We will hold a churchwide celebration to thank our church leaders and welcome the Weddingtons next Sunday, August 5, under the trees at the church. We will be celebrating the goodness of God and the new season he is leading us into. Games for all ages will start at 4:00 p.m. on the front lawn and in the parking lot. We will share a BBQ pork and potluck supper at 5:00 p.m. The church will provide the BBQ pork, and members are asked to bring sides. We will hold an informal vespers service under the trees at 6:00 p.m. Bring a comfortable chair or blanket, your side dish to share, and your voice to sing!

We will collect our quarterly Five Cents a Meal offering next Sunday, August 5, at both services. The suggested offering is $13.65 per person, or about a nickel for each meal you eat 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!

Last Sunday, Tom King spoke to the congregation on behalf of the Stewardship Committee. His remarks, edited for the newsletter, appear below.

The mission statement of First Presbyterian Church, Bristol reads:

                As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ

                                we are a community of believers,

                                called by God to glorify and serve God

                                through worship and witness.

 

                Empowered by the Holy Spirit,

                                we reach out to share God's saving love and grace

                                with people in Bristol and throughout the world.

 

Following the death of Moses, God spoke directly to His servant Joshua: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).

In John 14:12 Jesus spoke to His disciples, saying: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

As our mission statement says, we are disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, empowered by the same Holy Spirit that assured Joshua of His constant abiding presence with him as he led the Hebrews into the promised land, and who will empower us to do even greater things than Jesus accomplished in His three-year ministry on earth. Our church is on the threshold of a new era as we anticipate the arrival of the Reverend Sam Weddington and his wife and family next month. They have already witnessed the love and care of this church through the Pastoral Nurture Committee and all those who showed up to help move the belongings of his grandmother and mother into their new home last week. Now is the time for us as a church to demonstrate to them, to our local community, and to the world our dedication to fulfill our church's mission through the humble sacrifice of our time, talents, and treasure.

Your Stewardship Committee challenges each of you to ENGAGE in the life of this church with the boldness of Joshua and with the zeal of Christ's apostles. We want to thank all of those that volunteered for the Vacation Bible School this past week, which according to all reports was a joyous time of Bible stories, crafts, puppetry, and much more for the children of our church family and neighborhood families.

The following benevolences are supported by pledges and offerings to FPC Bristol.

 

Abortion Alternatives	Habitat for Humanity
Abuse Alternatives	Haven of Rest
Adult Mission Travel	Healing Hands Health Center
Boy Scout Troop 3*	King University
Brazil Mission                 School Scholarships                 Capital Projects                 General Support	Living Waters for the World
	Marthina Chapel                 Curriculum                 Pastor
Bristol Emergency Food Pantry	Minister's Discretionary Fund
Bristol Faith in Action	Mission Festival
Christian Hands Ministry	Missionary Couple - Bulgaria
Christmas Joy Offering	Missionary Couple - Ethiopia
Community Bible Study	Missionary Couple - Kenya
Cooperative Presbyterian Mission	Missionary Couple - Other
Ethiopia Mission	One Great Hour of Sharing
Evangelism	Outreach
Fairmount Elementary School	Sharing Christ Worship Center
Family Promise of Bristol	Student Ministries Mission Events
Five Cents a Meal	The Salvation Army
Girl Scout Troop	Venture Crew 3*
Good News Jail & Prison Ministry	Young Life of Bristol
*FPC is the chartering organization.

 

In just a few short weeks, on August 15, our Wednesday evening gatherings will resume. While the familiar routine of family-style supper at 5:30 followed by programs at 6:10 will remain unchanged, we are making a few changes.

Because we have reassigned Scottie Bales to work as our Financial Assistant, we will be limiting her work on the fellowship dinners and streamlining meal preparation and cleanup. That means we need your help! You can support the new plan by volunteering weekly, biweekly, or monthly. A signup sheet will be available on upcoming Sunday mornings, or you can volunteer by contacting Scottie at [email protected] or 423-764-7176. You will find a list of specific needs under "Engaging Volunteers: Current Needs," below.

We plan to have three meal rotations each month: fried chicken with side, salad, and dessert; lasagna with salad and dessert; and BBQ sandwiches with beans, slaw, and dessert. Make your reservation weekly through the Fellowship Register or by email to Scottie ( [email protected]). We hope you will come break bread with us around the table!

