The Banner Newsletter

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THE BANNER

May 19, 2021

Welcome Back!

It was good to see faces back on the church grounds and in the Sanctuary this past Sunday! Please note that for the foreseeable future we will continue to require masks and social distancing throughout our campus. As noted in the Session highlights below our procedures will be reviewed continuously and we will advise updates as they become available. Thank you.

Session Meeting Highlights from May 11, 2021

The Session met at 7:00 p.m. on May 11^th using Zoom Internet video & audio.
All 16 of the newly elected church officers shared their statements of faith with the Session and the Session joyfully approved their ordination and installation. Don’t miss this special part of our worship service on Sunday May 23!
It was decided to remove the lock from the playground and try leaving it unlocked again so that church and community families can enjoy the playground evenings and weekends. For safety and sanitation, no pets are allowed in the playground and it is hoped that this rule will be honored.
The Deacons have selected leadership for next year, Don Seitz will serve as the Moderator, and Dakeita Vanderburg will serve as the Vice Moderator.
Kathy Pilkington and Amy Murphy will serve as our commissioners attending the May 18^th Presbytery meeting.
The Session reviewed plans to return to limited in person worship along with live-streamed broadcast, beginning May 16. For reasons of health and safety, masks and social distancing will be required in the sanctuary and throughout the campus. Procedures will be reviewed continuously.
Session members expressed their gratefulness to Rush for the time he has spent with us and for his leadership and the gracious way he has shared the love of God with our congregation. Rush’s last Sunday will be June 13th.
The next Session meeting will be held on June 22, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. with our new Senior Minister, Ellen Crawford True.

As Presbyterians, decisions affecting our worship, education, spiritual nurture, physical property, and budget are made by our elected leaders. To connect with church officers, see the list of Elders and Deacons and their committee assignments on the church website under the “ABOUT” tab, “Staff and Leadership.”

The Session meets monthly on the 2^nd Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Minutes are open and available by request after they are approved at the following month’s Session meeting.

Silver Lining Graduation Car Parade!

We invite all church members, neighbors and friends to line up along North Union Street to watch the First Kids Graduation Parade as it processes from Forest Hills Church to First Presbyterian Church.

Waves, smiles and well wishes would be most appreciated as we celebrate the end of this most unusual school year.

Date: Thursday, May 27th

Time: 5:00 pm

Congratulations to our First Kids Class of 2021!

MWF Fours (Pam Prentice and Maureen O'Bryan)

Abigail Kittel, Aden Renner, Austin Schoonmaker, Beau Black, Eamon Hassenfritz, Ellie Miller, Jon Luke Bosewell, Lia Washburn, Marlowe Ransley, Stella Shreve, Tommy Golder, Weston Aagaard, William Kane & Zoey Peacock

M-F Fours (Julianna Willis, Amy Murphy, Nicole Hollis and Kara King)

Bane Floyd, Chris Lambert, Clara Black, Collins Hall, Elise Benfield, Emma Burchfield, Evie Grace Howie, Hayes Clark, Holt Thomas, Lydia Grogg, Millie Hartsell, Molly Phillips, Rafi Plummer and Remy Williams

TK Class (Kristin Morgan, Holly Westbrook and Kinsey Garrett)

Aya Paul, Brice Roseman, Charlie Miller, Dawson Stell, Gabriel Chikes, Grant Glosson, Hudson Shaffer, Hunter Crisco, Luke Horton, Mayson Crutchfield, Michael Shaffer, Quinn Meuser and Sydney Makela

Summer Worship - in person or live-streamed

Our Summer Worship schedule begins a week from this Sunday on May 30, with worship at 10:00 a.m. through Labor Day weekend.

Vacation Bible School - Only 5 days left to register!

2021 Vacation Bible School!

S’more Adventures with God

June 21-24 (Monday to Thursday)

9 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

This outdoor adventure is open to two-year olds to rising 5th graders.

