Second Presbyterian Church
June 26, 2020
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!"
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 but online signups for session times begin this week. To sign up for a time for your household to have their directory photo made, click this link .
Photography dates are August 6 th -8 th .

Help is needed on the dates of photography. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Pastor Sarah. smorgan@2ndpres.org
Join us after Worship for a Virtual Coffee Hour!

We will be having our 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 with a look at "The Bible and Racism". We will look at questions such as: Does the Bible justify or resist racism? Or both? Is there racism in the Bible? How are Christians called to engage the troubled past between the Bible and racism while seeking to transform the world and others using those same texts?

Our facilitator will be Rev. Dr. Charles Lomax. A native of Knoxville and graduate of Karns High School, Rev. Lomax received a B.A. in Sociology and Political Science from UTK, a Master of Divinity from the Morehouse School of Religion at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, GA, and a Doctorate of Ministry from Emory University. He has worked for the Knoxville Leadership Foundation and served as a commissioner on the Knoxville/Knox County Planning Commission. He has served as the pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Alcoa, TN, since 2012 and is the Community Empowerment Director for the City of Knoxville.

The study begins at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom. A link for the study is sent out on Tuesday. Please click the link below for this week's reading. All of the readings for all of the sessions are available on our website under the "Wednesday Night Bible Study" tab. Please complete the readings each week prior to class.
The July - August Upper Rooms are now available! If you are not comfortable or able to stop by the church during office hours to pick up a copy (keeping previously sent guidelines in mind!), 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 !
Donations of school supplies are now being accepted for West View Elementary School! You can drop off supplies at the church via a container in the Atrium. But if you stop by the church, don't forget to (1) call the church office before you arrive, (2) practice physical distancing, and (3) wear your masks! A list of the most needed supplies are listed below.
Look out for more information in the upcoming July Second Edition!
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. 
Committees, ministry units, Bible study groups, youth groups, and other groups of the church may resume in-person meetings beginning July 1st. We will return to in-person worship in the sanctuary on Sunday, August 2 nd . There will be one worship service at 11:00 a.m. with no numerical limits on attendance.

There are a number of guidelines that we are asking people to follow as we resume in-person activities. These guidelines will be communicated in a separate email and will be listed in July’s Second Edition and on our website.
Prayer List:

Please keep Debbie Eads, Rev. Al Pierson, the Downen Family, 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.