Due to complications with the USPS Office, our annual stewardship letter is running late!

Did you know all our stewardship forms and materials are on our website! You can find it all at fpccov.org/stewardship or by clicking the button below!

This year we have also made fillable PDFs of the Time and Talent form and the Covenant Card! That means you don't need a printer to fill them out. Just download them, click to check boxes or to type, and save it so you can email it to the office! Fillable forms can be downloaded by clicking the buttons below or by visiting the stewardship page on our website. Printed forms are also available in the narthex!

Stories of Stewardship: Dan Walden

FPC Covington has been my church family for 30 years. You all - and the many dearly departed saints of the church - have been the family that helped raise my children in the faith, and today are helping to raise my grandchildren as well. As Sam Hay, Jr. used to say, you all have been there to "prop us up in our leanin' places" and to encourage us to become part of God's beloved kin-dom here on earth. In short, you have been God's grace incarnate in our lives and I will be forever grateful.

Stewardship is not so much as me trying to pay back a debt that I owe because the gifts I have received are priceless. Rather, stewardship is my attempt to pay it forward to the church family today. So I’m delighted that I am able to contribute to the mission of the church by working with the Tech Team to produce an audio/video archive of our worship experiences. I have also enjoyed serving with the many feeding ministries that FPC is involved in, including Meals on Wheels and our Community Food Pantry. I especially enjoy sharing the gifts of music and story telling with our children at Sunday School and VBS. And just recently I’ve been given an opportunity to lead our Thriving Congregations cohort, a process that will help us to sharpen our focus and make a difference in our community as a family of faith. So many exciting opportunities await us and I couldn’t be more grateful!

And of course, each year we make a commitment for financial giving to support the work of our talented staff and volunteers. This commitment is important because it gives our Session a basis upon which to set a budget for the coming year so that we can do more good work together. I hope you will consider doing the same. Get involved. Make a financial commitment. See the fruits of the Spirit flourish in your lives and the lives of our neighbors!

Grace & peace,

Dan Walden

TOMORROW NIGHT!

October 13th at 7:00pm in the Fellowship Hall

Join our new Garden Club: Blossoms and Beans!

Meets on the second Thursday of the month

7:00pm-8:30pm in the Fellowship Hall

Ask Jeff MacKenzie for details. Questions about plant problems, seedlings, compost issues, and all things botanical are welcome!

Come paint pumpkins to give to our friends in need.

Hiring!

After reevaluating our needs for Play Café we have updated our job listings for Program Director and Classroom Assistant.

Whoever fills these positions will be integral to making Play Café what it can be!

See the job descriptions below, or at fpccov.org/employment-opportunities and let us know if you know someone you think would be a good fit!

Change the World Day is a day of education, service and community and is an uplifting and exciting experience.

Saturday, October 22nd | 10:00am-1:00pm

First United Methodist Church | 1113 Conyers Street SE

The annual community event, Change the World Day, sponsored and hosted by Covington First United Methodist Church will be held on October 22nd from 10:00am–1:00pm. Everyone is welcome. Change the World Day serves our community by providing resources and information to positively influence and change the lives of persons/families throughout our community. Many churches and businesses will have booths to invite the attendees to visit with them and take resource material that would enhance their lives. FUMC Food Pantry Volunteers and volunteers from churches and businesses from across the county take care of distributing groceries and hygiene packs. Change the World Day is an annual event that serves over 500 families by providing community resource information, hygiene packets, diapers, cold weather clothing and blankets, socks, underwear and food boxes. There is also a free Fall Festival on site! Previous Fall Festivals have included activities for the children who attend, a petting zoo, free food from various churches and community businesses and the Oxford College culinary school. This year FPCC will have two booths at the event, one staffed by the youth of our church with “kid-friendly” items and another structured towards adults to provide information about First Presbyterian and about some of the community services that are available around Newton County. Every member and friend of FPCC is invited to help prepare handout bags for this event and to participate in representing First Presbyterian Church Covington at the event. Please contact Curtis Watson at 404-550-1212 or wats1818@bellsouth.net if you are interested in being a part of this vital service to the community.