Volunteers needed! Please use this link to sign-up to help: 2021 FPC: Volunteers - Vacation Bible School

Registration is now OPEN! Please register here today! Due to COVID protocols, May 24^th will be a firm deadline for VBS registrations. This will allow us the necessary time to implement in-person programming for our exciting week of VBS!

Market for Mission Sale….get those donations ready!

We’ve been working getting our storage spaces ready to receive your donations! Our first official drop off day is Tuesday, June 1st 1:30-4:00pm and again Tuesday, July 6th, same time. Starting in August we will be available every Tuesday afternoon 1:30-4p. Drop offs can be made to room 306 in the Will Young Building. If you need assistance (and/or a cart) there will be a cell number posted on the Preschool entrance to call. Please bring items clean and ready to sell (in working order) That really helps!

If you have any questions about what might be ‘donate-able,’ please call Carrie (704) 467-0962 or Gina (704) 794-2228. Here is a review of items we have sold in the past and a few new ideas:

Home Decor, Housewares, Small Electrics, Outerwear for All Ages, Fall/Halloween Decor, Christmas Items, Linens, Vintage & Collectables, Jewelry and like new Purses & Shoes, Children’s Books & small toys, Garden, Lamps, and Art. No books EXCEPT Coffee Table books & Cookbooks. No draperies, curtains or cornices please. At our last sale we had several specialty tables based on donations and that is great too, i.e. Beach, Pet, Bar, Tools. This year because of the pandemic we think a Puzzle table will probably happen!

As a reminder the church wide sale accomplishes three things: 1) Supports the school children of Bayonnais, Haiti 2) Serves as an outreach to our local community and 3) Serves as a bonding experience for First Pres members. We are hoping to make this sale as successful as the 2019 sale that raised over $12K. And as we cautiously gather together again what a wonderful project to look forward to. Thanking you advance for your support.

Journey and S & D Sunday School Class Summer Schedules

The Journey and S & D classes will meet at 11:00 a.m. after worship, beginning on May 30 when worship moves to the summer schedule of 10:00 a.m.

High School Seniors Honored

On Sunday, the Presbyterian Women hosted a reception for our high school seniors and their families prior to worship. Caroline Hedgecock and Laura Martin hosted the boxed brunch reception in the courtyard. A special thanks to Judy Mongold for the beautiful graduation themed packaged cookies for each graduate.

All graduates and their families were invited to attend Sunday worship, where high school seniors were recognized during and presented with a gift coordinated by the Christian Education Committee. Gift bags included a First Presbyterian Church water bottle and Desmond Tutu’s book: God Has a Dream.

Graduates unable to attend in person may pick up their gift bag in the Fellowship House foyer through Thursday of this week.

First Presbyterian Church High School Class of 2021:

Bess Bryant

Robert Connelly

Michael Dickens

Betsy King

Hayes Leatherman

Anna Hill Meares

Les Meares

Mack Morgan

Molly Morrison

Addie Rogers

Grace Rotan

Olivia Rotan

Timothy Watson

Pictured: Seniors Molly Morrison with parents Anne and Holt Morrison; Robert Connelly, with parents Chris and Julie Connelly; and Timothy Watson with parents Alicia and Scott Watson.

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Shelter Meal Prepared by Youth

Fourteen of our Middle and High School Youth gathered Sunday evening to prepare a meal for the Salvation Army Center of Hope (Night Shelter). They divided into small groups to cover portions of the menu: chili, vegetarian chili, cornbread, salad, and chocolate covered strawberries.

Several Youth learned new kitchen skills and all worked hard to provide a great meal for the twenty clients of the shelter.

A special thanks to an amazing team of volunteers for helping lead the meal prep, clean-up, and drop off at the shelter on Sunday!

It was a FUN evening and we plan to do this again in September and December.

Reopening News on the Website

Visit the NEWS section of the church web site for up-to-date information on the re-opening of our Church campus for worship and other activities. We anticipate things to change frequently over the next several weeks and will post all updates for the congregation under that section of the website.