Join us in person or virtually for our Sunday Worship Service at 11:00 a.m. To watch: click the button above or visit our website, www.2ndpres.org, and click the "Sunday Live stream" button on the home page.
We will also email an active link on Sunday morning.
Also - if you click the gray button above you will be able to download the worship order so you can follow along at home!
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This Sunday is Communion Sunday.
If you wish to use them, there will be pre-filled, self-serve communion cups available to pick up as you enter the sanctuary.
Gluten free cups are also available.
If you are worshipping with us at home, cups are always available in the vestibule
Monday through Thursday.
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This Sunday is also Commitment Sunday.
You will be invited to bring your completed pledge cards down during the final hymn and place them in the plate. You are also welcome to drop your card by the office or mail it to the church before the end of the year. There are extra stewardship letters and cards available in the Narthex and Vestibule.
Alternatively, you may also fill out a pledge online (see next section below).
Thank you for your commitment to the mission and ministry of 2nd Presbyterian.
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How can you serve the mission and ministry of 2nd Presbyterian church in the coming year? For suggestions, please read the stewardship letter from Tim Wright by clicking the button below. A copy of this letter, along with a pledge card, was recently mailed. If you did not receive one, extras can be found in the vestibule and narthex. You can also submit your pledge online via the home page of our website or by clicking the button below.
The stewardship pledge period focuses on your financial pledge, but we hope you also think about how your time and talents could be put to work in service of our church and its ministry. Please consider how important you are to this church and please pledge as you are able.
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We are currently in PHASE YELLOW.
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Pick up your copy of the December Second Edition in the vestibule or narthex. You can also read it online by clicking the button above!
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The Officer Nominating Committee is interested in your suggestions for ruling elders to serve on the Session Class of 2025.
Ruling elders in the PC(USA) are defined as "persons of wisdom and maturity of faith, having demonstrated skills of leadership and being compassionate in spirit.” They are chosen by the congregation “to discern and guide its fidelity to the Word of God, and to strengthen and nurture its faith and life.”
Please click the button below to submit your suggestion.
The deadline for submissions is January 1st.
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Our Making Room Advent Devotionals are now available.
A digital version will be on our website under the “Resources” tab, or you can simply click the button below. Hard copies are also available in the vestibule and narthex.
To request a copy be mailed to you, please contact Audrey.
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Join the FSF Sunday School Class for their
Annual Christmas Potluck!
When: Sunday, December 5, 5:00pm
Where: The home of Caroline Buckner in Shannondale Buckingham, 719 Clubhouse Way, Knoxville
What to bring: Sides, Salads, Desserts (Caroline will provide ham, turkey, and drinks)
All are invited!
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Poinsettias are available to order for placement in the sanctuary two weeks before Christmas.
They may be placed in honor or memory of friends and family.
The cost is $10.00 per plant.
Forms for Poinsettia Contributions can be found in the narthex/vestibule.
Please give completed forms to Audrey by this coming
Wednesday 12/8 for inclusion in the bulletin insert.
Poinsettias may be picked up immediately following the
Christmas Eve Service.
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ADVENT WREATH CANDLE LIGHTERS NEEDED!
If you, your family, your group of friends, Sunday School Class, Fellowship Group, or any other combination of folks are interested in lighting the candles on the Advent Wreath this Advent season, please let Pastor Tim know.
Advent continues this Sunday, December 5th!
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Paul Sexauer is looking for a couple of volunteers to help out with the sound system on Sunday mornings. As a result of all the virtual services over the past year, a number of hardware changes have greatly simplified the process and therefore no knowledge of, or experience with, sound board operation is required. Hands on training and support during services will be provided.
If you think you might be interested, stop up in the balcony after a service and Paul will give you an overview of how it all works. Alternately, if you can stop up in the balcony between 10:30 and 10:45 on Sunday morning, Paul will give you an overview of the process and you can then sit “second chair” and watch the entire process during the service. It is really fairly easy!
