All-in-One Adult Summer Sunday School 

From this Sunday, May 31, through Sunday, August 9, our adult Sunday School classes will share a single classroom. All adult classes will meet in room 167, better known as the Common Interests classroom, nearest the exit door in the Boy Scout Wing. This is going to be a great chance for cross-class exchanges of ideas and fellowship. Please join us!

May Session Highlights 

The Session gathered for its monthly stated meeting on May 26. These are the highlights:

• The Session received with regret the news that the Boys & Girls Club is moving to a new location for its Bristol, Tennessee, children. Since 2011, First Presbyterian Church has hosted the Boys & Girls Club on weekday afternoons in our Education Wing at no charge to the organization. This in-kind donation of approximately $35,000 annually has allowed the Boys & Girls Club to offer services for the school children of Bristol, Tennessee, complementing the existing services for Bristol, Virginia, at the Boys & Girls Club main facility. Our church added a rich component to the program in our church by offering Bible Club, a weekly opportunity for children to learn about Jesus. We bid farewell to the children and staff whom we have hosted from the Boys & Girls Club, as they move to more spacious accommodations on West State Street.
• The Session also approved enthusiastically a proposal from the Evangelism & Outreach Committee to pursue more deeply our outreach in the Fairmount neighborhood. The vision is to develop an outreach team to come alongside those who struggle, build relationship through careful listening, and together to develop a course of action in which we work with our neighbors, offering practical assistance and strategic support and inviting collaboration with other agencies. We look forward to hearing of ways to support this plan and participate in this outreach soon: those interested can contact Peggy Hill or Gordon Turnbull.
• In fulfilling its ongoing relationship with the Missionary Emergency Fund, Inc., the Session authorized 41 student grants, totaling $82,950 for the 2015-16 academic year. These grants are awarded to applicants who are the dependents of missionaries or ministers or who are themselves preparing for a church vocation.
• Concurring with a recommendation from the Worship Committee, the Session has moved the time for this year's Christmas Eve service to 7:00 p.m., one hour earlier.

EPIC: Daniel and the Scary Sleepover 

Please join us this Sunday, May 31, for the next installment of EPIC: Through the Bible with Jesus. "Daniel and the Scary Sleepover" is the well-known story of Daniel in the lions' den, taken from the sixth chapter of the book of Daniel and retold in The Jesus Storybook Bible. 

Service Opportunity with Sharing Christ Downtown Mission 

We want you to know about an opportunity to serve the hungry in downtown Bristol Saturday, June 13. You can cook food ahead of time, pack sack lunches, or serve and clean up. If you can volunteer in any way, please fill out and return the bulletin insert in worship this Sunday, or contact Tammy Connolly, our coordinator for this effort, at 423-968-3831 or lconn4691@btes.tv. Thank you for care and service!

We Host Family Promise of Bristol Next Week 

 As part of our continuing commitment to Family Promise of Bristol, we will host local families on our campus during the week beginning Sunday, May 31. Thank you to all the FPC volunteers who help to make this ministry possible!

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.

Baseball Equipment Needed for Student Mission 

Student Retreat Planned for Labor Day Weekend 

Wednesday: First Family Fun Fellowship of Summer 

Don't worry about planning a family event next Wednesday! That's when the first of the Wednesday evening Family Fun Fellowship gatherings of the summer will be held. Kids and their families are enthusiastically invited to Lilly and Ray Osborne's home at 5:30 on June 3, as well as on the following dates: June 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! 

Props (and Labels) for VBS 

The theme of this summer's Vacation Bible School is Jesus as a child in Nazareth, and the setting for the July 20-22 event is a Middle Eastern marketplace. Program leaders are making plans, and we are looking for volunteers to help realize them. If you can help, please contact Lilly Osborne at 423-764-7176 or losborne@fpcbristol.org.

One of the many ways you can help is by providing props, labeled so that we can return them to you. We need the following items to dress our stage:

• Easy-up canopies
• Woven rugs
• Wicker baskets
• Flat sheets in solid colors
• Artificial greenery/palm trees
• Artificial fruit

And we really can't say this often enough: Please label all items. Thank you!

Mowing toward Paradise 

We are having heavenly weather, at least at presstime, and the sense of paradise on earth is enhanced by the labor of our mowing team. This week's smooth lawn comes to you courtesy of J.B. Madison; next week's will be the offering of Roger Sikorski. What a difference a couple of hours can make! To join the FPC mowing team, simply call Randy Cook at 423-956-1541 or email him at npolecook@aol.com. If you've never used a Scag mower before, Randy will be happy to show you how. 

