First Presbyterian Church is a "permission giving" Church. This concept coupled with the notion of Ministry Teams provides a powerful synergy for accomplishing the mission of the church. The term "permission giving" refers to the our understanding that God calls individuals to accomplish specific tasks for Him here on earth. It is the congregation's desire to enable individuals to accomplish their calling. This is done through a Ministry team. The individual forms the Ministry team and an elder is assigned to offer guidance.

The life of a Ministry Team is a function of it's mission and the interest of the individual. The Refugee ministry team is an example of a team that is active for a period of time and then becomes dormant. It is active while we are working with a refugee family and goes dormant when the family is settled. This is related to the fact that we don't have a steady stream of refugee families. The next time the Refugee ministry team is activated it may consist of an entirely different set of members.