Windows

January 26, 2024

Rise Against Hunger Packing Event

You are invited to join us February 4th as we pack 10,000 meals for hungry folks in distressed areas of the world. We'll be meeting in the fellowship hall at 1:30 pm to start packing meals at 1:45 pm. Registration is open now. 

The Rise Against Hunger organization distributes food relief meals of vitamin and mineral-enriched rice, soy protein and dehydrated vegetables across 6 continents and 37 countries, including Ukraine, Cambodia, Ghana, Haiti, Madagascar, and many others. Some meals will travel to school feeding programs, providing essential nutrition to help children in areas of food insecurity. Provision of these meals also encourages students to attend school more regularly and perform to their best potential without suffering from empty stomachs. Other meals are used for food crisis relief in areas that have experienced natural disasters, political strife, armed conflict, or other local emergencies. Please support this mission effort by donating this month's offering or volunteering to help package meals together in the Fellowship Hall on February 4th!

Wear comfortable clothes that can get a little dusty, just in case some of the vitamin powder gets spilled. Anyone who wants to hang around after worship can bring a sack lunch to eat in the parlor before we get started.

Everyone who participates MUST register online here. Questions? Need help registering? Contact Sarah Gannaway at sgannaway@fpcbristol.org.

Wednesday Night Kids

We are looking forward to our Wednesday night kids resuming on January 24! The younger kids (ages 4-first grade) will have Bible time with Ms Sujean, Ms. Alice, and Ms. Sujean and will have Sing and Play music time with Ms Melissa. The older kids will enjoy Bible Trivia with Clathon and will begin learning recorder with Ms Melissa! We hope to see you at 5:30 on Wednesday!

Great Escape is a camp for middle schoolers (rising 6th - 8th) to breakaway, grow, learn and have the best week of their life! Get ready for a week of high energy games, engaging speakers and an awesome worship band. First Pres will be attending the Smokies location, held at the Ocoee Retreat Center in Ocoee, TN. The group will depart Monday, July 22 and return Saturday, July 27. Mornings include breakfast, quiet times and recreation. Afternoons include lunch, recreation, free time, small groups and an afternoon session! Evenings include dinner, evening sessions, counselor meetings, and aftermaths. This is an event you won’t want to miss! Start inviting your friends and get your $100 deposit turned in ASAP to reserve your spot.

Join us Friday February 9th, 6:00 pm-9:30 pm and Saturday February 10th, 8:00 am-3:30 pm for the annual FPC Women’s Retreat! We will meet at King University Chapel and Dining Hall for Worship, Scripture, Reflection, Fellowship, Food! Our speaker is Laura Hicks Hardy, sharing on the topic of Sabbath Rest. Any women who would enjoy this time of rest, rejuvenation and friendship! Invite your friends and family! Register online, or by filling out a paper registration form at church. $75 total cost (includes 3 meals and all retreat materials), with $25 deposit due by February 2nd. Scholarships are available! Be sure to register here.

Our fabulous youth choir will begin rehearsals on Wednesday, January 24 from 7:15-7:45. This choir is for kids and youth from third grade through eighth grade. We will rehearse on January 24, 31, and February 7. The Youth Choir will sing during the Ash Wednesday service on February 14. We are excited to see everyone!

Our Annual Congregational Meeting is happening on Sunday, January 28th at 10:15 AM. We'll be reviewing the past year, sharing exciting plans for the future, and enjoying fellowship together. Come and see what God has done in our church!

Chili Cook-Off and Talent Show

Our Chili Cook-Off & Talent Show is coming up on Sunday, February 25. If you would like to perform on our stage, please contact Lilly Osborne or Katie Arnold. We always have a variety of talents of all ages! We would love to see your talent! Also, you can dust off that award winning chili recipe and get ready for the contest!

