Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29 NRSV

We're here! As you will see announced in this edition of Windows, we are finally ready to have a congregational discussion on the acoustics in the sanctuary (Sunday, October 20, after 11:00 worship). It has been a hard process of getting all the information together in a package that is easily digestible by most. It has been harder working through the anxiety about all the questions generated by the issue of the acoustics.

So we're going to gather and discuss the matter with as many facts at hand as we can muster. We will also bring our opinions and our love for worship. We are also going to disagree, I am quite sure. There may be more anxiety that even I can anticipate.

However, here is the most important thing that is going to happen: we are going to gather as one body, and in all we say and do, we are going to build one another up. We are going to take Paul's advice. Our words, if God gives us the ability, will bring grace and life. If we do it this way, I think we will find that there is common ground upon which we can all stand together. Along the way, I think we will find we have been standing on the only ground worthy of being called solid: Jesus Christ.

My appeal to all of you is to come to the table, so to speak, and let's talk this out. Let's be guided by our love and our hope, not by our fear and our anxiety. If we do that, God will be glorified, and I am hopeful that we will find common delight in his presence.

In Christ,

Pastor Sam

Join us Wednesday, October 16, to hear Pastor Sam talk about mission. We will have our fellowship supper at 5:30 then programs for youth and children at 6:00 and Adult Enrichment at 6:15. Except when we have special presentations, we worship on most Wednesday evenings by praying, singing, and studying God's Word together at 6:15.

On Sunday, October 20, after 11:00 worship, the congregation is invited to an informational session about the acoustics in the sanctuary. We will discuss the proposals we have on hand to deal with the sound issues we face. JT King, a sound engineer from Florida, will be present to help us understand these issues, and we will have time for discussion and questions. The Session of Elders will be in attendance to hear what the congregation prefers in the matter of sanctuary acoustics. This is not a congregational meeting, and no vote will be taken.

Kathryn T. Long, Associate Professor of History Emerita at Wheaton College and author of God in the Rainforest (Oxford University Press, 2019), will speak in our sanctuary at 7:00 p.m. Monday, October 21. Her talk, part of the King Institute for Faith & Culture, is titled "God, His Ancient Spoken Message."

Dr. Long is an ordained PCUSA minister whose focus as a historian is on Christianity in the Americas during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She finds questions of interpretation and historical memory fascinating. Why do people or communities remember some events and not others? How is historical memory shaped and transmitted?

Dr. Long will speak earlier in the day, at 9:15 a.m., in King University Memorial Chapel, when her topic will be "Catherine Peeke: Keeping in Touch with a Protestant 'Saint.'"

Suggesting potential Elders, Deacons, and Trustees to the Officer Nominating Committee is an important responsibility of the members of our church. Now is your opportunity to raise awareness of strengths and witness of members in our congregation that are apparent to you and that you feel warrant the committee's consideration as potential church officers.

The committee welcomes your recommendations between now and October 27 of those you see as particularly gifted to serve as officers of the church. You will find nomination forms in the narthex and Fellowship Hallway. Please return completed forms to the church office or to one of the committee members: Lee Galliher, George Linke, Laura Ong, and John Vann (chair).

Alternatively, send your confidential suggestions to the committee at [email protected] with:

Feel free to consult any committee member for more information. The duties of each office follow below, and a table of all current officers of the church can be found at the end of this newsletter.

The Duties of Elders

The Book of Order, G-2.0301, states: "As there were in Old Testament times elders for the government of the people, so the New Testament church provided persons with particular gifts to share in discernment of God's Spirit and governance of God's people. Accordingly, congregations should elect persons of wisdom and maturity of faith, having demonstrated skills in leadership and being compassionate in spirit. Ruling elders are so named not because they 'lord it over' the congregation (Matt. 20:25), but because they are chosen by the congregation to discern and measure its fidelity to the Word of God, and to strengthen and nurture its faith and life. Ruling elders, together with ministers of the Word and Sacrament, exercise leadership, government, spiritual discernment, and discipline and have responsibilities for the life of a congregation as well as the whole church, including ecumenical relationships. When elected by the congregation, they shall serve faithfully as members of the session. When elected as commissioners to higher councils, ruling elders participate and vote with the same authority as ministers of the Word and Sacrament, and they are eligible for any office."

The Duties of Deacons

The Book of Order, G-2.0201, states: "The ministry of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of compassion, witness, and service, sharing in the redeeming love of Jesus Christ for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the lost, the friendless, the oppressed, those burdened by unjust policies or structures, or anyone in distress. Persons of spiritual character, honest repute, exemplary lives, brotherly and sisterly love, sincere compassion, and sound judgment should be chosen for this ministry."

The Duties of Trustees

The Book of Order, G-4.0101, states: "The [trustees of the] corporation shall have the following powers: to receive, hold, encumber, manage, and transfer property, real or personal, for the congregation, provided that in buying, selling, and mortgaging real property, the trustees shall act only after the approval of the congregation, granted in a duly constituted meeting; to accept and execute deeds of title to such property; to hold and defend title to such property; to manage any permanent special funds for the furtherance of the purposes of the congregation, all subject to the authority of the session and under the provisions of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The powers and duties of the trustees shall not infringe upon the powers and duties of the session or the board of deacons." / John Vann

Annually, the Evangelism and Outreach Committee offers an opportunity for our congregation to support our friends in need at Bristol Faith in Action. Throughout October, we will collect personal care kits and basic cleaning supply kits for them.

