The year 2021 has been a tough but rewarding one. God has moved in a mighty way in our church and on the King University campus, thanks to the generous donations of time and resources by our congregation and the Missionary Emergency Fund. My role here at First Pres and at King has been pure joy. As we wrap up this semester, I share with great enthusiasm the victories God helped us achieve in building a bridge between FPC Bristol and King University.

Thank you to all who prayed, supported, and helped us facilitate meal trains and worship nights! God’s mighty presence has brought at least twelve students to the small group Bible studies on campus, led by senior student Stephen L. on Monday mornings. We have supported this time of study with coffee, hot chocolate, and tea to warm the attendees as they study God’s Word.

A big thank you to Dr. Brian Alderman for giving me the opportunity to lead a Tuesday evening rehearsal in King Chapel and lead worship with the Chapel Band every Wednesday morning. This has been a refreshing time on campus, and it’s an honor to see God’s children lift their voices to our God in corporate worship. Thanks to Chase Arndt in the Student Life Office, God has helped us propagate the Christian faith on the King campus. Our church has established a Creative Team with two King students serving as interns and the possibility of another in the spring.

Church Fam, you have truly supported the mission, education, and outreach activities of First Presbyterian Church of Bristol. I give thanks to the dedicated church instrumentalists (Bob Greene, Justin Miller, Peter Meredith, Melissa Galliher, Favour Maji, Josh King, Geneva King, Lilly Osborne, T-Rex Meredith, Blake Collins) and all our vocalists (Katie M, Davita S, Ginny Osborne, and our beloved Kids’ Kirk Praise Team and Bell Ringers).

An intergenerational, functional Praise Team is growing into maturity and becoming vessels unto honor. Thirty to forty King students gather every Sunday night to worship, and one of them shares God’s Word. On December 1, more than fifty student athletes gathered in the cafeteria for the re-establishment of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). Five or six students rededicated themselves and gave their lives to Christ. We also celebrated one of our Chapel Band pianists during her recital at King.

As the year ends, I must express my deep appreciation to the members of our church, the Senior Pastor, the entire staff, the session, and the Worship Committee, all of whom have seen value in this ministry and given us the opportunity to express our gifts. I believe God will help us as a church to see more cross-collaborative outreach in 2022.

In Christ’s Grip,

Jeremiah Swam Sidi

Director of Contemporary Worship and

Campus Ministry Evangelist, King University

Student Fellowship had a busy Sunday. FPC youth ushered in the holidays by baking cookies to spread a bit of joy to others during the holidays. They also enjoyed a Christmas party with a white elephant gift exchange and shared dinner. Looks like they had fun!

If you are planning to make a year-end gift to First Presbyterian Church and are required take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from a taxable retirement plan, please consider talking to your financial advisor about a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD).

A QCD is a direct transfer of funds from your IRA, payable directly to a qualified charity as defined in the QCD provision in the Internal Revenue Code. Amounts distributed as a QCD can be counted toward satisfying your RMD for the year, up to $100,000. In addition, the QCD is excluded from your taxable income and lowers your adjusted gross income and income tax!

Gifts may be designated to church general operations to help fulfill our annual operating budget or to one of our current mission partnerships. A new option is to designate gifts to one of the recently established Legacy Funds: the General Legacy Fund (which provides the broadest impact for years to come) or one of several Designated Legacy Funds specific to various program areas in the church, such as Worship/Music, Christian Education, Missions, or Facilities. For more information, please call Betsy Galliher in the church office or email her at [email protected].

Sandra Eithun, MMEd, is a graduate of Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, with an emphasis in the Kodály teaching method, keyboard, and flute. She is married, has four grown children, and lives in New London, Wisconsin, where she has been Director of Music Ministry at First Congregational United Church of Christ since 1992. There she directs three handbell choirs and serves as choral accompanist, organist, and keyboardist.

She is the director of the Silver Lake College Handbell Ensemble, is an active member of the Handbell Musicians of America, and has served on their Area VII Board of Directors. She has been commissioned to write music for many events and for numerous individual handbell ensembles. She has more than 300 pieces for handbells in publication as well as several sacred keyboard books and teaching collections for the incorporation of handbells in the music classroom.

Our handbell choir is playing two of her pieces, “Away in a Manger” (prelude) and “Angels We Have Heard on High” (postlude), from a collection titled Christmas Carols for Three to Six Ringers. Eithun explains: “As enjoyable as the month of December can be, it is not without a somewhat frenetic element, with schedules packed to the max, leaving scant time and personnel to adequately prepare music for performance in worship or concert settings. So, in an attempt to alleviate some of this stress, it has been my joy to assemble this book of instantly recognizable carol tunes in easy arrangements that utilize flexibility in the assignment of bells to ringers.” We are grateful for her thoughtful creativity!

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