About Our Church

In 1870, a group of Presbyterians in Oshkosh held their first meeting in a room over the Magnolia Saloon. Subsequently, it built a chapel on Jefferson Street, then worshipped in the YMCA until 1895 when the present church was dedicated.

The church remains involved in numerous outreach programs, actively engaging in the world around us, so our faith comes alive; and we wake up to new possibilities. We act boldly and compassionately to serve people who are hungry, oppressed, imprisoned or poor.

We recognize Christ’s urgent call to be a church of action, where God’s love, justice and mercy shine forth and are contagious. And we rejoice how our re-energized faith can unite all Presbyterians for a common and holy purpose: our common identity to do mission.

First Presbyterian Church History

Keeping The Faith

“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.’” —From “A Brief Statement of Faith”

At the core of Presbyterian identity is a secure hope in the grace of God in Jesus Christ, a hope that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, empowers us to live lives of gratitude: “In affirming with the earliest Christians that Jesus is Lord, the Church confesses that he is its hope, and that the Church, as Christ’s body, is bound to his authority and thus free to live in the lively, joyous reality of the grace of God.” (Book of Order F-1.0204)

This strong emphasis on the grace of God in Jesus Christ is our heritage from the founder of the Reformed tradition, John Calvin.