We will kick off our new program year next Wednesday, August 20, at 6:20 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Please join us to hear Dr. Han Ong, Dean of King University College of Arts and Sciences, lead a study of the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Christian community at Ephesus. Student Fellowship small groups and Wednesday Night Kids will meet separately at 6:00. Come early and enjoy intergenerational fellowship over a shared meal at 5:30. We are looking forward to an evening of fellowship and learning with you!

Break It Up! Small Groups Get Under Way

We have a wide and wonderful array of opportunities for study and fellowship in small groups as we kick off our new program year. We feel sure that you will find an offering here to suit your learning style.

SUNDAY

11:30 a.m. Poteat Family

Intergenerational conversation: Do you want to know what young people think? Would you enjoy some family-centered conversation with teens and adults? Join Linda and Jerry and their family in their home. Call Linda or Jerry at 423-968-3070 to let them know you'll be there. Adults without teens are welcome, as well!

7:00 p.m. Billie & Bill Whisnant

Would you enjoy a couples' group? Some new faces at FPC will be joining the Whisnants for fellowship in their home and to discuss Ephesians and how we faithfully live out our Christian calling, connected to Christ and to one another! Call 423-968-9043 to let them know you're coming.

MONDAY

7:00 p.m. Barb & Chuck Thompson, Karen & John Vann

More lively conversations, everyone is invited, singles and couples!! Connect each week at the Thompson home for some fun and rich spiritual conversation. Call Barb or Chuck at 423-968-7892 to let them know you'll be there!

TUESDAY

1:00 p.m. Jackie Burt's HeartsBurn Group

If you would like to gather with a group of ladies for fellowship, coffee, and Bible study around the dining table, just let Jackie know by calling 423-646-7405. This HeartsBurn Group meets in her home in middle of the day, so come as you are, dressed for fun, work, or play.

6:15 p.m. Jon & Lisa McClain

Come try something new! Singles, couples, young, and not so young are invited to join Jon and Lisa in room 117, across from the Director of Children's Ministries' office. Child care will be provided on site; please call the office (423-764-7176) to let the nursery know how many children to expect. You can contact the McClains at 423-956-5452.

7:00 p.m. Con & Nancy Sauls

Explore the riches of scripture with others in Con and Nancy's downtown loft. Any and all are invited to join this group. Call 423-361-9470 to let them know you will be there.

7:00 p.m. Betsy Turnbull's Heart to Heart Bible Study

The inductive Heart to Heart Tuesday Women's Bible study with Betsy Turnbull will begin the semester August 19 with the six-week, churchwide study of Ephesians. In October, they will resume their customary schedule of first and third Tuesdays. This group meets in room 123.

WEDNESDAY Six-Week Program on Themes in Ephesians, Fellowship Hall

5:30 p.m. Fellowship Dinner

6:20 p.m. Adult Learning Program

THURSDAY

7:00 a.m. Men's Study

Join other men in the church parlor for a continental breakfast and stimulating conversation that focuses upon the upcoming sermon scripture selection. This group is led by Gordon Turnbull.

12:00 p.m. Lunch Bunch

Bring a bag lunch to room 117 and join the conversation with a diverse group of men and women, including staff. This group is led by Gordon Turnbull.

6:30 p.m. Robin & Lee North, Lisa & Jon Lundberg

Fellowship, conversation, and more for singles and adults! Connect with one another in the North home for a six-week exploration of Ephesians and get to know some of our newer fellow members!

8:00 p.m. Amy Benjamin & Amy Buck

A small group just for young adults. We will meet in the home of Amy and Kyle Benjamin. Please call 704-771-2689 to let them know you'll be there.

Church Picnic at Steele Creek Park Next Sunday

Our annual church picnic is scheduled for next Sunday, August 24, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Rotary Shelter at Steele Creek Park. Be sure to save that date on your calendar!

FPC will provide meat and beverages, and supper will be served at 5:30. Please bring one of the following dishes with you, according to the initial of your last name:

A-H: a side

I-P: a dessert

Q-Z: a salad

We look forward to sharing good fellowship, fun, and food with you!

