Come One, Come All

Church Picnic Fun Sunday, April 28

Chuck Thompson (tug-of-war commander-in-chief), Linda Welch, Lynette Wallen, and Betsy Turnbull at last year's picnic.

Please join us for our annual church picnic on Sunday, April 28, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. We'll gather at the Rotary Shelter in Steele Creek Park to enjoy good food and fellowship in a beautiful setting. There will be games for all ages and lots of good visiting.

FPC will provide meat and beverages, and supper will be served at 5:30. Please bring a side dish with you, according to the system below:

• last name, A-H: a salad
• last name, I-P: a side
• last name, Q-Z: a dessert

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

Calling All Graduates-to-Be!

Every year we look forward to honoring the achievements of the new graduates among us. Please call the church office (423-764-7176) if you or a member of your family will be graduating from high school, college, or any other educational or training program this spring. We need the following information by April 28 for our recognition efforts: graduate's name, current (not future) school or program, degree or certification earned, and field. Thank you for your help!

Thomas Lynch Undertakes Buechner Lecture Monday

Thomas Lynch

The Buechner Institute will close its year on Monday, April 15, at 7:00 p.m., in FPC's Fellowship Hall, with an event featuring the poet, memoirist, and commentator Thomas Lynch. Lynch's work has appeared in The New York Times, the London Times, Esquire, Harper's, and Newsweek, and has been heard on the BBC and PBS. His many accolades include an American Book Award, the Heartland Prize, and status as a National Book Award finalist for his 1997 collection of essays The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Final Wednesday Programs Next Week

Next week's Wednesday night programs will be the last of the school year. Please join us at 5:30 for our fellowship dinner and stay for the adult learning segment at 6:15. Youth and children's groups will meet at 6:00, as usual.

Wednesday Night Kids

In our last meeting until August, we will conclude our study of the parables of Jesus with an activity night. Each of us will make ice cream to remind us of the Parable of the Salt. We'll enjoy other fun activities as we review the parables of seeds, yeast, salt, wheat, and fruit. Come join us as we celebrate some of the lessons Jesus taught.

Venue Change for Thursday Noon Bible Study

Men's Breakfast This Saturday

The men of the church will have their regular breakfast get-together at 8:00 a.m., this Saturday, April 13, in the Fellowship Hall. All FPC men and their friends are welcome. For more information, contact Dave Welch at (423) 764-7176 or dwelch@fpcbristol.org.

Dedicatory Hymnals Available for Order

Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal is the successor to the most recent denominational hymnal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which was published in 1990. This new resource will feature songs from the breadth of the church, and an electronic version will allow its use in video display, as currently offered in our Fellowship Hall.

We invite contributions for copies of the new hymnal at $15 each. These gifts may be made in memory or in honor of loved ones, and the appropriate designation will be noted in a bookplate for that hymnal. Please plan now to consider those whom you would honor or memorialize through the gift of a hymnal for our church's worship.

Help Us Support the Bristol Half & Half

This Saturday morning, April 13, the Bristol Half & Half, a half-marathon to benefit the American Cancer Society, will be running past First Presbyterian Church. Race organizers have asked us to help support the cause.

The race begins at Virginia High School and ends at the Stone Castle. Half the route occurs in Virginia, half in Tennessee. First Presbyterian is near mile 11.5 of the 13.1-mile course.

Our Student Fellowship plans to turn out in force, providing a water station and lots of encouragement for the runners. All church members are invited to come and cheer from here as well.

A specific need exists for volunteers 18 years of age and older to serve as Course Marshals to staff four intersections near the church. These volunteers will need to be in place by 8:45 a.m. to greet the first runners to pass by around 9:00 a.m. The last participants should be passing through by noon.

If you would like to serve a 90-minute shift as a Course Marshal, please email Gordon Turnbull (gturnbull@fpcbristol.org) or call the church office. A nifty T-shirt and lots of fun and satisfaction await!

Seeking Trainees for Living Waters Ministry

Living Waters for the World is an outreach ministry of the PCUSA that was started by the Synod of Living Waters with the mission to be a Christian ministry that provides sustainable clean water, fostering long-term, mutually beneficial relationships between volunteers and communities in need. Our church is a member of the Living Waters for the World Clean Water Covenant Network. In the past three years our efforts have focused on the needs of our neighbors in Appalachia, particularly in Sneedville and Tazewell. We have provided three water system installations to John and Diane North, Jane Spradlin, and Edsell Hatfield.

