The people of the First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City are working to faithfully follow and obey our Lord, Jesus Christ. We are proud to be part of a Presbyterian heritage in Utah which dates back over 125 years. The Presbyterian Church played a key role in the founding of our country, and can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation in the 1550's. We hope this site is informative and thought-provoking. We welcome you into our fellowship and invite you to join us as we seek to serve God in this place.
Presbyterians are a "People of the Book". Our ultimate authority is Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments bear witness to him. Everything we teach, preach, and aspire to is grounded in Biblical truth. Personal and group Bible studies are essential elements of the Christian life.
Christians in all times and at all places have tried to summarize and articulate their beliefs. Presbyterians have adopted 11 such creeds, confessions and catechisms as Part I of our constitution -- The Book of Confessions. The Brief Statement of Faith,adopted in 1991, is the most recent. In these statements, the church declares who and what it is, what it believes, and what it resolves to do. They guide the church in studying and interpreting the Scriptures, summarize the essence of Christian thought and belief, and assist us in maintaining sound doctrine and in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ -- that through his love, sacrifice, and grace, each of us is able to be freed from bondage to sin, reconciled to God, and empowered to enjoy, worship and serve our Lord. Our confessions bear witness to the One, Holy, Catholic Church of all believers. They reflect the faith of the Protestant Reformation and particularly of the Reformed tradition.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.)
A BRIEF STATEMENT OF FAITH
In life and in death we belong to God.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
whom alone we worship and serve . . . .
We trust in Jesus Christ,
fully human, fully God.
Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
preaching good news to the poor
and release to the captives,
teaching by work and deed
and blessing the children,
healing the sick and
binding up the brokenhearted,
eating with outcasts,
forgiving sinners,
and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition,
Jesus was crucified,
suffering the depths of human pain
and giving his life for the sins of the world.
God raised this Jesus from the dead,
vindicating his sinless life,
breaking the power of sin and evil,
delivering us from death to life eternal.
We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba, Father,
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God's image, male and female, of every race
and people, to live as one community.
But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God's commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
accept lies as truth,
exploit neighbor and nature,
and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.
We deserve God's condemnation.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.
In everlasting love,
the God of Abraham and Sarah chose a covenant people to bless all families of
the earth.
Hearing their cry,
God delivered the children of Israel from the house of bondage.
Loving us still,
God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant.
Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,
like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home,
God is faithful still.
We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
everywhere the giver and renewer of life,
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
and binds us together with all believers
in the one body of Christ, the church.
The same Spirit
who inspired the prophets and apostles
rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
engages us through the Word proclaimed,
claims us in the waters of baptism,
feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.
In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and
to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit,
we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and
to live holy and joyful lives,
even as we watch for God's new heaven and new earth,
praying, "Come, Lord Jesus!"
With believers in every time and place,
we rejoice that nothing in life or in death
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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