On a residential block in Duncanville, Texas, just east of Main Street, First Presbyterian Church has stood at 543 East Freeman Street for more than half a century. The congregation's calling is written plainly at the top of its communications: Connecting with God and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the community. Six decades after a first gathering in a junior high cafeteria, the church still shapes its identity around three rhythms: gathered worship, Reformed theology, and steady service to its neighbors, most visibly through a sandwich ministry now older than many of its members.
From Reed Junior High to a Sanctuary of Its Own
The congregation traces its beginnings to May 9, 1965, when the Rev. Joe David Ruffin convened the first coordinating meeting of what would become The Presbyterian Church of Duncanville. Eighty charter names were required by the Presbytery of the Trinity (now Grace Presbytery); 21 founding members were baptized or received by affirmation of faith, and 53 were received by letter of transfer. The Presbytery formally organized the new church on December 12, 1965. The first Sacrament of Holy Communion was celebrated the following week, and on February 20, 1966, Ruffin was officially called as the first pastor.
Worship began in Reed Junior High before moving to a permanent home. The building council was established in May 1966; Brown and Keller were approved as architects; the ground-breaking was held June 4, 1967; and the original structure, today's Fellowship Hall, was dedicated on November 5, 1967. A Magnavox organ was donated by First Presbyterian Church of Richardson, and the first worship service in the new building was held on November 12, 1967.
By 1980 the growing congregation needed more space. The name was changed to The First Presbyterian Church of Duncanville on April 27, 1980, and a grant from the Synod of the Sun helped fund a new sanctuary, dedicated February 1, 1981. Within weeks the Session had approved two ministries that became long-running fixtures: sponsorship of Boy Scout Troop 785, and a Mother's Day Out program that began September 8, 1981. On June 9, 1985, the name was simplified once more to First Presbyterian Church, and that fall a new organ was purchased and consecrated.
The Rev. Dr. William "Mike" Shelton was called as the third pastor on August 1, 1986. During his tenure the acolyte program began, and the church partnered with a widening circle of ministries including Wycliffe Bible Translators, Grace Presbyterian Village, the Covenant, Presbyterian Children's Homes, the Duncanville Ministerial Alliance, the Greater Dallas Community of Churches, and the Oak Cliff Churches Emergency Aid Program. In 1990 women began serving as ushers for the first time, the church took on its commitment to Oasis House (cleaning, painting, and furnishing apartments for families in transition), and Vacation Bible School began to be held jointly with New Life in Christ Lutheran Church.
Reformed Beliefs, Presbyterian Practice
First Presbyterian Church Duncanville identifies with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the larger of the American Presbyterian bodies formed by the 1983 reunion of branches separated since the Civil War. The denomination's distinctive commitments, traced back through John Calvin and the 16th-century Reformation, are visible in how the congregation describes itself.
The church's published statement of beliefs begins with the Trinity: God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a being of unimaginably wonderful power, goodness, and love. It affirms that the world was created by God and belongs to God, that human beings have dignity because they were made in God's image, and that pain and suffering entered the world because human beings have fallen and are estranged from God, from one another, from themselves, and from creation. Yet God is at work to redeem and reconcile what he has made. The Old and New Testaments are the unique and authoritative guides in faith and action. God has expressed himself uniquely in Jesus Christ, who lived, taught, died, and rose again. The Holy Spirit is now available so that believers can be closer to God than the air they breathe. The Church is the community through which God wants to bring love, healing, and growth to the human race, and believers live in hope because one day Jesus will return, love and justice will prevail, and God will set the world right.
That theological center shapes both Sunday worship and weekday life. The church is governed at every level by a combination of ordained ministers and elected elders (the Session), with men and women sharing leadership. The current Session includes Clerk Jocelyn Bolles and elders Dub Guthrie, Nyadia Thorpe, Sharon Ingram, youth elder Christian Laurent, and Jessica Kusler. The Session's work is supported by a Member Care Team made up of Nancy Bergman, Connie Steger, Darlene Cowand, Brenda Everett, and Gwenn Guthrie.
Sunday at FPCD: Sunday School, Hymns, and Lemonade on the Lawn
Sunday School meets at 9:15 a.m. for every age. Adults gather in two classes, one in the Fellowship Hall taught by Darrell Ingram and one in the Library ("The Basics") led by Eddie Cowand. Children meet in the Children's Wing, from the nursery (Ana Ortiz) through Beginners (pre-K) with Marna Bayless, Lower Elementary (K-3) with Diane Pegues, and Upper Elementary (grades 4-5) with Linda Simons. Middle and high schoolers meet in the youth room with Jeff Thorpe. A children's Bible lesson and a separate cajón (hand-drum) class for the younger children both happen during the Sunday School hour.
