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History of Peace Presbyterian Church
In 1976, Calvary Presbyterian Church
became the first congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America
to be organized in the Raleigh area. The church met in schools
and various places before moving into their present facility on
Ray Road in 1978.
During the early organizational period
for Calvary, there were several families from the Cary area who
were members of Calvary, but who had a vision of starting a church
in Cary. Calvary's pastor, Warren Thuston, and the Session also
shared this vision. They encouraged those members in the Cary
area to begin a mid-week Bible study. In 1978, Jim Workman and
his family arrived from Florida to organize the Cary church. He
began to meet with the Bible study groups. A steering committee
was formed and plans were made to begin Sunday services.
In May, 1979, a core group of about 15
adults and their children -- members of Calvary -- held their
first worship service in the cafeteria of the Briarcliff Elementary
School. About 40 people came for that first service. God blessed
this fledgling congregation with more visitors each week.
1980 was a year of milestones for Peace.
Peace Presbyterian Church was organized as a church in the PCA
in January with 45 adults as charter members. In June , three
acres of land on Kildaire Farm Road were purchased. With a building
program still a few years in the future, the congregation was
grateful to have the use of larger facilities at East Cary Junior
High School that fall.
The first building program for Peace began
in the fall of 1983. Construction on the building began in the
spring of 1984 and it was occupied just after Thanksgiving. "We
filled the sanctuary the first Sunday -- and that was 200 seats.
Basically, we were full from the time we moved in. In about a
year, we went to two services. That first Sunday we all kind of
looked at each other and said, 'We didn't build a big enough building.'
But, we built what we could afford," recalls Dan Prins.
Peace continued to grow. In June, 1985,
Byron Curtis was call to join the pastoral staff in a part-time
position. In the spring of 1987, organizing pastor, Jim Workman,
resigned. Peace was without a Senior Pastor until March of 1988
when Steve Bostrom was called. Byron remained on staff until the
fall of 1991 when he resigned to take a position on the faculty
of Geneva College. Eddie Brown was installed as Associate Pastor
in May of 1992.
During this growth, plans were made for
another move. After considering Cary's potential areas of growth,
12 acres of land at the intersection of West Chatham Street and
Cary Parkway were chosen as the best site. The membership approved
the purchase in 1987. Residential and commercial development of
the area was just beginning at that time!
"Growing in Grace and Peace"
was initiated in December, 1989, to raise funds for construction
on the Cary Parkway land. Membership at that time was just over
200 and weekly attendance averaged 300. "GG&P" was
designed to be a three year commitment. However, growth in membership
and attendance was not following the same schedule. On Sunday,
March 10, 1991, a new worship schedule was initiated to help ease
some of the crowding. For the next 16 months, worship services
were conducted at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 each Sunday morning. Family
Bible School moved to an evening time slot. To keep the children
in one location and to ease the crowding, Adult FBS had been "meeting
all over town" in the homes of members for several months.
Pastor Steve's Church Life Class had to find a new location however.
This class had been meeting at the Brown-Wynne Funeral Home on
Sunday mornings. For the evening time schedule it was changed
to the Hampton Inn!
Groundbreaking for the new facility was
September 22, 1991. The building was completed and ready for occupation
just in time for the Dedication Service on July 12, 1992!
One of the goals of Peace's Session, that
of planting a daughter church, was realized in September, 1995,
when Grace Presbyterian Mission Church in Fuquay-Varina, began
meeting for Sunday morning worship. This mission was the answer
to the prayers of a core group of families from Smithfield and
Buies Creek who attended Peace on Sunday mornings and met together
for Bible study on Sunday evenings. They were eventually joined
by other Peace families from the Fuquay area who felt led to assist
in planting a daughter church. This group anticipates that Eastern
Carolina Presbytery will call an organizing pastor for them soon
and they expect to become a particular church before the end of
1996.
Another dream of many of the members of
Peace Church is to see a Christian school established in Cary.
Through many hours of prayer and planning, a board comprised of
Peace members has laid the groundwork for Cary Christian School.
Tony Husemann was recently hired to be the headmaster for the
school and they expect to begin classes in the fall of 1996. Cary
Christian will be a Heritage School offering a classical education.
God has given Peace a remarkable opportunity
in the Cary area and continues to grow the congregation. Currently,
membership is over 350 and attendance averages about 500. This
continued growth was the impetus for the schedule change in the
fall of 1995. A dual system of worship services and Family Bible
School is currently being offered as a short-term solution to
crowded classrooms. Services and Family Bible School are both
offered at 9:00 and 10:30. At the same time, Growing in Grace
and Peace . . . Continuing the Vision was introduced. This second
phase of our building campaign has been designed to provide an
education wing and expanded parking lot facilities.
The Session has identified several specific
goals for the next year and the Long Range Planning Committee
continues to assist by identifying future goals. The Peace Church
Vision Statment says: We are a family of believers seeking to
love and glorify the Lord our God as we worship Him, serve one
another, and proclaim the gospel. As each individual God has called
to be part of the body at Peace Presbyerian Church seeks His guidance
to find his or her function within the body, they become part
of the present and the future of this place which has been dedicated
to His service.
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