We welcome children and adults to help us package over 12,000 meals. We will be practicing social distancing during the event. The Rise Against Hunger staff has put a system in place to keep us safe and healthy while we package the meals.

The mission of Rise Against Hunger is to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable populations. RAH works with churches like ours to offer meal-packaging events to create fortified, dehydrated, shelf-stable meals that are transported by RAH to identified areas of food insecurity.

Join us for this high impact intergenerational event!

Beginning THIS Sunday, April 18, and continuing April 25,

The book of Jonah is one of the Bible’s most profound stories about faith. It’s also one of the shortest books in the Bible. And maybe the funniest.

Jonah tells the story of a reluctant prophet and how he learns what faith is about. It is also the story of one of the greatest acts of repentance in the history of the scriptures. In the story Jonah reluctantly preached one of the shortest and probably worst sermons on record, and the entire pagan city of Nineveh repented, leading to God’s forgiveness and some comic results. The book of Jonah is only 48 verses, but the message packs a wallop.

Join us on Zoom for four sessions as we let Jonah guide us on the journey of faith. To participate using Zoom you will need a computer or other device connected to the internet.

Please email Dent Davis at dcdavis3@gmail.com to register.

Sunday School classes continue by Zoom this Sunday, April 18

Join us this Sunday at 10:00 a.m. by Zoom for all ages through middle school. Sunday School classes will be focusing on the scripture Luke 24:36b-48.

It’s time for a kayaking trip with your First Presbyterian Church family!

“Put-In” at Jiggs Landing Preserve at 12:30 p.m.

Reservations are not confirmed until payment is received. You can pay through the church website, under Online Giving select Fellowship Events or mail a check to the church office.

Please RSVP by contacting Rachel

Bring your own kayak or rent one. A single kayak is $30 and a double is $40. Please bring your own snacks and beverages. Wear water shoes, clothes that can get wet, a hat and plenty of sunscreen.

Check out Jiggs Landing - https://jiggslanding.com/ or on Facebook at Jiggs Landing Outpost, 6106 63rd St. East, Bradenton, FL 34203. For the best driving directions, please use your GPS or Google.

If you are not a kayaker, please come to Jiggs Landing for a time of fellowship. They have a snack bar and live music from 3:00 p.m. until sunset.

"Reflections on Perseverance" 

Family Promise of Sarasota received a grant of $7,500 from the Family Promise national affiliate for its work around Prevention of Homelessness. It has been promised an additional $2,500 if it is able to find local grants of $10,000 to match. If you would like to donate to this effort, you may go to our FPC website (https://firstpressarasota.org/), log in, from the front page top tool bar navigate to the Giving page, and select Family Promise from the Select a Fund drop down list.

If you would prefer, you may donate to Family Promise’s National Giving Day - April 21 on its website: https://www.familypromisesarasota.org/. All donations made on the Family Promise website in April will be matched by sponsors up to $5,000.

1.   Children's Underwear, NEW IN PACKAGES - Children coming into Family Promise’s care have been staying in situations where they have had limited access to laundry facilities. Parents and case managers see this as a critical need. Looking for all sizes and genders of new, in-package underwear.

2.   Gently Used Children's SUMMER Clothing - The majority of children in shelters have only one change of clothing. Gently used summer clothing (no jackets, blankets, stuffed animals or toys, please) will fill another important need for children experiencing homelessness.

3.   Family Promise would like gender-neutral birthday cards, suitable for kids ages 4 to 14. Cards can be handmade, computer-printed, or store purchased. Each greeting card should include a nominal gift card, such as from Walmart, Target, McDonalds, etc., for $5 or $10. Cards should be in an UNSEALED envelope containing the greeting card and the gift card. Be as creative as you'd like! It will delight a child.

Mary Martha Circle meets for Bible study and fellowship on Wednesday, April 21, at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. We will be looking at the remaining documents in The Book of Confessions. These doctrines, rejected by the Church centuries earlier, were reappearing as more Christians, after the Reformation, read the Bible themselves.

We’ll briefly consider confessions and creeds dating from 1560 with The Scots Confession through A Brief Statement of Faith adopted in 1990. We frequently use in worship A Brief Statement of Faith, The Confession of 1967, and The Declaration of Faith (which is not in The Book of Confessions but was approved by the General Assembly in 1985 for use in worship). We will be looking a bit closer at these three ways we state what we believe.

The lesson will be taught by Elaine Barnett. Everyone is welcome to join in via Zoom. Contact Elaine at ewbarnet@me.com to get the Zoom link.

The next PW gathering is Tuesday, May 4 at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. The speaker is Margi Dawson, the Director of Development at Turning Points. Turning Points provides basic needs, rent and utility assistance, and a medical/dental clinic. Margi's presentation will include testimonials.

We will also dedicate our annual birthday offerings. You are welcome to linger after the meeting for a time of fellowship. The Zoom link will be in next week's News@First.

Online: If you are interested in giving electronically through our secure e-giving process, please visit FirstPresSarasota.org and select the online giving button.

Texting: Are you interested in the convenience of contributing by text message? Text FPC2050 to 73256 to donate via text. Standard rates may apply.

Mail In: During this time when the church campus is closed, all mail, including contribution checks, securely arrives to our church office.

Sisters of the Road gathers weekly at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesdays via Zoom for one hour to pray and study the Bible together. We support each other in any way we can. Please join us. If you have prayer requests, just let us know. To learn more, please contact Pat Feeney at (941) 228-4805 or patfeeney21@gmail, or Janet Olshewsky at (941) 376-4431 or janetolshewsky@verizon.net.

The Brentwood staff is very appreciative of all we do to help the school. When Principal John Weida was told of the gifts in Sophia’s memory, his response was, “Wow! Your church community is truly a blessing.” Yes, First Presbyterian Church, you are a blessing, indeed!

Resurrection House is open each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There are still a few volunteer spots available. If interested, please contact Joe at rhlucero@verizon.net

Thursday Mornings : 8:45 - 11:30 am

Contact Bob Kirkpatrick, rkirkhv@aol.com or (941) 355-0809

First Presbyterian Church's technology service provider, SouthTech, invites us to recycle with them on Earth Day!

The FPC care team, Stephen Ministers, deacons, elders and church staff continue to be available for you. Please feel free to reach out to Cheryl Track, faith community nurse (941) 320-3828 or call the church office (941) 955-8119 if we can be of support to you.