Help Feed the Faithful

We need once-a-month volunteers to prepare food, set tables, and clean up after our Wednesday night dinners, starting with our program year kickoff, next week on August 20. We expect around 140 people at each dinner. For more information, contact Ruthie Blair at 423-797-1815 or Ruthiebblair@gmail.com.

They Are Precious in His Sight: Serve the Children

our safe church logo FPC's Children's Ministries is looking for volunteers to teach or aid Sunday School classes, to organize the classrooms and those so important supply closets, to work with Wednesday Night Kids, and to take a turn or two caring for children in the nursery. You can do it, we can help! Sign-up forms are available throughout the church. For more information, please contact Lilly Osborne at 423-383-5476 or losborne@fpcbristol.org.

Kids Kick Off the Year with Kickball Party

Children's Ministries will give a kickoff kickball party on Friday, August 22, from 3:30 to 5:30 at the Osborne home. Popsicles or ice cream sundaes will be served, and fun and fellowship are guaranteed! For more information, please contact Lilly Osborne.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch ...

Student Ministries is heading back to the ranch to kick the new program year off big time. All youth of the church are invited to the Back-to-School Bash at White Fork Ranch, this Sunday, August 17, at 6:00 p.m. Bring your friends! For more information, please contact Katie Arnold.

Lorri Looney's DVD Study Group Resumes Sept. 3

Lorri Looney's Heart to Heart DVD Bible study group will start back September 3 with Children of the Day, by Beth Moore, which will continue through November 19. Workbooks will be available for purchase at the first session.

This group meets Wednesday mornings from 9:30 to 11:30 in the church parlor. All women of the church and their friends are welcome!

New Wednesday Morning Women's Bible Study Begins Sept. 3

Laurie Cole

A new Wednesday morning women's Bible study will consider the virtue of contentment through a study of scripture guided by Laurie Cole's Experiencing Contentment in Every Season of Life.

How many of us can say with the Apostle Paul, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances" (Philippians 4:11)? Laurie Cole was living what looked like "a good Christian life," when she realized how very discontented she was. She sought the spiritual gift/virtue of contentment and has shared what she learned in this study, which looks at many scriptural lessons, including Ecclesiastes, Proverbs 31, the life of David, and the teaching of Paul.

Through a combination of group Bible study, mutual sharing, and audio messages from Laurie Cole, we will examine the different seasons of our own lives, we will seek to be honest about our own level of contented living, and we will learn principles to help us live contentedly in all seasons and circumstances.

This Bible study, led by Elizabeth Patrick, will meet in the New Mothers' Room across from the nursery, on Wednesday mornings from 10:00 to 11:30, beginning September 3. Women in all seasons of life are encouraged to attend! This study is definitely not just for mothers of young children, but a nursery will be provided by the church. If you have any questions, you can contact Elizabeth at (423) 956-9716 or elizabethpatrick22@hotmail.com. Join us!

Beth Moore Simulcast Coming Up September 13

Save the date for a Beth Moore simulcast Saturday, September 13, at Central Christian Church! Dove Award winner Travis Cottrell will be the worship leader in the live streaming event from Fort Wayne, Indiana. The sign-in and fellowship period will begin at 8:30 a.m. and be followed by announcements at 9:15. The simulcast is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

A registration fee of $20 includes the simulcast, a listening guide, and a sandwich lunch. You can pick up a registration form in August at FPC or register online at www.cccbristol.com, where online payment is an option. If you write a check, please make it payable to Central Christian Church and write "Beth Moore Simulcast" on the memo line. Send mail to Central Christian Church, ATTN: Beth Moore Simulcast, 424 Melrose Street, Bristol, TN 37620.

Registration and payment are due by August 30. For more information, contact Carolee Hacker at 423-383-6232 or cwh6232@gmail.com.

