First Presbyterian Church of Hickory stands on 2nd Street NW in Hickory, North Carolina, and is known for two quite different Sunday mornings in one place. At 9:15 a.m. the congregation gathers for Kairos, a casual contemporary service in the fellowship hall; at 11:15 a.m. it moves into the historic sanctuary for a traditional Reformed service with hymns, a Steinway piano and a LeTourneau pipe organ. Around those services sits a full working life: a preschool, children's and youth ministries, adult classes built for hard questions, a music program of several choirs and ensembles, and a long roster of mission partnerships in Catawba County, western North Carolina and beyond.
Two Sunday Services: Kairos at 9:15 and the Sanctuary at 11:15
Kairos is the church's casual, contemporary service, held in the fellowship hall and led by a worship team of musicians. The singing moves among hymns, contemporary music and, on occasion, secular music, and each Sunday includes a sermon and prayers. Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of the month, and everyone is welcome at the Table.
The 11:15 a.m. Sanctuary service is traditional, Reformed and Presbyterian, held in the historic sanctuary on the east end of the church campus. Music is ordinarily led by the Chancel Choir, a Steinway piano and a LeTourneau pipe organ, while the congregation sings hymns and responses in traditional, modern, international, Taize, Iona and newly composed styles from the "Presbyterian Hymnal: Glory to God." A sermon and prayers are part of every Sunday service, and Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month.
During summer months the two services condense into one at 10:00 a.m., alternating between the sanctuary and the fellowship hall. Both services can be attended in person or watched live and later as replays through the church's YouTube channel.
A Sanctuary Built for Singing
The music program states its aim plainly: "The FPC Music Program offers our community the privilege of singing, ringing, and playing beautiful and appropriate music to honor God. We believe that all music is prayer, offered to God from our hearts, on behalf of the hearts of our congregation and the hearts of our world."
- Chancel Choir: leads traditional worship at 11:15 a.m., singing in a broad range of styles, usually with piano or organ and sometimes guest instrumentalists in the loft. Open to anyone age 16 and older, the choir rehearses Wednesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. and on Sunday mornings before the service.
- Kairos Worship Team: leads contemporary worship at 9:15 a.m. with guitars, bass, drums, percussion, keyboards and synthesizers, and includes adults of all ages and high school students.
- Children's Choir: welcomes children in kindergarten through eighth grade, rehearsing at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.
- Choral Scholars: scholarships each year bring students from Lenoir Rhyne University and Catawba Valley Community College into the music program. Scholars take part weekly in traditional services as section leaders, soloists, rehearsal accompanists and occasional conductors.
From the Nursery Through Fifth Grade, and On Into Youth Group
Children's ministry covers birth through fifth grade and rests on five commitments: welcoming every child as a valuable and special child of God, teaching biblical truths that inspire growth in relationship with Jesus Christ, being joyful, honoring families and staying connected to the entire church family, and keeping children and youth safe through a Safe Church Policy for staff and volunteers.
Nursery care is offered to members and visitors during Sunday school and morning worship, and children under kindergarten can stay in the nursery during both worship services. The rooms are on the first floor of the educational wing, staffed by paid and volunteer workers, with sign-in and name tags. Parents are asked to stay on the church campus while a child is in childcare.
Children in second grade and older who have been baptized may take a Communion Training class of three Sunday sessions during Sunday school, led by pastors and the Director of Children's Ministries. Families who decide their child will receive communion are invited to a special Teaching Meal, and the children are welcomed to the Lord's Table at their first participation.
Youth Group brings together students from across Catawba County, with a middle school group for grades 6 through 8 that draws from nine schools and a high school group for grades 9 through 12 that spans five schools. Everyone is welcome, and the youth keep a separate Instagram presence of their own.
Preschool Days Beside the Sanctuary
The First Presbyterian Preschool is committed to "a loving and nurturing educational experience of the highest quality, inspiring each child in the name of Jesus Christ." Monthly themes cover pre-math, language, gross and fine motor skills, science, creative expression, music appreciation, social development, safety and Bible focus, and preschool classes use the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum. Children play outdoors daily on one of three playgrounds when the weather allows, with an indoor KidzSpace for wet or cold days, and enrichment visits include a storyteller, a fitness program, the Catawba Science Center and the Hickory Museum of Art. Babies, toddlers and twos may attend Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Tuesday and Thursday, or every weekday, three-year-olds may attend Monday, Wednesday and Friday or all five days, and four-year-olds attend Monday through Friday.
Sunday Classes Built for Questions, Heritage and Fellowship
Three classes meet at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday: Bible & Beyond in the second-floor conference room, Difficult Questions in the second-floor lecture room, and Active Faith in the first-floor parlor. The Men's Gathering meets Tuesday at 8:15 a.m. in the Session Room, where each course pairs a half-hour video with discussion and attendance is offered both in person and by Zoom, and a men's Bible study meets Friday from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. in the Senior High Room or by Zoom.
Women's Bible study has two groups, Monday at 10:00 a.m. and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., meeting both in person and by Zoom. The Heritage Group gives older adults fellowship and monthly luncheons or outings on the third Tuesday, and Presbyterian Women meet in circles from September through May with three general meetings each year for Bible study, fellowship and service projects at home and around the world.
Prayer Shawls, Home Communion and Stephen Ministry
Outreach within the congregation includes blood drives, Christmas outreach, the Good Samaritan Fund, Nickel-a-Meal and the Sabbath Soup Kitchen. Roughly every third month, a pastor and elder bring the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to homebound members, and residents of retirement homes may gather with other members in the facility or receive communion in their own room.
