First Presbyterian Church of Rome
May 2020
WE ARE PLEASED TO WELCOME,

Jimmy Latham as
 Director /Pastor of Student Ministries.
Jimmy brings with him extensive experience in Student Ministries, most recently having served for over eight years as Director of Student Ministries as Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church, a sister EPC congregation in Signal Mountain (Chattanooga), TN. Currently he is finishing his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in Charlotte, and then will complete the process of ordination as a pastor int he EPC, most likely in October of this year. Until then, he will serve as Director of Student Ministries, and upon ordination his position  title will become Assistant Pastor of Student Ministries.  Jimmy is a strong leader for our students, and string addition to the life and ministry of our whole church. He and his wife, Callie, are beginning the process of searching for a place to live in Rome, with their move probably taking place sometime in early to mid-June.   

Words cannot adequately express my gratitude for all you did to help Bill and me through the last two years. Your prayers, cards, messages, meals, transportation, shopping and visits helped and encouraged us in more ways than you know. What a joy to be part of a local church body that truly is the hands and feet of Christ. Thank you for continuing to walk with me through these difficult days. 
Love in Christ, Beth Tharp

In weeks where we do not meet for corporate worship, we encourage you to continue making you offering to the Lord. Giving can be done through the mail or electronically through the ShelbyNext Membership App on your mobile device or our home page under the tab GIVE. If you need assistance in connecting to your ShelbyNext Membership App, please contact Tracy Dupree at

First Presbyterian and Power Ministry (one of our missions partners that has provided life-changing short term missions opportunities for many men from our church and community), have teamed up to commit to providing all meals throughout the month of May, as needed for a COVID-19 unit at Floyd Medical Center. Every $10 you are able to give will provide a much appreciated lunch or dinner for one of our dedicated medical, security, or housekeeping team members who work 12 hours shifts with no ability to leave their unit. Because of our generosity, to date we have provided over 1300 meals. Please continue to show your love and appreciation for these "front-line" workers by giving generously to this ministry over the coming weeks. You may mail a check to the church office or by giving online at www.fpcrome.org


Sunday May 17 at 3:30 Pm from the Hardy Chapel
Dr. Aaron Rice, with accompanist Kyle Coleman, will once again come together later this month to sing hymns that will share the richness of the gospel and the beauty of Jesus Christ. The service will be live streamed to our Facebook page. You do not need to be a Facebook user to access the performance. If you missed the last Hymn Sing performance a link to the video is available on our Sermon page at:
30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World
" God desires to accomplish the impossible for His glory and He wants to use us to do it! He accomplishes the impossible in answer to our prayers. God's not interested in all our gifts, strategies, and plans. He wants to be God. Our job is to join Him in His work by prevailing in prayer." John Fain ( https://www.prayercast.com/prayer-101.html )
We ask you to join us for 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World. Daily prayer videos can be found on our social media platforms, a link can be found on our home page, www.fpcrome.org

Missions Spotlight: Our Missionaries and Covid-19
Travis & Stephanie Hill Rose started to experience abdominal pain just a few days after arriving back in GA. She had an appendectomy on April 21st. Please join their family in thanking God for His timing and for Rose's continued healing.

Keith & Rita Haywood "It was Friday, March 13 when the email arrived in our inbox. The OM Global Leadership Team had just issued an international travel ban for all OM workers from March 18 to June 15. This decision had major implications, not only for us personally, but also for the US church teams we were preparing to send on mission trips within the next weeks and months. To date, we have had to cancel or postpone 30 teams that were set to serve around the world this spring and summer. This year was shaping up to be one of the highest in terms of numbers of teams and individual participants. But God knows that and will work all this out for the good of His people and for His glory."

T & K "Both of us tested positive for the coronavirus and were knocked hard off our feet. We ask for continued prayer for the seeds planted through the programs and outreaches that we have been involved in the last few months."

Judy Gill "I am doing WELL, in every sense of the word. Things haven't gone quite according to plans, as you know, but I cannot complain.. The verse that has stood out to me has been: 'But I will trust in the Lord. My lips say: You are my God. My times are in your hands.' Especially the last part. Even this strange time is in His hands, so I will rest."
 
Cy & Diane Farmer "Epidemics, Pandemics, Disease Outbreaks, & Plagues have ravaged humanity throughout its existence, often changing the course of history. This one... only the Lord knows - and only He knows how this one is going to turn out. In all of this, we have God's precious promise from Psalm 91: 1-4 (AMP): 'He who dwells in the shelter of the  Most  High  will  remain  secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand]. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress,My God,in whom I trust[with great confidence,and on whom I rely]! For He will save you from the trap of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence'. Please pray for our trip to Singapore to be rescheduled and praise God that Diane's mother is healthy."
 
Phil & Diane "Please pray for continued protection and also for wisdom during this temporarily disrupted season in our work as we go forward."
 
Dave & Debbie Walker "We are fine. Our adopted country has good practices in place and we are still able to go to the office, doctor appts and grocery shopping. We find ourselves more 'careful' ... covid-19 has been our new normal since end of January 2020. We are joining you in prayer for our passport country ... so many people infected and so many working to care for those. We are resting in the truth that His mercy is still fresh and new."
 
K & T "Would you pray with us that God would clarify what He wants us to do as summer approaches. Our tentative plans were to return to the US for a few weeks in mid- June. We are not sure how this virus will affect those plans."

Sandy & Rob Shaffer "Our hearts and minds really need to be guarded right now. To his young disciple, Timothy, Paul wrote, 'God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.' Having a sound mind means controlling our thoughts, taking every thought captive  that  is  not  in  line  with  God's  thoughts. When I find my thoughts spiraling down in the direction of 'worse case scenarios,'it is time to run to the Word of God and let His Word and His Spirit change my thinking."
 
George & Martha Mixon George lost his father a couple of weeks ago. Please pray for this family in their time of grief. Praise for "One of the teenage girls, C, and her younger brother A, have just this week asked people at church to help them become Christians. We are so amazed and thankful. We are also concerned about how to help them more deeply understand and grow in the Gospel, especially as they are part of a family whom they have not yet told of their decisions."
 
John & Dawn Dawn's beloved mother passed away. Please be in prayer for them during their time of grief. They are thankful that their children arrived home from their positions overseas to attend the graveside service.
 
David & Tammy Preston "David and I are staying safe and managing these days with little change to our previous norms. David claims he was the 'King of Social Distancing' before COVID19 arrived! Our daily prayer is still for David's overall health concerns and constant neuropathy along his entire left side. In addition to the polycystic kidney disease, he is also battling cysts in his liver. Pray also for our work with BlueSky Global Ministries, as efforts in Kenya are dramatically changing during the country-wide shut down. Pray for protection for our team and the people of Kenya as the virus threatens to spread. We praise the Lord for FPC's entire community as you've loved so well and journeyed with 4 home-church missionary families who have served with BlueSky over the years!"
 
J.M. "One praise for us is that we are getting extended family time together and that has been very refreshing for us. A prayer request is that the islands we work in would open up in time so we can resume our work there when it is safe.