Windows

October 13, 2022

Get Ready for Pumpkin Palooza

FPC is the place to be on Sunday, October 23, at 2:00 p.m. We’re having an all-church gathering we’re calling Pumpkin Palooza. We’ll paint pumpkins, plant pansies, play games, and nosh. Be there or be that geometric shape that no one would mistake for a pumpkin!

Trunk or Treat Is Creeping Up

Will you help us with some spooky fun? We are looking for 12 to 16 ghoulish vehicles and more candy than you can shake a skeletal finger at. Decorate a car, park it in the Fairmount Elementary School lot, hand out sweets, and join in the fun! Or just bring a large bag of candy to the church and drop it in one of the bins in the fellowship hallway or by the office. It’s Trunk or Treat, and it’s happening Thursday, October 27, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. To reserve a parking space or learn more, contact Audrey Arndt, Dave Welch, or Lilly Osborne.

Wednesday Fellowship Suppers

The best meal of the week is Wednesday night in the FPC Fellowship Hall! Family-style dinner begins at 5:30, and programs for children, youth, and adults follow at 6:15. To offset the cost of the meal, we suggest an offering of $5 per adult, $3 per child, but no more than $15 per family. Family is anyone who comes with you in your car! Please join us!

Link to FPC Family Ministry

Road Map

Look into the many opportunities for education, spiritual nurture, and fellowship with the congregation of First Presbyterian Church! We have prepared a road map to help you find those that interest you most. The points on the compass are Children’s Ministry, Student Ministry, College Ministry, and Adult Ministry. At the center of it all is our life together in Jesus Christ.

Life Together for Home Groups

Our latest Home Group curriculum, Life Together, is about how we can be new persons and communities centered in Jesus Christ. Access the curriculum on our website or watch for it to drop on our Home Groups Facebook site.

How to Join Us Online

You can watch the livestream of our worship services and other activities at FPC Bristol on YouTube. Click on the link and hit “Subscribe” to receive notifications of new videos. To connect to our various Facebook sites, go to Facebook and type in FPC Bristol. Several accounts will show up. “Like” the page or ask to join a group.

Give Safely

We encourage you to use text, mail, or our website to safely continue your faithful support of our ministries during the pandemic. You can give online by going to our website and clicking on “Give” in the upper right corner. You can send your pledge, offering, or special gift by texting fpcbristol to 73256, or mail your checks directly to the church.

Our COVID Protocols

The session continues to strongly encourage masks for those not fully vaccinated, or at higher risk of complications from COVID-19. The session encourages everyone to consult their medical professional about vaccinations and boosters.

Gifts to the Church

Memorials and honoraria are published in the newsletter only after the family has been personally notified by our business office. Today we gratefully acknowledge the following gifts in memory of:

• Robert Foster (brother of Cora Lee Raccioppo): to the Memorial Fund from Cora Lee Raccioppo
• June Lamb (mother of Alice Graham): to the Children’s Ministry Fund from Ann Abel, from Peggy Hill, from David & Teresa Mills
• Ernie Pennington: to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Carol Propst

Daniel Charles Damon (b. 1955) was commissioned to write “Together We Serve” (Sunday’s first hymn) for the centennial of First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo, California, in 1996. Damon is an internationally published writer of hymn texts and tunes and Associate Editor of Hymnody for Hope Publishing Company in Carol Stream, Illinois. He is also a jazz pianist and has played in many hotels and clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds degrees from Greenville College, Greenville, Illinois (BME, 1977), and Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California (MDiv, 1987).

He is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church in the San Francisco Bay Area and a life member of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Damon has presented his work at national conferences of the Hymn Society and the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. In 2016, he was made a Fellow of the Hymn Society, its highest honor.

“The Servant Song” (our second hymn) began in 1977 when Richard Gillard (b. 1953) jotted down what became its third verse on a piece of paper, which he stashed in his guitar case. On returning from travels in Britain, Europe, and Israel, he retrieved it and completed the song. The original first line of verses 1 and 6 was “Brother, let me be your servant.” Since then, the text has been altered to be more inclusive. The song, first recorded in New Zealand, appears in many hymnals and has been sung around the world. Gillard was born in England and taken at age three to New Zealand, where he has lived since on the North Island. His faith background is a mixture of the Anglican Church on his mother’s side of the family and the Pentecostal Church on his father’s. He admits to little systematic musical training, but from the age of seven he began to play the ukulele and other such instruments, often to accompany his own singing. He learned by experimenting and later with the help of his father and of Pentecostal church musicians. Gillard usually invokes the aid of experts to put his songs on paper.

We want to pray for and celebrate with you! Send us your prayer requests and glad tidings.

Congratulations

We rejoice in the birth of Asher Tallman, son of Bradley and Kristin Allerton Tallman and grandson of Nancy Allerton.

In Our Prayers

Please also pray for the members of our community who wish to remain anonymous.

Deadline & Subscriptions

Monday is the deadline for contributions to Windows. Subscribe to our free e-newsletter by sending your name and preferred email address to the editor.

701 Florida Avenue | Bristol, TN 37620 | 423-764-7176 | fpcbristol.org