Hi First Presbyterian Church,
It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! We wrap up our summer sermon series this Sunday in which we’ve been answering your questions about things you’ve been reading in the Bible from our one-year Bible-reading journey. Like last Sunday, our topic will be focused on what the Bible says about human sexuality.
I want to focus today’s Meet-Up on informing you about some hopeful developments that have occurred over the last few months. Our neighbors over at Christ Clarion Presbyterian Church have existed as a congregation in Pittsford since the 1960s. Like many churches, over the past few decades, they have realized that they no longer have sustainable resources to maintain their life as a congregation and have decided that they will be dissolving as a congregation in June of 2026. In our Presbytery, when churches dissolve, there is often nothing left to do than sell their property. However, our Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry and our Executive Presbyter, John Odom, saw a possible alternative outcome when it comes to Christ Clarion Presbyterian Church. They thought, “What if there was a way for the property of Christ Clarion to stay within the mission of the Presbytery to advance the witness of Jesus Christ within Pittsford?” Since Christ Clarion is only 3 miles away from First Presbyterian Church, we have been asked if we could advance Christ’s mission in Pittsford if we were to take over operating Christ Clarion’s property.
Our church’s Trustees and Session have considered this opportunity, and each board has decided to move forward. Our Session and our Presbytery leaders are hopeful that, while the Christ Clarion congregation will be dissolving within the year, First Presbyterian Church will be able to expand the mission of Jesus Christ in Pittsford with the property. The Christ Clarion building, which sits on seven acres in the Town of Pittsford, is situated right in the heart of the Pittsford Central School District (it’s actually right across the street from Thornell Road Elementary School), making it an ideal location for an expanded outreach to the students and families in our community. Our Session sees its location as ideal to growing our church’s “Pittsford Connects” objective by reaching out to these students and families but also sees many other possible mission-focused uses of the property.
Let me give you a little history of what brought us to this moment. In March 2025, our Executive Presbyter, John Odom, met with me and Pastor Erin to discuss the possibility of First Presbyterian Church taking over operating the Christ Clarion property, and we were both interested. Two months later, John met with our Session to discuss the same thing. The Session was interested and formed a Task Force (made up of Elders, Trustees, and the Pastors) to represent them in some initial conversations with the leadership of Christ Clarion. In these conversations, we learned that, while we would of course be taking over the maintenance of the property, we would be doing so at a mitigated cost. The Christ Clarion Preschool, which currently pays the church to use part of their building, would continue to rent the space under the new arrangement. Last month, some of our Trustees went on a thorough tour of Christ Clarion’s facility to inspect the facility and found that it is in excellent condition and presents no apparent concerns. This month, as I’ve already said, our Trustee Board and our Session approved moving forward. Now, it moves on to the Presbytery Trustees for their deliberation and recommendation.
However, you should know that this is by no means a “done deal.” The resolution that our Session approved last night was to move forward by “exchanging drafts of an agreement with Presbytery for consideration of the specific terms.” Our church leadership wants to ensure that the mission-focused opportunities we envision by operating Christ Clarion’s property will be practically feasible and have a good chance of success.
The Session will continue to keep you updated as this situation develops. In the meantime, please keep your church leadership in prayer as we seek God’s wisdom and guidance.
Peace,
Pastor Aaron