• A highly functioning church puts worship at the top of its priority list. It is thoughtful, well-planned, consistent worship that brings together a congregation and helps it to coalesce around the grace and love of God found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While the music and prayers may change from one Sunday to another, the regular discipline of coming together serves as a means to recalibrate our hearts and minds for the week ahead. And here's a tip: if, in that hour on Sunday, you don't like a particular hymn or sermon, remember it's not about you! It's about God and the praise of God alone. Without the vital component of assembling to worship God, the center of a faith community cannot hold. A church that prays together stays together.
• A healthy church also values community. When different groups of church membership try to impose their will upon a congregation - be it theological, practical or otherwise - trouble ensues. Paul's metaphor of the church as a human body, with many different but equal parts, is essential to ensuring it remains healthy and whole. Respect for each is respect for all. Additionally, a community of faith is valued when its members care for each other and the world around it. The compassion of Christ shared with our brothers and sisters is essential to understanding and reflecting the compassion of God shared with us. No church isolated from itself or from its surroundings can survive.
• A vibrant church comprises all age groups. Sadly, too many American congregations are graying at an alarming rate, signaling they have become irrelevant to younger generations. The church with as many babies as retirees is the one providing spiritual nourishment to all its members through worship, education, fellowship and mission. What's more, each generation teaches another about the wideness of God's mercy and makes the process of  "doing church" so much more interesting.
• A living church reflects joy. With each welcoming handshake and kind word, with every act of appreciation or congratulatory celebration, a church signals that its chief end is to "glorify God and enjoy God forever," as the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it. A church with a despairing soul is devoid of the necessary fuel needed to run its faith engine...that of a joy derived solely from Almighty God. Perhaps more than anything else, it is unfettered joy to which seekers of a church home are most attracted.

• Four new hearing devices have been added to the church's system for use in the sanctuary.  There are now a total of eight devices available.
• The maple tree on the front courtyard is being treated for a beetle infestation by an arborist with Fulgham's Inc., a tree preservation service provider.  The treatments will be performed on an annual basis.
• The repairs to the UKirk space in the annex building should be completed by the end of the week, and the repairs to the insulation of the ceiling in the youth space will be underway soon.
• The floors in the Education Building have been cleaned and waxed, and plans have been made for a drop tile ceiling to be installed with new lighting in the building.
• The church parking lot will be closed each Saturday home football game this fall for UKirk's parking pass fundraiser. 
• The ministry team has addressed mold issues in the annex building classroom, and they also reported that aesthetic improvements have been made there.

• The Haiti mission trip is scheduled for January 13-20, 2018.

• The next new member class will be held September 17, 2017.
• Appreciation was expressed to Joanne Oliver for overseeing the work with the Sunday church registers.

• Wednesdays Together will be held September 20-October 25, 2017. The first event will include a church-wide talent show with supper provided. The next five programs will include the study of various aspects of the Reformation, the 500th anniversary of which is this year. These sessions will be led by Revs. John Semmes, David Randolph, Ann Kelly and Allison Wehrung. Dr. Jeff Watt, a University of Mississippi history professor, will present an overview of the Reformation at the last session.
• Mary Thurlkill, University of Mississippi religion professor, will be teaching a class about the Bible and the Koran this fall. It will be open to students and the community. For two of the sessions, she will use Fellowship Hall: August 29 and September 5.

• Beginning September 10, 2017, the church will again offer regular worship services at 8:30 am and 11:00 am.

• The ministry team reported that Rally Day was a success. Sunday school classes are fully staffed with teachers and the classes have been well attended.
• Nursery volunteers continue to be needed during the Sunday worship services.
• Whitney Allen resigned as the director of the nursery due to her promotion at Discovery Day School at OUUMC. LaShaunda Sisk has been hired as the new FPC Nursery Director. She will assume her role as director September 3, 2017. The ministry team is also in the process of staffing the additional paid nursery positions.

• As of July 31, 2017, year to date revenue was $577,677.69 and expenses were $547,159.58. The ministry team was pleased to report that 93.5% of the budgeted pledges have been collected.
• The ministry team will meet August 23, 2017, to begin plans for stewardship season.

 Reminder: The October deadline for submissions to First Press is