AUGUST 2026

As you may be aware, this past September we began using a new lectionary — the Narrative Lectionary. ("Lectionary" is simply the word for the scripture readings that shape our Sunday morning sermons; my home church called them Expositions of Scripture.)

You are likely most familiar with the Revised Common Lectionary, a three-year cycle of readings that includes (generally) an Old Testament, Psalm, Gospel, and Epistle reading for each Sunday.

The Narrative Lectionary is newer and is a four-year cycle. Each September it starts with Genesis and spends the fall focused on the Old Testament. In January it moves to a Gospel (a different one each year) and then after Easter focuses on Acts and Epistles. We'll be starting on September 13 in Genesis, with Noah, the flood, and the rainbow. (If you'd like to see what's in store, you can find this year's readings here: https://www.workingpreacher.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/narrative_lectionary_matthew_2026-27.pdf).

The Narrative Lectionary goes from September - May, which means that summers are the perfect time for sermon series that allow us to look at scripture from a different viewpoint. For most of this summer we've been talking about Faithful Feelings, responding to your requests for how to better understand how you are feeling through the lens of scripture.

In August, we're going to dip into an even more ancient practice, one championed by John Calvin: Lectio Continua. Calvin believed we shouldn't read scripture in snippets, but book by book, in their entirety — and that's how he preached, working straight through one book at a time. This month we'll focus on First Peter, one of the general epistles (the general epistles are those not written by Paul and addressed to a group of churches rather than just one).

Likely written at the end of the first century to believers in Rome, this is a letter intended to help followers of Christ live faithfully. It covers a great deal of territory, but maybe its most central theme is reminding us that our faith in Jesus is a new birth into a living hope.

It also contains this juicy tidbit that will show up on August 16: "Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives' conduct." Would I seek out or choose to preach on a passage like this? No. Nope. No way. But, that's exactly why lectionaries are helpful. They place scripture before us that we might otherwise avoid, and we'd miss out on the blessing God has for us in these words. Even, especially, in the hard words, God has a blessing for us, it's just that sometimes we have to wrestle to have it emerge.

If you'd like to read ahead, you can find this letter online here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1 Peter 1&version=NRSVUE

August will also bring the joy of hearing from guest preachers at the beginning and end of this month, the Rev. John Robinson on August 2 and Vaughn Purnell on August 30, with Patrick Ryan and myself on the other Sundays. It's also got baptisms, the blessing of the backpacks, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and a congregational meeting. August, to sum it all up, is going to be wonderful, and as always, it will be good to be together!

Peace,

Welcome New Members!

Robert and Elizabeth Burroughs (Bob and Liz) come to FPC by transfer of their membership from Denbigh Presbyterian Church in Newport News, Virginia. Bob was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, and Liz in Dearborn, Michigan, but they met in Hampton, Virginia, and have been married for 35 years with three children and six grandchildren. Bob retired as a medical ultrasound technologist and Liz retired as a registered dietitian nutritionist, and when they arrived in New Bern just a few months ago, finding the local Presbyterian church was at the top of their list. They were both active in the music programs and leadership of their former churches and are excited to be starting this new chapter of their lives.

Carol and Dan Dishart come to First Presbyterian Church by reaffirmation of their faith, but if they might seem familiar, that's because this is not the first time they have become members of First Presbyterian Church – they were members here in the 1980s and have been hoping to come back ever since they left. Retired from the United States Marine Corps and the Navy Reserve, Dan worked in the airline industry as a pilot once his military service was complete. Carol, the daughter and granddaughter of Presbyterian ministers who served mostly in North and South Carolina, is a retired airline pilot.

Addison Dishart, Dan and Carol's son, also comes to First Presbyterian Church by reaffirmation of his faith. Addison is an F-35 pilot with the Marine Corps stationed at Cherry Point. He was not yet born when his parents left New Bern in the 1980s, but if he looks familiar, it's because he's been a frequent worshiper since transferring to North Carolina last year.

Christopher and Jessica McBride come to us by reaffirmation of their faith. Both Chris and Jessica are from Hopewell Junction, New York, but recently started looking for a way to be transferred close to New Bern, largely because Chris’ parents, Kathleen and Glen McBride, live here and Kathy is an active member at FPC. Chris is a welder fabricator in the US Air Force at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. They are parents to Bowen and Callum, who are already part of the FPC family and will receive the sacrament of baptism at the end of August.

