Every year we look forward to honoring the achievements of the new graduates among us. Please call the church office if you or a member of your family will be graduating from high school, college, or any other educational or training program this spring. The information we need for our recognition efforts is the following: student name, current (not future) school or program, degree earned, and field. Thank you for your help!

Please join us for our annual churchwide picnic on Sunday, May 6, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., at Steele Creek Park. We'll gather at the Rotary Shelter to enjoy good food, games, and fellowship in a beautiful setting.

But wait! There's more! In addition to a cakewalk, a tug-of-war, and other games, we will have a contest for the best homemade pie. Anyone interested in entering or judging the pie contest should email Betsy Turnbull at gbturnbull@btes.tv.

FPC will provide meat and beverages, and supper will be served at 5:30. Please bring a side dish with you: last name, A-H: bring a salad; last name, I-P: bring a side; last name, Q-Z: bring a dessert.

Our picnics are always great fun, and we hope to see you there!

Miniature from the Cotton Nero A.x manuscript in the British Library.

Craig McDonald concludes his perceptive look at "Pearl," the medieval poem at the center of his two-part series, "Imagining Scripture: An Old Poem and the New Jerusalem," this Wednesday, April 18, after the Fellowship Dinner. His presentation also concludes the adult learning program for this program year. On the following Wednesday, April 25, we will gather at the church for a cookout.

Fellowship Dinner

Menu

Barbecue

Baked Beans

Potato Salad

Coleslaw

Dessert

Volunteers

Morning: Julie King

Server/Cleanup: Brian Miller & Linda Welch

Deborah Dillard will speak at the third annual Tri-Cities Women's Prayer Breakfast, scheduled for Saturday, May 5, at 9:00 a.m., with registration beginning at 8:30. The title of Dr. Dillard's talk is "Quenching Hunger for the Body and Soul."

The breakfast will be held at The Centre, 1 Centre Drive, Bristol, TN. Admission is $10. Please bring six or more nonperishable food items for the Bristol Emergency Food Pantry.

For tickets or more information, call Ann Landis at 423-968-4606. Tickets must be purchased before Sunday, April 15.

The Clothes Closet has expanded in space and time, with more room and longer hours. You can now find it at 21 Washington Street in Bristol, VA, directly behind the train station. It is in the new Ministry Mall, located in the single-story white building between First Baptist Church and the railroad. Parking is available in the church parking lot. Enter through the main doors of the Ministry Mall at the wheelchair ramp and steps, and you will see the Clothes Closet area on the right. New hours are from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

Here's how to donate to the Clothes Closet. Make sure all items are clean and in good repair. The Clothes Closet cannot accept items with missing pieces or that are broken or rusted. Please do not donate clothing that you would not wear yourself in the condition it's in (such as stained, ripped, torn, or missing buttons). Drop your donations off anytime during operating hours, or email Becky Hale at bhale7904@aol.com to set up a time when someone can meet you there. The Clothes Closet cannot pick up items.

In addition to clothing and shoes, the Clothes Closet stocks household items, clothes hangers, dishes, curtains, blankets, sheets, toys, books, and whatnots in its main area. Volunteers are available to help people find athletic equipment (such as cleats, baseball pants, and running shoes), scrubs, maternity clothes, Scout uniforms, prom gowns, and other specialty items stored in a separate area.

There are no income or residency requirements for obtaining items from the Clothes Closet. There are limits on certain items but not on most, and visits are restricted to one per month. Everything is free but for personal use only. Annual income is irrelevant. The Clothes Closet does ask for visitors' names, addresses, and number of people in the household to see what areas it is serving.

Be sure to turn out for Boy Scout Troop 3's annual community yard sale this Saturday, April 14, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in the back parking lot by the Fellowship Hall. FPC's Scouts are raising money to pay for their transportation to the 50th anniversary of the West Point Camporee, April 26 to 29, and to cover the costs of the event itself.

The 50th anniversary Camporee is an invitation-only event that FPC's Scouts were blessed to be accepted to because we have two Troop 3 Eagle Scouts (also members of FPC) at West Point, Cadet Pvt. Drew Bailey and Cadet Pvt. Conor Haaser.

We welcome donations for this fundraising event from our church family. Please bring donated items to the Scout Hall, which is open during church business hours. If you wish to deliver items at another time, please call the Scout Master, Karen Haaser, at 423-383-1287, or the event coordinator, Ralph Roark, at 423-276-8848. Troop 3 is very grateful to First Presbyterian Church for its support!

More than 30 youth of our church have signed up to participate in World Vision's 30-Hour Famine during the weekend of April 28-29. This is an experiential fundraising event for World Vision International, and funds raised by FPC youth will be designated for works in Ethiopia that strengthen our connection to that region of the world.

According to World Vision, 925 million people worldwide are hungry. Every day, as many as 11,000 children under the age of five die from hunger-related causes. That's one child every eight seconds. To save as many lives as possible, hundreds of thousands of compassionate students every year take on the challenge of the 30-Hour Famine. They go without food for 30 hours. They learn what it takes to overcome hunger. And they raise funds to help feed hungry children and families around the world. They make a difference.

Every $30 our young people raise can help feed and care for a child for a month. And because the Famine is powered by World Vision, our youth are not only feeding children for today but also helping them and their families overcome poverty for a lifetime.

The grass is green and growing fast!

We will see the following mowers practicing their takeoffs and landings on the church lawn in the next few weeks:

            April 11-15:     JB Madison & Jim White

            April 18-22:     Roger Sikorski & Brian Miller

            April 25-29:     Karen White-Smith & Eric Cline

For your chance to fly the Tiger Cat, signal Randy Cook at npolecook@aol.com or 423-956-1541.

The hard work led by Tom Daniel over the past few weeks paid off in spades on Easter Sunday. Worshipers brought more flowers to decorate the cross in the corner. Thank you to everyone who helped warm the atmosphere on a chilly morning!