Welcome to
First Christian Church
Praising God and loving His people
First Christian Church
100 South Kentucky Avenue
Corbin, KY 40701
(606) 528-1655
Sunday School 9:30
Sunday Worship Service 10:30
Wednesday Faith Quest 5:30
Wednesday Bible Study 6:00
Our beliefs:
* Disciples of Christ affirm that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God and offers saving grace to all His Children.
* Disciples practice baptism by immersion but other traditions are honored.
* The Lord's Supper or Communion is celebrated weekly and is open to all who have accepted Christ.
* Disciples affirm a Biblical approach to life.
At First Christian Church you will find:
* A strong sense of being part of a loving Christian family.
* A worship service which involves all in meditation, praise, and prayer.
* Music programs including bell choir, choir, organ, and piano.
* Needs of those of all ages filled through Sunday school, Bible study, Faith Quest for youth, and pastoral counseling.
*A place to serve our Lord and Savior through many outreach and service projects.
* Sermons with a Biblical approach to life.
Regular Services:
* Sunday school begins at 9:30 for both children and adults. Come early for coffee and doughnuts!
* Sunday worship service begins at 10:30.
* Wednesday nights we offer our Faith Quest children's program beginning at 5:30 with dinner. An adult Bible study class begins at 6, but adults are welcome to come early for dinner.
* Free sewing classes are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call the church office to register.
This Week's Sermon
The sermon for November 2nd is titled The Resurrection Harvest. You'll find this video, along with the scripture reading and a study guide in this post.
See previous sermons with scripture and study guides here. Catch all our sermons at YouTube, and join us there for the live stream Sunday mornings at 11.
Our People
Rev. Dr. Robert Tibbs
Pastor Bob Tibbs has been leading First Christian Church since 2019. That assignment is a product of a failed retirement when we talked him into joining us, which is what he wanted to do anyway. You can read that story here. Pastor Tibbs leads our worship services with traditional hymns, prayer, communion with the Lord, and sermons that are based solely on scripture. He also offers a Bible Study class that is a deep dive into the meaning of scripture according to his extraordinary understanding of the original Greek.
Debbie Tibbs
Our pastor's wife is the most cheerful and loving person you'll ever meet. Debbie exemplifies the spirit of bringing your unique talents to the Lord's work by offering free sewing classes at the church.
Ronnie Mitchell
Associate pastor Ronnie Mitchell is our retired former pastor who still shares his faith in worship services, and steps in to bring the sermon when our pastor isn't available. He just can't get away from serving God.
Bobbie Mitchell
Bobbie is our music director and has served faithfully as our organist for several decades. Bobbie is the guardian of our magnificent pipe organ, the only one in Corbin, and also plays piano and bells for our worship services.
Paula Rapier
Paula is the master gear that keeps everything running. She mans the church office every weekday from 9 until 2, and in addition makes sure the church is clean and presentable. Paula also runs the FCC Facebook group, publishes our newsletter, manages our charitable outreach, and generally keeps up with everything that the rest of us can't.
Hilary Baker
Hilary is our youth leader, and oversees the education of the church's young people. She runs our Faith Quest program on Wednesday nights, leads the children's church, and teaches Sunday school.
Bailee Moore
Bailee keeps the nursery at FCC, and may be the first church contact for the littlest ones. She assists with Faith Quest and children's church, and also plays in the bell choir.
Rick Strunk
Rick works relentlessly to make sure all the details of our worship service are covered, from unlocking the doors to lighting the candles to greeting everyone coming in. He also handles all issues of building maintenance, which is a real job when you are dealing with a 100-year-old church and other buildings. Rick is also a pretty good cook.
Alex Patterson
Alex is our tech guru. He runs the sound and video for our worship services and oversees our security system. Alex leads a team in getting our live streams and videos online, and helps those with hearing difficulty tap into our new audio system.
In addition to our church leaders, we have a group of dedicated members who serve as elders, deacons, and workers. When someone is in need, or when we have an event planned, you can count on at least a dozen people to step in to do whatever is needed. Several volunteers lend a hand to lead worship service every week. Ruth keeps the books. Doris leads the Corbin Community Backpack Program. Elaine gets the flowers. Deanna runs our rummage sales. Lee Ann keeps up with all the details. Gail knows where everything is. Quite a few people have dedicated themselves to duties no one notices, from praying for the sick to donating to our food program to making sure the coffee pot is turned off. These things are all voluntary, and you are invited to join the team in any way you are led. You have a place at FCC, and you will be blessed.