A memorial service in the sanctuary is usually followed by a bereavement reception in the fellowship hall, offered to the family by the Bereavement Committee, and a graveside committal most often precedes the service but can follow it or be held on a separate day.
Pastoral staff support people in crisis, transition and everyday faith development and can refer people to professional counselors. Stephen Ministers offer confidential one-to-one care for people facing life's challenges, usually meeting weekly for about an hour for as long as it helps. Prayer shawls, made with love and dedicated in worship, are available to anyone who needs healing and hope, and a group of knitters of all ages meets Tuesdays from 12:30 to 2:00 in the parlor, with beginners welcome.
Serving Hickory and Catawba County
The church's closest mission partner is the Hickory Soup Kitchen, where the congregation hosts a meal on the second Sunday of each month. Mission funds buy food for the Backpack Program, which sends children home with weekend nourishment through the school year, and volunteers from the church help pack and distribute the bags. Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry, founded in 1969 with First Presbyterian among its three founding churches, provides crisis intervention, a food pantry, pharmacy services and health and dental care; the church encourages donations of clothing, household items, furniture and appliances for its thrift store.
Mission funds also support Safe Harbor Rescue Mission, which offers a one-year Christian recovery program for women, a daytime community center for homeless women and children and transitional apartments. Exodus Homes provides supportive housing, support groups and job placement for people recovering from addiction, alcohol use and incarceration, and First Presbyterian supports it with mission money, Christmas gift baskets and volunteers who serve on its board. Family Care Center of Catawba Valley serves homeless families with dependent children through emergency and residential programs grounded in Judeo-Christian principles, and volunteers from the church are welcome there. The congregation also supports Habitat for Humanity alongside other area Presbyterian churches, which sponsor a house every other year, and backs the Salvation Army's boys and girls clubs, shelter meals, toy and clothing program and Christmas Bureau work.
Family Guidance Center provides individual and family counseling, credit counseling, community education, a First Step program for victims of domestic violence and a shelter for women and children fleeing violence. Centro Latino offers a Christian response to critical needs of Latinos in the Catawba Valley; the church supports it with financial gifts, weekly transportation for middle school students to the Abriendo Puertas after-school program and volunteers, and Spanish is not required. Other partners include Adult Life Programs, which provides adult day services in North Carolina, and Carolina Caring, which offers advanced illness management and end-of-life care across ten western North Carolina counties.
Domestic Trips, Guatemala and Chiapas
Members take part in domestic mission trips each year. Adult and senior high teams concentrate on construction projects and disaster relief, with recent trips to the Gulf Coast, New York and Nashville, while shorter one-night-and-one-day trips to Camp Grier suit adults with tighter work schedules. Middle schoolers take shorter urban or rural trips, and weekend family trips place adults, youth and seniors on site at places such as Black Mountain Home for Children, Crossnore Home and School and Camp Grier.
Since the late 1990s, First Presbyterian has been a partner church with Iglesia Monte Hebron in Santo Domingo, Guatemala, and its mission congregation Arca de Salvacion, under an agreement between the Presbytery of Western North Carolina and two presbyteries in Guatemala. The relationship includes direct financial support, prayer for one another and exchange visits, and since 2007 the church has worked with Long Creek Presbyterian Church in Gaston County to fund elementary and secondary scholarships for students in both partner communities.
Hebron USA supports the Manos de Cristo medical clinic in Ocosingo, Chiapas, where mission teams from First Presbyterian have worked, and the organization also holds an annual school for pastors in Chiapas. The church has supported the ministries of John McCall and Gary and Marlene VanBrocklin since 2007, and adults and senior high students can join an international mission trip every other year, usually for construction work in areas where natural disasters have caused significant damage, with medical trips planned as needs arise.
The People Behind the Program
Dr. Richard Floyd is senior pastor. He joined the Presbyterian church at 13, earned his M.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Emory University with a focus on theology and creation, and his dissertation was published as "Down to Earth: Christian Hope and Climate Change." He previously served as senior associate pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta and taught at Columbia Theological Seminary, and he and his wife Emily have two daughters.
Heather Wood Davis has served as associate pastor since August 2008. She grew up in the Carolinas and at First Presbyterian, studied at Appalachian State University and earned her Master of Divinity at Columbia Theological Seminary. The ministry team also includes Beth Taylor, Director of Connections; Sarah White, Director of Preschool and Children's Ministries; Ashlee Barry, Director of Youth and Family Ministries; Kiki Neale, Director of Sanctuary Music; Carol Anne Hartman, Director of Kairos Music Ministries; Dr. Brandon Burns, organist; Lisa Webber, Wednesday Night Supper coordinator; and Matt Parker, food coordinator.
Giving of Time, Talent and Treasure
Financial contributions are one way the church expresses gratitude to God, and members make an annual stewardship pledge that supports the church's ministries and programs through time, talent and treasure. Online giving is available through the church's secure giving form, bank bill pay, scheduled checking or savings drafts, Venmo using the handle @HICKORYFPC, and recurring credit or debit card charges. Stocks and IRA assets can also be transferred, and planned giving offers a way to leave a legacy gift that supports the ministry for those who come after. The church distributes quarterly statements of tax-deductible donations.
Claimed by the Love of God
First Presbyterian sums up its identity this way: "Claimed by the Love of God in Jesus Christ, we are called into this community of faith; living out our love for God in worship, study, and service; loving and supporting one another as we join God's transforming work in our city and in the world." Its worship is rooted in the Reformed Presbyterian tradition, and it follows the Presbyterian Church (USA) Book of Order, which extends the invitation to the Lord's Supper to all who have been baptized, including baptized children who are being nurtured and instructed in the significance of that invitation. Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month at both Sunday services, and everyone is welcome at the Table.