At 10:30 a.m. the congregation gathers for worship in the Sanctuary. The bulletin, available through the livestream page, prints the order of service so newcomers can follow along. The service blends contemporary Christian songs with traditional hymns of the faith, and on some Sundays the entire time of worship is given over to music. A children's message each week simplifies the day's text. Nursery care is offered throughout for the youngest children, and kids are also welcome to stay with their parents in the pews.
The second Sunday of each month is a contemporary youth-led service. The young people serve as liturgists, greeters, ushers, and sometimes performers; they read Scripture, sing specials, and choose music geared toward a younger congregation. The third Sunday is an all-church potluck, with a covered dish to share, immediately after the service. Quarterly hymn sings draw the wider community, and "Lemonade on the Lawn," held between the sanctuary and the Fellowship Hall after Sunday worship, lets families linger over lemonade and treats with volunteers signing up each week to host.
Worship is also livestreamed on YouTube. Visitors who would like a head start can submit a visitors card in the pews or email info@fpcd.org, and the church will send a personal welcome note.
A Choir, an Organ, and a Trip to Carnegie Hall
Music is central to who First Presbyterian Church Duncanville is. The worship service draws on both the breadth of the hymnal and a steady diet of newer songs; on special Sundays the whole service is a sung offering.
The choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary, with the choir resting on the second Sunday of the month when the contemporary youth-led service takes over. The choir is directed by Nyadia Thorpe, who also serves as Director of Music and Worship and as a member of the Session. Dameron Growe and Brittany Haywood serve as accompanists, and Sean Russell runs the sound room.
In December 2017, the FPCD Choir joined other singers from the community as the Duncanville Community Chorus to perform Part I of Handel's Messiah. The concert was streamed online, and the response was strong enough that within a few weeks the group accepted an invitation to perform Part II of the Messiah at Carnegie Hall in November 2018. That same spirit of musical outreach continues in the present: the church has begun planning a return trip to Carnegie Hall, with a piece being arranged for orchestra by Steve Bayless and singers from across the community invited to participate.
The music ministry reaches into the congregation itself. Children take part in worship through the cajón classes held during the Sunday School hour, learning rhythm and confidence from the percussion spot at the front of the Sanctuary. As the music director writes, the goal is for visitors to walk in, sense that something is happening, and want to come back.
Growing Up at FPCD: Children, Youth, and the Wider Family
Children and youth are woven into the life of the church rather than separated from it. The youngest members are cared for in the nursery by Ana Ortiz and Kira Sewell during Sunday School and the worship service. Older children move through Beginners, Lower Elementary, and Upper Elementary classes in the Children's Wing and classrooms off the Fellowship Hall, where they study the Bible at their own level each Sunday morning.
Middle and high schoolers have their own Sunday School class at 9:15 a.m. in the youth room. Once a month the youth lead the entire 10:30 worship service, serving as liturgists, greeters, ushers, readers, and musicians. The young people have preached from Acts on Youth Sunday, presented skits on the Parable of the Lost Son, and led worship at Christmas Eve services. The midweek Youth Group, the church notes, is not currently meeting, but the Sunday rhythm continues.
The church has long partnered with parents. A Mother's Day Out program began in 1981. Boy Scout Troop 785, sponsored since the dedication of the sanctuary, continues the tradition. A children's Christmas pageant is part of the Advent rhythm, and Vacation Bible School has been held jointly with neighboring New Life in Christ Lutheran Church. Children are always welcome in the pews with their parents.
Adults have their own rhythms. A men's breakfast meets on the first and third Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. The Sarah Women's Fellowship meets at 7:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month, September through May, rotating among members' homes and working through the National Presbyterian Women / Horizons Bible study (most recently Sacred Encounters). Small groups also meet throughout the week: a Sunday evening group at 6:00 p.m. at the Ingrams' home, a Tuesday group on the first and third weeks at 7:30 p.m. at the Walters' home, and a Ladies' Brunch and Blessings group on the fourth Saturday at 10:00 a.m.
Sandwiches for Austin Street and a Hand Across Duncanville
If First Presbyterian Church Duncanville is known for one thing in its city, it is the sandwich ministry. For more than 35 years the congregation has committed to providing sandwiches to the Austin Street Shelter in Dallas. What began in 1984 with Presbyterian Women making 200 sandwiches a month for the fourth Monday of each month has grown to more than 300 sandwiches a month. The church keeps a tally: thirty dozen sandwiches each month for 35 years comes to more than 151,200 sandwiches.
The practical work happens at the church. Volunteers wrap each sandwich individually and place it in a sealed sandwich bag (Ziploc-style, never the older fold-over kind). Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are wrapped as made. Meat sandwiches go between two slices of bread with no condiments; cheese, if used, is placed still in its wrapper alongside the sandwich in the bag. The wrapped sandwiches are placed in one of the refrigerators in the Fellowship Hall between Sunday afternoon and 6:45 p.m. on Monday evening. Cookies and chips are welcome. The deliveries go out on the fourth Monday of every month.
