|
First Presbyterian Church is an historic Presbyterian Church in America congregation located at 642 Telfair Street in Augusta, Georgia within the boundaries of the Augusta Downtown Historic District. It is open Monday-Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm. == History == The church was established in 1804,〔(Boyhood Church of a President )〕 and the building was completed in 1812.〔(First Presbyterian Church of Augusta )〕In 1808, while the congregation was still holding services at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, members helped start a church in Smyrna in Wilkes County. In 1925 the Ladies' Foreign Missionary Society already was collecting donations, making it the first such ministry in the world, according to the statistics of the church. During his childhood, United States president Woodrow Wilson's father - Joseph R. Wilson - was minister at First Presbyterian from 1858 to 1870. The Woodrow Wilson Boyhood Home is a historic site nearby. In 1861 the Church hosted the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States and the first minister in this new denomination was President Wilson's father.〔(www.nps.gov/nr/travel/augusta/firstpresbyterian.html )〕 During the Civil War the building was used as a hospital for men wounded, and the churchyard was a detention camp for Union prisoners in the Battle of Chickamauga. Men who died were buried in the Magnolia Cemetery. During the war the damage to the church was considerable, the congregation received 2,000 dollar from the Confederate government. During this time Joseph Wilson was called to the chaplain ministry in the army. despite the war under Wilsons ministry the congregation grew from 224 members to more than 400. In 1870 Wilson was called to the seminary in South Carolina.〔https://books.google.hu/books?id=GKh9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=history+of+first+presbyterian+church+in+augusta&source=bl&ots=yZqt1cUyJx&sig=W4y25anS8e_GiargYhOjhXHMaqE&hl=hu&sa=X&ei=SZdoVeLSHITn7gbLmIGoDQ&ved=0CEYQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20first%20presbyterian%20church%20in%20augusta&f=false〕 Hundred years later, Rev. John Oliver became pastor of a then-struggling First Presbyterian Church in 1971. This time the population of Augusta mooved westward, the downtown church lost their base and membership declined. Westminster Day School was started in 1972. The campus of Westminster School located on Wheeler Road now has more than 500 pupils, grades K-4 through 12. First Presbyterian Church started a missions conference under Dr. Oliver's leadership. The annual event is a combination retreat and workshop for missionaries and their families. It also is an opportunity for the people of Augusta to hear about work in the field. In 1973, First Presbyterian dropped its affiliation with the Southern Presbyterian Church over issues, such as the authority of scripture and the role of women in the church, and became independent. It aligned itself with the Presbyterian Church in America in 1977. Dr. Oliver left in 1997, ending more than 27 years in the First Presbyterian pulpit.〔http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2004/04/17/rel_412516.shtml#.VWi-EtLtmko〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「First Presbyterian Church (Augusta, Georgia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|