April 27

2nd Sunday of Easter

Gospel

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Gordon A. Turnbull

Hymns

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today!

These Things Did Thomas Count as Real

In Christ There Is No East or West

Anthems

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation

When in Our Music God Is Glorified

King University Symphonic Choir

Worship Count

April 20: 7:00: 95; 8:30: 249; 11:00: 270

Tyler Franklin talks to clients at Bristol Faith in Action.

On April 30 at 6:15 p.m., Tyler Franklin will talk to us about the vital work that Bristol Faith in Action performs for our community. The program by BFIA's executive director will follow our 5:30 p.m. fellowship dinner of Middle Eastern food. Both events will be held in the Fellowship Hall. Student Fellowship small groups and Wednesday Night Kids will meet as usual at 6:00. We look forward to sharing this time with you!

Buechner Lecture Canceled

The Buechner Lecture that was to given in our sanctuary tonight has been canceled. The lecturer, Christian Wiman, has been hospitalized in New York.

Combined Service to Receive Confirmands May 11

Please join us for an important event in our life together as we hear the proclamations of faith of our newest class of confirmands, then receive them as members of our church, in a combined worship service at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary on Sunday, May 11. Sunday School will begin early, at 9:30.

Next Tuesday Is Girls' Night Out

Women of all ages are invited to share an evening of relaxed fellowship with their sisters in Christ on Tuesday, April 29, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., at Casa Mexicana. The restaurant is located at 1020 Volunteer Parkway.

A nursery will be available at the church. Please call the church office at (423) 764-7176 by noon on Monday, April 28, to let us know of your need for child care. Parents should pack a supper for their children and pick them up by 8:15.

We look forward to seeing you!

Lynette Wallen's Bible Study Group to End Semester May 7

Lynette Wallen's Heart to Heart Bible study group, which meets on Wednesday mornings at 9:30 in the New Mothers' Room, will hold its final session of the program year on May 7. After a summer break, the group will continue in the fall. Plans will be announced at a later date.

Men's Breakfast Moved to May 10

Our monthly Men's Breakfast will be held May 10 instead of on the usual first Saturday. Join us in the Fellowship Hall at 8:00 a.m. for breakfast, Bible study, and good fellowship. Feel free to bring a friend!

Let's Encourage Our Confirmands

Since October 2013, our confirmation students have participated in weekly classes that have taught, informed, and challenged their idea of faith. Watching them grow over the past school year and take ownership of their faith has been a joy and an inspiration!

On Sunday, May 11, our confirmation students will have the opportunity to proclaim their faith to our church family and become members of First Presbyterian Church. As we prepare for this special day, we ask friends and family to send in cards and letters of spiritual encouragement for our confirmands. The kind words you share will not only encourage them as they prepare to be confirmed but also be kept for years as a reminder of the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds them and that will continue to love, guide, and encourage them as they run the race.

The following are this year's confirmands: Blakesley Bassett, Jess Beckner, John Blair, Ashley McGill, John Thomas Scott.

If you would like to participate, please mail or deliver all cards and letters by May 5 to:

First Presbyterian Church

Attn.: Katie Arnold

701 Florida Ave.

Bristol, TN 37620

Thank you for joining us as we celebrate this important and exciting time in the lives of our students! For more information, contact Katie Arnold.

Graduation time is drawing near! We are planning a Sunday of celebration at both May 18 worship services, where we will recognize those among us who are completing degrees or certifications or graduating from high school, college, or other programs.

Every year we look forward to honoring the achievements of all the new graduates among us. Please call the church office at (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 Sunday, May 4, for our recognition efforts: graduate's name; current (not future) school or program; degree or certification earned; and field of study. Thank you for your help!

After recognizing all our graduates in our morning worship services May 18, we will continue the celebration in the evening with a dinner especially for those graduating from high school. This year we are collecting "Legendary Letters" to present to our high school seniors at the dinner. These letters are written by family and friends to a senior and describe ways in which the senior has affected the writer's life. Letters can share memories, stories, lessons learned, or significant moments. This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage the senior in future plans and faith as well as to acknowledge the beautiful gifts God has given them.

Our hope is that the Legendary Letters will be a collection of love and truth that the seniors can read as they begin a new journey after high school and that will serve as a reminder of the incredible community cheering them on in their journey! If you would like to participate, please mail or deliver all cards and letters by May 12 to Katie Arnold at the church.

