FAITH

First Presbyterian to mark bicentennial

Ben Steelman StarNews Staff
The First Presbyterian Church will celebrate its bicentennial beginning Sunday. [COURTESY NEW HANOVER COUNTY LIBRARY]

Wilmington's First Presbyterian Church will begin a week of activities Sunday marking its bicentennial.

Walter Conser, a professor of American religious history at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, will give a lecture on the early history of the church at 10 a.m. Sunday in the church's Gilmour Hall at 125 S. Third St.

On Wednesday, a procession of church members will walk from Church Alley and Front Street, First Presbyterian's original location, to its present sanctuary, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Joining in the procession will be representatives of First Presbyterian's daughter churches, representatives of other area Presbyterian churches and members of the Wilmington City Council and New Hanover County Commissioners.

A multimedia program will follow the procession at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary, detailing the church's history.

Then, during the 11 a.m. service on Oct. 29, the church will celebrate its annual Kirkin' o' the Tartans ceremony, with bagpipe and Scottish banners, celebrating the church's Scottish heritage. Following the service and the luncheon, a memorial marker will be dedicated in the church's Orange Street courtyard to mark the bicentennial.

First Presbyterian Church was formally admitted to the Fayetteville Presbytery on April 4, 1817. Its present Gothic sanctuary, designed by the architect Hobart Upjohn, dates from 1928, after an earlier building was destroyed by fire. Perhaps its best-known pastor was Dr. Joseph R. Wilson (1874-1885), father of the future president Woodrow Wilson.

For information, call the church at  910-762-6688.