Our next opportunity to help our neighbors through Sharing Christ Downtown Mission will be Saturday, July 28. We expect to feed approximately 120 people at dinner and send them out with sack lunches for Sunday. It's a rewarding time of service to our neighbors in need, and your church friends will be there to show you exactly what to do!

As of July 11, we needed two more chicken casseroles (easy recipe provided), two more people to serve and clean up (4:30 to 7:30 p.m.), and 100 ready-to-serve rolls. We can usually store several casseroles in the church freezer, and you can also bring yours directly to the mission by 4:30 p.m. on the 28th.

Sharing Christ Mission is located at the corner of Sixth and State streets in downtown Bristol. If you have questions (or need the casserole recipe!) or want to help, contact Dottie Havlik at 423-956-6747 or [email protected]. Thank you!

The Reverend Steve Playl was born in Madisonville, Kentucky, and graduated from Western Kentucky University and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Steve served as pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church for 28 years. He is currently the staff chaplain at Bristol Regional Medical Center, writes a weekly column for the Bristol Herald Courier, and teaches at King University as an adjunct instructor. He and his wife, Sammie, have lived in Bristol for 30 years; they have four children and many grandchildren. In addition to their ministries, Sammie and Steve enjoy being the caretakers of their vintage house in the Historic Fairmount neighborhood and traveling ... every chance they get.

The Reverend Elizabeth Patrick is an ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a graduate of Erskine College, Duke Law School, and Princeton Seminary. She 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. Elizabeth is active in our congregation but says she spends most of her time building Lego creations and otherwise caring for her sons, Henry and Ben.

Join us for Fun Family Fellowship at Steele Creek Park Wednesday, July 18, at 5:30 p.m. We won't be hard to find; we'll be having so much fun, you won't be able to miss us!

We continue to celebrate our scouting tradition: congratulations to Boy Scout Troop 3! It now has a total of eight members who have been trained and become part of the National Youth Leadership Team!

The rest of the month promises more heat, a little rain, and maybe even drama by way of thunderstorms. It also brings us National Ice Cream Day, appropriately enough on a Sunday (yes, yes, Dear Reader, we know the homophone is spelled sundae), National Lasagna Day, National Hot Dog Day, National Cheesecake Day, and other opportunities to indulge ourselves after getting out there and cutting the grass. We hope that Larry Connolly (July 11-14), Roger Sikorski (July 18-21), and Pat Flannagan (July 25-28) will be as good about rewarding themselves for the task they take on for the rest of us as they are about caring for the church lawn.

Join our mowing team! We welcome men and women, adults and teens, even families: younger children can move debris to the curb, and a parent or elder sibling can mow. It's easy, and you suit your convenience, mowing once or up to three times. Simply contact Randy Cook at [email protected] or 423-956-1541. If you're new to Scag mowers, he will be happy to give you a lesson on ours.

Music notes for July 15: Our anthem, "Ride the Chariot," is another arrangement of an African-American spiritual. This arrangement was written by William Henry Smith (1908-1944), who was a music professor at Wiley College in Texas. Once again, the text is in code for the people oppressed by slavery. "Ride the chariot in the morning" was code for "escape to freedom tomorrow." On another level, the chariot has been seen as a vehicle for deliverance between sin and forgiveness.

Organist's footnotes for July 15: Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) was a German composer of considerable fame in the early twentieth century, best known for his choral lieder, chamber music, and compositions for piano, organ, and harmonium. Born in Oberndorf am Neckar, Germany, he studied music at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he became a staff member in 1919. Notable influences of his work include composers Claude Debussy, Aleksandr Scriabin, and Arnold Schoenberg. His favorite instrument to compose for was the Kunstharmonium, a versatile French creation that allowed him the range of colors he preferred.

	Sigfrid Karg-Elert

Karg-Elert's works, especially those for organ, enjoyed reasonable popularity in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. His performance skills were less admired, and his single tour of the United States in the early 1930s was not well received. He succumbed to a long illness in 1933, and is buried in Leipzig. The popularity of his compositions declined for a period before a successful revival in the late 1970s.

Our prelude for July 15 is from his 33 Portraits für Harmonium (1913), a collection based on the styles of composers ranging from Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina to Schoenberg. Karg-Elert composed "Ein Siegesgesang Israels: Lobet den Herren mit Pauken mit Zimbeln schön" ("A Victory Song of Israel: Praise the Lord with the Drums and Cymbals") alla Händel, in the style of George Frederick Handel. The composer indicates pomposo e festivo, and this "pompous and festive" piece does indeed resemble the music of Handel, minus the master's genius.

Karg-Elert's first and most extensive works for organ are his Op. 65-66 C horal-Improvisationen für Orgel (1908-10). The day's offertory, "Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen" ("Blessed Jesu, How Hast Thou Offended"), is No. 17 in this collection. We would associate this tune with the Lenten hymn, "Ah, Holy Jesus," if we could actually hear it. Karg-Elert has hidden the tune in isolated fragments deep within the thick texture, which he indicates is "in Heinrich Schütz'scher Manier, 5 stimmig" ("in the style of Heinrich Schutz, in five voices").

Our postlude, "Nun danket alle Gott: Marche triomphale" ("Now thank we all our God: triumphant march"), is No. 59 of the Choral-Improvisationen für Orgel. Karg-Elert indicates pomposo e con brio (pompous and with vigor), and the score lives up to that directive. While the familiar tune is virtually indistinguishable, nevertheless the overall effect of the music can be thrilling.

Music participants for July 15: Pat Flannagan, Bob Greene, Men of the Sanctuary Choir.

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Composer's footnote for July 22: In the summer of 1997, I attended the Choristers Guild conference at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Among the classes offered to the adults was a composition class lead by Hal Hopson. On the first day of class, Hal asked to

	Our own Bob Greene

see the scores we had brought to share in class. I was stunned: I hadn't realized we were supposed to bring scores with us; mine were all at home in Virginia! So that evening I sat down and composed the piece you will hear July 22. The next day I shared it with the class. I'll never forget Hal's reaction. He said to me, "That is a GREAT melody!" He clearly liked it very much, which meant a lot to a struggling composer like me.

Later, I sent it one of my friends, Miranda DiMarco, whom I met at Montreat earlier that same summer. I dedicated it to the choral group she both founded and directed, the Gap Creek Singers of Greer, SC. It became a favorite of their repertoire.

Later still, I arranged it for SATB chorus and introduced it to Mark Davis at First Presbyterian Church, Kingsport. It remains a favorite anthem of theirs to this day. They recorded it, and I sent the recording to Mark Schweizer at St. James Music Press, who agreed to publish it. The version used for our anthem July 22 is the original solo version with piano accompaniment.

Sunday, July 15

8:30 a.m.       Worship, Fellowship Hall

9:45 a.m.       Sunday School

11:00 a.m.     Worship, Sanctuary

4:00 p.m.       Evangelism & Outreach Comm., Room 117

Tuesday, July 17

10:00 a.m.     Staff Meeting, Room 117

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

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

Wednesday, July 18

5:30 p.m.       Fun Family Fellowship, Steele Creek Park

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

Thursday, July 19

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

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

Sunday, July 22

8:30 a.m.       Worship, Fellowship Hall

9:45 a.m.       Sunday School

11:00 a.m.     Worship, Sanctuary

Monday, July 23

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

Tuesday, July 24

10:00 a.m.     Staff Meeting, Room 117

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

6:00 p.m.       Venture Crew 3, Room 165

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

Wednesday, July 25

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

Thursday, July 26

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

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

Saturday, July 28

4:30 p.m.       Sharing Christ, Downtown Bristol

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