You can join us at any time, but our rehearsals for the fall begin on August 10. Please consider joining us from 7:15 to 8:45 on Wednesday evenings for rehearsal (we even have some fun) and at 10:15 on Sunday mornings, when we do our best to lead the congregation in worship. Warm up your pipes and come sing with us! /Pat Flannagan

Looking for a new adult Sunday morning class? On Sunday, August 21, the Reverend Dr. Bud Branscomb will begin teaching an inductive Bible study on the Gospel of John. The class will meet for eight to ten weeks in room 167, across from the Boy Scout Hall. Bud brings a wealth of teaching and pastoral experience from having served ministries in Kingsport, Hawkins County, and Greene County. With his wife Marg, who also worships with us, Bud cofounded Alpha/Omega Ministries, which works with 15 Tri-Cities congregations. After retiring as the CFO of the Appalachian Educational Communication Corp. (a group of six Christian radio stations), Bud then shared his pastoral gifts with several local churches, including Beidleman Presbyterian Church and Marthina Chapel. He is now the Executive Director of CrossBridge Ministries, which prepares persons to serve as tomorrow’s church leaders. There he teaches with Dr. Charles Stoner.

These are our current Sunday morning adult classes and Bible studies:

Throughout the month of July, we are collecting supplies (listed in the illustration at left) for the teachers in our neighborhood school, Fairmount Elementary. Please bring your donated items to the collection bins across from Lilly Osborne’s office in the fellowship hallway. We will deliver them to the school in time for the start of classes.

of FPC volunteers spent a week in June doing maintenance and repair work

Pastor Sam and his son are planning to go, and if there is enough interest, he will rent a van and drive out there with a group. Departure would be late in the afternoon on Sunday, August 7, and the return late on Wednesday, August 17. The only cost to volunteers would be traveling money and per diem when on site ($25/day). Anyone interested in taking the trip should let Pastor Sam know by email or call the church office (423-764-7176).

Brothers for Christ Community Response and Virginia Housing are sponsoring Run for Sobriety, a 5K fun run scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Saturday, August 6, in Sugar Hollow Park. Come out, meet the vendors, and learn more about this community-building ministry while enjoying food, fun, giveaways, music, and more. BCCR works to provide a safe and stable environment for men and women returning to society from incarceration or addiction and to educate our community to their plight.

We would love to have a good presence of First Presbyterian members. Come out and enjoy the run and the activities afterward! To register to run, submit your name here. For more information or to sign up to be a vendor, contact Steven L. Davis Sr. (or 423-646-4070) or Ann Davis (or 276-6965493).

Please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry. You can do so online or by mail. Go to bros4christ.org and click on Donate; go to PayPal and enter bros4christ; or make a check or money order payable to BCCR and mail it to PO Box 16182, Bristol, VA 24209. See the contacts above if you wish to place an ad in the event’s program ($50 for a full page, $25 for a half page).

We will return to Doe River Gorge for another afternoon of fun and fellowship Sunday, August 7. The event is free. The lake and its sandy beach, the blob, ziplines, obstacle course, and sports all will be at our disposal. Bring your friends and family for a day of celebrating all God has done for us as a church family. The evening will conclude with baptisms in the lake followed by dinner. If you would like to be baptized, please contact Pastor Sam.

We probably won't be feeding 5,000, but we will need to know how many people to plan for, so please fill in the online registration form. Doe River Gorge is at 220 Doe River Gorge Road in Hampton, Tennessee.

July 24: Sunday’s organ pieces are arrangements of the day’s hymns. “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” was written by Joseph M. Scriven (1819–1886; pictured at left), an Irish-born immigrant to Canada. He composed the text to comfort his mother in Ireland when she was going through a time of special sorrow, not intending anyone else should see it. Fortunately for us, others did see it, and it was set to music in 1868 by Charles C. Converse (1832–1918). He named the tune ERIE after the city in Pennsylvania where he lived. It has since been renamed CONVERSE for its composer. Robert A. Hobby (b. 1962) has created a gentle setting of CONVERSE (our prelude). Hobby serves as Director of Music for Trinity English Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Most of his composition time has been spent writing commissions for churches and organizations throughout the country.

“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!” was written by Edward Perronet (1721–1792), for some time an intimate associate of the Wesleys. Initially set to the tune MILES LANE, it was later set to the tune CORONATION by Oliver Holden (1765–1844), one of the pioneers of American psalmody. David Schelat (b. 1955) has taken CORONATION, a hymn in 4/4 time, and created a dancelike setting in 6/8 time (our postlude). Schelat is Minister of Music at First & Central Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware. As well as writing for the ensembles he conducts, he composes on commission. He teaches organ at the Music School of Delaware and has taught at numerous summer Pipe Organ Encounters (POE) for high school organists.

July 31: Jean-Adam Guilain (at left) was a German organist and harpsichordist who was mostly active in Paris during the first half of the eighteenth century. Little is known about his life. He was born in Germany, possibly around 1680 (the exact dates of birth and death are unknown). For an unknown reason he moved to France some time before 1702 and almost certainly became one of the prominent organ teacher Louis Marchand’s pupils. Guilain’s organ collection is dedicated to Marchand. Guilain died some time after 1739, the year when he published a collection of harpsichord pieces.

Although he came from Germany, Guilain’s musical style appears to be in the pure French tradition. A single collection of organ pieces (Pièces d'orgue pour le Magnificat sur les huit tons différents de l'église) was published in 1706 in two volumes, of which only one is now extant. The full collection included eight suites of pieces for use with the Magnificat, one suite for each church mode. Each suite contained seven short movements that were to alternate with the vocal parts of the liturgy. I will be playing selections from the Second Suite: the opening “Prelude,” then the “Tierce in Taille” that follows it. During the Passing of the Peace I will play the next piece, “Duo.” There isn’t time to play the whole suite, so I will skip the next two movements and conclude with the grand “Dialogue.” It makes a more fitting ending than the softer, anticlimactic eleven-measure “Petit Plein Jeu” with which the Suite actually ends.

July 14, 2022

July 12, 2022

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