Join us in person or virtually for our Sunday Worship Service at 11:00 a.m. To watch: click the button above or visit our website, www.2ndpres.org, and click the "Sunday Live stream" button on the home page.
We will also email an active link on Sunday morning.
Also - if you click the gray button above you will be able to download the worship order so you can follow along at home!
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The flowers this week are given to the glory of God and in memory of
William (Bill) Dodson.
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We are currently in PHASE YELLOW.
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How can you serve the mission and ministry of 2nd Presbyterian church in the coming year? For suggestions, please read the stewardship letter from Tim Wright by clicking the button below. A copy of this letter was mailed this week that included a pledge card. If you did not receive one, extras can be found in the vestibule and narthex. You can also submit your pledge online via the home page of our website or by clicking the button below.
The stewardship pledge period focuses on your financial pledge, but we hope you also think about how your time and talents could be put to work in service of our church and its ministry. Please consider how important you are to this church and please pledge as you are able.
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ADVENT WREATH CANDLE LIGHTERS NEEDED!
If you, your family, your group of friends, Sunday School Class, Fellowship Group, or any other combination of folks are interested in lighting the candles on the Advent Wreath this Advent season, please let Pastor Tim know.
Advent begins November 28th.
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As we near the Advent season, we are in search of volunteers to write for our annual Advent Devotional. This year's theme is "Making Room." We are asking volunteers to write devotions about making room, such as: preparing your home for a guest or new arrival, planning ahead, hospitality, time for God in your daily routine, family Christmas traditions, being open to joy even during hard times, etc.
If you would like to participate and write a devotional or if you have questions, please email Jessica Lewis at jessica.k.lewis84@gmail.com.
The deadline for Advent devotional submissions is
November 15th.
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The December Second Edition deadline is Saturday November 20th!
Please email your submissions to Audrey Johnson (ajohnson@2ndpres.org) or call 865-523-2189 during office hours. Thank you!
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We Want Your Input!
As we (hopefully) begin to emerge from the restrictions of COVID, the Care & Compassion ministry team is thinking about the restarting of Wednesday night dinners.
In doing so Care & Compassion’s members would like to have the benefit of the members’ thinking on (1) the types of meals preferred (catered, brown bag etc.), (2) the meal cost you feel is acceptable and (3) the likelihood of your participating on Wednesday nights if meals are a part of the evening.
Please let us know your thinking on these subjects by emailing either of the ministry team’s co-chairs: Marty McLean (mclean1605@gmail.com) or
Your help will be greatly appreciated!
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Planning Ahead
Once again the church will be having Drive Thru Christmas Caroling.
Date: Dec 19th from 3-5 p.m. in the Courtyard.
Needed: Volunteers to sing and volunteers to transport some of our shut ins.
No need to get out of your car, just drive by and listen and sing along.
There may even be Hot Chocolate and Candy Canes along with Lots of Fun.
Mark your calendars now and let Jan Barber know if you are willing to help out in any way!!!
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Wednesday Night Bible Study continues this
Wednesday, November 17th.
We will meet in the Mary Chambers Room.
The Bible study is currently in-person with a virtual option for those who wish to join from home. (Zoom link is below.) We also gather for dinner at 6:00 p.m. with each person/family providing their own “brown bag” meal. We will continue with the "brown bag" practice through December.
Dinner: 6:00 p.m.
Bible Study: 6:30 p.m.
This fall we are studying The Kingdom Parables of Jesus, those parables in which Jesus says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” The format is lecture/small group discussion. Pastor Tim reviews the story for 10 minutes or so and then we break into small groups for discussion questions together. The discussion questions are provided.
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Book Update!
Dear book friends, the heat/air in the church library has been fixed, and I have new books to send your way.
Oprah selected Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer winning series as her Readers’ Group selection. I have all four books: Gilead (#1), Home (#2), Lila (#3), and Jack (#4). This fiction has been highly acclaimed. The author is a well-known Presbyterian.
Two local authors caught my eye and were recommended by church members. The Great Blue Hills of God by Kreis Beall tells the story of using her gift of hospitality to establish an award-winning resort and reveals “how she found herself only after losing everything.
Bill Haslam has written Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square. Bill Haslam writes: Too often politicians “seem to forget their calling is to be used by God in service to others rather than to use God to reach their own desires and ends”.
Several new books speak to the hard times in Covid that all of us have been living through. Tim Keller’s Hope in Time of Fear, Walter Brueggemann’s Truth and Hope: Essays for a Perilous Age, and Michael G. Long’s Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mr. Rogers.
