First Presbyterian Church of Cumberland participated in the 2026 Innovation Lab, presented by a partnership between the Presbytery of Baltimore and PC(USA)’s Office of Innovation.
Learn more – Apply for 2027 Innovation Lab Cohort

First Presbyterian of Cumberland engaged more fully in Pentecost by learning how to say “peace be with you” in 6 different languages.  Pastor Alison taught us the phrase in Greek, Latin, Coptic, Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian.  We learned one each week in the 6 weeks leading up to Pentecost. These are languages that likely would have been heard during a festival in Jerusalem in those times.  When we passed the peace each week, there were smiles with the increasing “babel” of languages. Our creative bulletin board team put faces representing the people of the world and the peace phrases on a hallway board as reminders of the gathering that brought the fire of the Holy Spirit to those mingling at the festival. On Pentecost Sunday lines of the Lord’s Prayer were read in English, Spanish, German and French.  A parade of children waving red, yellow and orange streamers circled the sanctuary during the opening hymn. We celebrated the birthday of the church with cakes decorated in oranges, reds and yellows.  We had an imaginative celebration of Pentecost. 

– Carolyn Mathews, Cumberland Presbyterian Church