Building for the Next Generation

Dear First Pres SLO Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus, who has walked with this church for 150 years, and who promises to stay with us as we move into the future.

The Stewardship Season is coming to a close. We’ve learned about the different ministries in our church, and also about some hopes for growth in the coming year. This is exactly what the church is supposed to be doing. As the Body of Christ in this community we are called to be always learning, always loving, always reforming.

It has been like this since the beginning. When the Holy Spirit swept through Jerusalem at Pentecost, the first noticeable change was in the way the gospel of Jesus was communicated to the people there. Sharing the message of Jesus, both through word and deed, is at the heart of who we’re meant to be.

In my research into the history of First Pres SLO I found the minutes from the General Assembly in 1875, the year of our founding. As Judge Venable and the 11 original members were getting themselves organized, the whole denomination was focused on how we should raise our children. In a report to the Assembly, it was resolved that special effort should be paid to children and younger members, so that

“…a generation of God’s people, renewed in heart in their infancy, may grow up in the practice of God’s worship and service from their earliest years, so that his Church may be more intelligent, holy, zealous, and progressive than in any former age.”

That was no less ambitious then than it sounds to us now. Just a decade after the devastation of the Civil War, the Presbyterian Church saw its mission as helping young people meet Christ in a meaningful way, so that the whole church could be “more intelligent, holy, zealous, and progressive than in any former age.”

This is one of the reasons we give in support of the church’s ministry. We are building into the next generation, even as we nurture and support those who are already a part of the church.

This is our job. This is our calling.

As you prayerfully consider your pledge for 2026, have this in mind. We’re a part of a fellowship that was built by people before us, many of whom we never met. We’re building that same fellowship—that same community—for brothers and sisters in faith who might never know us, but will be blessed by our faithfulness anyway.

Christ the King Sunday is coming up this week. It’s a reminder of God’s sovereign rule over the world he created and loves. It’s a reminder that there is no true King but Christ, no matter the ambitions and aspirations of people in our time. It’s an invitation, just as we begin the Advent season, that we are ruled by a loving, gracious and sacrificial King. Alleluia!

Blessings to you and yours,

Pastor John