We’re also looking for some volunteers to help out with the video side of the service. Stopping by the balcony after the service will allow you to see that as well. As with the sound, no technical knowledge is required to volunteer. Our goal is to have multiple volunteers so that scheduling can be as flexible as possible.
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On Saturday, December 11th the church will be hosting a work day from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.! |
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There will be a brief called congregational meeting following worship NEXT Sunday, December 12th, for the purpose of electing two at-large members to the Nominating Committee.
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There will be a reception following worship on December 19th to honor Jan Barber and her years of service to 2nd Presbyterian Church.
As a thank you, we are taking up a love offering for Jan.
If you would like to make a donation to this love offering, please send your donation to the church and designate it for Jan's love offering.
Come join us in saying thank you to Jan and celebrating her retirement.
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Once again the church will be having Drive Thru Christmas Caroling.
Date: Dec 19th from 3-5 p.m. in the Courtyard.
Needed: Volunteers to sing and volunteers to transport some of our shut ins.
No need to get out of your car, just drive by and listen and sing along.
There may even be Hot Chocolate and Candy Canes along with Lots of Fun.
Mark your calendars now and let Jan Barber know if you are willing to help out in any way!!!
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The Second Readers group is once again collecting stuffed animals for Judge Irwin’s juvenile court. These animals are given to children coming through his court and provide much comfort to these children who are experiencing very stressful circumstances.
Animals may be left in the box in the Atrium or if you prefer, you may make a donation and we will shop for you. The animals must be new and hopefully smallish, about 12-16 inches. Please, none of the huge ones. Thank you for your support and let’s remember these families in our prayers.
Questions, call Margaret Sullivan. 865-588-3103.
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Arts and Crafts circle of Presbyterian Women
is beginning a new project.
We are dressing dolls to donate to Isaiah 1:17 House. This is a 501-c3 organization which provides a safe place for children who have been removed from abusive situations until a foster placement can be found for them. They are removed with only the clothes they are wearing, and without any of their toys.
Since they have never had a new toy, the organization has asked that anything we donate should be new, not used.
They have plenty of stuffed animals, but were thrilled when we offered to make clothes for dolls we would purchase and donate!
We have the dolls, but realized we need something for the boys!
So, after conferring with the organization, we are asking the congregation to help us by purchasing and donating superhero action figures.
These can be any superhero, such as Spiderman, Batman, etc. Please place the action figures on or near the Christmas tree located in the atrium.
Because this is an on-going project, the items do not have to be given in time for Christmas. Children are served throughout the year, and will be allowed to select a new toy to take with them to their foster home.
I will be happy to talk with anyone who has questions.
Cheryl Ragsdale
865-684-8999
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We Want Your Input!
As we (hopefully) begin to emerge from the restrictions of COVID, the Care & Compassion ministry team is thinking about the restarting of Wednesday night dinners.
In doing so Care & Compassion’s members would like to have the benefit of the members’ thinking on (1) the types of meals preferred (catered, brown bag etc.), (2) the meal cost you feel is acceptable and (3) the likelihood of your participating on Wednesday nights if meals are a part of the evening.
Please let us know your thinking on these subjects by emailing either of the ministry team’s co-chairs: Marty McLean (mclean1605@gmail.com) or
Your help will be greatly appreciated!
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Come join the choir!
In Phases Yellow and Green the choir will sing without face coverings. If you are interested in lending your voice to the choir, we invite you to come to the sanctuary at 9:45 a.m. Sunday morning for choir rehearsal. No experience necessary – just a willingness to sing praise to the Lord!
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Wednesday Night Bible Study continues this
Wednesday, December 8th.
We will meet in the Mary Chambers Room.
The Bible study is currently in-person with a virtual option for those who wish to join from home. (Zoom link is below.) We also gather for dinner at 6:00 p.m. with each person/family providing their own “brown bag” meal. We will continue with the "brown bag" practice through December.
Dinner: 6:00 p.m.
