Commissioning of Brazil Mission Team This Sunday 

Katie Arnold

Patsy "Peachy" Bane

Briggs Evans

Linda Fahnestock

Paul Fahnestock

Elizabeth Graham

John Graham

Alison Looney

Austin McReynolds

Claire Pruner

Josh Pruner

Spencer Pruner

Jordan Scott

Isabella Silva

John Vann

Karen Vann

Melody Wallen

David Welch

Stephen Welch

Thank You to All Supporting Our Brazil Mission Trip 

Thank you to everyone who donated items we requested for the children and families in the Felipe Camarão neighborhood of Natal, Brazil. Our mission team of youth and adults will take all the donated items to the preschool and church next Friday, May 29. We and they are grateful for your care!

EPIC: Operation "No More Tears!" 

Please join us on Pentecost Sunday, May 24, for the next installment of EPIC: Through the Bible with Jesus. "Operation 'No More Tears!'" is the story of God's plan to rescue his wandering people, distilled from seven chapters of Isaiah and retold in The Jesus Storybook Bible. 

Celebrating More Graduates 

Since our last newsletter, we have received news of other graduates to celebrate:

Caitlin Bolick will graduate on May 29 from the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, with a Master's degree in Public Health. She is the daughter of Chuck and Suzee Bolick.

Kinser Crutchfield will graduate from Baylor School on May 29. She is the daughter of Kevin and Kaye Crutchfield.

Elizabeth Anne Van Nostrand graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University on May 15 with a BS in Mining Engineering. She is the granddaughter of Herb and Grace Van Nostrand.

Company's Coming! 

Food

We need people to bring in breakfast items or prepared dinners. Breakfast items and supplies should be brought to the church and left in the little kitchen by Sunday, May 31. Dinner should be brought in hot and ready at 5:30 each evening from Sunday through Saturday. This is most easily done by a family or a team.

Dinner Hosts

Dinner hosts come to the church by 5:30 to welcome our guests, eat with them, and stay until the evening hosts arrive at 8:30. Some people find it easy to fix dinner and stay to host.

Overnight Hosts

Overnight hosts arrive at the church by 8:30 p.m., spend the night, and help with continental breakfast the next morning. Guests leave the church around 7:00 a.m., except on Saturday, when they leave a little later.

Laundry

On the morning of Sunday, June 7, we will have piles of sheets, towels, and comforters to wash with bleach and return to the Family Promise Closet at the church. Many hands make light work!

Contact Information

To volunteer, ask a question, or make a suggestion, please contact Scottie Bales by email, text, or phone at 423-360-5357 or scottie@rtherapeutics.com. Thank you so much for your love and hospitality to our guests! 

Weeklong Urban Promise Mission Trip Planned for July 

Do you care about the plight of urban youth? Are you eager to respond personally to their needs? If so, then please consider the opportunity to join a team from FPC that will work with Urban Promise in Camden, New Jersey, from Sunday, July 19, through Saturday, July 25.

Dan Kreiss will be leading this team. We seek to gather a group of six to fifteen adults and youth (ages 16 and older). The work will support established educational and social programs in Camden.

Please consider prayerfully this opportunity to join in Christ's ministry of love, peace, and justice. For more information, contact Dan Kreiss orGordon Turnbull.

Student Retreat Planned for Labor Day Weekend 

Fast-Forward: Five Family Fun Fellowship Fetes 

Children's Ministries will hold Family Fun Fellowship on five Wednesday evenings this summer. Kids and their families are invited to Lilly and Ray Osborne's home at 5:30 on the following dates: June 3 and 17 and July 1, 15, and 29. These gatherings will be a great way to keep in touch, and together, through the summer. Please join us!

Save the Date for Vacation Bible School 

We are looking forward to Vacation Bible School, scheduled for July 20-22! The theme will be Jesus as a child in Nazareth, and the setting will be a Middle Eastern marketplace. Program leaders are making plans, and we are now looking for volunteers to help realize them. If you can help, please contact Lilly Osborne at 423-764-7176 or losborne@fpcbristol.org.

Need for Mowers Evergreen 

Our church schedule is quieter now, but Mother Nature is always busy. Pat Flannagan and J.B. Madison will be on the job from now until the end of the month to keep up with whatever she plans. If you find yourself underemployed, why not join the FPC mowing team, if only for a one-off? All it takes is a call to Randy Cook at 423-956-1541 or an email to npolecook@aol.com. If you've never used a Scag mower before, Randy will be happy to show you how.

Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir, Sanctuary Bells.

Sunday's music: In 19th century England, there grew an interest in hymnody from other traditions and times besides that of the Church of England. Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878) made English translations of numerous German hymns and chorales; these were strong poems in their own right and many remain popular today. Our hymnal has eleven of her translations, songs such as "Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty," "Now Thank We All Our God," and "Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty." The Sanctuary Choir anthem this week, "Comfort, Comfort," is a translation of a 17th century German hymn paraphrasing Isaiah 40:1-5. These are words of both joy and challenge, "calling us to true repentance."

This translation is frequently paired with a sprightly Renaissance tune that comes from Calvin's worship in Geneva, where it was originally sung with words from Psalm 42. The arrangement of this anthem has been made by John Ferguson (b. 1941). Ferguson has used the joyous nature of the tune to create an anthem that captures the excitement in the words anticipating the coming Christ, both in Bethlehem and when he comes again.

Rehearsal schedule: The Sanctuary Choir ended weekly rehearsals May 13 and will sing in worship through the end of June. During the month of July, soloists and ensembles will provide music for the 11:00 service. If you would like to sing with us through June, give us a call!

Anne Wilson

Montreat bio: Our two Children's Bible study leaders are Anne Wilson and Pam Engler. Anne Wilson is a Christian educator who has served four churches in Houston in the area of children's and family ministry. She is currently the President of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE). The accomplishments of which she and her husband are proudest are raising their two children, whose families have produced three grandchildren and six granddogs.

Pam Engler

Pam Engler is a retired Christian educator who served First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, Texas, for more than 30 years. This is her second time as a Children's Bible assistant for the Worship and Music Conference; she counts her first experience as one of the highlights of her ministry. She currently serves on the APCE's Annual Event Ministry Team as the workshop coordinator. She has also led numerous workshops at a variety of conferences, primarily in the area of children's ministry. Pam and her husband have two adult children and two grandchildren.

Carnegie Hall: By the time you read this, Steve and Vicki will have been in rehearsals for two days, preparing composer Tim Sharp's High Lonesome Bluegrass Mass: Come Away to the Skies for its New York premiere in Carnegie Hall this Friday, May 22. Vicki is the travel leader for a group of folks from Voices of the Mountains participating in this event. The Sanctuary Choir sang one movement from this work, "High Lonesome Kyrie" (with "Do Lord" and "I've Got a Home"), in November for our worship service with bluegrass music. 

In Our Prayers

Tony Adams

Becky Busler

Jane Crewey

Dorothy Dollar

Fred Frazier

DeeDee Galliher

Dorothy Giesler

Ron Grubbs

Will Hankins

Mary Nell Harris

Sharon Hatcher

Hawley Heglar

Vivian Hill

Carolyn King

Sue Olsen

Nancy Preston

Mary Rice

Brenda Rogers

Virginia Rutherford

Katy Sikorski

Faye VanNostrand

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

Birthday Prayer Fellowship

May 24   Faye VanNostrand

May 26   Rebecca Coté, Sherry Ratliff, Ford Sikorski, Lenita Thibault

May 27   Jerry Poteat

May 28   David Tudor

May 29   Sandra Grubbs, Melody Wise

Donations to the Memorial Fund were recently given in memory of the following individuals:

Juanita Goforth: by Betty M. Olson; by Willie Mae Greene & David Alan Greene

Phyllis Green (mother of Donna Sikorski): by Craig & Terra Kistner

Sunday, May 24

8:30 a.m.     Worship, Fellowship Hall

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

11:00 a.m.   Worship, Sanctuary

Monday, May 25

Church office closed for Memorial Day

Tuesday, May 26

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

1:00 p.m.     Jackie Burt's Bible Study, Burt Home

1:30 p.m.     Staff Meeting, Room 123

6:00 p.m.     Venture Crew 3, Room 123

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

7:00 p.m.     Session Meeting, Room 123

Wednesday, May 27

10:00 a.m.   Elizabeth Patrick's Women's Bible Study, New Mothers' Room

7:00 p.m.     Packing for Brazil Mission, Room 123

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

Thursday, May 28

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

12:00 p.m.   Noon Bible Study, Room 117