FPC high school students are invited for Dinner & Devos at Katie Arnold's house at 6:00 p.m. on August 1. Bring a friend!

The men of Gideons International extend an invitation to the men of FPC who would like to learn more about this ministry over dinner on Monday, August 27. If you are interested, please contact Dave Welch by emailing [email protected] or calling the church office at 423-764-7176. Gideons International is an association of Christian business and professional men dedicated to telling people about Jesus by associating together for service, sharing personal testimony, and providing Bibles and New Testaments.

Space is still available for the Ultimate Adventure Camp to be held from July 29 to August 3 at Holston Presbytery Camp and Retreat Center in Banner Elk, NC. Open to all ages, it features a strenuous 10-mile hike of the Appalachian Trail, a campout, and whitewater rafting on the Nolichucky River. Holston will provide backpacks, food, and gear; campers need to bring a lightweight sleeping bag. The price of $499 covers room, board, the hike, and a T-shirt. For more information and to register, click here.

July has been a bit over the odds, no matter how you calculate it, with more heat than we care for and assorted storms from out of the blue. We find ourselves in the unexpected position of longing for August, August!, and the return of the everyday. While we await calmer, cooler days, the calmer, cooler heads of Pat Flannagan (July 25-28) and JB Madison (August 1-4) will bring peace to our souls through their artistry on the lawn mower. As always, they will beat blades of grass into smooth, lovely lawn, ploughshares being out of the question. We simply cannot thank them enough.

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.

Sunday's music participants: Mary Ellis Rice, Bob Greene.

	Stephen Schwartz (Photo: Ralf Rühmeier)

Sunday's music: All our special music for July 29 comes from the popular musical Godspell, first published in 1971 by Stephen Schwartz. Even though it endured much criticism when it first opened, the show has enjoyed many revivals on Broadway, most recently in the 2011 -2012 season. The musical is structured as a series of parables, mostly from the Gospel of Matthew. The parables are interspersed with a variety of modern music set primarily to lyrics from traditional hymns. The odd thing about Godspell is that most of the lyrics are scriptural, much like Handel's Messiah.

Organist's footnotes: David See (b. 1957) and I have known each other since we were both students at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. He and I were active in the Oberlin Christian Fellowship and did a fair amount of hanging out together back then. After graduation, we went our separate ways and lost touch with each other. When I moved my family to Bristol in 1994, I was pleased to renew my friendship with David, who, I discovered, was now living in Johnson City and married to ETSU Professor of Piano, Dr. Lynn Rice-See. Until David and Lynn relocated to the New York City area, we saw each other frequently at meetings of the Greater Tri-Cities Area Composers Consortium (GTCACC). David was involved in both Artistic Reflections programs here in this sanctuary.

David's tongue-in-cheek arrangement of "The Little Brown Church in the Vale" (our prelude) makes me smile every time I play it. He delves into some pretty adventurous harmonic twists and turns in the middle section, before settling back down for an (almost) quiet ending. Enjoy! By the way, there really is a Little Brown Church in the Vale, near Nashua, Iowa, with a website (littlebrownchurch.org). On one of our cross-country trips, my family stopped to visit this historic church, which is home to an active congregation affiliated with the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. The Little Brown Church is a favorite venue for weddings.

David's short piece, "A Quiet Moment" (our offertory), was written for the piano, but it works equally well on the organ.

John S. Dixon's (b. 1957) "Hornpipe in D" (our postlude) is written in a very straightforward classical style. Dixon serves as organist and composer-in-residence at Providence Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach. You can visit his website at www.JohnSDixon.com.

Sunday, July 29

8:30 a.m.       Worship, Fellowship Hall

9:45 a.m.       Sunday School

11:00 a.m.     Worship, Sanctuary

6:00 p.m.       Youth Groups Worship, Roan Mountain

Monday, July 30

5:15 p.m.       MEF, Room 124

Tuesday, July 31

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

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

1:00 p.m.       Jackie Burt's Heartsburn Bible Study, Room 117

7:00 p.m.       Boy Scout Court of Honor, Chapel

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

Wednesday, August 1

5:30 p.m.       Back-to-School Bash, 

Middlebrook Clubhouse

6:00 p.m.       High School Dinner & Devos, 

Katie Arnold's Home

6:30 p.m.       Sanctuary Choir Picnic, Holler Home

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

Thursday, August 2

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

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

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