Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Will worship be cancelled due to bad weather?

A: Cancelations are rare, but the most important thing to remember is that whether or not we cancel our service, if YOU feel uncomfortable driving, DON'T DO IT! You alone are the best judge of whether it is safe to come out or not.

In the event that we need to cancel our Sunday service, we will announce the closing early on Sunday morning on WTIC radio 1080 and WFSB-TV channel 3 and NBC Connecticut channel 30.

During the week, the church offices will follow the closing and delay schedule of the Hartford Public Schools.

Q: What do Presbyterians believe?

A: First Presbyterian Church of Hartford is a diverse community of faith, a multi-ethnic and welcoming congregation "engaged in the world and seeking thoughtful solutions to the challenges of our time.

Our efforts are biblically based and historically appropriate...adapted to newly emerging needs and to changing relationships. Our witness, corporately and individually, is rooted in the gospel ministries of preaching, teaching and healing and in Christ's example of advocacy for the poor, the hungry and the oppressed.

The Presbyterian Church is governed at all levels by a combination of clergy and laity, men and women alike. More than two million people call the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) their spiritual home. Worshiping in 10,000 Presbyterian congregations throughout the United States, they engage the communities in which they live and serve with God's love." Visit PC(USA) to learn more.

Q: Why do we read so much scripture in worship?

A: Churches in many denominations follow a set pattern of scripture readings known as the Revised Common Lectionary. These readings follow a three-year cycle that covers the major themes of the Bible. Each week, the lectionary includes four scriptures: a reading from the Hebrew scripture (except following Easter, when the first lesson is from the Book of Acts); a psalm or similar reading that is often a commentary on the first lesson; a reading from one of the Epistles or letters; and a Gospel reading. We are currently in Year A, which focuses on Matthew. Year B has readings from Mark; Year C, from Luke. Readings from John appear throughout the three years.

Your pastors have chosen to follow the lectionary for worship and preaching. We will not include every scripture in the sermon, but all of them will be part of the worship service. The psalm is often incorporated into the Call to Worship; sometimes portions of the epistle reading are included in the call to confession or the prayer of confession; themes from the readings may be echoed in the prayers of the people and in the hymns.

By including all the readings, over three years we get a fuller sense of the whole sweep of the Bible. In addition, there are devotional resources that follow the lectionary with daily or weekly reflections.

But the real reason we read so much scripture is because we are people of the Word, God's creative, creating Word. In the beginning, God spoke the world –and us – into being. In Jesus, the Word became flesh and lived among us. As the Body of Christ, we embody the Word in the world. God is speaking through us, and that Word has the power to change everything. We read the Bible to remind us of that, to teach us the ways of the eternal Word, and to encourage us in our own faith. So when you hear one of the readers in worship say, "This is the Word of God for the people of God," let your response come from the bottom of your heart: "Thanks be to God!" -Martha Highsmith

Q: Why do we have the children's message so late in the worship service?

A: When this community baptizes a child, each member present promises to help raise that child in the faith. One of the ways we keep this baptismal promise is by welcoming the children to worship with us each Sunday. Christian educators like John Westerhoff point out that children learn by imitating the words and actions of the people around them. Children become people of faith by practicing faith, taking part in the faith life of the community.

Worship is the central act of the gathered community of God, a community that our Book of Order reminds us includes everyone. Our children learn to worship by worshiping. They are formed as people of faith and come to see their gifts as members of the body of Christ when they have the opportunity to praise God side by side with the adults in the worshiping community.

Church educators agree that children learn to value and understand corporate worship only when they are encouraged to be part of worship on a regular basis. By observing parents and others at worship, children learn the words, attitudes, postures and feelings of the community. Worship is the great ritual of our faith, and as such is powerful in shaping our lives.

Our children are an essential part of the whole people of God at First Presbyterian Church. We want them to know that they belong here. By including them in a significant portion of the worship service each Sunday morning, we let them know that they are a valued part of this community. By encouraging the children to stay in the worship service long enough to hear the scriptures read and to hear a brief interpretation of the scriptures: a "child sized" sermon in the form of the Children's Message, we are living into our promise to nurture children in the faith.

We are all blessed by spending time together in worship. When our children are present with us, adults are given the opportunity to experience the spontaneity and enthusiasm of a child, children are affirmed as important members of the body of Christ in this place and are shaped as faithful Christians through the practices of this community. –Jinny Smanik

Q. Why do we sing hymns?

A. Church of Scotland minister John Bell suggests that Psalm 96 might be our 11th commandment:

O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.

What do we do? Sing. What do we sing? A new song. To whom do we sing? To God. Who should sing? All the earth! Music touches us in ways that words by themselves never can. Singing involves our minds and bodies and memories together in praising God. When I worked in the Church of Scotland, I regularly visited one member who had been a school principal. She was clearly bright, but a stroke had taken away her ability to speak. When I visited her, she would hold my hand and hum the tunes of songs she loved and that's how we communicated. Patrick Evans says that music has an uncanny ability to place memory deep within our bones. Our children have discovered this. By putting important facts to music, they remember them much more easily. Music is powerful because we all have a voice—All God's children have a place in the choir. Some sing low, some sing higher. Too many people have believed the lie that they don't have a voice for singing. We all do! And the joy of singing in a congregation is that on those days when we have lost our voices, in grief, in suffering, in pain, the congregation sings for us, the song continues, and as Brian Wren writes, the song joins us with other singers, local and distant, past and present.

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, we did not so much gather to talk as to sing: Amazing Grace, O Beautiful for Spacious Skies, Imagine, Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around. The songs provided comfort and strength in that time of need as they have done for centuries. It is not by mistake that South Africans struggling under Apartheid had freedom songs, and songs provided strength and hope in the times of slavery. When a child needs help falling asleep, we don't so much talk, as we sing a comforting lullaby.

In 1761, John Wesley wrote rules for singing that include:

1. Sing all. See that you join the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.
2. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength.
3. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
4. Sing in time. Whatever the time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices … and take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on us all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.
5. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing God more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

Why do we sing? Because singing helps us to be the people God calls us to be. -Tom Speers