First Presbyterian Church  |  701 Florida Avenue  |  Bristol, TN 37620  |  423-764-7176  |  fpcbristol.org

In This Issue
About Windows
Worship
A Pastoral Musing
In the Pulpit Sunday
Join Us for Video Bible Study Wednesday Night
Children's Pumpkin Party Sunday
FPC Serves with Sharing Christ Nov. 11
Hear from Abby about Her Mission
So Long, and Thanks for All the Cookies
Lawn Care for All the Saints
Musical Visitors Entertain at FPC in November
Music Notes
Pray for One Another
Gifts to the Church
Church Officers
Church Calendar
About  
Windows
Deadline for contributions to Windows is the Monday of the week of publication. The newsletter is emailed a minute after midnight on Thursday morning.

Windows is a publication of First Presbyterian Church, Bristol, TN. Please direct questions and suggestions to the editor, Kathy Acuff, kacuff@fpcbristol.org
Worship
October 29
21st Sunday after Pentecost
Lessons
Micah 6:6-8
Philippians 2:1-11
Sermon
Missions Is a Mess!
Rev. Fred Foy Strang
Hymns
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
When God Restored Our Common Life
Unto God's Word We Turn Again
Anthem
Alleluia. O Come and Praise the Lord
Sanctuary Choir
Last Sunday's Attendance
8:30: 96; 11:00: 82

Windows

on First Presbyterian Church

October 26, 2017
From Dave Welch
A Pastoral Musing

One of the consistent worship experiences I remember as a young boy, whether I worshiped with my grandparents in their Catholic church, my uncle's family in the Presbyterian church, or my own family's Methodist church, was singing the Doxology. It wasn't until years later, studying Greek in seminary, that I fully understood that doxology is derived from two Greek words, doxa (glory) and logia (saying). We say glory, or we pronounce magnificence; we sing praise to God, because God is worthy of our praises! The Psalms burst forth with praise of God (numbers 145, 146, 150, 95, and 98, just to name a few), but I find myself coming back to the Doxology, sung to the tune of the Old 100th, because it is ingrained in me. God has gifted me with knowing one, and only one, line from a thousand different songs. The Doxology is especially wonderful for me. It is, after all, only one line long, and I cannot forget it.
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow." I'm inviting you to sing this with me today, tomorrow, next week, whether in your heads, or with your voices, because God is worthy. God has already blessed us with life through his son, and that alone is enough, but I was reminded again this week, while meeting with the Session, that God's blessings are flowing in other very tangible ways, even, dare I say it, monetary ways. Are you aware that after September 24, Dedication Sunday, approximately 90 folks have pledged towards the 2018 budget? "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." That as of this musing, $455,000 of our projected $625,000 needed for the mission and ministry for next year is pledged? "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." And that on average, those who have pledged have increased their pledge amount almost 20% over last year? "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." I can't help but sing, to say GLORY, to praise God with my voice, to be doxalogia-ing. So when you hear me singing this Sunday in worship or humming while I'm walking the church hallways, I invite you to join with me in praising our most deserving God!
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
In the Pulpit Sunday
Fred Foy Strang

Before leaving for his mission in Africa, the Reverend Dr. Fred Foy Strang served FPC as coordinator of our early worship service while on the faculty at King. He has earned degrees from Furman University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary, and the University of Edinburgh. Fred Foy is Adjunct Professor of Missions, Philosophy, and Religion, King University; Adjunct Associate Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary; and Adjunct Professor, Presbyterian University of East Africa. He is the founder and president of Maasai Special Projects Fund and is the East Africa Partner for The Antioch Partners.
Join Us for Video Bible Study Wednesday Night

In our Adult Learning segment next Wednesday, November 1, Dave Welch will kick off a video Bible study series. Please join us for this three-week study. Before the evening programs for adults, youth, and children, we will share a fellowship dinner of chicken tetrazzini, broccoli, salad, and dessert at 5:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. The Adult Learning segment will follow at 6:15; the Middle School Gathering and Wednesday Night Kids will meet separately at 6:00; and High School Small Groups will meet at 7:00.
Children's Pumpkin Party Sunday

