From the Associate Pastor - John Weicher

So often, faith is about holding disparate things in tension. The reality of the world and our trust in God’s providence. The blessings and challenges of being the church together. Practicing Advent when all we want to do is sing Christmas carols in worship all December long. 

In faith, then, we can name and experience the sadness of how short a time that Mitzi Lesher-Thomas has actively served as our associate pastor. We can hold that sorrow in tension with our excitement and joy at the arrival of Esther Hethcox as our temporary stated supply associate pastor. I am thrilled that Esther is coming to us, upon the unanimous recommendation of the Search Committee and the unanimous vote of the session. I am eager for the gifts and presence that Esther will bring to our community and the members of it. I am overjoyed to welcome a fabulous, faithful new colleague for this new season of our life together.

Esther begins with us on Wednesday, Dec. 14. She comes to us a recent graduate of Duke Divinity School and a queer woman in her 20s. As the Search Committee writes, “Esther’s faith is deeply founded in a spiritual maturity that is clear to all. Although she is young, her experience in pastoral care, one of our main areas of focus in our interviews, is significant, including several months spent in a hospital chaplaincy program and a particular focus on survivors of sexual violence. Her organizational and leadership skills have been developed during various employment and internships, especially when serving as the Interim Executive Director of Presbyterian Campus Ministries at Duke University. She also has a well-defined and articulated commitment to participation in the social justice work of the Church.”

Esther’s ministries are largely the same as what Mitzi’s have been. She’ll be doing a lot of pastoral care. She’ll work with potential members and new members. She’ll staff our fellowship ministry. All three of these are deacon ministries, and she’ll support our diaconate. She’ll pastor to our burgeoning young adult crew. She’ll do social justice advocacy. And she’ll preach, lead worship, and all of the other things a pastor does. 

Esther is younger than any new pastors or program staff we’ve had in quite a while. Folks have asked Mindy and me about mentoring Esther, I think because she is a young adult and a first-call pastor. I actually don’t think we’re going to “mentor” her, per se, so much as we’re going to team up with her and all learn from each other. I believe First Pres. is a tremendous church in which a new pastor might start in ministry. We care passionately about all of God’s children – across the spectra of race, gender identity, age, economic status and more. We try to embody our location – downtown – and our city – Durham. We pray not just for each other, but for each other’s families and friends. We are full of usually delightful humans. (No one is perfect.) 

As you meet Esther, I hope you will join me in enthusiastically welcoming her. Here are some practical ways you can do that…

·  Introduce yourself by name. Every time, at least until Easter – there are so many of us and just one of her.

·  Sometime over the next 6 months, ask her out to coffee or lunch.

·  Be patient with her as we negotiates a new community and the way we do things.

·  Be excited, even amidst your sadness. It’s okay to feel both.



God with us in the hard,

John

Paul Cornsweet has a new telephone number: 919-907-9914.

CONCERNS:

Susan Cyr     Kerry Holbrook    Lee House

Chris James   George Kafula      Carol Wills

Franzi Rokoske: follow her journey via CARING BRIDGE.

Mitzi Lesher-Thomas: follow her journey via Caring Bridge: CARING BRIDGE.

Care Communities:

Croasdaile Pavilion: Dub Gulley

Dubose Center at The Cedars, Chapel Hill: Arthur Clark

Durham Ridge Assisted Living: Phillip Herndon

Hillcrest Convalescent: Julian Boswell, Maxie Honeycutt, Jim Wolfe

Family and Friends of the Congregation:

Liz Block, cousin of Jane and Bill Brown                           

Bob, friend of Fred and Jo Ann Moore                      

John Carter, brother of Conrad Carter

Grace, Chris James’ great-niece                                            

Diane Lesman, friend of FPC                   

Karen Shelton, mother-in-law of Dawn Carsey Shelton    

Jim Vacca, father of Jamie Chambliss                              

John Wakefield, cousin of Vernon Neece        

Thank you to Melinda Ruley and Stewart Fisher for hosting First Friends at their home on December 10. The Advent potluck gathering was well attended and a good time was had by all. As you can see above, it took two pictures to capture all who attended.

2023 Pledge Update

As of 12/13/2022

Pledges 122

Amount $817,973.50

Percentage 73.66%

Pledge Goal $1,110,476.98

Needed $292.503.48

Click HERE to make a pledge.

Capital Campaign Update

We have surpassed $2.77 million in pledges for the campaign. Thank you for this generous response. We encourage everyone to return your campaign pledge form, or respond online through our church website. We are hoping that all members can claim a share of what we are accomplishing together.

Year-End Giving

Contributions statements are being mailed soon to all those who had pledge balances as of November 30. Timely payment of pledges by December 31 will allow First Presbyterian to pay its end-of-year bills promptly and to meet its benevolence obligations for 2022.

Please remember that the church must receive your charitable contributions by 12:00 p.m. on Friday, December 30, 2022; or the gift must be postmarked by December 31, 2022, if mailed, to be deductible on your 2022 taxes.

If you wish to make a contribution by credit card, this may be done through the parish’s website (www.firstpres-durham.org) at any time. To be deductible on your 2022 taxes, please initiate the gift by Wednesday, December 28. On-line contributions scheduled for December 30 or 31 will not reach us in time.