Special Events
Souper Bowl Sunday on the day of the big game is an after-service lunch
featuring soup and lots more in our fellowship hall. It is presented by the youth of
the church, and benefits our youth programs by donation. Our young people also
lead at least one worship service during the year, on varying dates.
Our Ash Wednesday Service ushers in the season of Lent with the conferring of
ashes. Join us for dinner at 5 PM with the service following at 6.
Palm Sunday Service the week before Easter features a procession of worshippers waving palm leaves to welcome Christ into Jerusalem. It begins the solemnity of Holy Week.
The Maundy Thursday Service commemorates the Last Supper the night before Good Friday, and includes a ceremonial foot washing for those who choose to participate.
Our joyous Easter Sunrise Service takes place at 8:30, well after sunrise, outside if weather permits. It is followed by a community breakfast and fellowship before Easter Sunday Service at 10:30 celebrating the resurrection of our Lord.
Most years we have two church rummage sales, on a Friday and Saturday in May and October. Proceeds go to our outreach programs and special projects.
Our Vacation Bible School takes a different form every year. It's always an
adventure!
The Faith Quest Fall Festival usually happens on the last Wednesday in
October. Bring your kids in costume for trunk-or-treat, a meal, and games. All
that is followed by our annual Cake Auction fundraiser. Faith Quest also
schedules an outing to a pumpkin farm with a picnic some time in October.
All Saints Day is the first Sunday in November, when we honor those who
have passed into heaven over the last year.
The Hanging of the Greens is a Sunday morning service that opens the Advent season, four Sundays that focus on what Jesus Christ brought to the world: hope, peace, joy, and love.
The Christmas Bazaar and Luncheon is traditionally on the first Saturday in December. Browse local arts and crafts for Christmas gifts and enjoy a luncheon of chicken salad, cranberry sauce, broccoli casserole, and all the fixings. Takeout is available. We also have a silent auction and a raffle. Craft vendors can call the church office for information on reserving a table.
Our traditional Christmas Organ Concert falls on the first Monday in December. Enjoy several organists playing Christmas music on our 99-year-old pipe organ, followed by a reception brimming with Christmas treats.
One worship service in December is followed by Christmas dinner for everyone, followed by a stage presentation by the church youth, and ends with a visit from Santa Claus.
The annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 6 PM consists of Christmas hymns and scripture readings highlighting the joy of the birth of our Savior. It ends with a community candle lighting as we sing "Silent Night."
Music
First Christian Church has the only pipe organ in Corbin. It was built by the Henry Pilcher's Sons Organ Company in 1926. The instrument has recently been restored and refurbished and sounds better than ever in the hands of our music director Bobbie Mitchell. If you play piano and would like to learn to play a pipe organ, Bobbie would love to talk to you.
Our sanctuary has a lovely grand piano that we use for worship services.
We have a bell choir we affectionately call "the ding-a-lings." Practice is on Sunday evenings. If you can count, you can play bells, so you are encouraged to join!
We are attempting to rebuild our choir, and are always looking for those who want to sing or make a joyful noise. We encourage anyone who wants to perform for the Lord to contribute by singing or playing an instrument. That means groups, too.
Other Programs
Faith Quest for youth of all ages takes place on Wednesday evenings. It begins with dinner at 5:30, followed by Bible lessons, music, games, and special group projects.
Free sewing lessons are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call the office to register.
Volunteers are welcome to pack bags for the Corbin Community Backpack Program on Monday nights during the school year at the Backpack House, on First Street next to the church.
The Fox Pavilion is our park and covered picnic area accessible from the rear of the parking lot. It was built and dedicated in honor of Phil Fox, Jr. who was a leader at FCC for decades. It is used for Sunday school, children's activities, and special events like our Easter sunrise service.
Prayer requests can be submitted to our office, any church member, or our Facebook group.
