First Takes

Pastor Josh Adair sits down with Shad Guinn, Director of Community Outreach, to discuss Home Missions and its impact throughout First Pres and the greater Chattanooga community. To learn more about the ministries discussed and how you can get involved, email Shad at shad@1sstpresbyterian.com.

In this episode, Pastor Josh is joined by Jonathan, the upcoming keynote speaker of our 75th Annual World Missions Conference: Proclaim to the Nations- ‘til the End Comes! Jonathan serves as the International Director for Asia Pacific with Mission to the World (MTW), the global missions agency of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Based in Japan, he oversees MTW’s missionaries and ministry projects spanning church planting, leadership development, and theological education across the Asia Pacific region. He and his wife Maggie began their missionary service in South Asia, where Jonathan planted and pastored a church in a global city before stepping into his current leadership role. MTW's vision is to plant Reformed and Presbyterian churches among the unreached and least reached peoples of Asia Pacific, a calling Jonathan and Maggie pursue together alongside their six daughters. World Missions Conference: Proclaim to the Nations- ‘til the End Comes! is October 21-25, 2026. Register by October 18th.

Pastor of Discipleship, Josh Adair, sits down with Gunther Griffin, Pastor of College Ministry, and Isabella Bridges, College Ministry Female Leader, to share encouraging ministry stories from their time abroad in Scotland and reflect on lessons learned in college and student ministry.

In this epsidode, Pastor of Discipleship, Josh Adair, and Jackson Fleming discuss a recent missions trip to the Yakama Reservation in Washington state. Jackson Fleming, our former Assistant Director of Student Ministries, has made the decision to pursue seminary at RTS. We are excited for Jackson as he steps into this new season!If you feel called to join us as we partner with Sacred Road Ministries to serve Indigenous communities on the Yakama Reservation in Washington in 2027, please visit www.1stpresbyterianworldmissions.com/missions-trips. Through practical service and Gospel-centered ministry, we will help meet community needs while building relationships and sharing the hope of Christ.First Pres Youth is all about growing in Christ and having fun! We long for our students to belong and be connected. Our mission is to be a place where your kids can spiritually develop, relationally connect, and be equipped for missional engagement. If you have questions about events or opportunities for us to connect with your student, don’t hesitate to reach out: youth@1stpresbyterian.com.

Christy Dyer-Gultom and Liz Parkhurst share their perspective on the value of living in community with other women. The 1st Pres Women’s Ministry is a Word-based, relationally-oriented ministry which exists to serve and help equip the women of our church to grow in their knowledge of God, live to His glory, and extend His kingdom in their lives, homes, church, communities and throughout the world in a way that complements and supports the vision of First Pres. By God’s grace we strive to do this through Bible studies and fellowship gatherings.

In this episode, our Pastor of Discipleship Josh Adair, hears from Jessica and Heather about Backyard Bible Clubs, which are a discipleship and outreach opportunity where we put on several mini-VBS events and bring the Gospel (and lots of fun!) into our neighborhoods. Through these clubs, we have the opportunity to partner with our parents to help our covenant kids and neighbors know and love Jesus and seek to make Him known wherever they are.

In this episode, our Senior Pastor Gabriel N.E. Fluhrer and our Pastor of Discipleship Josh Adair reflect on First Cup and what it means for men to live into their calling and follow the Lord amidst cultural confusion around true, Biblical masculinity. 1st Pres men meet for First Cup every Tuesday beginning after Labor Day at 6:30am in the Student Center for a weekly Bible study and discussion! Come discover what Scripture says about your identity as a man and how to faithfully engage your wounds, work, and spiritual warfare.

In this episode our Pastor of Discipleship, Joshua Adair, speaks with Isabella Bridges, 1st Pres' College Ministry Female Leader, about her experiences serving in youth ministry and what she expects in her transition to serving with college students. 1st Pres College Ministry exists to connect students to the local church, that they might develop spiritually and engage the campus, city, and world for Christ. Our ministry is intended for students aged 17-23.

In this episode our Pastor of Discipleship, Joshua Adair, speaks with Tony Souder, founder and CEO of the Pray for Me Campaign. The Pray for Me Campaign emerged as Tony Souder and the leaders of the Youth Leader Collective considered the national statistics indicating the rise of students leaving the church. While the research was unsettling, it also provided clarity. Repeatedly, the research suggested the when multiple adult believers invest in the lives of students, they are more likely to stay connected to the church and flourish in their faith. Naturally, the team began to ask: “How can we connect more adults with more young people more naturally than ever before?” Choosing to take the most basic of Christian acts—prayer—and make it the connecting point between the generations, they created the Pray for Me Campaign.