If you wish to make a donation through a gift of stock, please notify Tom Bloom, Business Administrator ([email protected]) as soon as possible.

Members aged 70 ½ + who own an IRA may be able to make a tax-excludable gift directly to First Presbyterian and have that gift satisfy any required minimum distribution for this year. Please contact your IRA administrator ASAP if you wish to consider this giving option for tax year 2022.  

Fourth Sunday of Advent

9:45 -10:45 a.m.

Faith Formation Classes (all ages)

11:00 a.m. 

A Service of Lessons and Carols

The Christmas Joy offering will be received this Sunday during worship.  The Christmas Joy Offering has been a cherished Presbyterian tradition since the 1930s. The Offering distributes gifts equally to the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions and to Presbyterian-related schools and colleges equipping communities of color. The Assistance Program provides critical financial support to church workers and their families. Presbyterian-related schools and colleges provide education and leadership development while nurturing racial and ethnic heritage. This has been a Presbyterian commitment for nearly 140 years.

Worship reminder to parents and caregivers:

Younger children should remain in the nursery for the entire service this Sunday. There is no "A Time with the Children" segment because of the change in format of worship to lessons and carols. Please bring extra activities for your child(ren) if they will remain in worship.

Saturday, December 24

Worship with Holy Communion concluding with a Candlelight Service

5:00 p.m. in the sanctuary

Our Christmas Eve offering will be divided as follows:

FPC Walk-in ministry 75%

FPC Refugee Support 25%.

Thank you for your generous giving.

LECTIONARY CLASS

 Sundays, 9:45-10:45 a.m. (year-round)

Join us each Sunday for discussion, as we meet both online and in person in the Robert Daye Parlor. The class will begin at 9:45, preceded at 9:35 by sharing of news and concerns, and will end at 10:45.

On December 18: What is the significance of a child? Does the birth of a child bring love or scandal, hope or anxiety? These are weighty matters, more than a tiny human life can bear. But what about a child of God?

To join remotely via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89195306050

For phone access (audio only), call 253-215-8782.) If you need a copy of the handout of scripture readings, contact David Smith [[email protected].

Lectionary class will not meet on December 25.

If you need a copy of the handout of scripture readings, contact David Smith.

JOURNEYS CLASS

Sundays, 9:45-10:45 a.m. in the Wilson Parlor

STUDY PLAN

Remember that class begins at 9:45 a.m. sharp, and let us know if you want to join calls via Zoom before Sunday.



 Contact Andy Henry (919-599-9405) if you have questions about class content.

Additional handicap space coming to the sanctuary

Following approvals from the Worship and the Arts and Property Committees, two spaces for wheelchairs will be added in the sanctuary in the coming weeks. The spaces will be located midway back in the shorter pews adjacent to the sanctuary side walls. To create each space, two pews will be shortened to provide a space large enough for a wheelchair to maneuver. The short pews next to the spaces will provide companion seating. The new spaces will offer more seating options than the current ones in the front and back and are part of our continuing efforts to open our space to everyone. 

--Tyler Momsen-Hudson 

Building Committee Chair 

Communion Servers Needed

Planning to attend our Christmas Eve Service? If so, please consider volunteering to serve Communion! All are welcome to serve (not limited to current Elders and Deacons). Servers are also needed for our service on Christmas Day. If you are interested, please sign up here, or email Mary Ann Compton.  

Slide Show: Birds of Western Brazil

Do you want to escape the cold winter days, at least virtually? David and Judy Smith spent more than two weeks last July in the hot, humid Amazon of Western Brazil, and they came home with lots of photos of tropical birds and monkeys. Join them for a slide show on Tuesday, January 17, at 7:15 p.m. in Watts-Hill Hall. (If you’re interested in a Zoom option, please contact David.)

SAVE THE DATE

THE LEGACY SOCIETY LUNCHEON

Friends, 

The Legacy Society luncheon returns in-person on Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at Croasdaile Country Club. We look forward to gathering together again and enjoying the fellowship of one another. The Legacy Society welcomes all new members. For a Legacy Society brochure or information on joining, contact Tom Bloom. We hope to see you there.

The Legacy Society Committee

FLOWERS FOR WORSHIP 2023

The flower ministry of FPC offers a meaningful way to donate flowers for the sanctuary in memory or in honor of a loved one, or in celebration of a special occasion. Each Sunday the flower arrangements bring the colors and beauty of nature to our worship service. Following worship, our deacons divide the flowers and deliver smaller arrangements to members who are ill, grieving, or unable to attend church, as a way of sharing with them a part of our worship service. Ninth Street Flowers creates the beautiful arrangements each Sunday.

If you would like to reserve a Sunday in 2023 to be a donor of flowers for worship in 2023, please sign up ONLINE using this link: FLOWERS FOR WORSHIP.

Want to Serve on a Care Team? 

Care teams are being formed for three of our members. Members of a care team do a variety of things for their recipient to support them or help them find support. Care team members work together and support each other as well. Contact Susan Dunlap if you are interested in being on a care team in general, or on a team for a particular person, or if you have questions. 

Update on FPC's Refugee Families

Our church is currently sponsoring three refugee families. Each family has a team of FPC congregants who assist them in negotiating the challenges of their new lives in the U.S. Click here to read short updates on each of our families.