And news from Brazil! Our new program year of evening fellowship and learning gets off to a great start next Wednesday, August 16. On the menu for our first fellowship dinner of the fall semester are ham, hash brown casserole, broccoli, biscuits, and dessert. After dinner, stay for a report from our Brazil mission team, which spent a week in late spring working and visiting with our partners in Felipe Camarão. As you head for home, linger in the Fellowship Hallway to choose books from the wonderful array given to us. We have commentaries, devotionals, fiction, and nonfiction, all free to a good home!

Dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall, and the Adult Learning Program follows at 6:20. Student Small Groups and Wednesday Night Kids will meet at 6:00 p.m. See you Wednesday!

Middle school students: 5:00-6:30 p.m.

High school students: 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Grab your friends and get ready for a night of fun and mess at the church this Sunday, August 13! Wear clothes and shoes that can get messy and wet, and bring a towel and a change of clothes.

If you're in seventh through twelfth grade, you are invited to come and bring your friends to our Fall Retreat on Labor Day weekend! We're going to Look Up Lodge in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, where there will be lake fun, ziplining, a three-friend swing, a giant waterslide, a slopstacle course, and paintball. On top of all that, you can worship and bond with your church family. We will leave early on Saturday, September 2, and return around noon on Monday, September 4. Join us for a weekend of fun and fellowship with friends!

Ready to go? Register at www.fpcbristol.org/students. To finalize your registration, turn in a $75 deposit to Katie Arnold, our Director of Student Ministries, or the church office. If you register with a deposit by August 20, you will receive a t-shirt, and the total cost of the trip will be $150. After August 20, the price will increase to $160 and a t-shirt size cannot be guaranteed.

Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." (Luke 10:2)

It's time again to plan for a visit from Family Promise, which will send two families to our church from 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 3, until 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 10. We will have six people to feed, visit, and love with the love of Jesus!

We will need volunteers and, of course, food. New volunteers are welcome! Please feel free to invite a friend to volunteer with you, especially if you choose to stay overnight or provide a meal. Some slots are filled, but there are plenty of other opportunities to serve:

Provide a meal: Bring a simple dinner for our six guests, plus the dinner hosts, to the little kitchen at 5:30 p.m. on the day you've chosen. Homemade or store-bought both are welcome!

Dinner hosts: You and a friend, and/or your family, come to the parlor at 5:30 to eat with the families, direct cleanup, and stay until 8:30 p.m.

Overnight hosts: You and one other person arrive at 8:30 p.m., spend the night at the church, and see the families off at 7:00 a.m. Snacks and comfy beds will be provided, but bring your linens.

Bring food for breakfast or lunch: Closer to the date, we will have a list of preferred foods to choose from.

Launder linens: The families use our sheets and comforters, which will need to be laundered and ready for the next time.

Please contact Dottie Havlik to see which opportunities fit your schedule. You can reach her by email at [email protected] or call or text her at 423-956-6747. Thank you!

And the grass isn't all that's growing! Our Student Fellowship groups kick off their new year of activities this Sunday, and our fall semester of educational and fellowship opportunities begins next Wednesday. Larry Connolly and David Moore will take it in turn to make sure that our campus is as spruce as a Sunday suit and as up-and-coming as a teen. No pressure, guys.

We welcome men and women, adults and teens to sign up for our mowing team at any time of the year. Families too: younger children can move fallen branches and debris to the curb, and a parent or elder sibling can mow. It's easy, it doesn't take much time, and you won't have to mow more than three times a year. If you're unfamiliar with Scag mowers, Team Captain Randy Cook will be happy to give you a lesson on our Tiger Cat. If you can mow even once during the growing season, please email Randy at [email protected] or call his cell at 423-956-1541. Thank you! 

The annual church picnic was a huge success. The only thing that outshone the food was the incredible weather and phenomenal fellowship. Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen, to all the folks who brought the alphabetical extras, and to the Boy Scouts. Hey, let's do this every year! 

Billie in her new home.

No, that's not the name of a retro rock band. We've happily heard from Vicki and Steve Fey and Billie Peterson, who send greetings to the congregation! The Feys want everyone to have their new address: 3681 N. Decatur Road #T-01, Decatur, GA 30032. Billie, Vicki's mother, wants you to know that she is doing well and enjoying her Brookdale Senior Living facility in Roswell. She would welcome your cards and visits! Her address is 1000 Applewood Drive #280, Roswell, GA 30076.

