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OH NO! Not More
Stewardship Stuff
If this tends to be your reaction to the word Stewardship at church, you are not alone. It has often been my reaction as well. As an Elder here I initially had no intention whatsoever of serving on the Stewardship Committee. But, as is often the case, God had a different plan. And now I am continually being surprised at my excitement at being a part of this incredible committee. It has fundamentally changed my own attitude about Christian stewardship.
As was mentioned in the Windows article two weeks ago, we feel strongly that stewardship is not a Sunday or a season, but a way of living as followers of Jesus. Stewardship is also not only about money, though that is a fundamental and integral component. Right now, especially, is a challenging time to ask for money. With so many daily-living costs going up, our necessary expenses are understandably competing with “extras.” Some in our church may be concerned about how to feed, clothe, and house their family; some find that their fixed incomes are competing with the necessities of life. So many are having to carefully pinch pennies (or nickels now as the case may be!). As such, many may be struggling with how to fulfill a pledge already made or how to commit to a future pledge.
God fully and completely knows our concerns as well as our needs. Yet He expects, even requires, us to remember that all things come from Him. We, in turn, must remember, recognize, and honor our pledges, commitments, and obligations to support His work through our church. Giving is not just a “grin and bear it” situation. It is the joyful responsibility of putting our faith in action, knowing that whatever our sacrifices, God’s rewards will outweigh any burden.
Prayerfully, let us give and let us pledge with thoughtfulness, generosity, and joy. /Lenita Thibault
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Stewardship Briefings THIS SUNDAY
Have you ever wondered HOW the budget for our church is developed and WHO manages it throughout the year?
Or have you ever wanted to know WHY we are asked to pledge and WHAT our offerings really impact in achieving the mission of our church?
If so, join us for a 10 - 15 minute briefing this Sunday, October 11 to gain insights as well as answers to your questions!
There will be three opportunities to choose from:
1. Immediately following the 9 am worship service in the fellowship hall
2. 10:45 am in Room 123 for Sunday School participants and teachers
3. Immediately following the 11 am worship service in the front of the sanctuary
Loving, Serving, and Growing by Giving. We are all in this together! /John Vann
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Friends, one of the questions asked of all members by the Session, as they join the fellowship is: “With God’s help, will you be a faithful member of this congregation, share in its worship and ministry through your prayers and gifts, your study and service and so fulfill your calling to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?” Often referred to as the “rights and responsibilities” of membership, it reminds us that more is expected of us, than simply showing up to worship.
With this in mind, please note that we have a congregational meeting scheduled for Sunday, November 1 at 10:10 am. The meeting will take place in the Fellowship Hall and is being called so that the Nominating Committee may present to you a slate of nominees for: Elder, Deacon, Trustee who will serve 2027-2029. You may agree with the proposed slate and thus vote accordingly, or you may wish to make a change to that slate. Either may be accomplished by attending. See you there. /Dave Welch
| Please Note: There will be no Fellowship Supper or Wednesday Night activities on October 14 due to Bristol TN City Schools Fall Break | |  | |
Worship
October 11
Scripture
Matthew 28:20
Exodus 33:12-23
Sermon
Martin Dotterweich
“God's Presence in the Wilderness”
October 18
Scripture
Psalm 77
Joshua 4
Sermon
Jamie Lively
“Remembering God's Faithfulness”
In-Person Attendance
September 27
9:00 a.m. 117
11:00 a.m. 94
October 4
9:00 a.m. 131
11:00 a.m. 106
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Calendar
Sunday, October 11
9:00 a.m.
Early Worship, Fellowship Hall
10:20 a.m.
Sunday School
11:00 a.m.
Late Worship, Sanctuary
Monday, October 12
7:00 p.m.
Worship Committee
Tuesday, October 13
10:00 a.m.
Staff Meeting, Rm 123
7:00 p.m.
Scouts
Wednesday, October 14
No Meal or Regular Activities
BTCS Fall Break
7:15 p.m.
Praise Team Practice
7:15 p.m.
Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal
Thursday, October 15
7:00 a.m.
Men's Bible Study, Parlor
1:00 p.m.
Women's Bible Study, Rm 123
Sunday, October 18
9:00 a.m.
Early Worship, Fellowship Hall
10:20 a.m.
Sunday School
11:00 a.m.
Late Worship, Sanctuary
4:00 p.m.
