Faith in the community
Find your place of worship
A cross is displayed at the entracne of First Presbyterian Church in Faye eville. Photo by Tony Wooten
I
t won't take a leap of faith to find the
right place to worship in Fayetteville.
A small step should do. A tradition
of faith runs deep in our community. It
has survived floods and fire, providing an
anchor for families in good times and bad.
e city is home to hundreds of places
of worship, some dating back more than
200 years. Whether you're Protestant,
Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Jewish,
Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Baha'i
or Unitarian, you can find kindred
souls here. Services are conducted in a
multitude of languages as well.
e area's original European settlers,
the Highland Scots, brought a strong
tradition of Presbyterian faith.
Congregations in the area date to the
1750s. e oldest active church in the city,
First Presbyterian Church, was chartered
in 1800. Services were conducted in both
English and Gaelic for years.
Other churches followed, including
Cape Fear Baptist, Evans Metropolitan
Methodist (later AME Zion) and Hay
Street Methodist, all before 1810. St.
Patrick Catholic Church, the oldest
Catholic parish in the state, was
consecrated in 1829. e Great Fire of
1831 destroyed many of the original
churches in the city, but most were
quickly rebuilt. By the 1850s, Fayetteville
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DestinationFAY 2023-2024