Ed and Elizabeth Paitsel come to FPC by reaffirmation of their faith, and they are also here because of a parent. Ed's mother is Charlene Terrill, and they've been coming to FPC for years whenever they would visit her, and Ed was baptized here 22 years ago. Ed is working with the Craven County school system and most recently they lived in the Cary area where they worshiped at Kirk of Kildaire. They are parents to three boys.

Berni and Donna Steinbach come to First Presbyterian Church by reaffirmation of faith. Married for 30 years, they spent most of that time in Charlottesville, Virginia, Berni working as a middle and high school English teacher and Donna as a nurse, but a little over a decade ago they moved to Put-in-Bay, Ohio, where they could explore an entirely different life and do all sorts of things, like Berni captaining a ferry boat and Donna working in banks and shops and all kinds of different things. And then, a few years ago, they knew it was time to move again, and that brought them to New Bern, where they found a home in the Taberna Community.

Catherine and Jordan Stephens come to FPC by transfer of membership from Sunrise United Methodist Church of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and they, too, have a family connection here. Catherine is the daughter of Kim Crum, and she and Jordan were married in this sanctuary in 2010. Catherine is a veteran of the Navy, and Jordan is active-duty Navy, stationed at Cherry Point as a supply officer. Their children are Tyler (9), James (7), and Henry (2), and they are already involved in life here at FPC.

AUGUST 10 - 14

Ministry Center Closed

From Monday, August 10 to Friday, August 14 the Ministry Center will be closed for floor renovations.

The pastors and church staff will be working remotely, but will be checking email and voicemail, so if you need something please reach out and we will be in touch.

If you have a meeting or other gathering scheduled in the Ministry Center please be in touch to find out its new location. 

AUGUST 6

Red Cross Blood Drive

Please consider giving the gift of life!

First Presbyterian Church is hosting the American Red Cross for a Blood Drive on Thursday, August 6, in the Lighthouse, from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm.

Sign up below!

AUGUST 23

Blessing of the Backpacks

PreK through Grade 12, College-bound students, and Educators: Bring your backpack to Worship on August 23 for a special time of blessing your next season of learning.

You can also donate NEW School Supplies in worship on August 23 for Craven County Partners in Education. To learn more about what supplies are needed, click below.

AUGUST 30

Congregational Meeting

The Session has called a congregational meeting to be held during the worship service on August 30 to hear the report of the Nominating Committee and elect 1 elder to serve in the class of 2027, five elders in the class of 2029, and members of the Nominating Committee for 2027. Print copies of their report will be available in worship on August 30 and will be emailed with The Weekly Word on August 20 and 27.

AUGUST 30

Presbyterian Women's Fall Kickoff

The Annual Presbyterian Women Kickoff Luncheon will be held in the Session House on August 30 following the worship service. All women of First Presbyterian Church are invited, whether you are in a Circle or not. The luncheon is free of charge and no reservation is required.

This is an opportunity to meet the PW officers and Circle leaders, connect with members of our six Circles, and learn about our 2026-2027 Bible study, United Through Christ, Bound to Each Other: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.

We hope you will join us!

SEPTEMBER 18

Lunch Wagon Trip

The Lunch Wagon will be traveling to Jacksonville on Friday, September 18 to tour the new Carolina Museum of the Marine. We will have a 1 to 1 1/2 hour guided tour of the museum. Admission is $10 for Seniors and $8 for Veterans ($14 under 55 years). We will leave the front parking lot at 8:30 AM. We will have lunch at Cheddars Restaurant.

Register through the Sign-up Genius or call the church office to sign up.

We may need to carpool if we have more than fourteen people to sign-up for the trip. Nancy Perdue is the contact person, reach out to her with any questions.

COMMUNICATIONS

Request for Photos

There are so many meaningful moments happening in the life of First Presbyterian Church, and we'd love your help capturing them.

We've created an easy-to-use photo-sharing folder where you can upload pictures from worship, fellowship gatherings, outreach projects, and other church events. Keep an eye out for flyers and QR codes around campus and at events, making it simple to share your photos in the moment.

