"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." -Matthew 25: 35-36

First Presbyterian Church is involved in many ministries, and one is dedicated to responding to the needs of our members, friends, and regular visitors. The Care Shepherd Ministry was begun more than five years ago as a part of the Deacons' committee for Congregational Care.

Care Shepherds are members of our congregation, like you, who volunteer to keep watch over the needs of the congregation for one month. Care Shepherds show Christian love to members of our church family by arranging meals, visiting, writing notes and cards, making phone calls, or providing other services.

Our ministers and the church office are a valuable part of the team. They help keep us informed of those in need. Each Care Shepherd is given a manual with explicit instructions about what action to take in any given situation. A volunteer's workload varies from month to month.

Love, warmth, comfort, and caring are two-way streets: Care Shepherds are blessed by serving our congregation. Please consider serving as a Care Shepherd this year. You may sign up this month during worship or by contacting the church office during the week. If you have questions, call Gordon Turnbull (423.764.7176) or contact:

Debbie McMillin

423-652-2775 (home)

423-534-2283 (cell)

dmcmilli112@charter.net

FPC's children's ministry is looking for a few people who would enjoy spending time with our children on Sunday mornings. The following volunteer opportunities are now available:

·        One-on-one shepherding is a great opportunity to minister to our children with special needs and to their parents.

·        Substitute teachers get to know our wonderful children while giving our regular teachers a break when they are ill or on vacation.

For more information or to volunteer, please contact Cathy Newton at the church office.

We are rounding up Teddy Grahams, those little cookies in the shape of teddy bears, to take to Fairmount Elementary School so that all of our small neighbors there can have a boost at snack time.

The Neighborhood Initiatives Steering Committee has been providing afternoon snacks for students whose parents cannot afford to purchase them. Our own Kay Ward is the community outreach liaison at Fairmount. She has been working with the committee to identify the children in need and to distribute snacks to the teachers to hand out each day. Kay has discovered that there are at least two children in each of 23 classrooms whose parents cannot give them snacks. That adds up to a need for 46 snack portions every day, a total of 230 snacks per week, or 920 snacks each month.

The committee is asking our worshippers to bring regular boxes of Teddy Grahams, either the original or cinnamon flavors, to the Little Red House in the Fellowship Hallway anytime before the end of February. The committee will take them to the school, and the teachers will divide them into snack portions as needed.

Your loving contribution will give dignity to children from low-income families by allowing them to enjoy snacks with their classmates, and tide them over until the end of the school day. Say a prayer of blessing as you send them on their way!

Dr. Martin Dotterweich, associate professor of history at King College, will continue to lead us through the story behind the King James Version of the Bible during the Wednesday evening program. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James, or Authorized, Version. We are devoting four weeks to following the story of how that version came to be, a drama full of exotic settings and compelling characters.  

We will also consider how the King James Version came to occupy its position as the dominant version for so long, and how it has shaped language and literature in its 400 years.