Beyond Austin Street, the church supports the Duncanville Outreach Ministry, an emergency assistance program for residents of Duncanville in temporary hardship. First Presbyterian Church has historically joined with nine other Duncanville congregations to put on Community in Unity, a community-wide fall festival that raises money for DOM; the church also helped establish the festival's predecessor, the Festival of Hope. DOM operates out of 202 East Cherry Street in Duncanville and can be reached at (972) 296-4986.
The church's community ties are summarized on its own list of ministries: Austin Street Ministry, Community Conversations, Community in Unity, the Duncanville Outreach Ministry, and the Duncanville Prayer Initiative. The church also partners with other PC(USA) ministries and local agencies including Presbyterian Children's Homes, the Duncanville Ministerial Alliance, the Greater Dallas Community of Churches, and the Oak Cliff Churches Emergency Aid Program.
Presbyterian Women: Bible Study, Service, and an Auction
Presbyterian Women is open to every woman of the church. Its three main rhythms are Bible study, fellowship, and service. The Sarah Women's Fellowship gathers on the second Tuesday of each month for study and conversation. In spring the group hosts a Plant and Bake Sale, traveling to Canton for the First Monday open market to bring back flowering annuals, perennials, grasses, and hanging baskets. Each December, an online Christmas Auction offers more than a hundred donated items and has raised over $2,000 in a single season.
Throughout the year the group tithes its energy outward. Recent years' gifts have gone to Presbyterian Women's National Mission, Heifer International, Presbyterian Pan American School in Kingsville, the PW National Mission Least Coin offering, Bridges Safe House in Cedar Hill, the Mission of Good Shepherd Children's Home in Belize, the Duncanville Outreach Ministry, and FPCD itself (toward a sprinkler system, the Memorial Fund, and gardens on the grounds).
Prayer as a Way of Life
Prayer at FPCD is corporate and continuous. Sunday worship is full of prayers together: prayers of confession and assurance, prayers of thanksgiving, prayers for the world. But the church also maintains a wider prayer life. A dedicated prayer page at duncanvilleprayer.com hosts prayer concerns and praises, and a "Prayer Mail" box in the church parking lot accepts paper requests. Visitors who want to stay connected through prayer can submit requests online at any time.
Nyadia Thorpe, the director of music and worship, has framed the church's understanding of prayer in her own writing: "Just like raising a child cannot be accomplished simply by reading a book about child rearing, so faith must be more than just reading about God in the Bible. We learn to relate to God personally in prayer." The PC(USA) Daily Lectionary is offered to members who want to read three passages each day as a way to deepen prayer and Bible knowledge.
A Pastoral Transition and a Continuing Pulpit
First Presbyterian Church Duncanville is currently in a season of pastoral transition. The Rev. Rachael McConnell, who served as Pastor and Head of Staff, preached her final sermon in that role in January 2026. Her preaching at FPCD ranged across Lenten series like Wandering Heart, a summer series on "Summer Vacation Destinations" through the Bible, and the seven-week exploration of Reformed worship called Reformed and Always Reforming. She led the congregation through Genesis, Isaiah, Romans, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Pauline letters, and wrote sermons that have continued to be read.
After her departure, the church has leaned on a wide circle of guest preachers from within and beyond the PC(USA). Recent Sundays have featured Mark Bransom, the Rev. Dan Titus, the Rev. Dr. Richard W. Selby, the Rev. Dennis Ureche, Jeff Thorpe, Dr. Glenn Kreider of Dallas Theological Seminary, the Rev. Steve Wilson, the Rev. Jim Witherow, Ross Shipman, and others. The church's deep network of relationships with local pastors and teachers has sustained a steady pulpit through the transition.
Throughout, the work of the church has continued. Choir rehearsals, the sandwich deliveries to Austin Street, Presbyterian Women's Bible studies, the children's Christmas pageant, the second Sunday youth-led services, the third Sunday potlucks, the quarterly hymn sings, and the Sunday lemonade on the lawn have all carried on. The office on Freeman Street is open Monday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the staff, session, and Member Care Team continue to shepherd the congregation. Giving is available online through PayPal and the PayPal Giving Fund, and worship continues to be livestreamed on YouTube for those who cannot be in the Sanctuary in person.
Coming to FPCD
For visitors, the rhythm is straightforward. Sunday School for every age starts at 9:15 a.m. Worship in the Sanctuary begins at 10:30 a.m. Children are welcome in the pews; nursery care is offered for the youngest. Dress is whatever feels right; some worshipers wear suits, others jeans. After the service, lemonade and treats are served on the lawn between the Sanctuary and the Fellowship Hall, and on the third Sunday of the month an all-church potluck follows. Visitors are encouraged to drop a visitors card in the pew so the church can send a personal note, or to email info@fpcd.org.
First Presbyterian Church Duncanville has been meeting on Freeman Street since 1967. Six decades in, the church continues to describe itself with the same mission it has carried since the beginning: connecting with God and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the community that surrounds it.