Dear friends,

This Sunday, January 31, we have the great joy of celebrating the call of the Rev. Mitzi Lesher-Thomas as associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church in a special service of installation. When an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is called to serve a church, that person is “installed” for service in that particular congregation.  As you have perhaps read in the bulletin, a service of installation is an act of worship; a response in gratitude to the gifts of the Spirit; a celebration of the mission and ministry of the whole church. The service highlights the shared ministry and common calling of FPC and Mitzi as we seek to serve Christ through our roles within the larger ministry of the church.

Sunday’s service of worship will take place at 11 a.m. as our regular worship service and will include the additional special liturgies of an installation service. The service will also include representatives from New Hope Presbytery. The PC (U.S.A.) is a connectional denomination. In a service of installation we recognize, through the participation of others outside of our own congregation, that our ministries and faith are intertwined in sacred connection with one another. We welcome several New Hope Presbytery friends to this service, including the Rev. Lori Pistor, who served for many years as associate pastor here at FPC. Lori and Mitzi worked together at Cary Presbyterian Church recently and became close colleagues. It is a joy to welcome Lori back to our worship to preach the sermon on Sunday.

As many of you know, Mitzi has already been active in pastoral care, preaching, and leading worship. She has enjoyed working with the deacons and connecting with members in whatever ways possible during this pandemic time. This has not been easy, but she has done it with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love. If you have not already had a chance to connect with Mitzi, I hope you will soon. In fact, I hope we will all be able to worship, meet, and fellowship in person again very soon (which reminds me, please get your vaccine when you have the chance to do so – the sooner we are all vaccinated, the sooner we will be able to gather!). I am grateful to God for the gifts for ministry that God has given Mitzi and for this calling to service and relationship that God has given FPC and Mitzi for the years ahead.

Mitzi is already a valuable part of our ministry team, bringing enthusiasm, forward thinking, creativity, deep faith, and a love of God and this community to everything she does. I hope you will join us in celebrating this Sunday (11 a.m. live-stream through our website – http://firstpres-durham.org) what God is doing through Mitzi and with all of us at FPC.

In the meantime, be strong and courageous in these difficult days, be full of hope and find opportunities for joy, be slow to anger and quick to forgive, love one another as God loves us, and may the love of God surround you, the hope of Christ enfold you, and the vision of the Holy Spirit direct you.

With love,

Condolences: The love and concern of the congregation are extended to the following:

  Added: Nellie, sister of Hendrika Vande Kemp, diagnosed with metastatic brain cancer

·  Lily Brigman,  recovering from ACL surgery

·  Tom Bloom, preparing for back surgery

·  Dub Gulley

·  Phillip Herndon

·  Kerry Holbrook

·  Robin Morey

·  Kathy Parkins

·  Carol Wills

·  Our nation during this season of leadership transition and unrest

·  The many households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic

Care Communities:

Croasdaile Pavilion: Bob Rankin

Dubose Center at The Cedars, Chapel Hill: Arthur Clark

Durham Regent: John Kerr, Ann Prospero  

Emerald Pond: Paul Cornsweet

Hillcrest Convalescent Center: Walter Chambliss, father of Will Chambliss

The Forest at Duke: Fran Bryant

Family and Friends of the Congregation:

Brendan Bequette, family friend of Margaret & Miguel Rubiera

Peggy Boulden, mother of Dick Boulden

Linda Capers, friend of Li-Chen Chin

Flora Estrella, family of Beth Stringfield and Cris Rivera

Phil Goss, friend of the congregation

Roberta Kessler, mother of Kristen Brigman

Peggy Mordecai, mother of Beth Eisenson

Ade and Sowande, sons of Tolokun Omokunde, pastor of Timothy Darling PC in Oxford

Shannon Putman, daughter of Mary Putman

Rev. Mark Stevens of Phillips Chapel Methodist Church, friend of Al and Judy Arrowood

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Thank you for the support you have sent my way following the death of my sister, Mae. The many cards, phone calls, emails, and flowers helped to ease the ache in my heart. I am very grateful to be a part of the FPC family and look forward to the day we can once again worship together in the Sanctuary.

