First Evangelical Presbyterian Church sits on South Jefferson Street in Roanoke, Virginia, one block south of Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. From the corner of McClanahan Avenue and South Jefferson, its 1929 Gothic Revival sanctuary of quarried Catawba stone has welcomed worshipers for nearly a century. The congregation traces its roots to the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who settled the Roanoke Valley in the 1700s, and its motto, "The Lord is our Righteousness," reflects a steady confession carried from its earliest days as a small wooden meeting house in the village of Big Lick. Today the church partners with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and upholds the Westminster Confession of Faith as its doctrinal standard, gathering each Sunday for a traditional service of Word and Sacrament in a sanctuary still graced by one of the valley's most respected pipe organs.
A Heritage Spanning Two Centuries
The congregation's history reaches to 1802, when a brick meeting house called Ebenezer Church was built on what is now Peter's Creek Road and the Lynchburg Turnpike. That structure was abandoned around 1819, and the Presbyterians of Big Lick worshipped at the Tinker Creek Meeting House before joining the Catawba Meeting House in 1831 to form Salem Presbyterian. In 1851, the Presbyterians of Big Lick organized their own church, Big Lick Presbyterian, with twenty-four charter members, seven men and seventeen women. Among them was Colonel Elijah McClanahan, an elder who had served at both Ebenezer and Salem for half a century.
Three lots in the Gainesborough area served as the congregation's first home, with a small wooden church completed in December 1852. When the towns of Big Lick and Gainesboro merged in 1874 to form the city of Roanoke, the church found itself at the edge of a growing downtown. Ferdinand Rorer, a prominent Roanoke businessman and member of the congregation, donated a corner lot where the church was rebuilt in 1875, a location that would be its home for fifty years. In 1891, when members were sent out to plant a daughter congregation, the church became known as First Presbyterian.
Under the long pastorate of the Reverend William Creighton Campbell, who arrived in 1881 and served for more than forty-two years, the church grew into one of the most influential in the region. Campbell and the congregation planted nine other Presbyterian churches across the valley, among them Second Presbyterian, Campbell Memorial, Woodside EPC, West End, Belmont, Westminster PCA, Raleigh Court, and Northminster, earning First Presbyterian its reputation as the Mother Church of Roanoke Presbyterianism.
By the 1920s, the downtown wooden building had outlived its usefulness. In 1924 the Reverend Thomas K. Young arrived and the decision was made to relocate to the McClanahan plantation property in South Roanoke. The new Gothic Revival building, constructed of stone quarried from Catawba, was completed at a cost of two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. Members moved in on June 23, 1929, only months before the stock market crash that began the Great Depression. The congregation was so committed to honoring God with the new building that they waited to dedicate it until it was entirely debt free, finally doing so on June 23, 1946. A 1965 addition included a chapel dedicated to the Reverend Robert Lapsley Jr., the pastor who had built a vibrant radio ministry and led an Easter Sunrise Service at Natural Bridge for seventeen years, and an educational wing.
The Sanctuary and Its Pipe Organ
The 1929 sanctuary remains the architectural centerpiece of the church. Behind the altar rises a magnificent pipe organ built originally by the Pilcher Company of thirty-six ranks. The instrument was maintained, rebuilt, and expanded over the decades, with major tonal revisions by the Möller Organ Company in 1959. By 1978 the organ again required extensive work, and after years of consultation the Schantz Organ Company of Orrville, Ohio, was selected to construct a new instrument of three manuals and pedal, with fifty-six ranks of pipes, installed in July 1982. A further expansion in 1999 and 2001, completed by the John Dower Organ Company and incorporating digital voices from John Walker Technologies, brought the total to fifty-seven ranks of pipes and eighteen digital voices, all housed in chambers behind the original 1928 Pilcher façade of seventy-two non-speaking pipes.
The console, connected by fiber optic cable, rests on a hydraulic lift that allows the instrument to be repositioned for concerts and special services. Music in the sanctuary opens and closes with organ masterworks, and the instrument supports a full program of congregational singing, choral anthems, and recital repertoire.