Missions & Outreach
5:00 p.m.
ONE Table Cookout
Pumpkin Palooza
Monday, October 19
7:00 p.m.
King Institute for Faith & Culture,
Fellowship Hall
Tuesday, October 20
10:00 a.m.
Staff Retreat, Off Campus
6:00 p.m.
Administration & Operations
7:00 p.m.
Scouts
Wednesday, October 21
4:30 p.m.
Congregational Care Committee
5:30 p.m.
Fellowship Supper, Fellowship Hall
6:15 p.m.
Adult Home Groups
6:15 p.m.
Wednesday Night Kids
6:15 p.m.
Student Small Groups
7:15 p.m.
Praise Team Practice
7:15 p.m.
Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal
Thursday, October 22
7:00 a.m.
Men's Bible Study, Parlor
1:00 p.m.
Women's Bible Study, Rm 123
5:30 p.m.
Fairmount Trunk or Treat
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October Mission Focus
Sharing Sweetness with Our Neighbors
Autumn brings cooler days, colorful leaves, and one of our favorite community traditions: Trunk or Treat at Fairmount Elementary School. This year, the event will take place on Thursday, October 22. We invite the congregation to help us create a fun and welcoming experience for local children and their families through our October Mission Focus.
Our mission project centers on collecting individually wrapped Halloween candy to be distributed during the Trunk or Treat celebration. What may seem like a simple bag of candy becomes an opportunity to share kindness, build connections, and remind children that they are valued by their community.
How You Can Participate
Donate Candy and Small Giveaways
Throughout October, bring bags of individually wrapped Halloween candy and place them in the collection bins located in the Fellowship Hall or near the church office. We also welcome donations of stickers, small toys, or other child-friendly items that can be handed out during Trunk or Treat. Every contribution helps make the event a success and brings smiles to local children.
Host a Trunk
Volunteers are needed to decorate vehicles and distribute treats during the event. Whether your theme is simple or elaborate, your presence helps create a memorable evening for the children of Fairmount. Click HERE to reserve a trunk space.
Invite Others to Join In
Friends, neighbors, and fellow church members are all welcome to participate by donating candy or volunteering. The more people involved, the greater the impact we can make together.
Trunk or Treat is more than a fall celebration. It is an opportunity to extend hospitality, strengthen community relationships, and share Christ's love in a joyful and tangible way. Thank you for helping us make this outreach event a meaningful experience for the children and families of Fairmount Elementary School.
For more information, contact Dave Welch or Lilly Osborne. /Missions & Outreach Committee
| | Click HERE to view job description | | | Click HERE to view job description | | CHILDREN'S MINISTRY HAPPENINGS | |
Parents Night Out Recap
We hope the parents had as much fun out as we did on Friday!! Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who helped make Parents’ Night Out a success -- Alison Meredith, Rob Meredith, Josh Rudd, Kayla Stroin, and Teddy Tooley!!/Lilly Osborne
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Fusion Recap
Fusion (our 4th and 5th graders) had a fun evening of swimming and cooking over a campfire!! We had a group of all boys! Thanks to Josh Rudd, Rob Rutherford, Gina Strickland, and Kayla Stroin for helping!/Lilly Osborne
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Bring a side dish to share and any meat you would like to grill. The grills will be hot and ready! Please bring your dish ready to serve and a lawn chair. Food is served at 5 p.m. with pumpkin painting right after. See you there!
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In Our Prayers
We have several unnamed or private requests.
Please also pray for the members of our community who wish to remain anonymous.
George Alvarado
Ann Arnold
Courtney nee Bailey
Kevin Benton
Emma Booher
Bud & Marg Branscomb
Avery Brooks
Sarah Connor Burns
Mary Martha Byron
Jane Crewey
Barbara Daniel
Abigail Davis
Ann Davis
Jon Eakes
Frances Emerson
Melissa Gent
Robert & Dottie Havlik
Lou Hebb
Pete Holler
Edwin Logan
Lisa McClain
Martha Mueller
Cathy Newton
Peggy Peters
Meg Rice
Lauren Samuel
Tom & Delma Slagle
A.J. Stanford
Terry Stout
Loretta Thomas
Jeannie Williams
Region/Nation/Special
Food Insecurities
Human Trafficking
Iran
Middle East
Those suffering with addiction
Ukraine
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October 11: On this 20th Sunday after Pentecost, we hear three pieces from three 20th century English composers. Our first piece is by Herbert Norman Howells (1892–1983). Howells is well known for his “high” Anglican church music. Three Psalm-Preludes, Op. 32, was published in 1921, and No. 1 (our Opening Voluntary) dates from 1915. It is a sweeping, romantic piece, conveying a multitude of rapidly changing emotions. It is based on our psalm for the day, Psalm 34, verse 6: “This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble.”
