First Presbyterian Church of Liberal
1551 N. Western Avenue, Liberal, KS 67901 P.O. Box 236, Liberal, KS 67905-0236 (620) 624-5487
Sunday Worship
Worship services are at 10:30 am on Sundays and are mostly in the traditional Presbyterian style. Our pastor, Pastor Kitty, preaches sermons, which are from a fresh perspective, connecting the timeless truths of the scriptures with the current generation. Pastor Kitty’s sermons aim to encourage and inspire the congregation and are always preached with integrity. Our guest preachers are thoughtful and engaging. Sermons are generally based on biblical texts from the Common Lectionary, a selection of scriptures prayerfully chosen by theologians, used by many denominations.
Worship services usually last about an hour and once per month are followed by a coffee hour in the Family Room, which is a warm time of meaningful conversation and fellowship and delicious snacks.
We warmly welcome children here! Around fifteen minutes into the service, we take a time to spend with the children in a children’s sermon, which we call, “Children’s Message." Children are invited to the front of the sanctuary to hear a brief story from the preacher or another leader. After the short lesson, they have the choice of staying in worship with the parents or grandparents or go to Children’s Church.
We are blessed to still have the wonderful and powerful music from our pipe organ! One of the special features of our worship is a computerized organ, which we fondly call our “player organ,” which is technologically adapted to an iPad that downloads music recorded by a “substitute organist service." The church’s long-time organist retired and it was difficult to find another organist, so we decided to turn our pipe organ into a computerized organ. The results have been amazing, and the sound of the pre-recorded organ music actually flows from the pipes of our own pipe organ!
We also have special music on occasion from members of our church, who are musically gifted, who sing and play instruments. Pastor Kitty, who loves to sing and recently learned how to ring hand-bells at her home church in San Anselmo, CA, hopes to start a choir and perhaps even a bell choir again. While our hymns are mostly traditional, our special music includes a variety of styles, so hopefully there is a style for everyone. We are hoping to change to the new Presbyterian hymnal, Glory to God, which will provide a larger selection/variety of hymns.
Regular Worship Events
Communion – First Sunday of every month.
Deacon’s Fund – We use the “loose” or cash offering in the plate for emergency assistance, for members or anyone in need in our community. During the first two Sundays of the month, the loose offerings go toward the Deacon's Fund.
Moment for Mission – We have special offerings regularly for various mission groups, either sponsored by the PCUSA, or here in our local community. So far, we are supporting the Liberal Area Rape Crisis Center, the E-Boutique, and Mosaic, which is group serving those with developmental/intellectual disabilities.