First Presbyterian Church, is located in downtown San Luis Obispo, California

San Luis Obispo, California

San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...

 at 981 Marsh Street on the corner of Marsh and Morro Streets. Services during the school year begin at 8:30 a.m. with a contemporary service and continue at 11 a.m. with a traditional liturgical service as well as a contemporary praise service. Summer Services are at 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.. Several midweek gatherings are also held by the congregation.

Mission

First Presbyterian Church's mission is to glorify Jesus and to be instruments of God's healing, reconciling, life-giving presence in the world. This mission is fulfilled through these ministries.

Building History

First Presbyterian Church is an historic Presbyterian church founded by Civil War veteran and San Luis Obispo county judge, McDowell Reid Venable in 1875 with eleven charter members. It was the third Protestant church founded in San Luis Obispo. Prior to the erection of its current building, property was purchased at the corner of Marsh and Morro Streets and a small, wood church building was constructed. In 1884, this small church was replaced by a slightly larger Victorian Stick-Eastlake

Stick-Eastlake

The Stick style was a late-19th-century American architectural style. According to McAlester, it served as the transition between the Carpenter Gothic style of the mid-19th century, and the Queen Anne style that it evolved into and superseded it by the 1890s....

 church that seated nearly 200 people. In 1904, this building was relocated to the lot next door where it was used by the congregation and the community for two more decades. The cornerstone for the church's present building was laid in 1904. Construction was completed in 1905 using granite quarried from nearby Bishop Peak in the English Arts and Crafts

Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...

style.
The Educational Unit (the Hart Building) was constructed and dedicated in February 1929. A local journal observed that it was “…the first building, other than a church, to be devoted exclusively to religious education in San Luis Obispo…” The A. G. Wilson Fellowship Hall was built in 1987 and has been the center of church fellowship activities and it is also used for many community events. In 2001 the stone sanctuary was earthquake retrofitted.

Leadership

The church belongs to the Santa Barbara Presbytery within the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii.
First Presbyterian Church is currently led by Pastor Jim Blades. The Senior and Junior High ministries are run by Angela Williams, respectively. Front Porch, the college ministry, is directed by Beau Tanner Smith. Erin Cracknell oversees the Children's Ministry. Debbie Blades office administrator.

Relationship to California Polytechnic State University

Front Porch, (Presbyterians of Reasoned Christian Hope) is a ministry of the Santa Barbara Presbytery (PCUSA) in partnership with FPCSLO. Front Porch is directed by Beau Tanner Smith. While many participants are Presbyterians, many are not.

Housing Project

In the Spring of 2008, the City of San Luis Obispo approved the construction of a Housing Project to supplement the ministry of Front Porch. The project is to be built on the site of the old Front Porch building near the dead-end of Foothill Blvd. near the Cal Poly campus. This project includes approximately 40 rooms, a ministry hall, a cafe, a kitchen, and a residence for the director and her/his family. The project is schedule to be completed in mid 2010.