Second Presbyterian Church
July 10, 2020
As you are most likely aware, there has been a dramatic rise in active Knox County Covid-19 cases in recent weeks, including an increase in both hospitalizations and deaths. Currently, two of the five benchmarks for reopening are red, two are green, and one is yellow. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and in an effort to do our part in not contributing to the further spread of the novel coronavirus, the Session has taken the following actions:

Worship

We will no longer resume in-person worship on August 2 nd and will continue to worship solely via streaming until further notice. We hope to resume in-person worship after Labor Day, but will reevaluate at the August 18 th Stated Session meeting.

Committees/Groups

Effective immediately all group meetings in the church building will be cancelled for the remainder of July and the month of August. Groups and committees of the church may continue to meet via technology or in small groups away from the church building, but the church building itself will be closed to all groups except the Preschool through the end of August. We will reevaluate at the August 18 th Stated Session meeting.

Church Office

The church staff will continue to work their normal hours at the church building in order to coordinate and facilitate the ministry of the congregation. The church office, however, will be closed except for deliveries, contractors, and other necessary business.

We appreciate that this may cause frustration for some while alleviating anxiety for others. We do not take this action lightly but we do feel this is the best way to safeguard the health of our members, our staff, and the community of Knoxville. Please stay home if you do not have to go out and please remember the Five Core Principles for health: practice [physical distancing; wear face coverings when in public and physical distancing cannot be achieved; wash hand properly and often; clean surfaces regularly; stay home when sick.

  • The Session of Second Presbyterian Church
While we are not able to worship together in person, we are worshiping together virtually! Join us on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. for worship by clicking the tab above, or clicking on the "Sunday Live stream" button on the home page of our website,  www.2ndpres.org .

Also - if you click the blue button above you will be able to download the worship order so you can follow along at home!
Following the Assurance of God's Love, we will pass the peace by texting one another. Choose a fellow church member, family member, friend, relative, or loved one, have their number ready to go, and send them a text that says, “May the peace of Christ be with you!"
IMPORTANT! Due to Covid-19, the photography dates for our new pictorial church directory have been CHANGED TO NOVEMBER 12TH - 14TH .

Second Presbyterian Church is partnering with Lifetouch to create a new pictorial church directory. Our new directory will update our current photos, help us to connect with each other and put names with faces for new people. Each participating family will receive a free directory and a complimentary 8x10 photograph.

Lifetouch photographers have been trained in physical distancing guidelines and we will be following guidelines at the church, as well. Equipment will be cleaned in-between sessions so the whole process will be as safe as possible.

More information will follow at a later date, and a new link to sign up online will be provided as soon as we receive it, please do not use the previously sent link until we receive additional information.
We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause. Thank you!
Join us after Worship for a Virtual Coffee Hour!

We are still hosting a virtual coffee hour immediately following worship! A Zoom link will be sent out in the same email with the worship link on Sunday morning. Following worship just click the link to join your brothers and sisters from 2 nd  Presbyterian for a time of fellowship. It’s BYOC and there’s no meeting agenda, no Bible study – just hanging out together and chatting about worship, life, whatever! You can stay and visit as long as you like, or leave after just saying hey. We hope this will be a good way to have virtual fellowship until we can have the real thing.
We continue our summer study on racism this week by examining the history of racism in the United States. This will be part 2 of our 2 part study and will cover 1954 through the present. Our facilitator will once again be Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Bragg.

The study begins at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent out on Tuesday. A link to this week's reading is below. All of the readings for all of the sessions, along with videos of previous sessions, are available on our website under the "Wednesday Night Bible Study" tab. Please complete the readings each week prior to class.
Second Quarter Contribution Statements were sent via e-mail or First Class Mail on Wednesday, July 8th.

If you have not received one, or you have any questions regarding your statement, please contact the church office.
The July - August Upper Rooms are now available! If you would like one, Sandra Butler has copies that she would like to hand deliver to you!

Please contact Sandra directly by phone (659-4416 or 584-4397)
or email sandyb446@comcast.net !
Hello, church friends. I am Liz Peebles your traveling book lady during this social distancing period. I don’t know about you, but I am tired of being at home. I am offering to fill book/media wants and deliver them to your homes (porch) and pick them back up when you are finished. I can social distance in my car. I will be wiping the books and media down with alcohol before you receive them and after I retrieve them. 
 
Here is a taste of what our church library has to offer. In the DVD category I suggest the original PBS Anne of Green Gables, Faith Like Potatoes (a story of love and hope), I Can Only Imagine, Chariots of Fire, God’s Not Dead, Woodlawn The True Story, The Hiding Place (the story of a family that fought the Nazi madness with the only weapon they had – love), Heaven is for Real, Where the Red Fern Grows I & II, Fireproof, the PBS production of Our Town, featuring Paul Newman, Won’t You be my Neighbor, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, Christy, Luther starring Joseph Fiennes, Gospels of Matthew and John enacted using the exact words from our Bible, also Acts Parts 1&2 also enacted using the exact words of the Bible. I also have several Veggie Tales.
 
Some books of light interest: The Maise Dobbs mysteries (9 books), Out to Pasture but Not Over the Hill by Effie Wilder, The Cherry Holler trilogy by Adrianna Trigiani (features Knoxville), Snapshot by Lis Wiehl based on real events and a photo taken by Lis’ own G-man father, Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler, books by Patricia Sprinkle (highly recommended), Alexander McCall Smith’s series centering around a dog (Corduroy) and other fun characters.
 
On a more serious note are The Collaborator of Bethlehem by former Middle East bureau chief Matt Rees and The Trial by Robert Whitlow. Becoming Mrs. Lewis is a novel about the wife of C. S. Lewis. There is a fun read about the Von Trapp family and also a devotional by Maria Von Trapp.
 
If you have any other requests, I will try to fill it. The library has a wonderful selection of children’s books. Just let me know a special interest.

In addition to books from the library , I have books not yet entered into the system. There is a complete set of Alan Furst’s books about ordinary people in different parts of Europe during World War II. Neal has donated these and they are excellent reading for both men and women.

Other donated books of interest are The Runaway Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini, Rainwater by Sandra Brown, Somebody Loves You by Helen Steiner Rice in an easy to read edition, two Sister Mary Helen mysteries, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik, Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts, and The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman.

Neal and I watched again “Chariots of Fire,” a movie about the 1924 Olympics and two outstanding runners from Britain, one a Christian and the other a Jew. The music by Vangelis, winner of the Academy Award for best sound track, is so exciting. The movie won Best Movie back in its day.

Remember, I will keep these books clean. Please contact Liz directly at 865-247-4503 or 865-660-9597 .
Our blog is updated several times a week during our hiatus from in-person activities. It may be a devotion, an interesting story, something uplifting, something silly, or anything else that we think might be helpful. You will continue to get an email alerting you whenever a new blog post is uploaded.

The address is  2ndpresknox.blogpsot.com  - or you can just click the link next to the picture above. 
Pastor Tim will be out of the office July 10th through July 24th.

If you have a pastoral emergency, please contact Pastor Sarah Morgan. smorgan@2ndpres.org or 865.523.2189.
Prayer List:

Please keep Mark Pierson, Debbie Eads, the Downen Family, Brice Gilmer, and Jennifer Levy-Tatum in your prayers. 
 
Please contact the Church Office (523.2189 or  ajohnson@2ndpres.org ) with prayer concerns to be listed in the weekly email or bulletin.