We are First Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Organized in 1954, First Cumberland is located at 127 Lafayette Drive which is at the corner of Lafayette Drive and Laboratory Road in Oak Ridge.
Worship is at the heart of the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church community. Through worship we discover and express our identity as God’s people. We discover new relationships of love and peace with each other, and are sent to minister in the world in the name of Christ.
Our worship service is Christ-centered, scripturally sound and founded in the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition.
According to the teachings of Jesus, fellowship is important to our spiritual growth. Therefore, we treat fellowship as an important ministry in our church.
Our Beliefs
As with other Christians, we believe:
In God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit.
In God’s invitation for all people to join his family through faith in Christ.
In the Bible as our only infallible guide for faith & practice.
In the church as the universal company of Christ’s followers.
In two sacraments: baptism & the Lord’s Supper.
In the forgiveness of sins & new life made possible through the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Heritage & Structure
We are part of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a denomination serving Christ since its founding in a Tennessee log cabin in 1810. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church has approximately 100,000 members in the United States, Columbia, Hong Kong, Japan and Liberia. Our headquarters are in Memphis, Tennessee. We support Bethel College (McKenzie, TN),Memphis Theological Seminary, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Children’s Home (Denton, TX).
The term Presbyterian in our name refers to our form of government. This same form of government is used by a number of denominations which are identified as being of the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition including but not limited to the PCUSA, PCA, and RCA. The term is taken from the Greek word “presbuteros,” which is usually translated “elder”. A Presbyterian church governs its congregation by both teaching elders (the pastor) and ruling elders (men and women elected by the congregation). Together they make up the “Session” and join with “Sessions” of other regional churches in their denomination forming a “Presbytery.” Presbyteries are joined to form “Synods” which act as church courts of review. The “General Assembly” is the highest church court and meets annually.
Our theology has been described as “Medium Theology” because it takes the middle ground between Calvinism and Armenianism. Self described as a “Whosoever will, may come” church, Cumberland Presbyterians stress free will, while rejecting strict “predestination”. Simply stated, CP’s acknowledge that salvation is a free gift of God to all who respond to God in faith.