Amateur Preachers
The Amateur Preachers program of the First Presbyterian Church of Champaign began almost 50 years ago. It was an idea worked out between former pastor the Rev. Malcolm Nygren and Elder Bill Froom. The purpose of the program is to fill the pulpits of the small Presbyterian churches in the area with laypersons from our church when their pastor is on vacation. This is a “pro bono” program…no fee is charged, not even gas money. The idea was to save the small churches money since they would not have to hire someone to preach. It began as a summer program. As people have come to know us, they call us at other times of the year. We have yet to not be able to fill a pulpit when asked, no matter what time of the year. We provide both a preacher and a liturgist. In recent years we have provided services for 30-40 locations. We have traveled up to 90 miles for a service. Most of the services are in the Presbytery of Southeastern Illinois but we have gone north into Blackhawk Presbytery when asked.