Bible Study: 6:30 p.m.
This fall we are studying The Kingdom Parables of Jesus, those parables in which Jesus says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” The format is lecture/small group discussion. Pastor Tim reviews the story for 10 minutes or so and then we break into small groups for discussion questions together. The discussion questions are provided.
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Notes from the Book Lady at Second Pres:
I have three Thanksgiving books to recommend for young and old alike. There are times when an easy book can be very informative in a colorful way. The first book is Thank you, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving. As the title suggests, Sarah Hale, a magazine editor and author, persuaded President Lincoln to transform Thanksgiving Day into a national holiday.
A second fun book is Balloons Over Broadway: The True story of the Puppeteer of the Macy’s Parade. The book tells the story of Tony Sarg and his long-lasting gift to America – the inspired helium balloons.
The third book is a collection of poems about a family’s activities on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving At Our House: Thanksgiving Poems for the Very Young is written by Nancy Carlstrom. A fourth easy book for the very young is What is God Like? Written by Rachel Held Evans with illustrations by Matthew Turner.
A good youth read is The Boys in the Boat: The True Story of an American Team’s Epic Journey to Win the Gold at the 1936 Olympics. This is adapted for young readers by Gregory Mone.
Remember to sign the card in the back of the book and place in the container on top of the card file.
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Additional Volunteers Needed!
We are still trying to finalize our volunteer schedule and are still needing 2 people willing to be in our nursery on a 6-week rotation. We are also in need of 1 person to help teach Kindergarten-5th grade Sunday school once a month. If you are interested, please contact Holly Grimm at hgrimm@2ndpres.org or 865-243-6353.
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If you like to shop, the Fish Pantry mission is in need of the following household and personal items:
-Dish Soap
-Bath Soap
-Shampoo
-Toothpaste
-Deodorant
-Pet Food (small canned or bagged quantities, wet or dry for dogs or cats)
Our once-a-month Fish team receives phone call requests for food and these additional items; then they are sorted, packed, and delivered to each client's household.
All donations should be newly purchased, and any quantities would be greatly appreciated.
They can be dropped off into the “Fish” bin that sits on the floor in the coat rack area just off the atrium. Thank you!
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Compassionate Cuisine is a program from the Care and Compassion committee and our Cooking Teams. This group is collaborating to create a homecooked meal, and will gather safely at the church to package them into individual portions, that they will then distribute to some of our members who are living in their homes but may not be getting out and about to pick up dinner or groceries to make a home-cooked meal.
The teams would love to have your help in cooking and/or distributing meals in hopes that this ministry might be able to grow in the coming months. If you’re interested in helping by cooking a portion of one of the meals and/or would be willing to deliver some of the meals, please contact Leslie Matthews: flowlilly@gmail.com, (865) 765-0549.
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Pick up your
November-December
Upper Room Devotional
in the vestibule
(Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) or at the narthex entrance into the sanctuary!
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On the Pastoral Care page of our website, we will share more specific updates regarding those on our prayer list. It will be updated frequently by the church staff.
Visit our website: 2ndpres.org. The page is located under the 'Members' tab.
To keep all information private, the page is password protected. Please contact Audrey at the church office (via email: ajohnson@2ndpres.org or phone: 865.523.2189) for the password.
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Our Wi-Fi network is for use by anyone who visits the building.
The network is “Second Presbyterian Church” and the password is Psalm100.
Please feel free to save it as a network that connects automatically for your device.
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Prayer List:
Please keep Pam Maples, the family of Mary Johnson, Frances Johnson, the family of Dr. John Campbell, the family of Rachel Rogers, Scott Farris, Alex & Phyllis Robinson, and Joshua Peter Hamilton in your prayers.
Please contact the Church Office (865.523.2189 or ajohnson@2ndpres.org) with prayer concerns to be listed in the weekly email or bulletin.
Names remain on the prayer list 4 weeks unless requested by the individual or a close family member of the individual to keep them on longer.
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