From Your Pastor

To my church family,

I can begin with those words, because after ten and a half years with all of you, most of my kids’ lives, and so many great moments together, it’s been a blessing not just to be your pastor but to be a part of this congregational family. And this applies not just to me, but for Tara, Kade, & Willow. I think on just last month when Kade & Willow lit an Advent Candle and how Kade for a number of months has been participating, with Tara and other members, on the praise band, sharing his talents with the cajon drum. It is a privilege to say the Martins are a part of the family here.

Being a part of First Presbyterian Church at Norristown means being a part of the wider church of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ church has been here for 2000 years. More than that, in continuity with the people of God in the Old Testament – Israel, the patriarchs, Adam & Eve – it’s really been here since the beginning of time. We can thumb through the Bible and say it has the story of God’s people, of creation, and ultimately each individual member of this church. This last year I wrote one of my more regular pastor columns on how we had completed the Old Testament narrative in our long-running preaching series. (It can be found here, along with a thank you for your surprise party for my ten years here!) This series started in 2016 with Genesis and finished last spring with Nehemiah and Esther. Of course, my own sermons aren’t the point – now that you’ve been listening to them for over a decade you know all my quirks, flaws, and missteps – but the great story of how God cares for His family is one we should all keep hearing about.

Every annual report I spotlight a few different folks and/or church bodies in bold, and this year I’ll keep it to a minimum, just recognizing those who have united with this congregation in the past two years. Jim Walker, Jim Billow, Emmanuel Iheukwumere, Brian, Karen, & Hannah Stoltzfus have united to First Presbyterian at Norristown either by transfer or confirmation of their baptized membership in the church universal. I praise God that they have entrusted care to this church, and that we can continue to be a church that receives and gives the care of Jesus Christ.

Of course, our church government should always have the goal of caring for one another as Jesus cared for us. The last few years we’ve talked at length about the office of “Clerk of Session” and our board structures and we won’t belabor that again here (please see prior reports for more on that, including all the technical details). Suffice it to say here, we are for the time being keeping the bicameral board structure, with trustees and session meeting together more regularly. This is just to continue to keep all our officers involved in the large resource and responsibility of our facility. I am pleased to say that several new members, including several of the folks mentioned above, have joined session and trustees to partner with us in that care.

The process of discernment of church officers is handled by the church nominating committee, a group that my predecessor Rev. Paul Toms liked to call the most important committee in church work. I’ve seen firsthand its necessity with the last three years of serving on the Presbytery’s nominating committee. Again, I’ve detailed all the technicalities of serving on the Presbytery level (also three years ago on the General Assembly level) in prior reports. But in all of these levels of church government the overall thrust is still the same: we are the church, the family of God, and we need organization to care for one another. I hope in 2026 we can continue to embrace this responsibility as we are still very much in need of more members willing to step up and be a part of our ministry here. I anticipate more will be said about that this year.

For 2026, anyone who’s even glimpsed at the news knows it’s starting off with hard news about external and internal conflict involving our country. Now to get into those secular matters is beyond what we do here in church, but we are united together in our belief that our God is the creator of all and author of our salvation. Jesus spoke of wars and rumors of wars. He also spoke of trouble in this world, but we can have peace in His promise that He has overcome the world.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and His church includes First Presbyterian Church at Norristown . . . my church family. That alone gives me hope for 2026, and I’m looking forward to facing it with all of you.

Joyfully and Respectfully Submitted!

~Rev. Peter Martin