Alexander (Whit) Whitaker

Alexander (Whit) Whitaker is president of King University. He has a law degree from the University of Virginia and an international law degree from Georgetown University. He has also earned graduate theology degrees from Duke Divinity School and from Trinity School for Ministry, where he is a trustee. Whit and Maria came to King in 2016 from Berry College, where he served for a decade in executive leadership positions, and where many years earlier they met as undergraduates. Before beginning his higher education career, he served as a Navy judge advocate, retiring as a captain after more than 25 years on active duty. The Whitakers live in Bristol. They have three grown children and a granddaughter.

We will collect our quarterly Five Cents a Meal offering this Sunday, February 25, at both services. The suggested offering is $13.65 per person, which represents about a nickel for each meal in a three-month period. Your offering will provide hunger relief through both local and global ministries. Last year, in response to requests from the Five Cents a Meal offerings, FPC received "grants" from the Presbytery for Haven of Rest, Bristol Emergency Food Pantry, Ethiopia, and Brazil. Please be generous! 

Our worship Sunday observes the season of Lent, the seven weeks of the church year preceding Easter. Recalling Jesus' 40-day temptation in the wilderness, Lent invites us through introspection and penitence to consider the costliness of Christ's sacrifice for our sin. Lenten worship is hence more subdued, signified by the purple liturgical color as well as by the temporary absence of flowers and "alleluias."

If you've worshiped with us in the 11:00 sanctuary service over the past month, you may be aware that we are experiencing intermittent problems with several of the microphones, including the pulpit's, wireless, and hearing-assisted headphones. A local sound engineer has determined that the mixing board, the heart and head of the entire sound system, is beginning to fail. It was purchased used and has served us for more than 12 years, which is beyond the normal life expectancy. Because of the design of the analog-type system, the engineer does not feel it is worth the cost to repair. (Just as with a car with 200,000 miles on it, we may repair one problem, but another will soon develop.) He suggests that we replace the entire unit with what is now the industry standard: a digital (computer based) rather than analog (circuit board based) model. The staff and the Session are exploring options and will keep the congregation informed.

Ever feel reluctant to talk about your faith with a friend?

FPC's Evangelism & Outreach Committee commends an incredible training opportunity to our congregation. Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the training is free and available at three locations in the Tri-Cities. Discover the "why" and "how" of doing Friendship Evangelism. Jesus was called "a friend of sinners." We are all called to be a friend. At this seminar you will learn how to take the fear out of sharing your faith story with your friends.

Choose the date and location best for you:

Monday, March 5	Tuesday, March 6	Thursday, March 8
7:00-8:30 p.m.	7:00-8:30 p.m.	7:00-8:30 p.m.
Hosanna Fellowship	Fellowship Chapel	Sullivan Baptist Church
715 Sunset Dr.	201 Crockett St.	4152 Maplewood St.
Johnson City	Bristol	Kingsport

If you'd like to carpool on either Monday, March 5, or Tuesday, March 6, call the church office at 423-764-7176 or email Diana Mattison, our church secretary, at [email protected] by noon on March 5 to sign up.

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:20)

For more than 43 years God has heard and answered our prayers according to His will.

Our story begins with two dedicated women. Mattie Robertson asked Dotty Royston to organize a group of ladies to meet each week to fill a void in the church for organized prayer.

In the 1970s, Dotty was one of the first Prayer Advisors for the Bristol Christian Women's Club, and she served for two years. She was so thrilled with the Christian Women's Club prayer coffee meetings, she agreed to help Mattie form the Women of the Church's Prayer Group for sharing prayer concerns.

Joining Mattie and Dotty to form the original Prayer Group were Louise Cowan, Eloise Hagy, Ann Harrison, Elizabeth Henninger, Anna Laura King, Otye King, Edith Knoll, and Mary Leslie. Later members of the Prayer Group have been Joan Freels, Sandy Nelson, Jane Nickels, Billie Peterson, Millie Pippin, Lynn Richards, Virginia Rutherford, and Marguerite Sentelle. Current members are Nancy Cook, Linda Darnell, Sandra Grubbs, and Selma Jennings. Over time, the Women of the Church became the Presbyterian Women, and the Prayer Group was renamed the Tuesday Morning Prayer Group.

When the Prayer Group began, each lady prayed in silence and prayed for a family in the church. The group has evolved in many ways from the early days of noting concerns on index cards. They now consult a five-page list accompanied by a hot list of the day's concerns. Included in the lists are those who need healing of body and soul, the bereaved, missionaries, military personnel, at-home members and those in care facilities, new mothers and unborn babies, church staff and congregational leaders, the Friendship Class, and our community and country. The group also prays each week for the members of our congregation having a birthday that week. This allows them to lift up every member of the congregation once a year. Request for prayer is confidential.