Sunday Morning at First EPC
Sunday morning begins at 9:00 AM with Sunday School for all ages. Two adult classes meet: the Cornerstone and Koinonia classes, joined together in the Parlor for discussion-based study, and the Good News and McClanahan Bible Class in Room 207, recognized as the longest continually organized Sunday School class in the Roanoke Valley. Children ages four through fifth grade study God's Word from 9:00 to 10:00 AM, and the nursery serves infants through age three.
Worship begins at 10:30 AM in the main sanctuary. The service is traditional in character, centered on the proclamation of the Word and supported by a rich blend of historic hymns and more contemporary songs. Music is offered by the Chancel Choir, the Carillonneurs Handbell Choir, and, on selected Sundays, the FirstKids Children's Choir. The Lord's Supper is celebrated periodically throughout the year, usually on the first Sunday of each liturgical season, and all who have been baptized into the faith of Jesus Christ are welcomed to the table.
Nursery care is available for babies from birth through twenty-four months and for toddlers from twenty-four to thirty-six months, both during Sunday School and worship. Parents are asked to volunteer for nursery duty about four times a year, and a check-in, check-out paging and tag system helps keep the children safe in rooms decorated and equipped for each age group.
The Music Program
Music has long been central to the life of First EPC. The Chancel Choir, made up of dedicated volunteer singers with good sight-reading skills and a blending section voice, supports the 10:30 AM worship service from September through June, as well as Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter services. The choir rehearses Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 PM and welcomes new members through the Minister of Music.
The Carillonneurs Handbell Choir, under the direction of Dr. Erma Rose, contributes to worship on Sunday mornings and seasonal services. Dr. Rose holds music degrees from Pittsburgh State University and a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of North Texas; she is Professor Emeritus of Music at Ferrum College and also directs the Franklin County Community Chorus.
Children in preK through fifth grade may join the FirstKids Children's Choir, directed by Kaye Wilkerson. The choir rehearses as part of the Wednesday evening children's program from 6:00 to 7:30 PM, which includes dinner, a Bible lesson, and a focus on developing voices and musical literacy.
First Academy of Music
Beyond the worship program, the church hosts the First Academy of Music, a community music school offering private instruction in piano and organ. Lessons are taught weekly in thirty-, forty-five-, or sixty-minute sessions, available Monday through Saturday on the church campus. The Academy's purpose is to nurture the musical growth of children, youth, and adults and to enhance their participation in the musical life of the broader community.
Discipleship from the Cradle to the Empty Nest
Children's ministry at First EPC is built around Sunday School and a Wednesday evening program called FirstKids. Sunday School serves ages four through fifth grade, with nursery care for infants through age three. FirstKids meets Wednesdays at 6:00 PM with prayer, dinner, choir practice, and a Bible lesson, and includes games and fellowship designed to build lasting friendships. The curriculum emphasizes Bible familiarity, with annual focuses that walk through Scripture from beginning to end.
Youth Christian Education, for students in grades 6 through 12, meets on Sunday mornings for an interactive Bible study called Son-day Morning in the youth room, with PowerPoint presentations and table group discussion, and on Wednesday evenings for youth group fellowship, teaching, and discipleship. The youth program also includes mission trips, local service projects, weekend retreats, and activities such as amusement parks, hockey games, baseball games, and camping. Annual mission efforts include the CROP Hunger Walk, food drives such as Trick-or-Treat-so-Others-can-Eat, the Soup-er Bowl of Caring, and service at the Ronald McDonald House and the Presbyterian Community Center.
Adult Bible study extends well beyond Sunday morning. On Monday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 PM, Sisters in Bible Study gathers in the Parlor for DVD-based study and discussion. Tuesday is the busiest day of the week: Men of Christ meets at noon over Zoom for Bible study, the Adult Bible Study meets from 5:15 to 6:30 PM in the Parlor before choir rehearsal, and the Chancel Choir rehearses from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. On the first and third Thursdays of each month, the Men's Prayer Breakfast meets at 8:00 AM at the IHOP on Franklin Road SW. Bojangles Beginnings, a Saturday Bible study, offers another opportunity for youth.