If you are interested in joining an evening Presbyterian Women's Circle, please contact Debi Selin at selin1955@live.com. Our hope is to provide a space of study and fellowship!

The Chancel Choir has begun rehearsing music for Advent and Christmas, and we would love to have you join us! For the next couple of months, a portion of the rehearsal from 7:20 to 7:50 is dedicated to rehearsing Lessons & Carols, which will be accompanied by a string quartet and percussion on Sunday, December 11th. 

"Grace Notes & Gospel Gab" is a new email offering from our Director of Music and Worship Arts, Alicia Taylor. Subscribe to learn about FPC’s music ministry and the history behind special worship services.

The children's music ministry has started back! We have had a great first few rehearsals with both of our children's choirs. If you'd still like to join, you can! We would love to see you tonight!

Children 3 years old through 1st grade are invited to Joyful Noise at 4:30pm to ring bells, sing praise, participate in a rhythm band, and puppetry arts.

Hallelujah Kids! meets at 5:00pm for 2nd through 8th graders to learn to ring tone chimes and handbells, sing praise, participate in a drumming circle, and puppetry arts.

Childcare will be available from 4:30 PM to 8:00 PM each Wednesday at the church for parents who are involved in the church music ministry.

Please contact Alicia Taylor at 770-656-6848 or at alicia@fpccov.org with any questions

Neeley’s Notions is an email offering that gives Neeley the chance to start a conversation about the inspirations and influences she thinks about while writing her weekly sermon. The email will be sent on Friday mornings when the Spirit leads, and you can reply to the email with your thoughts and stories for Neeley to read.

Click the button below to subscribe.

All Saints Sunday is on November 6th

If you would like the name of your loved one included in the list of those whom have passed this year please email their name as you would like it to be printed in the worship guide to catherine@fpccov.org

PDA is working with affected presbyteries and international partners to assess the aftermath of Hurricane Ian and offer resources and support. emergency grants have been disbursed and National Response Team members are deployed. 

As people of faith, we stand ready to partner with presbyteries, congregations and communities to meet the immediate and long-term needs.

If you'd like to contribute to PDA's disaster response, please visit

pda.pcusa.org/situation/hurricane-ian/

Please keep the following people and their families in your prayers this week:

Prayers:

• Patrick Carmichael
• Donald Vining, brother of Danny Vining - vision loss
• Mike Crews, son-in-law of Jack Wheeler - awaiting results of bladder cancer treatment
• Gary Lott, brother of Tricia Hinton - recovering at home following two brain surgeries
• Linea Lott, niece of Tricia Hinton - leukemia
• Beverly Beasley, friend of Jean Elder - caring for husband who has leukemia
• Larry Cox, brother-in-law of Randy Layton - cancer
• Bob Darby, friend of Jeff Mackenzie - leg amputated, kidney problems
• Bruce Hamilton, brother-in-law of Theodosia Wade - cancer
• Karen Lein Kaasa, sister-in-law of Julie MacKenzie - home health care
• Lonnie Lamb - chemotherapy
• Richard, friend of Miriam and Jack Wheeler - leukemia
• Tony Taylor, brother of Alicia Taylor - recovering at home from heart attack
• Blair Weaver - health issues
• Joyce Williams, sister of Danny Vining - Alzheimer’s
• Martha Young, grandmother of Cotton Young - lung cancer

Celebrations

• Congratulations to Tom and Erin Stillerman on the birth of their daughter, Nora Brook Stillerman on Monday, October 3, 2022.

Condolences

• Our prayers are with Danny and Beth Vining and their family as they mourn the loss of their nephew, Joe Burckel.

Independent and Assisted Living

• Penny Blakeney - The Oaks Assisted Living
• Julia Brubaker - Benton House
• Jean Elder - Florida with her daughter
• Dot Fincher - Merryvale
• Travis Moss - Westbury, Conyers
• Louise White - Merryvale

Military Service

• Billy Scarborough - Marines
• Koen Ardis - Navy

Please click HERE to update your prayer requests or send new prayer requests.

You will be sent a check-in after three weeks.

In your email please indicate if you would like your request to be confidential or added to our prayer list.