Greetings from FPC Members Mark and Catherine Bell,

We would like to invite you all to prayerfully consider joining us for our next mission trip to beautiful Zambia, Africa from May 16-31, 2024 through our ministry partnership with the Phoebe Foundation Africa (PFA). If you decide to go, you will be an answer to prayer for our Zambian friends. Over the years, since our first trip to Zambia in 2011, this beautiful African country has become our second home. We fell in love with the culture, the people, and the churches and are in awe of the spiritual maturity of our friends and leaders that live in this majestic part of the world. We feel blessed that, through our friendship with Pastor Chris and Phoebe Chanda, the Zambian founders of PFA, we have been a part of carrying out the mission of this Christ-centered ministry. There are various roles that you can engage in during this trip including, leading Bible studies, sharing the gospel through fellowship @ soccer matches, playing soccer, sharing sermons, facilitating group discussion at a counseling conference, speak at the counseling conference, provide meals to vulnerable children at a feeding program, attend &/or pray at home visits and/or distribute Bibles & donations. The deadline to sign up for this trip is February 1st. To apply and learn more about this mission opportunity, email the Bell's at ezer072663@gmail.com Thanks so much!

Yours in Christ, Catherine & Mark Bell

Join FPC on an intergenerational summer adventure to Orlando, Florida to serve and play! Departing from the church on June 22, the group will head down to Orlando, Florida for a week of missions, beach, and Orlando fun. Experience the richness of working along side people of all ages and building new relationships within our church family. Participants will have the opportunity to serve with different ministries around Orlando. Each day is full of new opportunities and mission experiences. The group will be housed in dormitories at Forest Lake Academy. Meals will also be provided by the academy. The week will include beach time and an optional day at Universal Studios! We will return home June 29. The schedule will be flexible for families who are attending. We want it to be a rich and enjoyable experience for all! This is an event you won’t want to miss! Start making plans and inviting friends and get your $100 deposit in by March 1 to reserve your spot! Fill out the registration form here.

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:

• Lee North: to the Memorial Fund from Bobby & Tracie Blevins, from Debbie, Amanda, Ashley & Gene Ohlson, from Spiegler, Blevins, & Co. PC and from John & Ann Tickle

Organist's Footnotes

Mark’s account of Jesus preaching with authority and calling out the unclean spirit (Mark 1:21-28) is the basis for today’s music. Our Opening Hymn, “Silence! Frenzied, Unclean Spirit”, written by two of my favorite seminary professors, Thomas H. Troeger (1945-2022) and Carol A. Doran (1936-2023), is just as shocking today as the day it was introduced in 1984 (and I was there!). It aptly portrays the unclean spirit with its intentionally jarring, loud, harsh, dissonant harmonies, over a melody that remains on the same note for 13 beats. Each stanza resolves more peacefully. Our other hymn, “Lord, Speak to Me That I May Speak” is set to the tune CANONBURY, which is extracted from a piano piece by Robert Schumann (1810-1856), his “Nachtstücke, Op. 23, No. 4” composed in 1839 (our Offertory). This piece has extremely wide chords played with broad arpeggios. For our Opening and Closing Voluntaries I am playing No. 1 and No. 5 of the six “Studies for the Pedal Piano, Op. 56”, which Schumann composed in 1844.

Due to the rarity of this instrument, these pieces are usually performed on the organ. Tragically, Robert Schumann battled demons of his own. In 1844 he began having persistent nervous prostration and developed neurasthenia (nervous fears of things, like metal objects and drugs). He was plagued with imaginary voices (angels, ghosts or demons) and in 1854 jumped off a bridge into the Rhine River, but was rescued by boatmen and taken home. For the last two years of his life, after the attempted suicide, Schumann was confined to a sanitarium in Endenich near Bonn at his own request. Speculations as to the cause of his late term maladies was that he may have suffered from syphilis, contracted early in life, and treated with mercury, unknown as a neurological poison at the time.

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



Congratulations

Congratulations to Lee & Betsy Galliher on the birth of their granddaughter, Avie Grace Galliher on January 17, 2024 in Greenville, South Carolina. Avie is the daughter of Pearce & Carlye Galliher.

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

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