Women in Ministry gathers on the second Tuesday of each month for "The Well," a Bible study designed to refresh women's souls with what the ministry calls Living Water. The study is theologically sound, intergenerational, discipleship-driven, Christ-centered, and life-transforming. A shared lunch follows, providing time for new friendships and mutual care. Beyond its own members, WiM also supports community outreach to children and women across the Roanoke Valley and offers leadership opportunities for women to use their gifts in the life of the church. Pete Guillard, Director of Youth and Adult Christian Education, oversees the children's and youth ministries.
Family Worship and the Church Library
First EPC encourages worship to extend into the home. A Family Worship resource page recommends devotional books for families with young children and teens, including materials drawn from the Westminster Shorter and Heidelberg Catechisms, and offers links to several year-long Bible reading plans through Biblica, Bible Gateway, and the Gospel Coalition. The church library, located on the main hall, is open during office hours and Sunday mornings. Its collection includes books, CDs, and DVDs covering a wide range of topics for all ages, from children's titles like The Biggest Story and The Ology to adult works on Reformed theology, suffering, and Christian experience.
Preschool and Mother's Day Out
The church operates a Preschool and Mother's Day Out program as a direct outreach of its discipleship ministry. The Preschool serves children from ten months through five years in a faith-based, developmentally appropriate environment that emphasizes play, social awareness, and weekly chapel. Both programs operate five days a week from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, September through May. Mother's Day Out offers a choice of two- to five-day schedules, while the Preschool offers three- or five-day schedules. The staff includes a resource teacher in music, and a spacious outdoor play area and indoor gymnasium support gross motor development. The program holds memberships in the Southwest Virginia Association for Early Childhood Education, the Southern Early Childhood Association, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Katie Brown has directed the program since 2004, with Erika Schweitzer serving as office administrator. A Vacation Bible School is offered each summer for children ages four and up.
Mission and Outreach
A Mission and Outreach Commission coordinates the congregation's service locally, nationally, and internationally. Activities include mission trips for high schoolers and adults, local service projects, and partnership with the EPC Emergency Relief Fund, which channels donations to EPC churches recovering from disasters. The church also supports the CROP Hunger Walk, food drives, the Ronald McDonald House, and the Presbyterian Community Center.
What We Believe
First EPC holds to the Westminster Confession of Faith as its standard of doctrine, understood as a confessional statement of orthodox Presbyterianism rooted in Scripture. The Essentials of the Faith include the infallibility of Scripture as the supreme and final authority; belief in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the full deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified, resurrected, ascended, and now serving as High Priest and Mediator; the saving work of the Holy Spirit who convicts, regenerates, indwells, and seals believers; salvation by grace alone through faith in Christ alone; the unity of the true Church in the body of Christ; the personal, visible, bodily return of Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead; and the believer's call to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples of all nations.
In its own summary of the gospel, the church emphasizes that "the Lord is our Righteousness," a confession drawn from Jeremiah 23:6 and echoed in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31. Christ's righteousness is the ground of our justification, and faith is the instrument by which we lay hold of it. The church subscribes to three pastoral watchwords: in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.
Pastoral Leadership and Weddings
First EPC is currently shepherded by the Reverend Jeff Schrage, who came to Roanoke with his wife Shannon and their five children after ministries in western Pennsylvania, south Texas, and eastern Indiana. Schrage studied Christian ministry at Anderson College, attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, and is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry focused on the value of church membership in the modern era. He joins a pastoral lineage that includes William Creighton Campbell, who served for more than forty-two years, and Robert D. Smith, who served for more than thirty years before a brief interim period under Dr. Don Hardman.
Weddings are ordinarily reserved for members of First EPC. Non-members are invited to review the Wedding Guide and to contact the church office to discuss whether an exception may be made.
Visiting First EPC
First Evangelical Presbyterian Church is located at 2101 South Jefferson Street SW, Roanoke, Virginia 24014, at the corner of South Jefferson and McClanahan Avenue, one block south of Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. From downtown Roanoke, the church is 1.6 miles south of the corner of South Jefferson and Campbell Avenue. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. The church office can be reached at 540-344-3204 or at office@fepcroanoke.org. A weekly email newsletter, EPiC News, keeps members informed of upcoming events and opportunities. First-time visitors and those exploring membership are warmly invited to learn more through the church's visitors page. Online giving is available through the church's secure Realm giving portal.