The following seniors are active in FPC's student fellowship:Liz Graham, Peyton Henley, Lexi Johnson, Zak Kitzmiller, Andrew Mills, Adam Mitchell, Breanna Necessary, and Josh Pendleton.

Everyone is invited to this celebratory dinner, Sunday, May 18, at 5:00, in the Fellowship Hall. Be ready to tell stories about our seniors and to be moved, amused, and maybe even amazed! if you would like to help set up or decorate for this event, please contact Katieat karnold@fpcbristol.org.

If you have lost something in the church or on our campus, or think you may have, you may look for it in our Lost and Found collection in the Fellowship Hall on April 30, when you join us for the final Wednesday evening program of the semester. You may check with the church office anytime before then. Items not retrieved will be given to local ministries for their community-aiding thrift stores.

We are collecting boxes of vanilla wafers this month for our Fairmount students' snack program. Simply by bringing in a box or two of vanilla wafers to the little red schoolhouse in the Fellowship Hallway, you can perk up neighborhood schoolchildren who cannot afford to bring their own for snacktime. Thank you for your kindness!

Sunday's music participants: King University Symphonic Choir; Pat Flannagan, conductor; Gary Robertz, clarinet.

Sunday's music: For the prelude, the King University Symphonic Choir will sing an arrangement of the German Lutheran hymn, "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty." The text was written by Joachim Neander, a much loved seventeenth-century pastor, and is based loosely on Psalms 103 and 150. The tune slightly predates the words, but the two were paired in 1680 and have been closely associated ever since. The arrangement is by German composer Hugo Distler (1908-1942). Distler struggled with his role as a church musician and composer in Nazi Germany and eventually took his own life, in part to avoid conscription into the military. This setting is an early work and has an exuberant joy inspired by the text and melody.

Between the lessons, the choir will sing a setting by John Rutter (b. 1945) of selections from Psalm 27 that includes a solo clarinet in the accompaniment. This psalm offers comfort in time of difficulty, and the musical setting captures both the pleading and the comfort of the text.

During the offering, the choir will sing a setting of the hymn text "When in Our Music God Is Glorified" by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000). Green, an English Methodist pastor, was an experienced poet when he took up hymn writing in his retirement. He was an important leader of the renaissance in hymn writing that began in the 1970s. The words celebrate the power and insight music gives to worship. The musical setting is by Thomas Keesecker, who serves as music director of a Roman Catholic congregation in Maryland. His driving, syncopated setting reflects the joy and wonder of the text.

Thomas Keesecker

Programs of note: This Friday, April 25, the King University Symphonic Choir and Collegium Musicum will present the final concert of the year at 8:00 p.m. in the King Memorial Chapel. Next Tuesday, Hilary Ginther, a native of Bristol, Virginia, will present a program of vocal music at 7:30 p.m., also in the King Memorial Chapel. This is a fundraising program for her summer opera opportunities. Hilary will be accompanied by Vicki Fey. On Sunday, May 4, the Bristol Music Club will present the annual scholarship winners' recital at 3:00 p.m. in our sanctuary. The public is invited.

Choir awards dinner: Coming soon! The annual children's and youth choirs awards dinner will take place Wednesday, May 7, at 5:30 p.m., after regular Wednesday afternoon rehearsals. Details and a return postcard will go out next week.

In Our Prayers

Mack Blevins

Sue Cannon

Barbara Daniel

Dorothy Dollar

DeeDee Galliher

Will Hankins

Mary Nell Harris

Sharon Hatcher

Ruth Musser

Nancy Preston

Mary Rice

Virginia Rutherford

An extensive list of prayer concerns, "Pray for One Another," is available for pickup at the church each week.

Condolences

Our heartfelt sympathy and love are with Whitney Singleton and her family in the death of her grandmother, Betsy Fleming Fields Hall, April 23 in Cookeville.

Congratulations

We rejoice with Laurie and Bryan Boyd in the birth of a grandson, Luke Holston Boyd, April 21.

Birthday Prayer Fellowship

April 27         Kim Allerton, Lee Galliher, Annie Osborne

April 28         Zora Gross, Cora Lee Raccioppo, Bob Rhea

April 29         Han Ong, Chuck Preston

April 30         Barron Harkleroad, Aiden Kite

May 1            Jane Keeter, Maxwell Mumpower

May 2            Martin Dotterweich

May 3            Bill Graham, Cecily Strang, John Vann

Memorial Gifts