Fayette Presbyterian Church

Website: www.fayettepcusa.org.

Services: 10 a.m. blended service May 29 – Aug. 7. Services at 8:30 (contemporary) and 11 a.m. (traditional) August through May.

Average Sunday attendance: 170

Minister: The Rev. Dr. Alex Moses

Denomination affiliation: Presbyterian Church (USA)

Vision statement:

“Growing in our encounter with Christ and inviting others to share in the encounter.”

History:

According to Moses, the church was started about 55 years ago by Fayette County resident Robert Price, who declared that he would begin a Presbyterian church in that county if he made it safely home after serving in World War II. True to his promise, Price met with members of the Presbytery and was given a trailer, which he parked in his yard, as a meeting space.

After a few months, the small congregation met in a local high school while waiting for the first church to be constructed. As membership grew, the church moved to the present location and was dedicated in 1996.

Pastor’s Path:

The Sandy Springs native is an engineering graduate of North Carolina State, and served four years in the U.S. Army before enrolling at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas. He has served congregations in Virginia and North Carolina, and earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Princeton Seminary in 2009. Moses has been at the Fayette church a little more than a year.

“Providentially, the meeting where I was voted on to come to this church just happened to be held in my home church [Mt. Vernon Presbyterian], where I grew up. I got up to give my introduction and say a few words and I was standing just a few feet from where I was baptized as a child,” said the pastor.

Ministries:

Members are involved in a local home-repair mission called Square Foot Ministries. Members provide a monthly meal for Calvary Refuge Center in Forest Park. The youth provided bag lunches for guests at Central Presbyterian’s Night Shelter in Atlanta earlier this year.

The Calvin Center’s mission work camp is supported by members who supervise visiting groups of young people who come to Atlanta to do home repair. This summer, church members will make a second trip to serve at the Spirit Lake Nation Reservation in North Dakota.

For nine years, members have traveled to Nicaragua to support ministries that provide clean water, medical care, trade school development, prison visitation and other areas of need.

Local outreach activities include the 5th annual Spring Fling, hosted at the church for community members to enjoy free games, prizes, food and entertainment. A yearly rummage sale is a popular event. The church parking lot is offered as a meeting spot for carpools and vanpools.

During the week, the building is bustling with meetings that includes Cub Scout Pack 71, as well as groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, Al Anon, China Painters and Quilters’ Guild. Seniors gather monthly for luncheons and programs, part of the Extra Special Presbyterians program.

Spiritual development is a priority, with Wednesday evening ReFuel programs that average more than 90 people during the school year. Youth activities include Cross Training on Sunday nights, rotating each week between faith topics, mission projects, movie discussions, fun and game nights, and “Destinations Unknown.” A recent Confirmation class brought eight middle-school youth into the church membership, following several weeks of study and preparation.

Thoughts from the pastor:

“The things that struck me most when I came here were that the people are very genuine and friendly, that they are very committed to growing in their own faith and that they are very mission-oriented. For a church this size to go on two full-scale mission trips each year, plus a lot of smaller projects, is pretty amazing.”