Our Heritage
Founded as the First Protestant Church in Price County, First Presbyterian Church has been a landmark
and cornerstone of the Phillips community for over 100 years. Early on, our Avon Avenue site was part
of a downtown thoroughfare, dotted with grocery stores, meeting halls, and small businesses. When
State Highway 13 became a corridor from Marshfield to Ashland, the church’s carillon of hymns could
still be heard daily at noon and 5:00 p.m., and the church bell, (dedicated with the second building after
the Great Fire of 1894), heralded the beginning of neighborhood worship on Sunday morning.
At right: This bell was part of our former church building and will be installed in the new church as
homage to our past.
Reaching Out to Touch Lives with the Love of Jesus Christ!
Our Pilgrimage
In 2010, living up to our mission statement required an honest assessment of our current resources and
a leap of faith regarding our future. In order to make worship and ministry safe and accessible for
members and visitors, we demolished our deteriorating, two-story structure in order to construct a
multi-functional, 1-level facility on the same site. Currently a church without a building, we rent office
space downtown and benefit weekly from the generous invitation of St. Therese Catholic Church to
worship in their new sanctuary. It has been a difficult road, but our church leadership has earned the
trust of an expectant, albeit smaller, congregation, and we believe God is sending us in this direction.
Our Future
Beyond worship and ministry space for our congregation, we hope to provide gathering space for
groups, businesses, and non-profits, subject only to calendar availability. Our "catering kitchen" will
encourage patronage of local eateries for funeral dinners, lunch takeout, and pizza delivery. Our
“acoustically-excellent” sanctuary will accommodate local music/drama/film productions and, with the
coffee always on, a downtown WiFi "hot spot" will be available without cover charge. Our decision to
rebuild, (using local contractors), is already having a significant impact in the ongoing economic
development discussion in our small town. The open design of our new facility will not only allow us to
continually adapt our ministry, it will also incubate growing partnerships between churches, community
service organizations, and local businesses. Our past heritage and our recent pilgrimage has moved our
congregation from planning for next year to implementing a strategy that will be flexible enough to
incorporate what it will mean for us to be the church 25 years from now.
| Bohn Web Design Copyright © 2013 to Present. All rights reserved. | Technical Assistance: Lynne@BohnWebDesign.com |
Reaching Out to Touch Lives with the Love of Jesus Christ!
Our Heritage
Founded as the First Protestant Church in
Price County, First Presbyterian Church has
been a landmark and cornerstone of the
Phillips community for over 100 years.
Early on, our Avon Avenue site was part of
a downtown thoroughfare, dotted with
grocery stores, meeting halls, and small
businesses. When State Highway 13
became a corridor from Marshfield to
Ashland, the church’s carillon of hymns
could still be heard daily at noon and 5:00
p.m., and the church bell, (dedicated with
the second building after the Great Fire of
1894), heralded the beginning of
neighborhood worship on Sunday morning.
At right: This bell was part of our former church building and will be
installed in the new church as homage to our past.
Our Pilgrimage
In 2010, living up to our mission statement
required an honest assessment of our current
resources and a leap of faith regarding our
future. In order to make worship and
ministry safe and accessible for members and
visitors, we demolished our deteriorating,
two-story structure in order to construct a
multi-functional, 1-level facility on the same
site. Currently a church without a building,
we rent office space downtown and benefit
weekly from the generous invitation of St.
Therese Catholic Church to worship in their
new sanctuary. It has been a difficult road, but our church leadership
has earned the trust of an expectant, albeit smaller, congregation, and
we believe God is sending us in this direction.
Our Future
Beyond worship and ministry space for our
congregation, we hope to provide gathering
space for groups, businesses, and non-
profits, subject only to calendar availability.
Our "catering kitchen" will encourage
patronage of local eateries for funeral
dinners, lunch takeout, and pizza delivery.
Our “acoustically-excellent” sanctuary will
accommodate local music/drama/film
productions and, with the coffee always on, a
downtown WiFi "hot spot" will be available
without cover charge. Our decision to
rebuild, (using local contractors), is already
having a significant impact in the ongoing economic development
discussion in our small town. The open design of our new facility will not
only allow us to continually adapt our ministry, it will also incubate
growing partnerships between churches, community service
organizations, and local businesses. Our past heritage and our recent
pilgrimage has moved our congregation from planning for next year to
implementing a strategy that will be flexible enough to incorporate what
it will mean for us to be the church 25 years from now.
| Bohn Web Design Copyright © 2013 to Present. All rights reserved. |
| Technical Assistance: Lynne@BohnWebDesign.com |