First Presbyterian Church of Statesville, NC

09/11/2026

They were horrible moments to witness. The world stood still that day, twenty-five years ago. Many of us felt a commonality with our neighbors and strangers alike. We called out to God for peace. We loved one another just a bit more.

The sentiments of that time remain fresh in the minds of so many of us. And now, a generation later, we pause to teach our children about that day and the way the world changed. May God help us raise them to be citizens of humanity and co-sharers toward the peace we seek.

Today is a good day to rekindle that love and neighborliness. Do something kind for someone else. Be reminded of our better abilities.

The FPC in Statesville takes today to join with so many others to remember the many who perished that day, the families who still mourn, and the many who aren’t now here. We honor the first responders and civil servants who so bravely give of themselves each day. We do not forget.

08/21/2026

As an example of attempting to use AI for some good, here is an image of the FPC, Statesville’s Sanctuary in 1912 (preceding the current one) in the first photograph and a cleaned up and colorized one in the second. It’s an impressive feeling to be able to visualize almost 114 years ago what our forebears saw when they attended worship here.

08/15/2026

Dear Family & Friends, it’s with a grievous heart that we have learned our friend, Terry, died this week. We are as yet uncertain of any details of his death or the upcoming funeral for him, but many of us will recall Terry for the way he attended the Young Men’s Bible Class and participated in our weekly worship service. As we learn more, we will let you know, but for now I (Pastor Jeremy) invite you to offer God our prayers for his life, smile, and kindness. May the love Terry often heard us share about God through Christ be with him and his family.

08/09/2026

This morning, we had the immense joy and privilege to be sung into worship by our friends and siblings in the Living in Faith class. They are always a bright spot to anyone’s Sunday worship at the FPC, Statesville, and we would like to thank Jim Tarman for playing guitar for them as they praised God and welcomed us to join in the final verse of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Photo credits: Sherry Harris, Nate McElwee, Scott Stevenson, and Pastor Jeremy

07/24/2026

And we can’t forget our beloved LIF Class- they were able to join us for VBS this year also! ❄️

Special thanks to Sarah, Joy, and Kathy for their support this week- thank you for all you do!

I think they had a great time!

07/24/2026

Our theme for VBS this year was Snowball Mountain Challenge and it was a huge success!

Our participants learned some new songs (that we’ll share with the congregation on Rally Day), left with some snowy themed crafts, learned several new bible stories (and Philippians 4:13, which is likely to stick with all of us for life), ate a lot of great food, and had a big time playing outside and making new friends!

Thank you to {ALL} of our volunteers - kitchen staff, group leaders, station leaders, and all those behind the scenes- we couldn’t have done it without you!

Until next year, VBS! ✌🏻

07/04/2026

On behalf of the First Presbyterian Church in Statesville, once a small brush arbor congregation at the furthest western extent of the Carolina colony and being Statesville’s first congregation, who is older than the the country in which we now live, the Family & Friends wish a Happy Birthday to our home.

We have grown together across these two and a half centuries through good and less good times, and we have so much more to go, if it be God’s will for us both. We have watched you become a nation, rising to promise liberty to all. We have walked beside you and proclaimed the gospel to ensure that mercy, justice, faith, hope, and love are the five points of the star your liberty offers.

May God continue to grant blessings, maturity of age, and wisdom of generations to these United States of America.

———————-

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness….

06/14/2026

The arrangement provided by the Sharp Family for the Rev. Grant Sharp’s funeral was so large and lovely, some of the FPCS ladies divided it to take bouquets to our shut-in community. Over twelve arrangements were made and provided with love—a legacy of our Pastor emeritus’s continued ministry. May they bring great joy to those who receive them.

Photo credit: Jan Ambrose

06/08/2026

The Service of Witness to the Resurrection for the Reverend Grant M. Sharp will take place this Saturday, 13 June 2026 at 2pm at the FPC Sanctuary (125 N. Meeting Street). Following the service, the Congregational Care Committee will host a reception where you are invited to speak with the family and share your sentiments and expressions of condolence.

Please find the link to Grant's obituary, provided by the Troutman Funeral Home, here:

View Reverend Grant McGuffin Sharp's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

06/07/2026

Our Pastor emeritus, the Reverend Grant McGuffin Sharp has died.
 
I (Pastor Jeremy) write this to you the way he and I discussed several years ago. Grant told me he didn’t want us to use the phrase, “He passed away,” when communicating this moment. In his words: “I lived. I died. I had a good life.”
 
Of the many titles one may earn, “Pastor” is perhaps one of the most honorable. Pastors earn their titles not by the learning and education they have achieved, nor does the title come simply because of an ordination. It arrives to a special individual when the congregation they serve recognizes the unique bond and relationship that unites a congregant to the one called by God to serve. No number of accolades merits this title to God’s servant; it comes simply from each one who has felt and received love from the person whose role it is to shepherd a community and family.
 
Grant was our Pastor. Now, God has given him rest and peace after many years of ministry, decades of being father to Emily and Dan, and a lifetime of loving his wife, Carolyn. He was surrounded by them in his own home, as had been his wish.
 
A minister of Christ Jesus, a mentor to those entrusted to him, and a friend of all, the Rev. Sharp completed his baptism in the Lord and now—we pray—resides in the promise toward which his life and ministry faithfully pointed. May God receive his spirit into eternal love.
 
We welcome you to come to the church 9am-3pm this week to sign a book and leave your sentiments, condolences, and memories.
 
At this time, the family deserves our prayers and time to rest. I ask that we give them that time, as we are able.
 
I will always remind us that because of the work God has done for humanity in Christ, love never ends. Please pray for Carolyn, Emily, Dan, and all of Grant’s family. But I must also end with the assurance Grant has poured into our hearts across his ministry: “We are an Easter people.”
 
Today, by God’s will, our Pastor has become one of Easter’s newest and eternal residents.
 
God loves you, and so do I.