The purpose of the New Orleans First Church is to fulfill the mission of the world-wide Seventh-day Adventist Church by ministering tot he need of the church members and people of the New Orleans area by providing a living revelation of God's holy character of goodness, justice, and love for all humanity. Our air is to prepare people for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and for eternal like in God's Kingdom.
To carry out this mission we commit ourselves to church growth, the our New Orleans community and to our future leaders - our children - through the following goals for:
Our Church: To be a caring, compassionate congregation with a strong commitment to increasing attendance, increasing participation in church activities, and being living examples of God's love to our communities.
Our Community: To be actively engaged in outreach activities such as health programs, community service, neighborhood Bible study groups and public seminars.
Our Children: To provide quality programs for our children both in the church and at our church school, to teach God's love for them and keep them close to the church family.
In all of these activities, it is our purpose to continually uplift Jesus Chris as the ultimate manifestation of God's love for humanity.
The first recorded minutes of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in New Orleans were dated July 3, 1886.
In 1904 the membership was about 50 and they were meeting in a two story building called "The Mission". New Orleans had its own conference and Elders Daniels was the president. By 1909 there was a church school with about three dozen students.
The first church purchased was on Coliseum and Melpomene Streets. The Mission on Jackson Ave. was used as a Book and Bible house and Conference headquarters.
By 1921 a larger church was needed. One was found on the corner of Camp and Race streets. This church was able to seat 500 people. The building next door became the church school. On Sabbath morning October 30, 1932 a fire broke out in the ceiling. Because of the resulting damage the members meet in a residence for a while and then used the Lutheran Church on Jackson Ave. In 1938 enough funds had been raised and the church on St. Charles and Aline streets was built, at a cost of $20,000. That was First Church for the next thirty years.
The next move was to W. Esplanade in Metairie. The church on St Charles was sold in 1973 and the present church was completed in early 1974 and dedicated debt free on Mother's Day, May11th of that same year.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a mainstream Protestant church with approximately 19 million members worldwide, including more than one million members in North America. The Seventh-day Adventist Church seeks to enhance quality of life for people everywhere and to let people know that Jesus is coming again soon.
Adventists believe a Trinity of three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—make up one God. They made salvation possible when Jesus, the Son, came to earth as a baby in Bethlehem and lived a sinless life in accordance with the Father's will. When Jesus was crucified for the sins of the people of the world and arose from the dead on the third day, victory was won for everyone.
When He returned to heaven following the resurrection, Jesus left the Holy Spirit to serve as our Comforter and Counselor. He promised to return to earth a second time to complete His plan of salvation and take His people to heaven. Adventists are among the believers who look forward to that day.
Adventists believe that God is concerned with the quality of human life, and that everything—the way we live, speak, think, treat each other, eat, and care for the world around us—is part of His plan. Our families, our children, our jobs, our talents, our money, and our time are all important to Him.