Franklin celebrates homecoming with look at past

Published 12:00 am Saturday, October 5, 2013

The congregation and friends of Franklin Presbyterian Church will celebrate their 184 year journey of faith and freedom in a unique Heritage-Homecoming worship experience at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 13, 2013.
We will glorify and praise God in a worship service patterned after the 1637 Order of Worship of our Mother Church, the Church of Scotland.
Members of Scots-Irish ancestry will proudly wear their tartans and the worship service will be supported by bagpipers and drummers.
A southern Scots-Irish meal, hayrides and other activities will follow the worship service.
You do not need to be of Scots-Irish descent nor do you need to wear a kilt to feel at home in our neighborhood Church for all are warmly welcomed.
As Presbyterians our heritage and birthright of faith and freedom have been part of Rowan County since its founding in the mid-eighteenth century.
Salisbury was first settled in the 1740s by the Scots-Irish who came to the colonies to escape political and religious persecution.
They made their living for generations as people of the land, building homes, barns, tilling the fields and hunting to make a living and raise their families.
With courage and fortitude based on their faith in God, they created a way of life guided by Scripture, and a fierce independence and distrust of central authority.
These were people of strong will, self-reliant, and possessing a strong work ethic; values still closely held today.
The first community building to be erected was the Church. The Church became not only a place to worship, praise and glorify God as the spiritual center of the community, but a place where children were educated, and community meetings held. The Church was an integral part of life.
But the Church was not and is not about brick and mortar. The Church is the people of faith who join together to worship, praise and glorify the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, under the authority of Jesus Christ as the head of the Church.
Presbyterians then and now believe in the sovereignty of the Triune God and in Scripture as God’s inspired Word and the primary authority in all matters of faith and living the Christian life.
Today at Franklin Presbyterian Church we are a congregation comprising different ethnic and denominational backgrounds but sharing a common faith and heritage as part of the one universal Church of believers in Jesus Christ.
Join us Oct. 13 at 9:00 for Sunday School (all ages, and a staffed nursery) followed by our 10:30 worship service and a fellowship meal.
Franklin Church is located at 280 Franklin Church Drive, 28147.
Additional information may be obtained by calling 704-633 2292 or emailing franklinpre34211@bellsouth.net.
The Rev. Dr. Thomas LaBonte is interim pastor of Franklin Presbyterian Church.