One of Jack Holloway’s heroes: Reformed theologian Karl Barth (1886-1968). Among the many things for which Barth is remembered and appreciated: in 1934, he wrote the Barmen declaration, which rejected the influence of Nazism on German Christianity. “It was through Barth that I started getting into the Reformed tradition,” Jack says. “so I thought, maybe I’ll get ordained in the Reformed Church of America. I […]
Last month we posted (here and here) about the history of our annual Bluegrass Good Friday service – how it evolved and why we love bluegrass on Good Friday. Here is a one of the highlights from that service: Jen Larson’s original song “The Garden of Gethsemane”, composed for this very service back in 2013. Jen lives in Nashville now where she works as an […]
Again this year, Old First member Jennifer Nelson brings her beautiful voice to our bluegrass-themed Good Friday service. Although Jennifer sang in churches all her life, she was never quite keyed in to the typical Good Friday service. “I grew up in Oklahoma,” she says. “[For Good Friday services], they just covered everything in black. We would have the service, and then we would walk […]
The idea of incorporating bluegrass music into our Good Friday service is not as original as it sounds. “There is a tremendous amount of gospel music within the bluegrass tradition,” says Old First member and musician Michael Daves. “A lot of it draws from old Scots-Irish ballads, shape note singing, American rural hymnody, and some more recently composed work.” Michael helped bring bluegrass performance to […]
The week leading to Easter is full of richly meaningful events at Old First. RSVP to help the organizers get a sense of attendance, or use the link to share with friends. All events take place at Old First. Thursday, March 29, 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday: Dzieci Theatre’s “A Passion” Theatre Group Dzieci presents a unique and immersive passion play, incorporating Hebraic song and chant and […]
“There is a rich tradition in the Bible of really questioning God,” says our seminarian intern Jabe Ziino. “I find a lot of value there, knowing that it’s okay to not know everything. I think that’s where our experience in faith can really be very powerful for us.” Jabe recently completed his first year at Princeton Seminary (with two more years to go). He’s heading […]
“The history of God’s chosen people is a history of movement, of saying goodbye to your beloved home at a time of pain and broken hopes, of entering an unknown and dangerous new land, of longing for the true home that God has promised to you.” Seminarian Jabe Ziino, July 24. This Summer, as Pastor Daniel Meeter has been away for his vacation and reading […]