We are interested in expanding our involvement to international locations, such as Haiti or Ethiopia. To qualify to install an international system, we need at least one person trained in each of three courses taught at the Clean Water University at Camp Hopewell near Oxford, Mississippi. The three courses are held in concurrent sessions over a five-day period and include training in the following areas:

CWU 101: Learn the fundamentals of water project management, with the objective of empowering operating partners to produce clean water for their communities for years to come.

CWU 102: Learn the health, hygiene, and spiritual curriculum; teach other course participants; and become capable to lead the training for in-country (operating partner) instructors.

CWU 103: Take a fully functioning clean water system and get hands-on experience with how it operates, how to maintain it, and how to troubleshoot problems. Learn how to construct and disassemble the system, including each component and major piece of equipment. You can enroll in only one of the three courses during the five-day session.

We have church members trained in CWU 102 and CWU 103, so to qualify as an international install team, we need to complete our required training by having someone trained in CWU 101. Training opportunities at Camp Hopewell are scheduled for April 17-21, September 4-8, and October 16-20.

Tuition is $595 per person, and funds are available in the Evangelism & Outreach Committee budget to cover the tuition for two students. We hope that you will prayerfully consider joining the First Presbyterian Church Living Waters for the World team to help provide clean water as well as the living water of Jesus Christ to those that the Lord would lead us to help. Please contact Tom King at tfktnhome@gmail.com or at 423-968-2453, if you would like to learn more about this important outreach ministry of the PCUSA.

We encourage you to check out the Living Waters for the World website at www.livingwatersfortheworld.org.

Become a Cub Scout Den Leader for the Boys & Girls Club

As part of FPC's growing outreach through the Boys & Girls Club, we've been invited to help staff a Cub Scout pack that meets exclusively with second and third graders in the B&G Club on our campus.

We are looking for two dedicated individuals (men or women) who have a heart for children. There will be 15 to 20 boys in the pack, and they will meet weekly from August through May. All training, leaders' manuals, and monthly leader support meetings (optional) are provided.

Typical hour-long pack meetings consist of a patriotic opening (flag ceremony, a prayer or song, or a group recital of the Cub Scout Promise), a hands-on craft project or game (see the manual), achievement training (working on a badge; directions in the manual), and a closing.

If you are interested in becoming a den leader, please contact Peggy Hill at 423-956-0209 or hillp@btes.tv.

Graduating King Student Needs Housing

Fred Foy Strang has alerted us to a need by a female King University student who graduates this spring and wishes to stay in the area until early 2014, when she will leave for a one- to two-year mission service internship. She is looking for a room, an apartment, a mother-in-law suite, or something similar. She can pay rent and/or help in the home. If you know of or have a suitable accommodation, please contact Fred Foy at ffstrang@king.edu or 423-652-4708.

Hey, Students! Hungry for Fellowship? Join Us Sunday

Be sure to join us for Student Fellowship this Sunday, April 14. Bring friends, come hungry, and get ready for a little competition!

All Aboard for Athens!

 In little more than eight weeks, the Vacation Bible School crew sets sail for Athens! VBS will get under way much earlier this year, on June 10, 11, and 12. We will study Paul's second missionary journey, and we anticipate a visit from the Apostle himself! Don your toga and let us know you are ready to join in this learning experience. We are looking for volunteers for many different jobs, including stocking the marketplace shops and putting on a dinner for the final night.

You can volunteer and learn more about VBS by contacting or speaking with Ann Abel, Amanda Hankins, Lilly Osborne, Linda Welch, or Tina Witcher, all of whom are busily planning for Athens: Paul's Dangerous Journey to Share the Truth.

Volunteer (as Often as You Like!) for Sunday Nursery

If you enjoy small children and babies, please volunteer to give some TLC to the youngest among us on Sunday mornings. A sign-up form for volunteers will be in the Fellowship Hallway this Sunday for those willing to assist during the 8:30 service or the Sunday School hour, or you can contact Ann Abel at aabel@fpcbristol.org or 423-764-7176.

You may volunteer for as many Sundays as you want. Thank you to those who helped during these past months! And thank you to those who will give support to our children in the months ahead!

Springing Forth in Hope

Spring seems to have settled in but may still have surprises in store. Hoping for the best, J.B. Madison is in charge of the Tiger Cat between April 10 and 13, Roger Sikorski is scheduled to take it for a run between April 17 and 20, and Jim White takes over April 24 through 27. In the spirit of the more the merrier, we invite you to join our volunteer mowing team. Simply contact Randy Cook at 423-956-1541 or npolecook@aol.com.