For Immediate Release - New Orleans, LA

The members of First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans will be celebrating more than Independence Day on the first Sunday in July. After nearly a year without full-time pastoral leadership, the church will welcome Rev. Kimberly Rodrique to the pulpit when she leads service on July 2nd at 11:00am.

Early yesterday morning, one of the large oak trees along the Claiborne side of the church collapsed into the playground. We are happy to report that no one was in the area at the time and there were no reported injuries. The building was not touched by the tree collapse. (Praise the Lord!) The fence along Claiborne was only slightly damaged but was taken down further during the tree removal process.

It has been almost a year that we have been without full time pastoral leadership. It has been a good year- we have seen many blessings including new members, new building tenants, a balanced budget. We have had incredible variety and energy on Sunday mornings, hearing from pulpit supply, our own Elders, and members. We remain a strong, resilient congregation. 

As a group, we are reading America's Original Sin by Jim Wallis and we are off to a great start. There's still time to join a group- this week's discussion will focus on chapters 2 and 3.

We are seeing a high level of participation with insightful comments in the various small group discussions that are being led by members throughout the week. As a church, we're not afraid to confront the important, but sometimes volatile, issue of racism and racial justice head on.

The small groups will last for about 6 weeks and there are four groups you can join.