Pictured left to right: Jason Asbury, Marlon Hurst, Steve Fey, Rt. Rev. Dr. Derek Browning, Vicki Fey, David VanderMeer, Rev. Gayle Taylor, Craig Dobbins, Jane Cain, and David Eicher.

The Presbyterian Association of Musicians sponsored a trip to Scotland to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be Reformed 500 years on. More than 140 people took part in the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Scotland, including seven members of our local Voices of the Mountains and members of FPC Bristol. Alert readers will spot Steve and Vicki Fey in the back row of the photograph. The participants gathered on July 29 for worship in Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's) to begin a week-long Reformation tour.

Sunday's music: Our anthem is a text taken from Isaiah 25 and reminds us of the

	Joseph Martin

omnipresence of God. The composer Joseph Martin (b. 1959), a native of North Carolina, earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Subsequently he earned a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of Texas, Austin. Joseph taught for five years in the Piano Pedagogy Department of the University of Texas. He is a member of the staff of Shawnee Press as Director of Sacred Publications, with responsibilities for overseeing the editorial and creative direction of the company's sacred publications and also coordinating the recording and production aspects of future sacred publishing efforts. Joseph has performed solo piano recitals and has been the featured artist with symphony orchestras in the United States and Mexico. He now devotes his efforts to playing in churches and for conferences of church musicians. With Mark Hayes and David Angerman, Joseph has co-authored a fully graded, progressive piano method for the Christian student called Keys for the Kingdom. Joseph now lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and two children.

Organist's footnotes: Herbert Norman Howells (1892-1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, best known for his Anglican church music. His first Psalm Prelude, Op. 32, No. 1 (Prelude) was composed in 1915, and is a sweeping, romantic piece, conveying a multitude of rapidly changing emotions. It is based on Psalm 34:6: "The poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble." Howells composed "Paean" (Postlude) in 1940, and it was published in 1953 in the collection Six Pieces for Organ (No. 6).

His fellow Englishman, Derek Bourgeois (b. 1941), wrote "Serenade for Organ" (Offertory) for his own wedding, to be played by the organist as the guests left the ceremony. Not wishing to allow them the luxury of proceeding in an orderly 2/4 time, the composer wrote the work in 11/8 time, and in case anyone felt too comfortable, he changed it to 13/8 time in the middle!

Join us in worship the next two Sundays as the Reverend Elizabeth Patrick preaches on two powerful verses from the book of Romans:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

This Sunday, August 13, we'll be asked to consider what it means to present ourselves to God as a "Living Sacrifice." Next Sunday, August 20, we'll explore the difference between conformity and transformation.

Our guest preacher this Sunday is a well-known member of our congregation, an ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and a graduate of Erskine College, Duke Law School, and Princeton Seminary. Elizabeth served as solo pastor of Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church in Sandy Springs, South Carolina, before moving to Bristol in 2008 to marry Dr. Bill Linderman, Professor of Mathematics at King University. Since then, she has served as pulpit supply at a number of churches in the Tri-Cities and beyond. Currently, Elizabeth spends most of her time building Lego creations, breaking up squabbles, and otherwise caring for sons Henry (age 4) and Ben (age 2).

An extensive list of prayer concerns, "Pray for One Another," is available for pickup at the church each week.

 

In Our Prayers

Sunday, August 13

8:30 a.m.       Worship, Fellowship Hall

9:45 a.m.       Sunday School

11:00 a.m.     Worship, Sanctuary

5:00 p.m.       Middle School Student Fellowship Kickoff

6:30 p.m.       High School Student Fellowship Kickoff

Monday, August 14

7:00 p.m.       Building & Grounds Committee, Room 117

7:00 p.m.       Worship Committee, Room 123

Tuesday, August 15

9:00 a.m.       Staff Meeting, Room 117

10:00 a.m.     Morning Prayer Group, Conference Room

7:00 p.m.       Boy Scout Troop 3, Scout Wing

Wednesday, August 16

5:15 p.m.       Baby & Toddler Care

5:30 p.m.       Fellowship Dinner, Fellowship Hall

6:00 p.m.       Wednesday Night Kids

6:00 p.m.       Student Small Groups

6:20 p.m.       Adult Program, Fellowship Hall

7:00 p.m.       Pastor Nominating Committee, Room 117

7:15 p.m.       Sanctuary Choir

7:30 p.m.       8:30 Worship Team, Fellowship Hall

Thursday, August 17

7:00 a.m.       Men's Bible Study, Parlor

12:00 p.m.     Noon Bible Study, Room 117