Together in Love

Easter is early this year on March 31 and that means that Lent is just two weeks away. It also means there will be a lot going on at the church. Pancakes and Jazz will get the season started on February 13 as we celebrate Shrove “Fat” Tuesday. It is a wonderful night of celebration and fun before the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 14. This does not mean that fun ends until Easter but, for Christians, Lent is a time to shine a light on our lives and our world and come to God in a posture of repentance. Repentance for our failure to love God and our neighbors with all our heart, soul, and mind.

Lent is an opportunity to stop and meditate on your faith and seek to deepen your relationship with God through prayer, service, and Bible Study. It is a wonderful time to attend worship and prepare for the glorious “Alleluias” of Easter and to invite a friend or neighbor to church. If you have not attended worship in a while, I challenge you to make regular worship one of your Lenten disciplines. Come and lift up your voice and your prayers with your community of faith, for it is when the body is all together that we are most complete.

In a world that seems hopelessly divided, we need to hear the word of God and sing the hymns of the church that remind us that we are God’s beloved children and that despite the things that divide us, we have a mandate to love one another. When you stop to consider what we do when we come together, you realize how rare it is in our society to have an intentional community whose purpose is to remind us that we are loved and that we have an obligation to live our lives in service not to ourselves and our own interests, but to others. I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded of these things quite often.

I look forward to everything that will be going on around the church and through your service in the community over these next two months. I am also so very thankful for all the volunteers and staff who will be working hard to make everything come together. I pray that God’s Holy Spirit will move in each one of our hearts, drawing them closer to God and helping us to see clearly where we fail to love others as God loves us. May God bless you as you journey through this holy season and may the eternal promise of the empty tomb renew your hope and faith. 

In Christ,

Will

FPC Greer Financial Summary

Year to Date Actual Income

as of 12/31/23 = $797,749.00

Year to Date Budgeted Income

as of 12/31/23 = $833,754.00

Variance = ($36,005.00)

To date, 2024 Pledges total $714,186.00, an increase of 7.3% over 2023. The 2024 budget increased by 2.6%. The Session approved the 2024

budget of $919,070.22 at its January stated meeting.

Thank you for your generous support of the mission

and ministry of FPC Greer!

Café Justo Coffee Update

The coffee cabinet has been restocked! Pick up your favorites today and help support our mission partners at Frontera de Cristo.

One pound bags are $10.00.

Spring Bible Study led by Reverend Dottie Metropol begins February 21. The six-week study will be held on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. in Room 104. We will conclude the study of Ephesians we began last September using Eugene Peterson’s book, Practicing Resurrection: a Conversation on Growing Up in Christ.

Register with Lisa Johnson in the church office to receive the weekly homework email. A limited number of books are available in the church office for $15 or you can order a copy on Amazon.

Click here to read more from Dottie about the study.

A Word from Ally

This past October, I had the privilege of taking a worship workshop with Rev. Burns Stanfield. During our time together, Rev. Stanfield stressed the importance of remembering the “why” behind our worship. Everything that we do in worship, from our prayers to our songs and everything in between, are ways in which we practice faithful living. My hope is that we can use this space over the course of the next few months to explore the elements of our worship service and the ways in which each of those elements helps us learn to be the people of God beyond the walls of the sanctuary. 



Both the Prelude and the Call to Worship are hallmarks of our weekly worship service. If you are like me, it is easy to fall into a pattern of viewing these two elements as simply a signal that the announcements are over; that it is time to make sure we have our bulletins ready and our singing voices warmed up. While these elements certainly can signal for us the beginning of worship, helping us enter into a more contemplative, receptive mood, they also serve to help us turn our hearts and minds to that which is most important: God.

It is no secret that we live in a fast paced world. Our many daily cares and responsibilities vie for our attention. Yet, on Sunday, we practice laying aside our many responsibilities to turn to God, the very one who calls all things into being. And we respond to and celebrate this call by worshiping God in and through our lives. While these elements help us turn our eyes, our minds, and our hearts towards God during our Sunday worship service, they also teach us, as disciples, to keep them there throughout the week. So, may we allow these opening elements of our worship service to transform us into people whose eyes, hearts, and minds are always set on God!

