First Presbyterian Church of Bonita Springs occupies a stretch of Bonita Beach Road on Florida's Gulf Coast, where it has worshipped since 1972 and grown into a 1,300-seat flagship of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Known locally simply as First Church, the congregation is recognized for its traditional Sunday services, its support of more than fifty missionaries around the world, and a year-round rhythm of ministry that welcomes both full-time residents and the winter wave of vacationers and part-time members who fill the pews each season.
A Half-Century on Bonita Beach Road
The congregation was officially chartered in April 1972 with 65 full members and three affiliates. Rev. Harry Price, called as the first Field Minister, led the work that produced the small Price Chapel, a worship space of about 90 seats paired with a pastor's office. Within eight years the roll had climbed to 174, and upon Price's retirement the Rev. Joe McClure took the pastorate. Dr. McClure presided over an ambitious expansion: a 400-seat sanctuary that today serves as the Great Room and CenterPoint, an office wing, and, by 1986, the McClure Hall fellowship area. Peak winter attendance had already crossed the 1,000 mark.
The 1990s ushered in the third pastorate under Dr. Paul Kirbas, whose tenure saw the launching of the Wonder Years Preschool and the First Academy of Music. A major capital campaign funded an eighteen-month construction project that culminated in the dedication of the present 1,300-seat sanctuary in November 2001, with First Thrift opening during his pastorate. Dr. Kirbas left in 2003, and in 2004 the Rev. Douglas Pratt was called to lead a church whose combined membership then stood at about 1,400. Under his two decades of ministry the campus grew to include a BookCenter, Library, Café First, Art Gallery, a professional recording studio, the Spiritual Development Center, additional concert series, and the Bonita Christian Forum. In May 2020 First Church added a livestream option to its Sunday schedule. Anticipating Dr. Pratt's retirement, the congregation called Dr. Bradley Rogers in March 2022 to serve as Co-Pastor, and he became Senior Pastor in July 2023. Today, five ordained pastors serve a congregation of roughly 2,600 alongside a professional and support staff of more than fifty.
Sundays at First Church
First Church holds two Sunday services on its main campus at 9751 Bonita Beach Road. At 8 a.m. the First Light service offers music, message, and Scripture in a tight forty-five-minute format, led by the same preacher with the same message as the later service. At 10 a.m. the Traditional Worship Service unfolds for one hour. Music in the ten o'clock hour is anchored by organ and piano, with the chancel choir, ensembles and soloists, a bell choir, and brass and string instrumentalists contributing throughout the year. Pastor messages run twenty to twenty-five minutes and are always rooted in Scripture. The ten o'clock service is livestreamed for those joining from home or abroad.
Children ages six months through fifth grade are invited to programming during the ten o'clock service in the Family Ministries Center, with parents encouraged to register at the check-in desk before worship. Activity bags are available for children who remain in the sanctuary. The services are described by First Church as traditional but not formal, comfortable for vacationers and snowbirds whose worship attire ranges widely.
The People Behind the Pulpit
The pastoral team is led by Senior Pastor Dr. Brad Rogers, who holds degrees from Illinois State University, the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary and was first called to First Church in 2016. Associate Pastor Dr. Steven Grant, ordained in 1986, brings degrees from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and McCormick and Westminster Seminaries; he preaches, teaches, leads Holy Land trips, oversees congregational care, and advises the Board of Deacons. Associate Pastor Carson Brown, a Southwest Florida native and the church's first-ever Pastoral Resident, was ordained in March 2026 after graduating from Fuller with a Master of Divinity, and serves across creative arts, adult discipleship, preaching, and teaching. Assistant Pastor Steve Clark, a Rhode Island native and a recipient of the Douglas Pratt Scholarship as a seminary intern, joined the staff in 2022 with a focus on student ministry. Assistant Pastor June Barrow, ordained in 1999 and certified as a Spiritual Director and marriage coach, leads classes and retreats and co-founded the Spiritual Development Center with her husband, Dr. Al Barrow. Teaching Pastor Dr. Allen Walworth, a Ph.D. in New Testament studies, joins the staff seasonally from Texas to preach and oversee stewardship. Lay ministry is led by a Session of eighteen elders and pastors and a Board of Deacons of the same size, with both bodies elected in three-year classes and open to both men and women.
Wonder Years, First Kids, and First Students
Children's ministry at First Church runs from a parent's lap to senior year of high school. Wonder Years Preschool, the church's long-established early-learning program founded during the Kirbas pastorate, enrolls children ages eighteen months through five years and is housed on the church campus. The children's ministry, called First Kids, serves children six months through fifth grade and rests on two convictions: that every child is to know Jesus intimately, and that parents play the decisive role in their children's spiritual formation. Programs run from Sunday School and Wednesday Night programs to Children's Choir and Kids Night Out. Children's Ministry volunteers complete an interview, national background check, and training before serving.
First Students, the ministry for sixth through twelfth graders, gathers on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Bonita Beach Road campus. The group worships, learns, disciples, and serves under Assistant Pastor Steve Clark, and the ministry maintains an Instagram presence to keep teens connected. First Parents rounds out the family picture with parenting classes, Bible studies, and fellowship groups meant to walk alongside parents and grandparents on the journey.
