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

In This Issue
Worship
Subscriptions & Deadline
A Word from Scottie: A Christmas Devotion
We Thank Our New Acolytes
More Holiday Celebrations
Joy Gift Helps Church Workers and Future Leaders
Year-End Planned Giving
Our October Financial Summary
Middle School Christmas Party Tomorrow
High School Progressive Dinner Dec. 16
Christmas Benefit for Bristol Faith in Action
Bristol Becomes Bethlehem Dec. 18
King University Christmas Concert Here Friday
Music Notes
Pray for One Another
Church Calendar
Our Church Officers
Worship
December 9
2nd Sunday of Advent
Lessons
Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 3:23b-38
Sermon
What's in a Name?
Sam Weddington
Hymns
Savior of the Nations, Come
O Lord, How Shall I Meet You
Anthem
Arise, Shine!
Last Sunday's Attendance
8:30: 117; 11:00: 140
Subscriptions & Deadline
To receive our e-newsletter, email your name and preferred email address to the editor, Kathy Acuff, at kacuff@fpcbristol.org. The newsletter is emailed a minute after midnight on Thursday morning. It is posted to our website later that day.
Deadline for contributions is the Monday of the week of publication. Windows is a publication of First Presbyterian Church, Bristol, TN.

Windows

on First Presbyterian Church

December 6, 2018
A Word from Scottie: A Christmas Devotion
My secret is out! I love Christmas! I love the music, the decorations, the food, the Hallmark movies, and the anticipation! I love it all! But best of all, I feel it is a season of hope. I feel there is hope for our world, our country, our town, our church, my family, and I feel there is hope even for me.
I love the Joy that I feel at Christmas. Not just because of the things I love but because God sent his son to us as a baby who would eventually die for us so that our sins could be forgiven. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all of the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).
So all the things I love about Christmas and that bring me joy are just a reminder to me that the true Joy is in the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. My prayer this Christmas season is that among all of the movies, music, decorations, food, and yes, even the Stress, that we remember that there is a great Joy, who is Jesus Christ, sent to save us from our sins. We have three weeks to spread the Joy of Christmas! / Scottie Bales
We Thank Our New Acolytes
We thank our new acolytes for all they bring to our corporate worship on Sunday mornings at 11:00. We look forward to their continued contributions to the life of the church and our worship! Shown in the first photo below, from left to right, are Samuel K. Weddington, Beckham Schiesz, Logan Tudor, Noah Ong, Lance Tudor, Joan Weddington, and Campbell Kent. In the second photo is Helen Grace Gannaway, an acolyte doing double duty in the Handbell Choir when the group photo was taken.



More Holiday Celebrations
We warmly invite and encourage you to join us for our holiday worship services and special occasions. Please note that several events take place off campus.
 
Date
Time
Event
Place
Fri., Dec. 7
6:00 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
Middle School Party
King U. Christmas Concert
Reardon Home
Sanctuary
Sun., Dec. 16
Both services
8:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
5:00 p.m.
Joy Gift Offering
Worship
Lessons & Carols
H.S. Progressive Dinner
 
Fellowship Hall
Sanctuary
Off Campus
Tue., Dec. 18
6:00 p.m.
Journey's End
Downtown
Wed., Dec. 19
5:30 p.m.
Children's Christmas Play
Sanctuary
Sun., Dec. 23
8:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
3:30 p.m.
7:00 p.m.
Bluegrass Worship
Worship
Christmas Caroling
Night of Worship
Fellowship Hall
Sanctuary
Off Campus
Fellowship Hall
Mon., Dec. 24
10:00 a.m.
7:00 p.m.
Cookie Delivery
Candlelight Communion
Fellowship Hall
Sanctuary
 
Joy Gift Helps Church Workers and Future Leaders
Each year during the Advent and Christmas season, we turn our eyes to Bethlehem and celebrate the wondrous gift of Jesus Christ, our Savior. We will honor this gift again December 16 by collecting our own Christmas Joy Gift. Fifty percent of undesignated receipts to this offering will be distributed to the Board of Pensions for assistance programs that provide support to retired and active church workers and their spouses and families. The other 50% will support Presbyterian-related racial ethnic schools and colleges through the Racial Ethnic and Women's Ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Please be generous!
Year-End Planned Giving
Christmas is upon us, and amidst our long shopping and to-do lists, you may be planning your year-end benevolences. We thank you for your support of the church in 2018, and we want to encourage you to consider First Presbyterian of Bristol in any other year-end planned giving you hope to do. Every dollar you share with us goes to support the ministry and mission of your church. If you have a specific project in mind, like debt elimination, music, children or youth ministry, or some other element of our congregational witness, please specify that on the memo line of your check. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.
Our October Financial Summary
Our congregation's pledges, regular offerings, and special offerings are having a pronounced positive effect on our financial health and ability to conduct our ministries. Here we present the highlights of our financial status through October 31.
  • Pledges/Offerings through October 31 are outpacing expectations by $42,880.
  • Other Gifts, Income & Reimbursements are ahead of budget $4,185, thanks to the collection of special offerings.
  • Expense Notes:
    • Evangelism & Outreach's benevolences were paid in October. Just as the income exceeds the budget, the expenses exceed budget because of the distribution of the special offerings.
    • Programming and Ministry areas of Worship & Music and Christian Education & Nurture continue to track favorably year-to-date. These program areas typically expend their full budget by year end.
    • Administrative expenses continue to be below budget through October. The last five months of the year were weighted more heavily this year so should outpace the first seven months of the year, still remaining safely within our budgeted provision. This is primarily because we were fully staffed as of August 1.
    • Building & Grounds expenditures are typically more heavily concentrated in the second half of the year, as deferred maintenance items are set aside pending any unexpected building maintenance that may arise earlier in the year.
    • Capital Loan: The balance with Eastman Credit Union on October 31 was $501,859. This represents a year-over-year principal reduction of $61,969. Interest expense on the loan (which flows through our Operating Budget) was $16,667 for the ten months ending October 31. This expense was $18,475 for the same period last year.
 