Thank you for the extraordinary support for our Stewardship Campaign – One Body, Many Parts and The Church is the People– during these challenging times and a virtual campaign! While we did not reach our ambitious goal, we have come close and have been able to support our budget for 2021. As a result of the campaign, we have budgeted $972,496 in pledges, but there are still some whom we expect to participate but have not officially pledged, totaling about $95,000. We still need to complete the puzzle!

If you are not sure if your pledge was received, please contact Tom Bloom (we have had some glitches with online pledges this year). Look for a survey from the Stewardship Committee in February as we work to improve our campaign next year after this unusual virtual campaign for 2020. Thank you for your generosity and support for the life and mission at First Presbyterian!

Join us this week to hear from Rebecca Todd Peters, author of Trust Women. We will continue our discussion of what it means to work for reproductive justice as people of faith and as a community of faith. Everyone is welcome whether or not you have read the book or attended past classes. If you would like a copy of the PowerPoint slides from our classes, email Heather Wallace. Click here to join the discussion via Zoom. This class is for all people. 

Need help remembering what people look like without masks? Longing for a church picture directory? You know, the kind where the corners get crinkled and you write notes in the margins. Help us make it happen! If you haven't already uploaded a picture to our online directory now's your chance and here are directions! The instructions to install the ChurchLife app on your smart device are here. The instructions for uploading your picture to the online directory are here. We'll use photos from the online directory to create our print version so we need your help. We want to see your smiling faces, so please take a moment and upload those photos! For more information on using the ChurchLife app or the kind of photos that work best in a directory, contact Tom Bloom or Sybil King. Please upload your photo(s) by January 31, 2021.  Thank you.

In February, we typically get together for a potluck dinner and veer from our usual book discussions. This year, unfortunately, we are still locked down, so the dinner is not possible, but we may still enjoy the poetry reading session we had planned. Originally, we had thought about selecting poems by Jacqueline Woodson, Joy Harjo, and/or Thanhha Lai. We can still select from one of these authors, but on Tuesday Dale Gaddis suggested that we select poems that have had particular meaning for each of us in the last year, in light of all that has happened. So, that is what we are going to do. Celia Dickerson requested that we email our poems ahead of time so we can have some time to absorb them before having them read aloud. If you are planning to read your poem, please email a copy of the poem to Celia by Sunday, February 7.

Jane Williams will lead a discussion of The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. 

New faces are always welcome to join us. Contact Dale Gaddis if you wish to be added to this book discussion group.

This study is led by Mindy Douglas

Click here for ways to access the class.

On Thursday, January 28, at 6:30 p.m. the Presbytery of New Hope will be exploring the PCUSA’s Matthew 25 initiative and discussing the proposal for New Hope Presbytery to become a Matthew 25 presbytery. Our special guest for the evening will be the Rev. Dr. Diane L. Givens Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Register now!

The presentation and conversation for this webinar will center around the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Matthew 25 Church Initiative. This initiative builds on the call of Matthew 25:31-46 to actively engage in the world around us, inviting Presbyterians across the country to act boldly and compassionately to serve people who are hungry, oppressed, imprisoned, or poor. The initiative lifts up three primary foci for the Church’s action: building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty. 

February 2: Nell Noonan, “What Do We Do When Our Hearts Hurt?”

February 9: Blaise Mercadante, To be announced

February 16: Amy Onstad, “Anger: Ally or Enemy?”

February 23: Mike McCleod, “What Is the Condition of Our Hearts: How Do We Heal?”

Growing thru Grief meets each Tuesday from 4 to 6 pm. To register for one of these zoom meetings, please contact admin@growingthrugrief.org by 8 am on the Monday before the meeting.