Second Presbyterian Church
July 17, 2020
While we are not able to worship together in person, we are worshiping together virtually! Join us on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. for worship by clicking the tab above, or clicking on the "Sunday Live stream" button on the home page of our website,  www.2ndpres.org .

Also - if you click the blue button above you will be able to download the worship order so you can follow along at home!
Following the Assurance of God's Love, we will pass the peace by texting one another. Choose a fellow church member, family member, friend, relative, or loved one, have their number ready to go, and send them a text that says, “May the peace of Christ be with you!"
IMPORTANT! Due to Covid-19, the photography dates for our new pictorial church directory have been CHANGED TO NOVEMBER 12TH - 14TH .

To sign up for the NEW PHOTOGRAPHY DATES, please click here.
If you already signed up for the previously scheduled dates,
 you will need to sign up again!

Second Presbyterian Church is partnering with Lifetouch to create a new pictorial church directory. Our new directory will update our current photos, help us to connect with each other and put names with faces for new people. Each participating family will receive a free directory and a complimentary 8x10 photograph.

Lifetouch photographers have been trained in physical distancing guidelines and we will be following guidelines at the church, as well. Equipment will be cleaned in-between sessions so the whole process will be as safe as possible.

More information will follow at a later date, and we apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause.
A Message From the Service & Outreach Committee:

Knox County students are returning to school on August 17th. 
In preparation for the start of school, Second Presbyterian Church will hold the annual work day on Saturday, August 8th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

This will be an opportunity to work outside and, hopefully, inside to help prepare the school for a new academic year. This is one of the church’s outreach missions and there is a need for many hands to help prepare the school for students. Please consider volunteering your time to this worthy endeavor.

The list of needed supplies is listed and an online sign-up sheet to help is linked via the button below .

Thank you for your support!
Recent graduates Brooke Frohlich and Carter DePoy sent cards thanking Second Pres for the kindness and support following their recent graduations.

Once the church building safely reopens , you can read their cards on the bulletin board located near the Atrium.

Let's continue to celebrate our graduates and their accomplishments!
Join us after Worship for a Virtual Coffee Hour!

We are still hosting a virtual coffee hour immediately following worship! Following worship just click the link to join your brothers and sisters from 2 nd  Presbyterian for a time of fellowship. It’s BYOC and there’s no meeting agenda, no Bible study – just hanging out together and chatting about worship, life, whatever! You can stay and visit as long as you like, or leave after just saying hey. We hope this will be a good way to have virtual fellowship until we can have the real thing.
Our summer study on racism continues on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom. Our topic this week will be White Privilege. The session will be led by Pastors Tim Reynolds (2nd Presbyterian Church) and Andy Morgan (Fountain City Presbyterian Church).

Andy Morgan received his undergraduate degree from UNC Chapel Hill, a Master of Divinity degree and Master of Christian Education degree from Union Theological Seminary, and is currently working on his Doctor of Ministry degree at Emory University in Atlanta. Andy has served a congregation in Williamsburg, VA, and at UKirk at UTK, and is now the pastor of Fountain City Presbyterian Church.

Tim Reynolds received his undergraduate degree from UTK, a Master of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary, and did doctoral work at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. He has served congregations in Hendersonville, TN; Sarasota, FL; Abingdon, VA; and is currently one of the pastors serving 2nd Presbyterian Church in Knoxville.

Tim and Andy are both white guys who have benefited from their privilege but who, in recent years especially, have tried to use that privilege responsibly to help others who have not benefited from the same privilege. They will share what they have learned and how they learned it as they lead our discussion on Wednesday night. The Zoom link will be sent out on Tuesday.

A link to this week’s reading is below. We also ask that you complete this white privilege checklist prior to Wednesday night's class. We also highly suggest you read this article on White Fragility , if you have not already.

All of the readings for all of the sessions, along with videos of the previous sessions, are available on our website under the “Wednesday Night Bible Study” tab. 
The July - August Upper Rooms are now available! If you would like one, Sandra Butler has copies that she would like to hand deliver to you!

Please contact Sandra directly by phone (659-4416 or 584-4397)
or email sandyb446@comcast.net !
Children’s Books Showing Diversity

Your church library has added some children’s books showing more diversity. These books come to you from a donation from Betty McCollum. The titles are: 

Think Big, Little One by Vashti Harrison

Peekaboo Morning by Rachel Isadora

Kindness Makes us Strong by Sophie Beer

When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner

Woke Baby by Mahogany Browne

There are other titles in our library. All books are cleaned with alcohol for your safety. 

The Second Pres Book Lady
Please contact Liz Peebles directly at 865-247-4503 or 865-660-9597 .
Our blog is updated regularly during our hiatus from in-person activities. It may be a devotion, an interesting story, something uplifting, something silly, or anything else that we think might be helpful. You will continue to get an email alerting you whenever a new blog post is uploaded.

The address is  2ndpresknox.blogpsot.com  - or you can just click the link below. 
The deadline for the August Second Edition is July 20th!
Please email ajohnson@2ndpres.org or
call the church office at 865-523-2189 with your submissions.
Thank you!
Reminder! As you are most likely aware, there has been a dramatic rise in active Knox County Covid-19 cases in recent weeks, including an increase in both hospitalizations and deaths. Currently, two of the five benchmarks for reopening are red, two are green, and one is yellow. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and in an effort to do our part in not contributing to the further spread of the novel coronavirus, the Session has taken the following actions:

Worship

We will no longer resume in-person worship on August 2 nd and will continue to worship solely via streaming until further notice. We hope to resume in-person worship after Labor Day, but will reevaluate at the August 18 th Stated Session meeting.

Committees/Groups

Effective immediately all group meetings in the church building will be cancelled for the remainder of July and the month of August. Groups and committees of the church may continue to meet via technology or in small groups away from the church building, but the church building itself will be closed to all groups except the Preschool through the end of August. We will reevaluate at the August 18 th Stated Session meeting.

Church Office

The church staff will continue to work their normal hours at the church building in order to coordinate and facilitate the ministry of the congregation. The church office, however, will be closed except for deliveries, contractors, and other necessary business.

We appreciate that this may cause frustration for some while alleviating anxiety for others. We do not take this action lightly but we do feel this is the best way to safeguard the health of our members, our staff, and the community of Knoxville. Please stay home if you do not have to go out and please remember the Five Core Principles for health: practice [physical distancing; wear face coverings when in public and physical distancing cannot be achieved; wash hand properly and often; clean surfaces regularly; stay home when sick.

  • The Session of Second Presbyterian Church
Pastor Tim will be out of the office July 17th through July 24th.

If you have a pastoral emergency, please contact Pastor Sarah Morgan. smorgan@2ndpres.org or 865.523.2189.
Prayer List:

Please keep Mark Pierson, Debbie Eads, the Downen Family, Brice Gilmer, and Jennifer Levy-Tatum in your prayers. 
 
Please contact the Church Office (523.2189 or  ajohnson@2ndpres.org ) with prayer concerns to be listed in the weekly email or bulletin.