Joseph Harrison built the wooden prayer box and Stephen Henninger built the shelf in the narthex that holds it. Among the prayer requests slipped into this box, the Prayer Group has also found money and children's artwork.

In addition, the Faucette's box (so called because it came from the department store that used to be on State Street) served the Tuesday Morning Prayer Group's needs for many, many years. It held the key to the prayer box in the narthex, prayer requests on index cards, thank-you notes for the Prayer Group, and so forth. When the Prayer Group moved from using cards, about 15 years ago, to using computerized lists printed on regular paper, they retired the small Faucette's box and now use a shoebox.

The work of the Tuesday Morning Prayer Group continues in faith and trust.

Come to the Fellowship Hall next Friday, March 2, for pizza and games! The fun begins at 6:00 p.m., and we'll head home at 8:00. This is an event for all ages, so do make plans to join us!

ETSU Presbyterian Campus Ministry invites us to an open house Tuesday, April 3, beginning at 6:00 p.m. There will be a brief presentation at 6:15; light refreshments will be served. RSVP to Olivia Marenco, Campus Ministry Director, at [email protected], or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/etsupcm. The campus is located at 1412 College Heights Road in Johnson City. For more information, contact Olivia at the preceding email address or at 423-926-2522.

Sunday's music participants: Pat Flannagan, Bob Greene, Sanctuary Choir.

Sunday's music: Our anthem, "Agnus Dei," was composed by John Leavitt (b. 1956), a composer, conductor, pianist, and teacher, whose music continues to captivate listeners

	John Leavitt

and musicians of all ages. The anthem text is the Latin version: "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us." Leavitt received his undergraduate degree (music education) from Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas, a master's degree (piano and composition) from Wichita State University, and the Doctorate of Musical Arts (conducting) from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In 2010, Dr. Leavitt was the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Art's "American Masterpieces," to write a new choral work in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the State of Kansas. In 2012, Dr. Leavitt was honored with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music Alumni of the Year.

Organist's footnotes: Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) was born Alan Vaness Chakmakjian. In 1944, after his mother's death, he changed his last name, stating that "nobody ever

	Alan Hovhaness in 1983

pronounced it right." Hovhaness was a very prolific composer, having written more than 500 works of music during his lifetime. Although he has been stereotyped as a self-consciously Armenian composer, his output assimilates the music of many cultures. "Prayer of St. Gregory" (our prelude) illustrates Hovhaness's style of despair. Depicting St. Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church who was imprisoned for twelve years, this musical piece embodies a powerful and stirring prayer, a cry for help and forgiveness. It is scored for trumpet and strings, and often performed with piano or organ accompaniment. In this transcription, the solo trumpet part is played by the organist's feet.

"Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten" (our offertory) is the first line of my mother's favorite hymn, which she can sing from memory in her native German. We know it as "If thou but suffer God to guide thee." Georg Neumark wrote the text and the melody of this hymn in 1641, not long after he was robbed, beaten, and left for dead while traveling to another city to study law. Its seven verses deal with the Christian putting trust in God. Aaron David Miller's (b. 1972) arrangement uses the form of a "ground," a short melodic phrase (normally from four to eight measures long) that is repeated over and over again as a bass line, with varying melodies and harmonies added each time in the upper parts.

"O Welt, ich muß dich lassen" ("O World, I Must Leave You") (our postlude) is the third piece of Johannes Brahms' (1833-1897) "Eleven Chorale Preludes, Op. 122." This shorter organ pieces in this set are the last works Brahms composed; in fact, "O Welt" has been verified as his very last piece.

During this reflective season of Lent, please refrain from talking during the postlude, so that those who wish to listen may do so.

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

Sunday, February 25

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 Fellowship

6:00 p.m.       High School Fellowship

Monday, February 26

5:30 p.m.       Adult Handbells

7:00 p.m.       Session of Elders, Room 123

Tuesday, February 27

9:30 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, February 28

9:30 a.m.       Women's DVD Bible Study, Coffee Klatch Room

5:15 p.m.       Baby & Toddler Care, Rooms 34-36

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

6:00 p.m.       Pastor Nominating Comm., Room 117

6:00 p.m.       Wednesday Night Kids

6:00 p.m.       Middle School Gathering

6:15 p.m.       Adult Learning Program, Fellowship Hall

7:00 p.m.       High School Small Groups

7:15 p.m.       Sanctuary Choir

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

Thursday, March 1

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

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

Friday, March 2

6:00 p.m.       Pizza & Game Night, Fellowship Hall