Dear Friends,

Third Presbyterian Church is grateful for the gift of its history. In 2002 and 2003, we will celebrate our 175th anniversary with a series of worship services, concerts, educational gatherings and other special events. This brochure highlights those events and serves as both a calendar and an invitation for you to become involved in this celebration.

Third Church has undergone many changes since its founding in 1827. We have moved several times, undergone physical and spiritual challenges, faced community and national hardship. Yet through it all, God's grace has sustained us, as has the vision of who we are as a people of God and who we are called to be as a Presbyterian congregation in the great city of Rochester, New York.

We hope that this series of special events recalls our history in faithful ways and reminds us of our extraordinary heritage. More so, we hope that it calls us to a faithful future of worship, education, fellowship and service. If history serves as a prelude to the future, then we pray for a blessed future, nurtured by God's providence and made lively by this latest generation of those who are called to "celebrate the journey."

So please do attend events as you are able. And keep this congregation in your prayers – prayers of gratitude for a rich history and prayers of hope for a faithful future.

Faithfully,

Janet Reed Chair, 175th Anniversary Celebration Committee

John Wlikinson Pastor