About Your FPC Newsletter

With this issue, Windows returns, tanned and rested, to its regular weekly publication. We hope you found the summer issues useful. Thanks for reading!

A few words about the "Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe" hyperlink in the bottom block of each Constant Contact email from us: Unsubscribing from any FPC email delivered to you by Constant Contact unsubscribes you from all FPC email from Constant Contact. Constant Contact does not permit FPC staff or any other person to restore your name and email address to their delivery list once you have removed them.

If you inadvertently unsubscribe from the newsletter and want to resubscribe, you have two choices. You can sign yourself up again from an old FPC email that Constant Contact delivered directly to the email address you want to use. Just click on the "Update Profile/Email Address" hyperlink in the bottom box and follow the instructions. Or you can send a new email address for use with Constant Contact to Kathy Acuff and tell her to sign you up to receive FPC email from them. Thanks for noting!

Lawns Get with the Program

Dan Gross and Tom King will school our lawn into shape for the new program year. Give them a wave if you see them tending the grass as August moves toward September. And contact Randy Cook at 423-956-1541 or npolecook@aol.com. if you feel moved to join them. Randy will be happy to add you to our team of volunteer mowers or, if you prefer, to our substitutes list.

From Steve & Vicki Fey

Music Notes

Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir.

Sunday's music: The anthem today is an arrangement of the Shaker song "Followers of the Lamb" by Philip Dietterich (b. 1931). The Shakers were a religious sect founded in England, some of whose members settled in Colonial America. Shakers are mostly remembered for their celibate and communal lifestyle, their pacifism, and their model of equality of the sexes, which they institutionalized in their society in the 1780s, and also for their simple living, architecture, and furniture. Their ecstatic worship (hence their name) has left a tradition of joyous music, of which this song is a fine example. Dietterich, a composer who spent most of his career serving a Methodist Church in New Jersey, made an arrangement that captures throughout the idea of the opening lines of the stanzas: "O brethren ain't you happy ... O sisters ain't you happy ... O I'm glad I am a Christian."

More rehearsals: As the school year has begun, choir and handbell rehearsals for children and youth will gradually resume their rehearsal days and times! Because the grade system for Sunday School and youth activities has been realigned, sixth graders may choose to continue with the children's choir and bells or move up to the youth choir and youth handbells.

The Cherub Choir (ages 4 through grade 1) will return this Sunday, August 17, at 9:00 a.m. The children will be escorted to the Sunday School wing following rehearsal. Our church safety and security policy requires us to have one parent helper each week; a sign-up sheet will be on the door of the children's choir room, or check the FPC Bristol Facebook page for a listing of available dates.

Jubilate Youth Choir members (grades 7 through 12 and an option for grade 6) will join all youth for a Back-to-School Bash at White Fork Ranch, this Sunday, August 17, at 6:00 p.m., and resume rehearsals after Labor Day.

Then, as our regular Wednesday programming kicks off August 20, Children's Handbells (grades 2 through 5; an option for grade 6) will rehearse at 4:15 p.m.,and the Savior's Singers Children's Choir will follow at 4:45 p.m. Youth Handbells will also rehearse at 4:45 p.m. Children with families staying for dinner will go to the Fellowship Hall after rehearsal.

Please see the Music page of our website here for a complete list of musical opportunities and look here for a full schedule of rehearsal startups. You also will find start-back dates and times for each ensemble below.

Choir Rehearsal Restart Schedule
Ensemble	Day & Time
Voices
Cherub Choir	Sunday, August 17, 9:00 a.m.
Jubilate Youth Choir	Sunday, September 7, 5:15 p.m.
Savior's Singers Children's Choir	Wednesday, August 20, 4:45 p.m.
Sanctuary Choir	Wednesday, August 6, 7:15 p.m.
Handbells
Children's Bells	Wednesday, August 20, 4:15 p.m.
Youth Bells	Wednesday, August 20, 4:45 p.m.
Sanctuary Bells	Monday, September 8, 5:30 p.m.