Music, Art, and the Sanctuary
The Music and Arts ministry calls on choirs and ensembles across the year. The Chancel Choir leads congregational song each Sunday and prepares anthems ranging from classical to gospel. The Angelus Bell Choir performs about once a month and requires the ability to read music. The Contemporary Ensemble prepares four to six select pieces during the summer and presents them throughout the winter season, covering modern worship settings, contemporary hymn arrangements, gospel, and jazz. The Motet Choir gathers a few times a year for more demanding choral works. Jubilate Bells offers a seasonal handbell option for ringers of all abilities. The Tuesday Singers carry music and fellowship to local assisted living facilities. The First Academy of Music, housed on the campus under Associate Director of Sacred Arts Thom DeLessio, provides high-quality musical instruction in a Christian setting for students of any age. The Art Gallery features local artists, with the show rotating three times a year and most pieces available for purchase when the show closes. A concert series brings professional ensembles to the church throughout the season.
The Spiritual Development Center
Across the street from the main campus at 9696 Bonita Beach Road, Suite 207, the Spiritual Development Center offers three paths of care rooted in the Christian faith. Clinical counseling is provided through a partnership with Southwest Florida Christian Counseling, administered by Greg Hasek, M.A., M.F.T., and covers anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, addiction, and relational struggles; the first six clinical sessions are provided at no charge. Spiritual Direction, led by Pastor June Barrow, offers a prayerful and confidential setting to discern God's leading in life transitions and prayer. Biblical Counseling, offered by certified biblical counselor Maria Karl, applies Scripture to personal, relational, and decision-making struggles and is always free of charge.
Parish nursing is another arm of congregational care: Amelia Elling, R.N., and Lisa Byrer, R.N., serve as parish nurses. Visitation volunteers keep in touch with homebound members and friends, and the 90+ Ministry recognizes the more than 200 First Church members and affiliates aged ninety and older through visits, cards, and calls. The Prayer Shawl Ministry gathers crocheters and knitters (no experience required) on the first and third Thursdays from October through April, and the Prayer Team prays with worshippers after Sunday services.
First Thrift, the BookCenter, and Beyond
First Thrift, on the Bonita Beach Road campus, is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and stocks donated clothing, books, electronics, furniture, home décor, jewelry, movies, music, and collectibles. All proceeds and donations support local mission partners, and the store is staffed in part by church and community volunteers. The BookCenter, located on campus, offers Christian fiction, nonfiction, devotionals, Bibles, and Dayspring greeting cards at twenty percent off retail, with clearance items up to seventy percent off; hours run Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays after worship. Café First rounds out the building.
Banner-makers gather on Thursday mornings from October through May to craft banners for the worship services, and volunteer ushers, greeters, worship décor teams, and visitation teams keep the ministry of presence running. First Church also publishes a magazine called The Epistle several times a year, including a dedicated history issue with the deeper story of the congregation.
Around the World: First Church Missions
The Missions ministry supports more than fifty missionaries and mission organizations around the world, working in partnership with other churches to build churches, train leaders, support missionaries, send short-term teams, and serve the poor and marginalized. A regular feature is "LIVE from Bangkok: The Kims," a fireside chat hosted with Director of Missions Trusha Barner and the Kim family. The Manger Tree connects worshippers with children in need each Christmas, and a Jail Ministry recruits mentors to walk with formerly incarcerated men and women through reentry, with training and prayer support provided.
Classes and Conversations
First Church offers a year-round menu of classes and studies. The Conversations of Consequence series walks through ten episodes led by apologist Michael Bossman, with subjects ranging from "What Is Truth?" and "Does God Exist?" to "The Problem of Evil" and "Sexuality." More recent studies include "Best Sermon...Ever," a six-week walk through the Sermon on the Mount led by Pastors Allen Walworth, Steve Clark, and Carson Brown, and "The Surprising Savior," a six-week study of the more puzzling statements and actions of Jesus in the Gospels. Pastors Brad Rogers, Steve Clark, and Allen Walworth earlier led a three-part series through the Book of Jonah. The Shepherd's Voice devotionals publish regularly, with reflections from the pastoral team on subjects as varied as Providence, the witness of John the Baptist, and the cross-centered meaning of Christ's once-for-all sacrifice.
Believing with the Reformers
First Church describes itself as a faithful church committed to preaching and teaching the historic, orthodox Reformed faith on the foundation of Holy Scripture as the Word of God. The congregation confesses the historic Christian message in plain terms: a Creator God who made all that exists; the revelation of God in the natural world and supremely in Scripture; Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, born of a virgin, sinless, crucified in the place of sinners, and physically raised on Easter morning; the free offer of forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Christ; and the presence of the Holy Spirit empowering obedience and binding believers into one church.
Reformed theological emphases include predestination, or God's initiative in salvation, the priesthood of all believers, and the eternal security of the Christian. The Presbyterian form of church government rests on representative democracy rooted in sixteenth-century Scotland. First Church is governed by a Session of eighteen elders and pastors, supported by a Board of Deacons of the same size, with two levels of oversight above the Session: the Peace River Presbytery as a regional body and the Synod of the South Atlantic, with the General Assembly of the PCUSA serving at the national level. Within the Presbyterian Church (USA), First Church identifies with renewal movements committed to historic Reformed belief and morality, and it stands with brothers and sisters across the country who share that conviction.