seen people or companies use money to influence how systems operate. But organized people can influence how systems operate too.

The biblical story of Nehemiah provides an example of powerless people coming together to do justice. The story goes like this… Nehemiah is a member of the king’s court in Babylon and he gets permission from the king to go home to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall around the city. When he gets there, he discovers there has been a terrible drought, which has caused a famine, and people have had to take out loans just to do basic things like buy food and pay taxes. When the people couldn’t repay the loans, the nobles and officials took everything. Their fields, vineyards, and orchards, and even forced people to sell their children into slavery to pay their debts.

The people of Jerusalem raised a cry of injustice to Nehemiah, and he knew the injustice must stop, but he knew that he alone could not put a stop to it. Verse seven of chapter five tells us that Nehemiah organized a great assembly of all the people who were trying to live out their lives in the midst of these conditions, and he brought the nobles and officials before that assembly. He said to the nobles and officials, “this is not right and it must stop. What has been taken from these people must be returned.” And when pressed during this assembly, the nobles and officials agreed to restore everything they had taken from the people, and they did as they had promised.

So as one faith community, we can bring people together for worship or collect food for distribution, but transforming systems, doing justice, requires a larger voice. For justice, our many communities we must come together as one voice to ensure that every person in the community has access to adequate health care, quality education, sufficient foods, gainful employment, and other aspects of a healthy life. And the culmination of that work, 20 congregations, will be a Nehemiah assembly right here in Lincoln, where we present our leaders with well researched solutions to our community’s most pressing problems.