Pray for One Another

In Our Prayers

Becky Busler

Barbara Daniel

Dorothy Dollar

DeeDee Galliher

Mary Nell Harris

Sharon Hatcher

Cindy Heglar

Opal Johnson

Carolyn King

Ruth Musser

Nancy Preston

Mary Rice

Brenda Rogers

Virginia Rutherford

Katy Sikorski

Faye VanNostrand

Ann Woods

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

Congratulations

We celebrate the marriage of Katherine Elizabeth King and William Kreuger, who were wed August 2 in our sanctuary. We also rejoice with Elizabeth Patrick and Bill Linderman in the birth of their son Benjamin William Linderman on August 7, and with Laura and George Linke, whose daughter, Juliana Paige Linke, was born August 11.

Birthday Prayer Fellowship

August 17 Jane Nickels, John Ratliff

August 18 Riley McCracken, Jack Southerland

August 19 Mary Nell Harris, Sherry Worley

August 20 Jim White

August 21 Katie Arnold

August 22 Briggs Evans, Pat Hunigan, Bill McRee

Memorial Gifts

Gifts in memory of the following individuals or groups were received from Monday, July 14, through Sunday, July 27:

Jackie Burt's Bible Study Group: by Vivian Calcote, to the Felipe Camar�o Preschool Fund & the Berhane Yesus Elementary School Fund

Dr. Mack Calcote: by Robert & Joyce Rodgers, to the Capital Campaign Fund/MEP

George King, Jr.: by Robert & Joyce Rodgers, to the Arts Series Fund

Church Calendar

Sunday, August 17

8:30 a.m. Worship, Fellowship Hall

9:00 a.m. Cherub Choir, Room 209

9:45 a.m. Sunday School, Education Wing

11:00 a.m. Worship, Sanctuary

11:30 a.m. Connect Ephesians Small Group, Home of Jerry & Linda Poteat

4:00 p.m. Evangelism & Outreach Committee, Room 117

6:00 p.m. Student Ministries Back-to-School Bash, White Fork Ranch

7:00 p.m. Connect Ephesians Small Group, Home of Bill & Billie Whisnant

Monday, August 18

4:45 p.m. Administrative Committee, Room 117

7:00 p.m. Thompsons' & Vanns ' Connect Ephesians Small Group, Home of Chuck & Barb Thompson

Tuesday, August 19

9:00 a.m. Staff Meeting, Room 123

10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer Group, Conference Room

1:00 p.m. Connect Ephesians Small Group, Home of Jackie Burt

6:15 p.m. Jon & Lisa McClain's Connect Ephesians Small Group, Room 117

7:00 p.m. Connect Ephesians Small Group, Home of Con & Nancy Sauls

7:00 p.m. Betsy Turnbull's Inductive Study of Ephesians, Room 123

7:00 p.m. Boy Scout Troop 3, Scout Wing

Wednesday, August 20

4:15 p.m. Children's Handbells, Room 212

4:45 p.m. Youth Handbells, Room 212

4:45 p.m. Savior's Singers Children's Choir, Room 209

5:15 p.m. Baby & Toddler Care, Nursery

5:30 p.m. Fellowship Dinner, Fellowship Hall

6:00 p.m. Wednesday Night Kids, Rooms 11 & 31

6:00 p.m. Student Ministries Small Groups, Youth Wing

6:20 p.m. Adult Learning Program on Themes in Ephesians, Fellowship Hall

7:15 p.m. Sanctuary Choir, Room 202

7:30 p.m. Praise Team Rehearsal, Fellowship Hall

Thursday, August 21

7:00 a.m. Men's Bible Study, Parlor

12:00 p.m. Lunch Bunch, Room 117

6:30 p.m. Connect Ephesians Small Group, Home of Robin & Lee North

8:00 p.m. Connect Ephesians Small Group, Home of Kyle & Amy Benjamin

Windows is a publication of First Presbyterian Church, Bristol, TN. Please direct questions and suggestions to the editor, Kathy Acuff, kacuff@fpcbristol.org.