Finally, a book for food for thought: 101 Ways to Reach Your Community by Lutheran Steve Sjogren.
Reminder: I will bring books to anyone who desires books – young and old and everyone in between. Liz Peebles 865-660-9597.
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The Second Readers group is once again collecting stuffed animals for Judge Irwin’s juvenile court. These animals are given to children coming through his court and provide much comfort to these children who are experiencing very stressful circumstances.
Animals may be left in the box in the Atrium or if you prefer, you may make a donation and we will shop for you. The animals must be new and hopefully smallish, about 12-16 inches. Please, none of the huge ones. Thank you for your support and let’s remember these families in our prayers.
Questions, call Margaret Sullivan. 865-588-3103.
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Some of our local nursing homes and assisted living facilities continue to be shut down due to Covid-19.
Be on guard and call before visiting anyone who may be in a facility to get the latest updates.
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Paul Sexauer is looking for a couple of volunteers to help out with the sound system on Sunday mornings. As a result of all the virtual services over the past year, a number of hardware changes have greatly simplified the process and therefore no knowledge of, or experience with, sound board operation is required. Hands on training and support during services will be provided.
If you think you might be interested, stop up in the balcony after a service and Paul will give you an overview of how it all works. Alternately, drop him a note at sexauerpaul@gmail.com or leave a message at (865) 850-7328 and he’ll follow up with you and answer any questions you may have.
We’re also looking for some volunteers to help out with the video side of the service. Stopping by the balcony after the service will allow you to see that as well. As with the sound, no technical knowledge is required to volunteer. Our goal is to have multiple volunteers so that scheduling can be as flexible as possible.
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Additional Volunteers Needed!
We are still trying to finalize our volunteer schedule and are still needing 2 people willing to be in our nursery on a 6-week rotation. We are also in need of 1 person to help teach Kindergarten-5th grade Sunday school once a month. If you are interested, please contact Holly Grimm at hgrimm@2ndpres.org or 865-243-6353.
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If you like to shop, the Fish Pantry mission is in need of the following household and personal items:
-Dish Soap
-Bath Soap
-Shampoo
-Toothpaste
-Deodorant
-Pet Food (small canned or bagged quantities, wet or dry for dogs or cats)
Our once-a-month Fish team receives phone call requests for food and these additional items; then they are sorted, packed, and delivered to each client's household.
All donations should be newly purchased, and any quantities would be greatly appreciated.
They can be dropped off into the “Fish” bin that sits on the floor in the coat rack area just off the atrium. Thank you!
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Compassionate Cuisine is a program from the Care and Compassion committee and our Cooking Teams. This group is collaborating to create a homecooked meal, and will gather safely at the church to package them into individual portions, that they will then distribute to some of our members who are living in their homes but may not be getting out and about to pick up dinner or groceries to make a home-cooked meal.
The teams would love to have your help in cooking and/or distributing meals in hopes that this ministry might be able to grow in the coming months. If you’re interested in helping by cooking a portion of one of the meals and/or would be willing to deliver some of the meals, please contact Leslie Matthews: flowlilly@gmail.com, (865) 765-0549.
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Pick up your
November-December
Upper Room Devotional
in the vestibule
(Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) or at either entrance into the sanctuary!
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Rion Steele is in Italy for the next year furthering his wine-making studies. If you would like to reach out and say hey or offer him some encouragement, he would love to hear from you. His email is rion.steele@gmail.com. He is also available to video call through Skype or What’s App and can be messaged through Facebook. If you have an iPhone you can text him for free at 39-347-825-0427.
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On the Pastoral Care page of our website, we will share more specific updates regarding those on our prayer list. It will be updated frequently by the church staff.
Visit our website: 2ndpres.org. The page is located under the 'Members' tab.
To keep all information private, the page is password protected. Please contact Audrey at the church office (via email: ajohnson@2ndpres.org or phone: 865.523.2189) for the password.
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Our Wi-Fi network is for use by anyone who visits the building.
The network is “Second Presbyterian Church” and the password is Psalm100.
Please feel free to save it as a network that connects automatically for your device.
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Prayer List:
Please keep family of Dr. John Campbell, the family of Rachel Rogers, Susanne White, Pam Maples, Scott Farris, Fran McLean, Alex & Phyllis Robinson, and Joshua Peter Hamilton in your prayers.
Please contact the Church Office (865.523.2189 or ajohnson@2ndpres.org) with prayer concerns to be listed in the weekly email or bulletin.
Names remain on the prayer list 4 weeks unless requested by the individual or a close family member of the individual to keep them on longer.
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