2018
October Actual YTD ($)
October Budget YTD ($)
Annual Budget         ($)
Revenue
Total Pledges
567,412
547,198
649,436
Offerings
90,999
68,333
82,000
Other Gifts , Income & Reimbursements
97,955
93,770
104,713
Total Income:
756,366
709,301
836,149
Expenses
Evangelism & Outreach
51,295
47,079
50,297
Worship & Music
53,450
62,847
76,105
Christian Education
201,897
205,329
244,040
Administration
159,785
182,088
231,280
Building & Grounds
115,628
127,302
151,962
Fellowship & Stewardship
17,535
28,291
32,520
Total Expense:
599,590
652,936
786,204
Surplus/Deficit(-)
156,776
56,365
49,945
 
Middle School Christmas Party Tomorrow
Merry Christmas, middle schoolers! Join us tomorrow, Friday, December 7, for a night of dinner and games! Meet at the Reardons' house (5850 Old Jonesboro Road) at 6:00 p.m. Bring a $10 gift for the gift exchange and five stocking stuffers for volunteer stockings. Grab your friends and tacky sweaters and let's party! For more information, contact Katie Arnold at karnold@fpcbristol.org.
High School Progressive Dinner Dec. 16
Join us for a night of food, games, and Christmas fun next Sunday, December 16! We will meet at the church at 5:00 p.m. then travel to a different home for each course of the meal. We will return to the church around 9:00 p.m.
Please bring:
  • 1 $10 gift for the gift exchange
  • 5 stocking stuffers for volunteer stockings
Pull on your tackiest sweater, grab your friends, and prepare to party!
Christmas Benefit for Bristol Faith in Action

Robert Campbelle

Love Came Down, a Christmas celebration to benefit Bristol Faith in Action, will be held next Sunday, December 16, at 3:00 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church. Seasonal music by Bach, Handel, Rutter, Dawson, McCoy, and CPC Choir Director Robert Campbelle will be performed. The church is located at 301 Euclid Avenue in Bristol, VA. For more information, call 276-623-3050 or 276-669-3157.
Bristol Becomes Bethlehem Dec. 18
We invite you to join the FPC folks already involved in Journey's End, an annual Christmas celebration in downtown Bristol, on Tuesday, December 18, at 6:00 p.m. Pastor Sam will give the opening prayer, then we will all walk with Mary and Joseph as they seek lodging in Bethlehem. Our inns are downtown businesses, and our innkeepers are local choirs and choral groups. We will begin our journey at the Downtown Center, 810 State Street, then process by candlelight as we sing traditional songs and carols, accompanied by instrumentalists.
Wear warm, comfortable clothing, bring baby strollers, if needed, and be ready to sing! We will provide candles and song books at the start, and refreshments at the end. If the weather is bad, the event will be cancelled, so please pray for good weather!
King University Christmas Concert Here Friday
King University will present a Christmas Concert in our sanctuary tomorrow, Friday, December 7, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public, but if you can, please bring canned food or donations for the Bristol Emergency Food Pantry.
Music Notes
Sunday's music participants: Pat Flannagan, Bob Greene, Sanctuary Choir.
Daniel Moe
Sunday's music notes: Our anthem, "Arise, Shine!," was composed by Daniel Moe (1926 -2012) and based on the text from Isaiah 60:1-3. The grandson of Norwegian immigrants and the son of a Lutheran pastor, Moe was born in Minot, North Dakota, and began his musical training at age five. After high school, in June 1944, Moe entered the Naval V-5 program. He served as an aviation cadet and played tenor saxophone and clarinet for Navy bands. In 1946, he left the Navy to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. He started as a pre-theological student, but by his second year, he had changed his major to music. After graduation, Moe returned to Fargo and directed the choir at Olivet Lutheran Church. He went on to earn a master's degree at The University of Washington. He taught at the University of Denver for seven years and directed the choirs at Augustana Lutheran Church and Central Presbyterian Church. Moe went to the University of Iowa for his doctoral study, completing his PhD in 1961, and accepted a position as director of choral organizations at the University of Iowa. In 1972 Moe was appointed professor of choral conducting at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in 1972. He served in this role for 20 years. In Sarasota, Florida, he was the music director of Key Chorale for 21 years. He conducted the choirs of New College, where he was an adjunct professor of music, and served as the Church of the Redeemer's composer in residence until his death.
Heathcote Statham
Organist's footnotes: All three of Sunday's organ pieces are based on hymns commonly sung during Advent. The tune VENI EMMANUEL is immediately recognizable as the tune for "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." Heathcote Statham's arrangement seems to take into account the meaning of its largely somber text. There is an underlying sense of restlessness as the music constantly shifts tonality, building in volume and intensity. Finally, at the very end, the music of the refrain can be heard quietly and clearly: "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel." Heathcote Dicken Statham, CBE (1889 -1973), was a British conductor, composer, and organist of international repute.
Craig Phillips
PICARDY is a hymn tune named for the province of France where it is thought to have originated. PICARDY was most famously arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1906 for the hymn "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" in The English Hymnal. The arrangement by Craig Phillips employs soft chords in the manuals and the tune in the pedals, creating mild rhythmic tension between groupings of two and three notes. Phillips (b. 1961) is a distinguished and popular American composer and organist and Director of Music at All Saints' Church, Beverly Hills.
Our closing Congregational Response, "Prepare the Way, O Zion," uses a 14th-century Swedish folk melody, BEREDEN VÄG FÖR HERRAN. American organist Paul O. Manz's (1919 -2009) chorale prelude based on this same tune is heard as our postlude.
Pray for One Another

