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Windows
on First Presbyterian Church
October 6, 2011 |
Presbyterian Women Meet Tuesday |
The Presbyterian Women will hold our first monthly meeting in the new program year on Tuesday, October 11. Circle will meet at 11:00 a.m., and we will discuss a new project. Then Gordon Turnbull will lead our Bible study at 11:30. Lunch will follow. You can make lunch reservations with the church office.
Please make every effort to be there. All women are welcome. We need YOU! |
Youth Activities Start Early This Sunday |
Please note the change in time for youth activities on the calendar for this Sunday, October 9. The Jubilate Youth Choir will rehearse at 4:15 p.m., and the junior and senior high youth groups will meet at 5:00 p.m. |
FPC Blood Drive Rescheduled |
The Marsh Blood Services blood drive that was to have been held at the church on October 5 will be held instead on Wednesday, October 12, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., in the front parking lot. |
FPC Plans Mission Trip to Ethiopia |
First Presbyterian Church is planning a mission trip to Ethiopia for January. Come and learn more about it Wednesday, October 12, at 7:15 p.m., in room 123. |
 Our Safe Church Update |
For the safety of our children, please remember to sign your child in and out of Sunday School. Sign-in sheets are located at the Children's Ministries' registration table before Sunday School and will be in the classrooms afterwards. If you have not registered your child for Sunday School, you will find the necessary form at the registration table. |
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On Sunday, October 16, all third through fifth graders are invited to enjoy a pizza lunch followed by an adventurous romp through a corn maze. The fun will begin at the church at noon. After lunch, we will head to Beck Mountain in Elizabethton for an a-maze-ing time.
Parents: We are asking for a $2 donation to help with the cost. Please call Ruthie Blair at 423-217-1224 or Cathy Newton at 423-366-8367 for more information or to reserve a place for your child. Please plan to be at the church to pick up your children by 3:30. |
Trunk or Treat Coming Down the Pike |
Our Fall Festival with Trunk or Treat will be held Sunday, October 30, at 6:00, in the front parking lot. Last year, about 250 of our neighbors joined us in enjoying a great evening of fun and fellowship at our first Trunk or Treat event. Help us put on an even better festival this year by showing off your decorated car trunk, donating candy, serving food, or helping with games for the kids. It's a great way to reach out to our community as well as enjoy the company of our own church kids!
Look for the trunk-decorating sign-up sheet at the Children's Ministries' registration table and the candy donation trunk that will be located next to it. If you have any questions or would like to reserve a place for your car, please contact Cathy Newton at 423-764-7176 or at cnewton@fpcbristol.org. |
Fellowship Dinner Menu for October 12 |
Chicken Divan
Green Beans
Salad Bar
Rolls
Dessert
A kids' buffet will be available.
Volunteers:
Morning: Julie King
Servers/Cleanup: David & Sherry Worley |
Mowing Teams through October 15 |
October 5-8: Joel Newton & Jon McClain
October 12-15: JB Madison & Dave Welch |
Library News from Bill Wade Exploring the Interface of God, Mind, and Science | |
Does God respond to intercessory prayers? Almost certainly you will answer with an emphatic yes, pointing out that prayers that we make on behalf of others are an important part of our daily Christian life. Each week our church publishes a list of prayer concerns, our Sunday services include a special moment for such petitions, and many of you are privately active in your own prayer life.
But what about faith healing, as seen on some television channels? Is God active in these instantaneous miracles? Some of you will at this point express reservations and suggest caution, if not outright skepticism. And what about all the many other different ways in which some individuals perceive the hand of God in our daily affairs?
This is the topic of a recent and important book, Fingerprints of God: What Science Is Learning About the Brain and Spiritual Experience. Its author, Barbara Brown Hagerty, is a National Public Radio religion correspondent and a recipient of the prestigious Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowship in Science and Religion; she has also been a Knight Fellow at Yale Law School. She writes in her first chapter: "This book tackles the existence of God, 'the reality of the unseen,' as psychologist William James had it. After talking to countless scientists far more knowledgeable and insightful than I, I have concluded that science cannot prove God-but science is entirely consistent with God." Her method is to take up the various ways in which individuals have seen or felt the influence of God in their lives, and then to examine what rigorous scientific studies have to say about this. Is there a God who heals? Do certain personality types seem more inclined to be in tune with God, or is there a God gene? Does God rewire our brains to allow us greater insight? What about stories of those who had near-death experiences but returned to life, or cases of individuals who had no brain function but continued to think and observe?
