Windows

October 23, 2026

October Update

Your Pastor Nominating Committee continues to meet regularly as we seek God's guidance in identifying the next pastor for First Presbyterian Church. In recent weeks, the committee has been actively reviewing candidate materials, conducting interviews and follow-up conversations, gathering references, and prayerfully evaluating potential candidates. The committee has also continued to review new candidate matches as they become available through the denominational process. 

Throughout this journey, the committee remains committed to careful discernment, open discussion, and prayer. We are grateful for the congregation's continued encouragement and ask that you keep both the committee and the candidates in your prayers as we seek the person God is calling to serve our church in this next chapter of ministry. /Peggy Hill

November Mission Focus

As we reflect on God’s abundant blessings and give thanks for His generosity, we invite you to share that same generosity with our neighbors through our November Mission Focus: the Bristol Emergency Food Pantry.

Throughout the month, we will be collecting canned and dry goods and instant coffee as well as personal care and household items to support individuals and families in our community. Needed items include soaps, deodorants, shampoos, detergents, and cleaning supplies with a special emphasis on instant coffee, hygiene products, and cleaning supplies, things that are often needed but cannot be bought with funds restricted for the purchase of food.

Collection bins will be located outside the Fellowship Hall and in the Narthex. Donations may also be left in the church office.

Thank you for helping us extend Christ’s love in practical ways and for remembering our Bristol neighbors during this season of gratitude. Together, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of those in need. /Missions & Outreach Committee

September Mission Update

During the month of September, our congregation donated a total of $6,319.31 for our partnership with Shabach Beyond Center Nigeria.

October Mission Update

During the month of October, our congregation donated a total of about 6,000 pieces of candy and small items for our partnership with Fairmount’s Trunk or Treat.

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PUMPKIN PALOOZA RECAP

EVENTS

We want to pray for and celebrate with you! Send us your prayer requests and glad tidings.

November Birthday Prayer Fellowship

Becky Adams

Andy Arnold

Ann Arnold

Nick Booher

Glennda Cleland

Louisa Cordon

Melissa Galliher

Sarah Gannaway

Ivy Gestaut

Mary Jo Gilley

Samuel Hankins

Tyler Hommel

Sam Jennings

Selma Jennings

Cate Kennedy

Chris Kennedy

George Linke

Charlotte Osborne

Alison Quickel

Lilly R

Ruth Pendley Ramsay

Drew Rice

Meg Rice

Greg Roberts

Cindy Samuel

R.J. Sikorski

Sam Story

Reagan Streetman

Sophia Streetman

Joe Strickland

Mimi Tilley

Karen Vann

Charles Webb

Billie Whisnant

Doug Williams

Elliot Williams

Organist’s Footnotes

October 25: On this 22^nd Sunday after Pentecost, we hear music from Gordon Young. Gordon Young (1919–1998) was born in McPherson, Kansas and educated at Southwestern College (Winfield, Kansas) and the Curtis Institute (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) where he was a student of Alexander McCurdy. After serving churches in Philadelphia and Kansas (where he also worked as a radio organist and newspaper critic), Young became the music director (for fifteen years) at First Presbyterian Church in Detroit, where he was a visible and important presence in the American church music scene. He also taught organ on the faculty of Wayne State University. Young published voluminously, and his organ and choral works were in the catalogs of most major American publishers. Numerous works of his were also issued in the Netherlands, where his music has remained very popular. Young is best known for his organ work “Prelude in Classic Style” (from Nine Pieces for Organ, Sacred Music Press, 1966), which has entered the worldwide standard organ repertoire.

I am playing three other pieces from that same collection. “Ricercare on ‘St. Anne’” (our Opening Voluntary) helps get the blood flowing. The term ricercar derives from the Italian verb ricercare, which means “to search out; to seek”; many ricercars serve a preludial function to “search out” the key or mode of a following piece. It will help us find the key of C Major in which we will sing the hymn “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past.”

The second piece is “Lied” (meaning “song”, our Offertory). In many of Young’s compositions he makes use of parallel harmony – chords which move altogether in the same direction, as you will hear in this piece.

The third piece, “Toccata” (Closing Voluntary) approaches the speed of light (Allegro brillante), hence it does not take long to play. Why not stay put and listen to it?

November 1: On this 23^rd Sunday after Pentecost, we have a guest organist: Stone Alvarado. Stone has been my organ student for the past 4 years, and he is filling in for me while I am in Ohio for the premiere of two of my own compositions.

For our Opening Voluntary, Stone has chosen to play “Elegy” by John Ireland (1879 – 1962). Ireland was an English composer and teacher of music. The majority of his output consists of piano miniatures and of songs with piano. His best-known works include the short instrumental or orchestral work “The Holy Boy”, a setting of the poem “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield, a formerly much-played Piano Concerto, the hymn tune “Love Unknown” and the choral motet “Greater Love Hath No Man”.

For our music during the Lord’s Supper, we hear “Reverie” by Gaston Dethier (1875 – 1958) who was an American organist, pianist, and composer of Belgian birth. He studied at the Royal Conservatory in his native city with Alexandre Guilmant. He was awarded premiers prix in organ, piano, harmony, and fugue from the conservatory. In 1886, at just 11 years of age, Dethier was appointed organist at the Église Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur de Liège. In 1894, Dethier emigrated to the United States where he eventually became a naturalized citizen. He served as an organist at The Church of St. Francis Xavier from 1894 until 1907. He taught organ on the faculty of the Juilliard School from 1907 until 1945. Dethier is best remembered today as the composer of a set of Variations on 'Adeste Fideles' (1902) which is occasionally performed today.

Finally, for our Closing Voluntary, Stone plays “Carillon de Westminster” by Louis Vierne (1870 – 1937) Vierne was the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death (he famously died on the organ bench while in recital). As a composer, much of his output was organ music, including six symphonies and four suites, and works for choir and organ, including a Messe solennelle for choir and two organs. He toured Europe and the United States as a concert organist. His students included Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Duruflé.

Carillon de Westminster, Op. 54, No. 6, was published in 1927 as the sixth piece in the third suite of Vierne's four-suite set 24 Pieces de Fantaisie. The theme of Carillon de Westminster is based on the quarter-hour chimes of the bells at Westminster Cathedral, which Vierne mis-quoted, either in error or intentionally. /Bob Greene

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