FPC children and their friends are invited to the Fellowship Hall at 3:00 p.m. this Sunday, October 29, for pumpkin decorating, pumpkin snacks, and pumpkin fun! Please RSVP to Lilly Osborne, so that she will know how many pumpkins to have on hand. You can do so on our Facebook Children's page or by texting Lilly at 423-383-5476.
FPC Serves with Sharing Christ Nov. 11

Our next opportunity to serve our neighbors through Sharing Christ Downtown Mission will be Saturday, November 11. We expect to feed approximately 120 people at dinner and send them out with sack lunches for Sunday. It's a rewarding time of service to our neighbors in need, and your church friends will be there to show you exactly what to do!
We already have plenty of casseroles, but we need:
  • Volunteers to serve and clean up (4:30 to 7:30 p.m.)
  • Paper lunch sacks
  • 75 bananas
  • 12 boxes of Little Debbie fudge rounds
  • 10 boxes of Little Debbie oatmeal crème rounds
  • 6 cans of green beans
  • 100 ready-to-serve dinner rolls
Sharing Christ Mission is located at the corner of Sixth and State streets in downtown Bristol. If you have questions or would like to help, contact Dottie Havlik at 423-956-6747 or dhavlik@charter.net. Thank you!
Hear from Abby about Her Mission
Our own Abby Welch, who is teaching English as a Second Language in Cape Town, South Africa, wants to keep you up-to-date on her mission there. To subscribe to her updates, visit http://eepurl.com/c7VudX. Abby is the daughter of Linda and Dave Welch.
So Long, and Thanks for All the Cookies

We've had such a generous response to our request for Fairmount snacks that we're suspending collection until the new year. We've sent two huge batches of vanilla wafers to the students who can't afford to buy their afternoon snacks, so they have enough to last until Christmas break. We'll start collecting more snacks when the kids go back to school in January. Many thanks to our caring congregation for providing this much-needed food for our young neighbors! The school's faculty and staff frequently express their gratitude, and tell us how much this ministry means in the lives of these children.
Lawn Care for All the Saints

We are coming to the end of our mowing season, and Randy Olson promises to see us out in style. He'll have the church lawn looking righteous for Reformation Sunday and All Saints' Day. And here is more good news: any FPC adult or teen can join the ranks of the saints who work quietly on loud machines. Yes, our mowing team will welcome you at any time of the year! Just accost Team Captain Randy Cook at church, email him at npolecook@aol.com, or call him at 423-956-1541. We welcome men and women, adults and teens, and even children, who can move debris to the curb. If you're unfamiliar with Scag mowers, Randy will be happy to give you a lesson on our Tiger Cat. 
Musical Visitors Entertain at FPC in November

Outstanding outside performers will present two concerts in our sanctuary during the second weekend of November. On Friday, November 10, at 7:30 p.m., Voices of the Mountains will present The Great Outdoors, with selections including "Frostiania" by Randall Thompson and "Song of the Open Road" by Norman Dello Joio. There will be a $15 admission fee for Friday's concert. On Saturday, November 11, at 7:30 p.m., the King University Band will present its Fall Concert. Admission to Saturday's concert will be free.
Music Notes
Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir; Lauren Castor and Gary Roberts, flautists.
Sunday's music: Our anthem, "Alleluia. O Come and Praise the Lord," was composed by J.S. Bach (1685-1750) and arranged here by Janet Hill. On this Reformation Sunday,
Terre Johnson
music from Bach is only appropriate as he is considered the greatest composer of German Protestant Church music. This work was originally written by Bach for inclusion in his wedding cantata, BWV 196, and is arranged here for organ, two flutes, and choir. Sunday's final hymn is also of interest. The text was written in September 2017 by Terre Johnson, Chair of the Music Department at Houston Baptist University. The text is a paraphrase of Martin Luther's great "soli statements": soli scriptura (scripture alone), soli fides (faith alone), soli gratia (grace alone), soli Christus (Christ alone). The familiar hymn tune is from the Unitas Fratrum (Moravian) church.
Organist's footnotes: Each Sunday in October we are exploring new compositions from the Augsburg Organ Library's publication, Reformation, recently released for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
Our prelude this Sunday is "Es ist das Heil" ("Salvation unto Us Has Come"), a setting of one of the earliest Reformation hymns. It was first published in 1524 as one of eight songs in the first Lutheran hymnal. The text by Paul Speratus is based on Romans 3:28 and expresses Luther's teaching about salvation:
                Salvation unto us has come
                by God's free grace and favor;
                Good works cannot avert our doom,
                they help and save us never.
                Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
                who did for all the world atone,
                He is our mediator.
Charles W. Ore (b. 1936) is retired from his post as Professor and Chair of the Music Department of Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska, but he still plays for services as Organist of First Presbyterian Church, Lincoln, Nebraska. Ore has been described as "an American original, a master organist, composer, bird watcher and orchid grower." Ore's compositions have been described as being "on the progressive edge of contemporary classical church music," and it has been said that he plays the organ "with a Lutheran brain and a Baptist heart." His treatment of this hymn tune is highly ornamented, with an improvisatory interlude in the middle.
The setting of our offertory, "Ist Gott für mich" ("If God, My Lord, Be for Me") by Franklin D. Ashdown (b. 1942), retains every bit of the flavor of the 16th-century English melody on which it is based. I can almost see courtesans dancing as the melody is plainly heard. Ashdown is a composer and medical doctor, who has pursued dual careers for the past three decades. A resident of Alamogordo, New Mexico, he enjoys a full life as an internist, composer, and organist-choir director for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The postlude, "Ein feste Burg" ("A Mighty Fortress"), is perhaps the best-known of all Reformation hymns. Luther wrote the words and composed the melody sometime between 1527 and 1529. The Belgian composer Flor Peeters (1903-1986) set this hymn in classic contrapuntal fashion, with plenty of quick-moving sixteenth notes throughout. Following a short chorale section in the middle, the merriment resumes and builds to a paean of ecstatic joy.
Pray for One Another
An extensive list of prayer concerns, "Pray for One Another," is available for pickup at the church each week.
 
