Who We Are

PEOPLE

Our Session

The Session of Old Fort Presbyterian Church is made up of several ruling elders who are called to nurture the common life of the people of God through their gifts of discernment and governance.  They do this by providing for the church's worship and encouraging individual and collective participation in the life of the church at large.  The OFPC congregation continues to be grateful for the long service of our Session and for each one's particular gifts that have sustained the church for many years.   (PHOTO: Don and Mary Lena with our former WNC presbytery moderator Bobbi White, 2019)

Pastor 

The Reverend Betsy Ray is the current stated pastor of Old Fort Presbyterian Church.  She graduated from Union Presbyterian Seminary-Charlotte campus in 2017 and has been leading worship at Old Fort since the fall of that year.  During the school year she teaches middle school science in Buncombe County.  Betsy is a lifetime Presbyterian, growing up in and nurtured by Myers Park Presbyterian Church and Covenant Presbyterian Church in Charlotte and then Westminster Presbyterian Church in Durham as a young adult.  After moving to the mountains, she served as a ruling elder and chair of the personnel committee for six years at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.   She currently resides in Montreat.  (PHOTO: Blue Ridge Parkway, Spring 2020)

HISTORY

Old Fort Presbyterian Church was organized July 1st, 1883.  The church was established on what is now the corner of Main and Church Streets on a plot of land given by Mr. Joe Burgin.  The pioneer Presbyterians that founded the church provided materials, time, and labor.  The first pews were hand made and used until 1950.  Kerosene lights were used during the evening services until he electric light system was installed in 1921.  In 1950 and 1960, renovations and updates were completed to provide for Sunday School classrooms, a large dining room and kitchen.  The tall steeple was saved during the renovations and reinstalled so that it would continue to overlook Main Street.

HERE & NOW

Since the mid-Twentieth century, the Old Fort congregation and the town of Old Fort itself have both undergone many changes and adapted to new circumstances. We continued to meet throughout the pandemic and now gather with our eyes on the future and hope centered in our community and our faith in Jesus Christ.  We have both in-person worship on Sunday mornings as well as an online worhsip option for folks to worship when they are too far away to be with us in person.