In Our Prayers
Please also include in your prayers several of our community who wish to remain anonymous.
Becky Busler
City of Pittsburgh & Temple of Life congregation & community
Tom Daniel
Ethiopia, especially our Christian brothers & sisters in Oromia State
FPC Search Committees
Ben & Patsy Frizzell
DeeDee & Sarah Galliher
Tom Greene (Bob's brother)
Ron Grubbs
Nancy King
Katie Kreuser (Tom & Leigh King's daughter)
Dot Mattison
Marty McCloud
Moneyhun Family
Alice Moore & Family
Larry Mullins
Nick Niosi
Robin North & the Leonard Family
Osborne Family
Karen Pennington
Phyllis Phares (Mary Connor's mother)
Cheyenne Poteat
Don Preston
Virginia Rutherford
Sproles Family
Chuck Thompson
John Wizorek (Annette Tudor's father)
 
Birthday Prayer Fellowship
Dec. 10       Linda Darnell
Dec. 11       Tina Witcher
Dec. 14       Vonda Kent, Jim Mayden, Wendy Olson
Dec. 15       Jim Arnold, Lou Hebb, Laynie Richardson
Church Calendar
Sunday, December 9
8:30 a.m.       Worship, Fellowship Hall
9:45 a.m.       Sunday School
11:00 a.m.     Worship, Sanctuary
3:30 p.m.        Christmas Play Rehearsal, Sanctuary
4:00 p.m.       Finance Comm., Room 117
6:00 p.m.       Student Fellowship, Youth Wing
Monday, December 10
7:00 p.m.       Building & Grounds Comm., Room 117
Tuesday, December 11
10:00 a.m.     Staff Meeting, Room 117
10:00 a.m.     Morning Prayer Group, Conference Room
6:00 p.m.       Venture Crew 3, Room 165
7:00 p.m.       Boy Scout Troop 3, Scout Wing
Wednesday, December 12
9:30 a.m.       Women's Bible Study, Room 117
6:15 p.m.       Handbell Choir, Sanctuary
7:15 p.m.       Sanctuary Choir, Room 202
7:30 p.m.       Worship Team, Fellowship Hall
Thursday, December 13
7:00 a.m.       Men's Bible Study, Parlor
8:30 a.m.       Meals on Wheels, Fellowship Hall
12:00 p.m.     Noon Bible Study, Room 117
5:00 p.m.       Human Resources Comm., Room 117
Our Church Officers
Church Officers
ELDERS
Class of 2018
Class of 2019
Class of 2020
Aaron Brooks
Anna Booher
Nancy Allerton
Randy Cook
Lee Galliher
Rebecca Beck
Debbie McMillin
Pete Holler
David Hyde
Stuart Parker
Han Ong
Jordan Pennington
Chuck Thompson
Pete Stigers
Jerry Poteat
DEACONS
Class of 2018
Class of 2019
Class of 2020
Adam Abel
Sujean Bradley
Blake Bassett
Nancy Butterworth
George Linke
Rhonda Comer
David Ginn
Greg Roberts
Brenda Lawson
Rett Stocstill
Nate Sproles
Barbara Thompson
Ann Woods
Bill Whisnant
 
TRUSTEES
Class of 2018
Class of 2019
Class of 2020
Charles Webb
Nancy Cook
Peggy Hill