Ziploc bags will be on the seats at early worship and on the bulletin table in the narthex each Sunday in October. Each bag will contain a list of items to collect. Please pick up a bag, fill it, and return it to the church by Monday, October 28. You will find collection receptacles in the Fellowship Hall and the narthex. Thank you! / Karen Vann

Barbara Thomas

Fusion kids! Fifth and sixth graders may register now for our inaugural Fusion retreat.

When: October 18 -19

Where: Holston Presbyterian Camp

Cost: $40 per person

We will leave at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 18, and return around 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 19. To register, contact Lilly Osborne at  [email protected].

BTCS is on break this week, but David Moore (October 9 -12) is not. If splashes of rain have encouraged the grass to grow, he will be out on the church lawn with the Tiger Cat. Everyone will be back next week, including our Wednesday fellowship program, featuring Pastor Sam on mission. It will be Randy Olson's (October 16 -19) mission to mow the lawn.

	Aaron Copland

Sunday's music: Our anthem this week is "Zion's Walls" by Aaron Copland (1900 -1990), the most influential American composer of the 20th century. The "Dean of American Composers" is most known for incorporating American folk music into the orchestral context in a style referred to as populist. His most famous works come from the 1930s and '40s and embody the expansive frontier of our vast country. His most recognizable composition is "Fanfare for the Common Man," a standard of military, civic, and professional brass ensembles. Copland was a notable composer of stage works, including opera and ballet. "Zion's Walls" was adapted from his opera The Tender Land and is an arrangement of "Revivalist Song" by John G. McCurry, compiler of The Social Harp songbook (1855).

Copland was born in Brooklyn to a Jewish family of Lithuanian origin. His family lived above his father's department store, and most of the children worked in it. Copland's musical education began in New York but flourished when he moved to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, the most important music pedagogue of the 20th century; her pupils ranged from Leonard Bernstein to Quincy Jones. While in Paris, Copland learned the burgeoning European style and incorporated the twelve-tone and serialist styles that Arnold Schoenberg developed in the early decades of the 20th century. Copland worked in this style but found it difficult to market, so he turned to more accessible music. He returned to New York and began a full-fledged career as a composer and conductor. Around the 1960s his inspiration for composing seemed to dry up, and he finished his career as a conductor.

Organist's footnotes: Today's organ music is intended to relate to the phrase "he descended into hell" from the Apostles' Creed. I have chosen to play three chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach that he based on the Lutheran chorale Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir ("Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord").

	J.S. Bach

Prelude: This piece, from the Clavier-Übung III or "organ mass," is notable for its six-part polyphony. Aside from the Ricercar a 6 from The Musical Offering, Bach usually used three or four voices, only occasionally using five, in his keyboard compositions. He assigned the six voices as follows: two for the right hand, two for the left hand, and two for the feet. He reminds the organist that the composition uses pedal doppio, or two independent pedal parts, just as the fifth voice enters. The final voice to enter, which is the higher of the two pedal parts, is the cantus firmus, carrying the chorale melody in whole notes and half notes. Since the chorale is intended for organo pleno, or full organ, and since it has up to six notes being played simultaneously, the effect is that each phrase is a huge crescendo, building up until all six voices sound.

Offertory: There is a world of difference between the grandeur of Bach's six-part arrangement of this chorale (BWV 686) and the humility of this small-scale version. In this arrangement, it seems as if Bach is siding with vulnerable mankind, creeping closer, as it were, to God's throne, daring only to hope and expecting nothing. The only thing to hold on to is the melody line, which runs from start to finish in long note values. It results in a composition that is equally oppressive and charming. One can associate the calm and well-balanced atmosphere with God's mercy after confession.

Postlude: This chorale prelude is a fairly substantial work cast in two parts, the first devoted to a harmonizing of the chorale theme, and the longer second exhibiting a fantasy-like treatment of it. In recent years the attribution for this work has moved into the camp of Johann Sebastian Bach's son, Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach.

Ring a bell: The Sanctuary Handbell Choir is looking for new members, both regulars and substitutes. We practice from 6:15 to 7:15 on Wednesday evenings in room 212 upstairs, and play for the late worship service about once a month. Join now! Please contact Bob Greene at [email protected] or 276-696-9091.

Church Officers
Class of 2019	Class of 2020	Class of 2021
ELDERS
Anna Booher	Nancy Allerton	Ann Abel
Lee Galliher	Rebecca Beck	Randy Cook
Pete Holler	David Hyde	John Graham
Han Ong	Jordan Pennington	Katie McInnis
Pete Stigers	Jerry Poteat	John Vann
DEACONS
Sujean Bradley	Blake Bassett	Fred Harkleroad
George Linke	Rhonda Comer	Matt Kingsley
Greg Roberts	Ron Fox	Lisa McClain
Nate Sproles	Brenda Lawson	Drew Rice
Bill Whisnant	Barbara Thompson	Joyce Samuel
TRUSTEES
Nancy Cook	Peggy Hill	Jack Butterworth