We appreciate you taking the time to capture the joy and share it with our church community!

PATRICK RYAN

Faith Formation

There are so many ways we are being formed. Most of them happen without our noticing. How we spend our time and attention can tell us a lot about what’s shaping us and what we’re devoted to. Imagine keeping a moment-by-moment record of what you watch, listen to, read, talk about, and think about. A time audit of sorts. An inventory of attention. What would be in it?

Author and teacher David Dark suggests that the surest evidence of what we believe is what we do. “Show me your receipts, your text messages, your GPS destinations, online history, most viewed programs, a record of your daily doings, and a transcript of the words you’ve spoken in the last 24 hours, and then we might get a picture of your religious commitments.” I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I’d want to disclose all of that, even to myself.

His point is worth considering. We’re never not being spiritually formed. Every detail of our lives—even (or especially) those we don’t think of as spiritual—shifts our loyalties and reshapes our hearts, minds, and souls. What fills our attention becomes spiritual. It could be that our attention is a miracle worthy of our greatest protection.

I hope that casts the phrase “Faith Formation,” the one we use to talk about much of what’s offered at First Presbyterian, in a new light. Our Faith Formation gatherings are not only opportunities to learn something new; they can also re-train our commitments and attention—help us notice what’s (mis)shaping us, question our loyalties, and give ourselves to the good work of being reformed into something more Christlike.

A new Faith Formation season begins in September, but I want to leave you with a few questions: What’s in your time audit/inventory of attention? What kind of person is it asking you to become? And where might you make a little more room for God, for love, for community, for wisdom, for prayer, for Scripture, for service, and for joy?

DANIEL J. SANSONE

Music Notes

OUTREACH COMMITTEE

What is Religious Community Services?

Are you new to First Presbyterian? Have you ever wondered where the “Coins for Hunger” collected on the first Sunday of each month go? Or heard members talk about volunteering in the Community Kitchen at RCS and wondered, “What is RCS?”

Religious Community Services (RCS) is a faith-based nonprofit organization on George Street in New Bern, committed to building, engaging, and empowering our neighbors. Every day, RCS is a place where someone finds a warm meal, a family receives groceries, a veteran has a safe place to sleep, or a job seeker gets help preparing a résumé. Alongside its clothing boutique, food pantry, emergency shelter, and Community Kitchen, RCS also provides prescription assistance, rent and utility assistance, case management, and connections to community resources that help people move toward stability and hope. The impact is remarkable. In 2025, more than 11,000 individuals received food through the pantry and Operation Outpost, more than 47,000 meals were served in the Community Kitchen, over 667,000 pounds of food were distributed, and more than 10,000 nights of shelter were provided. Behind every number is a neighbor whose story was changed because someone cared.

That “someone” is often a volunteer. More than 3,200 volunteers served alongside RCS in 2025, including nearly 40 members from First Presbyterian. Over the past 18 months, your church has prepared 56 meals in the Community Kitchen. Opportunities to serve extend far beyond meal preparation—you can welcome guests, stock the food pantry, assist in the clothing boutique, answer phones, or help someone complete paperwork or prepare a job application. Whatever your gifts, there is a place for you. To learn more about volunteering, contact Cheyenne Brady, Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator, at cbrady@rcsnewbern.com.

To volunteer with our First Presbyterian team at the Community Kitchen, please contact church members Annette Laracuente, Susan Rouse, or Penny Saulnier. You can learn more about this opportunity in the article below.

Executive Director Ann Marie Devanney envisions an RCS where neighbors experience both dignity and opportunity through initiatives like a client-choice food pantry and expanded on-site partnerships that make accessing resources easier. These efforts reflect RCS’s commitment to walking alongside each person as they build a brighter future. If you would like to see this work firsthand, schedule a tour by contacting Ann Marie at adevanney@rcsnewbern.com.

First Presbyterian supports RCS in many ways including monthly food donations, participation in Empty Bowls, preparing and serving meals at the Community Kitchen, and monetary donations from the Outreach Committee.

