Worship
Worship with us: Bilingual Service Sundays at 10:30am at 1020 D Ave, currently meeting in a classroom in the CE Annex.
Adorar con nosotros: Servicio Bilingüe, Domingos a las 10:30 a 1020 D Ave, reunión en el salón de la escuela dominical
Who We Are
We are a warm and caring bilingual community of hope, peace, love and joy! We study and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, who calls us to ever greater compassion. In a bi-cultural, bi-lingual community on the Arizona-Sonora border, we bring people together. In a complex and challenging time and place, we share our stories, we pray together, and we support each other. Sometimes we provide meals, other times a listening presence. This deep care for our members and participants extends beyond our congregation to the Douglas and Agua Prieta local communities, as well as our world. We invite anyone who wants to grow in love of God and neighbor to walk this journey with us.
What we believe …
We believe in a God of steadfast love and infinite mercy. We believe that God gave us the ultimate example of that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We believe in the Holy Spirit, “Ruach,” Breath of God, who continues to guide us now and forever. We believe the teachings of sacred Scriptures are summed up in the Greatest Commandment: “Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:28-31; Matt 22:23-40; Luke 10:25-28.) For more detail, please see “A Brief Statement of Faith.”
Lo que creemos …
Nuestra congregación se basa en el saber que TODAS las personas son hijos e hijas de Dios y que estamos llamados a compartir ese conocimiento en toda manera posible. Buscamos seguir el ejemplo de Jesucristo donde vivimos. En una comunidad bicultural y bilingüe en la frontera entre Arizona y Sonora, superamos nuestras diferencias para construir unidad en nuestra diversidad. En un tiempo y lugar complejo y desafiante, somos una amorosa comunidad de fe y esperanza. Compartimos nuestras alegrías y preocupaciones, oramos juntos y nos apoyamos mutuamente a través de las crisis personales y familiares, ya sea proveyendo comidas o una presencia de escucha. Este cuidado profundo por nuestros miembros y participantes se extiende más allá de nuestra congregación, hacia la comunidad de Douglas y Agua Prieta. Nos comprometemos firmemente a dar nuestros tiempos, talentos, y tesoros en el servicio al mundo a nuestro rededor. Si bien somos pequeños en número, tenemos un gran corazón. Nuestro amor por Dios y el amor de Dios, nos guía para crecer continuamente en amor a nuestro prójimo, sin importar su trasfondo, opiniones, apariencia, o alguna otra cosa que se sienta diferente.
How we worship …
Our Sunday morning services are usually in a Presbyterian style, including a Call to Worship, Unison prayers, as well as Prayers of the People, Scripture readings, music and a sermon. The whole service is conducted in both English and Spanish. Music includes classic hymns, as well as modern songs; it is sometimes quiet and contemplative and other times quite lively. We celebrate the Communion of the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of each month.
While the Sunday service is somewhat traditional, we are also informal. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. And we are always open to exploring diverse styles of worship.
But worship is about much more than Sunday mornings! Throughout the week, we have community prayers, we share meals together, we do work for others together. We have Bible studies and educational gatherings. We seek to worship God with our whole lives.
Como adoramos …
Nuestros servicios dominicales por la mañana suelen ser de estilo presbiteriano e incluyen llamado a la adoración, oraciones al unísono, así como oraciones del pueblo, lecturas de las Escrituras, música y sermón. Todo el servicio se realiza tanto en inglés como en español. La música incluye himnos clásicos, así como canciones modernas; a veces es tranquilo y contemplativo y otras bastante animado. Celebramos la Comunión de la Cena
del Señor el primer domingo de cada mes.
Si bien el servicio dominical es algo tradicional, también somos informales. No somos tan serios. Y siempre estamos abiertos a explorar diversos estilos de adoración.
¡Pero la adoración es mucho más que los domingos por la mañana! A lo largo de la semana, tenemos oraciones comunitarias, compartimos comidas juntos, trabajamos juntos para los demás. Tenemos estudios bíblicos y reuniones educativas. Buscamos adorar a Dios con toda nuestra vida.
Our Staff
Rev. Peggy Christiansen is an ordained Presbyterian minister, with a M.Div. from San Francisco Theological Seminary. She has over 30 years of experience working in diverse settings, including as a Presbyterian church pastor, a Unity spiritual leader, chaplain and director of a spiritual development center at Colorado State University, and hospital and hospice chaplaincy. She did Clinical Pastoral Education at University of California, San Francisco, working with terminally ill children and Spanish-speaking farmworkers. She worked with refugees during the Sanctuary movement, and studied and practiced liberation theology in Central America.
Peggy grew up on the border in Douglas. Fluent in Spanish and German, she has taken multiple groups of university students on international service-learning trips. She has a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance, has taught college courses, and facilitated support groups for healing grief, addictions recovery, and depression and trauma.
Peggy’s passion is helping people find or deepen their unique relationship with God through contemplative practices. She is deeply committed to the spiritual practice of listening – to God, to self, to others. How else will we learn to love God with all our heart, mind, body and soul, and our neighbors as ourselves?!
Joca Gallegos has served at First Presbyterian Church of Douglas, AZ since June 2023, and has been approved for ordination in the PCUSA in this same year. She finished her theological studies 21 years ago at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of Mexico, from 1998-2002.
Originally from Gómez Palacio, Durango, she first arrived at the border in 1990, when her father Rev. Jesús Gallegos served as coordinator of the Frontera de Cristo Binational Border Ministry. She served at Sol de Justicia Church in Nogales, Sonora; assisted her father in Hispanic Ministry in Greenville South Carolina; and served at the Lily of the Valley Presbyterian Church in Agua Prieta.
In 2010, she became an intern at Frontera de Cristo, then the facilitator of mission delegations, and in 2014, Co-Coordinator of this ministry.
Joca loves being with people and having meaningful conversations. She also enjoys watching Korean series and translating them!
Something that characterizes her is that she seeks to listen to the voice of God at all times, because above all else, God is the center of her life.
First Presbyterian Church of Douglas, AZ 