WHO WE ARE
Feeding People:
Body, Mind, & Spirit.
Our DNA
HSPC has been a part of the Centralia community for almost 130 years. Since our inception as First Presbyterian Church, we have been a community whose heart is to serve the vulnerable, to teach the Jesus story, and to cultivate persons who look like Jesus were Jesus to be living our lives.
Our Core Values
The following are HSPC’s core values which our leadership uses as a tool to discern HSPC’s mission and ministry.
Invitation. Jesus invited everyone to experience the love of God. The people he called to be his disciples were often considered misfits and outcasts. Jesus does not say “Come unto me those who have the best resumes, or the right ethics, or the right answers….” Jesus says, “Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden… and I will give you rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). At HSPC, we believe that invitation is for all of us.
Formation. Jesus invites people to transformed lives. As a community we often ask, “what would my life look like if Jesus were living it?” We respond to that question by cultivating the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control). We believe that when we reflect these character traits, we reflect nothing less than Jesus in the world. In Romans 12:2, Paul writes, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Unity. Jesus’ last prayer to the Father before he died was that the Church might be “one” so that ‘the world might believe the Father sent Jesus (John 17:21). In a cultural moment where division is everywhere and where difference is most often seen as a threat, we strive to be a peculiar community where unity does not mean uniformity—a community where our differences are held charitably and graciously because of the unifying power of Christ. As Paul says in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Service. Jesus says that whatever we do unto “the least of these” we do unto Jesus himself (Matthew 25:40). That when ‘we feed the hungry, offer water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned or the sick, and welcome the foreigner,’ it’s as if we were doing these things to Jesus himself. At HSPC, we desire to serve people, seeing them as a gift more precious than gold--as a small revelation of Jesus--worthy of every honor, dignity, and respect.
Justice. Jesus asks, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?[…] I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly… (Luke 18:7-8).” At HSPC, we desire to participate in Jesus’ hope for justice--to participate in God’s long project to bring justice to the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed. The prophet Micah asks, “And what does the Lord require of you? But to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
Our Governance and Beliefs
HSPC is a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the largest international denomination of Presbyterians. As a PC(USA) Church we have two parts to our constitution: the Book of Order which organizes our Church Governance, and the Book of Confessions, which teaches our Beliefs.
Session Members
Moderator: Pastor Mark McHugh
Class of 2025: Barbara Stark, Jennifer Polley, Rochelle Wagner
Class of 2026: Dennis Wick, Jim Parker, Shawn Tso
Class of 2027: Mark Downing, Jennifer Walker, Dave Smith
Deacons
Moderator: Tami Zeitler
Class of 2025: Ruth Clark, Kay Harris, Mary Snyder
Class of 2026: Elaine Link, Whitney Price, Jeri White, Tami Zeitler
Class of 2027: Laura Gonzales, Jerome Tso, Nancy Smith, Craig Anderson