Peace,

Ally

Daily Devotionals published by the Presbyterian Outlook for the Lenten season will be emailed from the church beginning Ash Wednesday.

In Local Pilgrim, a Wandering, Wondering Daily Devotional, you are invited to explore and observe new and familiar places in your community. What will God reveal to you when you pause, ponder and reflect?

A cemetery, a bar, a library, an emergency waiting room: what do all these places have in common?

In Local Pilgrim, Outlook Editor/Publisher Teri McDowell Ott and other writers explore what God might reveal to us if we intentionally explore our communities. Who do we see? What do we hear? God reveals God’s self when we look. 

FPC Greer and Foothills Presbytery are hosting a Mental Health First Aid Training Event at the church on Thursday, February 29 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Lunch is provided. The event is held in partnership with MHFA and provides training for pastors, educators, youth leaders, elders, deacons, and volunteers.

Contact Pastor Ally for more information or click here to register for the event. 

Resounding Joy Handbells & Chancel Choir rehearsals resume on February 7th.

Young Ladies’ Ensemble - Save the date! We will sing for worship on Youth Sunday, March 3rd. We will meet that morning and polish a song you already know and lead the hymns for worship.   

Grace Notes (1st-5th grades): Starting this Sunday at 10:00 a.m.  We will participate in 11:00 a.m. worship on Palm Sunday, March 24th. Rehearsals will be 10:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. in the children’s choir room on the following dates: February 4th, February 11th, March 3rd, and March 10th.

Children’s Faith Formation

Upcoming Events

F3 for 3rd - 5th Graders: February 11

Vacation Bible School: June 3-7

Camp Fellowship: June 23-28

Upcoming Youth Events!

February 23-25: Ski Trip

March 3: Youth Sunday

We celebrate the birth

of Isla Liegh Proffit on January 25.



Congratulations to Anna-Paige and the entire Proffit family!

Prayer Concerns

Louise Ables

Luanne Baker

Sarah Cannon

Oochie Gibson

Beverly House

Terri Long

Dave & Susan Macer

Susan Solomon

Elizabeth Strong

Dear Church Family - I would like to thank my daughters for giving me such a beautiful birthday party and offer my special thanks to all who came out to help me celebrate my 90th birthday on December 16th. The cards I received were so nice and moved me to tears. I appreciate you all. Thank you, too, for letting me love and teach your children for over 40 years. I am so proud to be a member of this church.

My love to you all,

Anne Helton

Dear Church Family - I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the love and support Greer FPC has given me, especially over the last few months. The loss of my dad has left a sadness like I’ve never known. I do rejoice in knowing that he is healed and his vision is restored. That brings comfort to our family. I finished my radiation treatments on December 20 and so far I’ve had no side effects. Another praise in this journey.

Thank you all again for everything,

Terri Long

To our many friends at First Presbyterian: Thank you for all the cards, notes, support, and calls as we downsized and moved out to Moore. We are now settled in a “Granny Pod” designed for our needs in our son and daughter-in-laws back yard and love it! Due to health issues we do not drive anymore so church attendance is online. We also love to have friends visit.

Love,  

Jo and Hugh Earnest

Dear Friends of First Pres,

Thank you for your astounding love and support during my recent surgery and recovery. I appreciate all the cards, texts, calls, visits and prayers from the congregation. My heart is full of gratitude for our church community. You are such a blessing to me.

Much love,

Lisa  Dillard

Dear Staff and Members of First Presbyterian Greer,

We truly appreciate the many cards, notes, and letters that you have sent our way following Elaine’s death on November 26th. You are God’s gift to us as we bear the loss of our daughter. We are deeply thankful and wish you well in this new year.

God’s blessings,

Steve and Vonnie Vance

Click on the Thornwell Image Below to Read

Thank You Notes for the Christmas Gifts Collected

for the Foster Childrens' Program

The next issue of First News is February 27. If you have content for the newsletter, please email it to Lisa Johnson at [email protected] by Friday, February 23.