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Our second piece, “Prelude for manuals” (our Offertory), is by Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995). Sumsion was born in Gloucester, England where he was a chorister and studied under the Cathedral Organist Sir Herbert Brewer. He later studied at the Royal College of Music before proceeding to organ and teaching posts in or near London. After a short period in America (1926-1928) as Professor of Harmony at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he accepted the appointment of Organist and Master of the Choristers at Gloucester Cathedral on the sudden death of Brewer. He remained there until his retirement in 1967 and continued to be active with teaching and composition until shortly before his death in 1995.
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Our third piece, “Tuba Tune in D Major”, is by Craig Sellar Lang (1891-1971). Lang was born in Hastings, New Zealand was educated at Clifton College, and was a pupil of Walter Parratt and Charles Stanford at the Royal College of Music. In 1929 he was appointed Director of Music at Christ's Hospital school in Horsham, West Sussex, to where the choristers of Westminster Abbey were briefly evacuated during the Second World War. An obituary recorded his “personal magnetism” and determination to awaken “the budding musicianship of every sort of pupil”. His best-known work is the Tuba Tune for organ (1929), Opus 15, a favorite of recitalists. This dashing little piece, which owes its title to the boisterous melody sounded forth on the organ's tuba [Latin word for “trumpet”] stop, begins in the style of Handel but, in its central section, has some brief key changes that could belong to no century except the 20th.
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October 18: On this 21st Sunday after Pentecost we hear three pieces arranged by two contemporary American women.
Thought by some scholars to date back to the Middle Ages, KINGSFOLD is a folk tune set to a variety of texts in England and Ireland. After having heard the tune in Kingsfold, Sussex, England (thus its name), Ralph Vaughan Williams introduced it as a hymn tune in The English Hymnal (1906) as a setting for Horatius Bonar's “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say”. We will sing it to a much newer text by Michael Morgan, “The Mighty God with Power Speaks” (1999).
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For our Opening Voluntary, the Adult Handbell Choir will play an arrangement of KINGSFOLD by Linda Lamb. Lamb has also arranged BEACH SPRING for handbells, which is our Offertory. Linda Lamb is the handbell director at Lexington Park Baptist Church, Lexington Park, Maryland, where she directs two youth choirs and an adult choir. She graduated from Carson‑Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, with a B.A. in Sociology and from Concordia University in Wisconsin with a master's in Church Music (emphasis in handbells). She and her husband, Ken, are the parents of two grown children, and have two grandchildren.
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Great Is Thy Faithfulness, arranged by Diane Bish (b. 1941) for organ, serves as our Closing Voluntary. Bish has enjoyed an illustrious career as an organist, composer, conductor, as well as executive producer and host of The Joy of Music television series. As a concert organist, she has performed in concerts throughout North America and Europe. Bish also continues to tape episodes for her television series by visiting notable organs throughout the world. Bish’s arrangements are typically flamboyant and exciting, but this arrangement of Great Is Thy Faithfulness is (in my opinion) more restrained. /Bob Greene
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Monday of the week of publication is the deadline for contributions to Windows. Subscribe to our free e-newsletter by sending your name and preferred email address to the editor. Livestream our worship services and other activities at FPC Bristol on YouTube. Click on the link and hit Subscribe to receive notifications of new videos. Find us on Facebook at FPC Bristol. Several accounts will show up. “Like” the page or ask to join a group.
We encourage you to use text, mail, or our website to safely continue your faithful support of our ministries. Give online HERE ; choose a fund from the drop-down menu. Text GIVE to 833-921-6567 to send your pledge, offering, or special gift to the church. A link to Pushpay, our online giving platform, will be sent. Messages and data rates may apply. Message varies frequency. Text HELP for help. Text STOP to cancel. If you prefer, you may mail your contribution to the church.
| | 701 Florida Avenue | Bristol, TN 37620 | 423-764-7176 | fpcbristol.org | | | | |