If some of this seems beyond the bounds of comprehension, this is where Hagerty's reliance upon the findings of science and documented experimental studies becomes important. As one critic summed it up, her book is "equal parts scientific quest and religious pilgrimage." Her method is to take you from one laboratory to another, to interview leading scientists in the various fields. After overcoming fears that such a project might damage her academic reputation, she plunged in and "found a small brave band of scientists who had far more to lose than I did. ... And then they risked it all by pursuing the taboo question: Is spiritual experience real or delusion?"
You'll find this book both provocative and enlightening. And best of all, Barbara Brown Hagerty is one of the speakers for the Buechner Institute at King College this academic year. She will be speaking in the college chapel on Monday, October 10, at 10:30 a.m., and again that evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Bristol Train Station. You'll want to read this book first and then be prepared to see her in person. |
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Music Notes | |
Music Participants: We are always grateful for the music leadership provided by volunteers in our congregation's music ministry, but never more so than when we combine forces for worship. Thanks to the many children, youth, King College students, and adults who participated musically in our World Communion Service.
October 9: Sanctuary Choir; Brandon Story, bass. The much loved African-American Spiritual "Dry Bones" (or "Dem Bones") is the Sanctuary Choir anthem, recognizing the HeartsBurn readings for the week in the book of Ezekiel. It is a joyous musical realization of the power of the Holy Spirit to enliven the faithful. The musical arrangement is by Mark Hayes, a Baylor University graduate who is based in Kansas City, MO. Hayes is an arranger of sacred and secular music whose compositions are widely performed.
Arts Series: Mark your calendars for a great listening experience! World-renowned flutist (and former arts correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning) Eugenia Zukerman will present a program in our sanctuary on Sunday, November 6, at 3:00 p.m. She will be accompanied by Manhattan Piano Trio cofounder Milana Strezeva. Suggested ticket donation is $15 for adults and $5 for students age 6 through college. ~ Steve & Vicki Fey |
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Sunday Worship | |
October 9: Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lessons: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Ephesians 2:1-10
Sermon: God's Gift and the Spirit's Work, Gordon Turnbull
Hymns: Arise, Your Light Has Come!; Spirit of the Living God; Go to the World!
Anthem: Dry Bones
By the Numbers for October 2: Combined Service: 274 |
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In Our Prayers
Dave Guldseth
Sharon Hatcher
Sue Mumpower
Ruth Musser
An extensive list of prayer concerns, "Pray for One Another," is available for pickup at the church each week.
Condolences
Our love and sympathy are with Linda Moore in the recent death of her mother, Betty Brown, in San Diego, and with the Abel family in the death of Phyllis Abel (Ann's sister-in-law and Adam's aunt) on October 2 in Abingdon.
Birthday Prayer Fellowship
October 9 Emmett Bane III, Vivian Calcote, Kathleen Dotterweich, Chris Winters
October 10 Ian Addison
October 11 David Akard Jr., Dot Mattison, Brandon Story
October 12 Mary Givens Crutchfield, Pat Dulaney, Bill Wade
October 13 Buddy Eller, Katie Sword
October 14 Ben Frizzell Jr.
October 15 Sue Faucette |
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Sunday, October 9
8:30 a.m. Worship, Fellowship Hall
9:00 a.m. Cherub Choir
9:45 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Worship, Sanctuary
4:15 p.m. Jubilate Youth Choir
5:00 p.m. Junior High Youth Group
5:00 p.m. Senior High Youth Group
5:30 p.m. HeartsBurn Bible Study
Monday, October 10
5:30 p.m. Sanctuary Handbell Choir Rehearsal
7:00 p.m. Worship Committee Meeting
Tuesday, October 11
9:00 a.m. Staff Meeting
9:30 a.m. Ladies' Bible Study
10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer Group
11:00 a.m. Presbyterian Women's Circle
11:30 a.m. Presbyterian Women's Bible Study
12:00 p.m. Presbyterian Women's Luncheon
6:30 p.m. Cub Scout Pack 3 Meeting
7:00 p.m. Boy Scout Troop 3 Meeting
Wednesday, October 12
1:00 p.m. Women's Bible Study
4:15 p.m. Children's Handbells
4:45 p.m. Youth Handbells
4:45 p.m. Savior's Singers Children's Choir Rehearsal
5:30 p.m. Fellowship Dinner
6:15 p.m. Adult Program
6:15 p.m. Kid Connection
6:15 p.m. Junior High Bible Study
6:45 p.m. Senior High Bible Study
7:15 p.m. Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal
7:15 p.m. Ethiopian Mission Meeting
Thursday, October 13
7:00 a.m. Men's Bible Study
9:00 a.m. Meals on Wheels
12:00 p.m. HeartsBurn Bible Study, Java J's |
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