Dear Friends, Nineteenth-century English poet John Keats once wrote: “Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced.” I discovered the...

Dear Friends, As you know, we will celebrate the bicentennial of First Presbyterian Church of Ridgewood NJ in 2023. As we prepare to mark...

Dear Friends, While the word lazy has a negative connotation, I cannot help but look forward to the lazy days of summer. For many of us,...

Dear Friends, This month, I’ve decided to use this space to write a stewardship article, but not the kind of stewardship article you...

Dear Friends, During the early days of the pandemic, when it was not safe to gather, our worship services were pre-recorded and made...

Dear Friends, Four years ago during Lent, we created a midweek worship service combined with a simple meal. During its early years, the...

Dear Friends: As I sit down to type my first First Press article of 2022, I am reminded of the practice of adopting New Year’s...

Dear Friends: It was a number of years ago, a few days before Christmas, and my mom wasn’t feeling well. So she went to see her...

Dear Friends: As he often does when writing to the churches, the Apostle Paul begins his letter to the Philippians with words of...

Consecration Sunday Is Coming: Sunday, October 24! Congregations which approach financial stewardship from a biblical perspective do not...

Dear Friends, As I write this, August will soon give way to September, children will soon return to school, and in the rhythm of church...

Dear Friends, While we’re not completely out of the woods, conditions created by the coronavirus are improving greatly! Thanks be to God...

Dear Friends, As I write these words, I am preparing to plant pansies in some raised pots and beds around the backyard of the manse. I...

Dear Friends, As we approach Good Friday, I am reminded of these haunting words from Matthew 27:46: My God, my God, why have you forsaken...

Dear Friends, It was two days before our regularly scheduled Sunday, March 15, 2020 worship service. Reports were beginning to surface...

Dear Friends, Three years ago during Lent, we created a midweek worship service combined with a simple meal. During those three years,...

Dear Friends, Recently I was asked to write an online devotional for my alma mater, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. The assigned date...

Dear Friends: In just a few days on November 29, we enter the season of Advent, a season of preparation for the coming of Christ, whose...

Dear Friends: I doubt that St. Paul realized that his letters to various first-century churches would one day become part of the...

Dear Friends, I believe worshiping God is the most important thing we do as Christians. It is in worship that we center our lives before God