A Church on the Hill in Oyster Bay
Perched on East Main Street in the village of Oyster Bay, the First Presbyterian Church has stood at the center of this Long Island community since its dedication in 1873. The congregation's roots go back further, to 1842, when a traveling preacher from Hempstead first preached in Oyster Bay. Today, more than 150 years after the building was raised on its hilltop site, the church keeps a relaxed but reverent rhythm: Sunday worship at 10 AM, a children's Sunday School that runs from September through June, and a wide web of mission partnerships that reach from the village to Pennsylvania work camps, Kenya, and beyond. Members affectionately call the church "the 1st," and visitors who walk through the wide arched doorways find a congregation that calls itself "a family church where all are welcome."
A Carpenter Gothic Landmark
The building is a Carpenter Gothic - style church designed by J. Cleveland Cady at the very start of his career. Cady would go on to draw the original Metropolitan Opera House and the American Museum of Natural History, as well as buildings at Yale and Williams College, but the Oyster Bay commission came first. Inside, dramatic arched entryways are inscribed with Biblical verses, and a Hillborn Roosevelt pipe organ anchors the front of the sanctuary. William Swan, from a prominent New York shipping family, donated the organ and played it for 52 years.
The church is closely tied to the Roosevelt family. The funeral of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., was held in the building in 1878, and his young son Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. - the future president - later wrote that he saw his father sitting beside him in the pew "as distinctly as if he were alive." On December 12, 1976, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The People Who Lead
The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey D. Prey has served as pastor since 1996. A Pittsburgh native who grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, Prey accepted Christ as a high school student through his church youth group and Young Life. He earned a B.A. in history from Gordon College, a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Before coming to Oyster Bay, he served eight years at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Prosperity, Pennsylvania, and worked as a youth minister in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. He and his wife Barbara lived and taught in Taiwan in the late 1980s through a Henry Luce Scholar placement. Jessica Chen leads the music ministry as Director of Music Ministries, working with a choir that the church describes as open to all voices.
Sunday Worship
Worship gathers every Sunday at 10 AM, in person and on Zoom, with a nursery available for the youngest children. The service follows what the church describes as "a more traditional approach, but in our own informal way." Presbyterians, the church notes, "like a little order to worship," but never so much that it gets in the way of what God might accomplish. Communion is celebrated regularly, and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper takes center stage on World Communion Sunday each October.
Special services mark the Christian year, including Rally Day in September, St. Andrew's Day (a celebration of the congregation's Scottish Presbyterian heritage), Advent services, a Children's Christmas Pageant, Lenten observances, Easter, and Youth-led worship on Confirmation Sunday. Children head off to Sunday School following the Children's Message, a tradition that gives the service a family feel before the youngest members head to their classrooms. The church's weekly worship is streamed on Facebook, and previous services remain available there.
Children and Youth
The Sunday School at "the 1st" runs from Rally Day in September through the end of the school year, with a break in July and August. Classes are held for every grade through high school. The year opens with a cook-out and carnival on the front lawn, the children present a Christmas pageant in December, and at the close of the school year they help the pastor lead worship in a service that "always brings some surprises." A week of Vacation Bible School in July is open to the wider community.
Youth in or about ninth grade are invited to enroll in Confirmation Class, where they prepare Statements of Faith and lead worship on Confirmation Sunday. Many go on to Group Work Camp Mission Trips, joining about 400 young people from around the country to do small home repairs for families in need.
Adults Together
Adult education and fellowship weave together throughout the week. A Zoom series called "What Presbyterians Believe..." meets on Monday evenings to explore topics ranging from predestination and heresy to the atonement, evil, suffering, and what it means to love one's enemies. Bible studies and topical groups gather to discuss immigration, approaches to spirituality, and lessons found in pop culture like "Jesus Christ Superstar." The "Bookies" book club meets monthly; recent selections include Virginia Evans's "The Correspondent."
Fellowship outside the classroom is part of the rhythm: picnics on the lawn, potluck lunches after church, outdoor movie nights, and community band concerts on the front lawn.
Mission Beyond the Walls
Mission is built into the identity of the church. The congregation hosts a free Community Supper once a month at 5 PM, with reservations coordinated through the People's Pantry. Members help build Habitat for Humanity houses, and the Deacons Ministry keeps the congregation connected both to one another and to local needs. The church offered a temporary home to the local food pantry when its own facility was unavailable.
First Presbyterian supports and hosts a remarkable range of partner organizations. Internationally, those include Living Waters for the World, Daystar University in Kenya, and Church World Service. On Long Island and beyond, the church partners with the Presbytery of Long Island, the Life Enrichment Center (located across East Main Street from the church), the People's Pantry, the Youth and Family Counseling Agency of Oyster Bay, and Long Island Youth Mentoring. Scouting has a long presence here: Boy Scouts and Daisy Scouts both meet at the church. Al Anon recovery meetings are hosted in the building as well. The COOP Pre-school, which shares the church's facilities, gives the building a steady weekday hum of young voices.
Where to Find Them
First Presbyterian Church sits centrally in the village of Oyster Bay. From the Long Island Expressway, drivers take Exit 41 North toward Oyster Bay, bear right onto Route 106, and follow it about six miles into the village. After turning right onto East Main Street, the church is two blocks ahead at Pearl Street, with the parking lot just up the hill. Ample parking is available both in the church lot, entered from Pearl Street, and in the Townsend Square Municipal Parking Lot just below the church off East Main Street. The building is wheelchair accessible.
The church is just west of Oyster Bay High School and the library, across East Main Street from Christ Episcopal Church and the Life Enrichment Center, and a short walk east of the Atlantic Steamer Fire Company No. 1.
Anyone wanting to be greeted by a member of the congregation, or with questions before a first visit, can call (516) 922-5477 or email officefpcob@optonline.net. Weekly bulletins and sermon notes are available on the church's pages, and Sunday services are livestreamed on Facebook.