In Our Prayers
Becky Busler
DeeDee Galliher
Ron Grubbs
Vivian Hill
Don Moneyhun
Tony Raccioppo
Sam Samuel
 
Birthday Prayer Fellowship
October 29        Jim Daniel, Virginia Rutherford
October 31        Flora Mae Turner
November 2     Frances Rowell, Erin Yates
November 3     Charles Webb
Gifts to the Church
We gratefully acknowledge Dotty Royston's recent gifts in memory of Jean Eller, made to the Brazil Mission Fund and the Ethiopia Mission Fund.
Church Officers
PCUSA seal small
 
Elders
Class of 2017
Class of 2018
Class of 2019
Ann Abel
Aaron Brooks
Anna Booher
Beth Flannagan
Randy Cook
Lee Galliher
Tom King
Debbie McMillin
Pete Holler
Ernie Pennington
Stuart Parker
Han Ong
John Vann
Chuck Thompson
Pete Stigers
 
Deacons
Class of 2017
Class of 2018
Class of 2019
Jim Mayden
Adam Abel
George Linke
Mark Mervis
Nancy Butterworth
Greg Roberts
Robin North
David Ginn
Nate Sproles
Jordan Pennington
Rett Stocstill
Bill Whisnant
Byron Schiesz
Ann Woods
 
Church Calendar
Sunday, October 29
8:30 a.m.       Worship, Fellowship Hall
9:45 a.m.       Sunday School
11:00 a.m.     Worship, Sanctuary
3:00 p.m.       Children's Pumpkin Party, Fellowship Hall
5:00 p.m.       Middle School Student Fellowship
6:30 p.m.       High School Student Fellowship
Monday, October 30
5:30 p.m.       Adult Handbells
Tuesday, October 31
9:00 a.m.       Staff Meeting, Room 117
10:00 a.m.     Morning Prayer Group, Conference Room
7:00 p.m.       Boy Scout Troop 3, Scout Wing
Wednesday, November 1
4:45 p.m.       Savior's Singers Children's Choir
5:15 p.m.       Baby & Toddler Care, Rooms 34-36
5:30 p.m.       Fellowship Dinner, Fellowship Hall
6:00 p.m.       Pastor Nominating Committee, Room 117
6:00 p.m.       Wednesday Night Kids
6:00 p.m.       Middle School Gathering
6:20 p.m.       Adult Learning Program, Fellowship Hall
7:00 p.m.       High School Small Groups
7:15 p.m.       Sanctuary Choir
7:30 p.m.       8:30 Worship Team, Fellowship Hall
Thursday, November 2
7:00 a.m.       Men's Bible Study, Parlor
12:00 p.m.     Noon Bible Study, Room 117