Outreach
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25: 40 NIV
First Christian Church established the Corbin Community Back Pack Program which provides 1,100 local school children with food for their weekends.
We supply emergency food cards for those in need.
FCC supports and contributes to Operation Christmas Child every November.
Accessibility
No, you don't have to climb those magnificent front stairs! Around the corner we have a ramp leading to an entrance on our lower floor. The elevator is just inside the entrance.
Disabled parking spots in our parking lot are the closest to the building, leading to the ramp on Kentucky Street.
For the hearing impaired, we have a new program called AudioFetch that enables our audio feed to go directly to wifi-enabled hearing aids or earbuds linked to an iPhone. Scan the QR code to download the app.
We have a fully-equipped nursery with a nursery professional and children's church during the sermon for those who wish to use them.
Our lower floor has men's and ladies' restrooms. On our main floor, we have an accessible family restroom for everyone.
Our main floor is equipped with a defibrillator for emergencies.
For those who cannot attend services, we offer our sermons every week on YouTube.
If you have a special need, please let us know. We are determined to accommodate all who want to join us.
History
The First Christian Church of Corbin, organized by Disciples of Christ evangelist John Wesley Masters, was founded on August 6, 1892, with 27 charter members. They met at the chapel of the old Christian College. When that building burned in 1899, the college folded. The FCC congregation then met at various locations until a donated lot on Ford Street allowed them to build a church. But construction was vexed by problems. First the cheaply-made brick crumbled, so a frame church was built instead. It was struck by lightning twice. The congregation swapped the lot for a new location at the corner of Center Street and Christian Street, and the first brick church in Corbin was built in 1908. During this time, FCC had the largest congregation in town, as you can see by the 1915 photo above. That site is now the home of First Pentecostal Church.
In 1920, the congregation secured a lot on Kentucky Street for a much larger church. The building committee oversaw building plans and construction . The congregation made pledges and raised funds for the construction, an effort that continued through the Great Depression and into the 1950s.
From 1921 to 1926, FCC members met in a tabernacle, first on the new church lot, then moving to donated space on the same block in 1923 so the foundation could be dug. The cornerstone of the current church building was laid in 1925, and the building was dedicated at a worship service on June 27, 1926. FCC membership numbered around 900 people at the time.
Designed by architect Albert A. Honeywell of Kokomo, Indiana, it is "a two-story (20 foot) brick Classical Revival-style building with brick laid in Flemish bond, with brick pilasters and a two-story pedimented portico." Its massive stained glass windows are accentuated by copper and stone embellishments. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
In 1936, a congregational meeting unanimously approved a resolution to change the name of the church from First Church of Christ to First Christian Church of Corbin. In the years that followed, the FCC congregation supported Transylvania College, missionaries abroad, the Kentucky Children's Home for orphans, and other Corbin churches during any time of need. The church building was made available to organizations from the American Legion to the city schools to the USO. The local health department held clinics in the basement for years.
In January of 1966, a fire that began in the church basement damaged the lower level, and smoke damage caused the organ pipes to lose their plating, although they were still functional. In 1975, a remodeling project was launched that cost more than twice what the building construction required 50 years earlier. On September 14, 1975, the dedication of the newly-remodeled sanctuary was held in conjunction with the building's 50th anniversary.
FCC had pioneered the practice of electing women as deacons in 1923, but that only lasted until 1926. However, women have always had a hand in church leadership. In 1978, the idea of women as deacons was made permanent.
Pastor C. H. Dudley and his wife Juanita sponsored a group trip to the Holy Land in 1980. They visited Athens as well as Israel. The youth of the church went to work raising money for a second trip that took place in 1984, when they visited Rome, Israel, and Egypt.
In 1980, the church presented The Living Lord's Supper, a dramatic recreation of the Last Supper for the Maundy Thursday service, produced and directed by Juanita Dudley. The presentation was a resounding success, and was staged for several years afterward. The practice was revived in 2019, again under the supervision of Juanita Dudley. Jerry Blankenship was the only cast member from the 1980 production to reprise his role. Pastor Tibbs' beard is a lasting legacy of that performance. Subsequent productions were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but we will do it again sometime.
You can read an expanded version of this history in four chapters beginning here.