OUTREACH COMMITTEE

RCS - Call for Volunteers

In June, Prudence Wing stepped down as the church’s hard-working coordinator of volunteers from First Presbyterian, New Bern to the community kitchen at Religious Community Services (RCS). We thank her for her 13 years of service in this year-round position. Three members have agreed to take her place. They are asking people to continue their support of this community service.

At RCS, a small crew of volunteers from First Presbyterian cooks and serves lunch 3-4 times a month. Meals are planned by RCS staff using ingredients donated primarily from local grocery stores. Volunteers do not need to bring anything or have any special kitchen skills although experience chopping vegetables, cooking on a stovetop, and baking in the oven can come in handy, but is not a requirement. Each shift starts at 8:30 am and ends at 12:00 pm after approximately 100 community members have enjoyed a free meal in the RCS dining room.

We are calling for adults and teens interested in this type of volunteering to sign up, whether it’s for once a year or once a month. Please consider helping to share the food, share the love, and share the kitchen comradery. 

Please contact one of the co-coordinators if you have questions or sign up for a shift using SignUpGenius. 

Co-coordinators

Annette Laracuente, Susan Rouse, and Penny Saulnier

WENDY MOELLER

William Lee Hawkins Library

Upon the distribution of this August 2026 edition of First Edition, summer will be half over, as will be our Voices of Faith: A Multimedia Summer Faith Formation class which runs every Sunday morning from 8:40 to 9:40 in the Owl Room on the second floor of the Ministry Center. It is not too late to add a little enjoyment to your summer, nor too late to join in on our weekly Voices of Faith gathering, “a relaxed, come-as-you-are class built around thoughtful books and conversations that brush up against faith and everyday life.” Facilitating both endeavors, may I offer up for you the several books which have been or will be highlighted in one of those Sunday Faith Formation classes, of which we currently have copies in the Hawkins Library, also on the second floor of the Ministry Center.

Two pieces of historical fiction: Silence by Shusaku Endo [FIC END], an accounting of 17th century Jesuit missionaries called from Portugal to Japan, to the secret Christians there who were attempting to continue their worship of Jesus and the Christian God, despite horrendous persecution from the feudal Buddhist overseers. And, if you are brave (rated R for violence) and want a riveting afternoon or evening, may I suggest also Martin Scorsese’s movie Silence from 2016, based on the same book. Unfortunately, the library does not have a copy of that, but it can be seen on one or more of the streaming services. 

Consider also time spent with Taylor Caldwell’s Dear and Glorious Physician [FIC CAL], the story of Lucanus, the Greek slave who becomes a master physician in Alexandria (historical fiction, remember) searching for God, before finding him and becoming the author of the Gospel of Luke. Chris Kelso will be presenting this selection on Sunday, August 16.

You will have missed presentations by Kim Avolis on Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi [248.2 QUR], the personal journey of a devout Muslim, and young physician graduate of the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, who, under the influence of a close friend, converts to Christianity and becomes one of the premier Christian apologists (make sure you are aware of the correct definition of that word) of the last decades before his life was tragically cut short by cancer in 2017. 

And for another young author speaking to us from the grave, check out Braving the Truth: Essential Essays for Reckoning with and Reimagining Faith by Rachel Held Evans [230.046 EVA] who grew up a committed Christian, but in early adulthood found herself wrestling with what that would mean for the rest of her very short life. This book is actually a collection of her essays elsewhere published, edited posthumously, by another author friend, Sarah Bessey. 

Our final selection, which will be presented by Margaret Pritchett on Sunday, September 6, is a book that has been all over the popular media these last months, Theo of Golden - A Novel by Allen Levi [FIC LEV]. Join the many in our congregation who have already immensely enjoyed this story.

Each of these books will be available the entire month of August on the big table in the William Lee Hawkins Library in the Ministry Center hoping to tempt you into conversation with your own faith and maybe even with others. Enjoy! 

LIBRARY COMMITTEE

New Library Brochure

The Library Committee is pleased to announce that we now have a brochure about our William Lee Hawkins Library. The brochure includes information about the library and how to check out books. The process is very simple, and we hope if you have not visited the library (on the second floor of the Ministry Center) that you will do so soon. 

The brochure is available below as a pdf (feel free to print it), and paper copies are available on the table across from the church office, in the narthex, and in the library.  

STACEY GRIFFITH

Backpack Blessings

This week we completed the second of our two 'special family food kits' Backpack Blessings compiles during the summer when school is not in session. We 'built' for 250 families that signed up this summer...many of them have more than one child in our school system where we currently show 1050+ children receiving our snack kits during the school year. 

Each family received two large boxes of food staples, a bag of frozen meat and a bag of cheese, hot dogs, sandwich meat and sundries, along with fresh fruit, a grocery bag of bread, hot dog buns and other bread products, and extra containers of sweet rolls or alternative special treats!

Summer box builds are unique as some of us get to meet and greet the families that come to receive the food.....and I especially look for and love seeing the kids faces light up as they peek into the bags to see what treats are contained for them.

While there are fewer sign up positions offered, First Pres was, as always, a large contributor of labor as well as funds and prayers. A thank you to Amy Lynn and friend, Judy Paquin, Carla Brantner, Karen Reed, Wendy Moeller, Kirsten Sonstegard, Pat Gillis, Nancy McAden, Jane Dail, and Stacey Griffith.

And, as always, a big THANK YOU to our wonderful staff who support us and make it all possible.

Some of us got an opportunity to meet the new incoming Chair for Backpack Blessings. Ruth Powers is retiring after 12 years at the helm. But her participation will be ongoing and the name of the new chair and her CV will be announced soon. She comes to us from many years of service in our school system and so is well aware of the need this ministry supports...she may be a familiar name to some of you so stay tuned.

Our regular weekend snack pack builds will resume on August 24 so be on the lookout for the Sign Up Genius for that build.

CARE COMMISSION

Helping Hands

Helping Hands is a ministry of our Care Commission that connects volunteers with members of our church who are homebound or otherwise unable to participate fully in the life of the congregation. Volunteers offer companionship through visits, conversation, and simple acts of assistance. Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer is our time, our attention, and the reassurance that no one in our church family is forgotten.

If you enjoy spending time with others and would like to offer a caring presence to someone in our congregation, we invite you to become part of Helping Hands. Even an occasional visit or phone call can make a meaningful difference. Please sign up for Helping Hands here or email Janet Benrey-Swain or Patrick Ryan.

NANCY PERDUE

Thank You!

I want to say thank you for everyone’s support, cards, and prayers during my bladder surgery. Thank you for sharing my good news with me on my negative biopsies. I know I have a wonderful church family.

God bless you all,

Nancy Perdue

First Presbyterian Church, New Bern Staff

Anna Pinckney Straight - Pastor

anna@firstpresnb.org

Patrick Ryan - Associate Pastor

patrick@firstpresnb.org

Catherine Campbell - Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministry

catherine@firstpresnb.org

Daniel Sansone - Director of Music

daniel@firstpresnb.org

Susan Mabie

Director of Resurrection Singers

Tim Elliott - Facilities Manager

property@firstpresnb.org

Dawn Inglis - Office Administrator

church@firstpresnb.org

Kerri Quick - Preschool Director

kerri@firstpresnb.org

Summer Hough - Financial Administrator

summer@firstpresnb.org

Morgan Stephens - Director of Communications

comms@firstpresnb.org

Louis Foye - Sexton

Richard Colflesh - Maintenance

property@firstpresnb.org

Stephen Ministry

stephenministry@firstpresnb.org

pastoroncall@firstpresnb.org

After office hours or on the weekend,

a good way to reach a pastor is to

email the pastor on call.

Share Your News!

Have an article for the newsletter? Want an announcement placed in the bulletin? See something we should post on social media? Have photos of a church event to share? Email comms@firstpresnb.org to get your news shared!

Bulletin Deadline:

Mondays at 12:00 pm

Weekly Word Deadline:

Mondays at 12:00 pm

First Edition/Monthly Newsletter Deadline:

the 20th of the month at 12:00 pm

Share Your Memories!

Have photos from a church event? Use this link to share your FPC memories.

Physical Address

400 New Street,

New Bern, NC 28560

Mailing Address

PO Box 1069,

New Bern, NC 28563

Church Office Hours

Monday - Thursday

9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Friday

9:00 am - 1:00 pm

Contact Information

252.637.3270

church@firstpresnb.org

www.firstpresnb.org