Summer Newsletter Schedule Begins Next Week 

We will begin our biweekly summer newsletter schedule with next week's Windows. Expect newsletters for the following dates: June 4 and 18, and July 2, 16, and 30. We will return to our regular weekly schedule on August 6.

Library News from Bill Wade

Think Hercule Poirot. What comes to mind? If you are like me, you will recall Agatha Christie's delightful mysteries featuring that dapper little Belgian detective with those clever "gray cells," portrayed on television to perfection by the English actor, David Suchet. And now a word about the actor.

David Suchet was born in London in 1946, his parentage distinctly non-English. His father was of Lithuanian ancestry and came from South Africa to London to become a physician. His mother was of Russian-Jewish ancestry, and David was raised without any religious commitment or training. He became an actor, first on the English stage and later in television and the movies. A number of his roles cast him as religious authorities, bishops and cardinals. Because it was his habit of seeking to know intimately the persona of those he played, he became interested in the church and soon found himself studying Christianity. He recounts that he had a serious conversion to Christ at the age of 40 while reading a Bible in a hotel room.

A man of considerable curiosity, Suchet then began to study the history of the Holy Land and the Mediterranean world in the time of Christ, and he found he had a great desire to visit these holy places. The result was that he filmed two marvelous travelogues, In the Footsteps of Saint Peter and In the Footsteps of Saint Paul, our two feature DVD selections for this week, now available in our church library. In these two productions Suchet traveled around the Mediterranean, literally in the footsteps of Peter and Paul, meeting with both Christian scholars and natives of these lands, learning about what conditions would have been like almost 2,000 years ago.

There are no actors in costume playing the roles of these early apostles. You travel with Suchet; if Paul reached Rome by walking on the Appian highway, you are a companion with David on the road. The photography is absolutely marvelous; I have never seen such stunning views of the desert lands around the Dead Sea or such intimate details of the city of Jerusalem. When the film is over, you will wish there was more!

David Suchet has continued his interest in the church and is now one of two vice presidents of the British Bible Society. In 2014 he fulfilled a 27-year ambition by making an audio recording of the entire Bible.

Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir.

Sunday's music: While struggling to find choral music relating to the story of Daniel in the lion's den, we posted a note on Facebook seeking recommendations from musician friends. Ann Holler responded, offering to create a new anthem, and that was the genesis of this week's Sanctuary Choir offering, "Daniel Prayed to God." Ann drew from the text of Daniel 6, as found in the NRSV, and set it to an adaptation of the hymn-tune LEONI. This Hebrew tune began to be used for singing hymns in the 18th century; we commonly sing the text "The God of Abraham Praise" to it. As the story of Daniel becomes more intense, Ann stretches the music away from the familiar tune. The final stanza, which gives the assurance of God's saving grace, uses the hymn tune with the least alteration from its best-known form. We are thankful to Ann for sharing her gifts in this most generous offering.

Ellen Phillips

Montreat bio: Ellen Phillips, Visual Artist, enjoys working in a variety of media. For years she worked as a portrait artist. Although she still thoroughly enjoys portraiture, about 15 years ago she felt the need to move beyond the boundaries of canvas and paper and began sculpting figurative works out of clay. About the same time, she broke through the boundaries of paper and sacred space with an Xacto knife and huge sheets of paper to create banners to enhance worship. Creating the banners, leading workshops on the topic of liturgical art, and teaching classes that relate creativity and spirituality have become Ellen's active ministry. Ellen and her husband divide their time between the Atlanta and the Asheville areas, where they work together creating art, entertaining guests, and fighting kudzu.

In Our Prayers

Tony Adams

Becky Busler

Jane Crewey

Dorothy Dollar

Fred Frazier

DeeDee Galliher

Dorothy Giesler

Ron Grubbs

Will Hankins

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.

To the Church Triumphant

Mary Nell Harris

May 26, 2015

Congratulations

We rejoice with Joyce and Sam Samuel in their 54th wedding anniversary May 20.

Birthday Prayer Fellowship

May 31   Ernie Pennington

June 1     Sandi Nelson, Annette Tudor

June 2     Bella Bane, Heather Dotterweich

June 3     Nancy Butterworth

June 4     Sally Buck

June 5     Laurie Boyd

June 6     Kathryn Davridge, Stella Kite, Lisa McClain, Lynne Testerman

We recently received gifts in memory of the following individuals:

Juanita Goforth: by Dr. Joseph Babey III & Sharon Babey, to the Memorial Fund; by Ernie & Karen Pennington, to the Capital Campaign Fund/MEP

Phyllis Green (mother of Donna Sikorski): by Tom & Barbara Daniel, to the Minister's Discretionary Fund; by Ernie & Karen Pennington, to the Capital Campaign Fund/MEP

We are also pleased to acknowledge receipt of a gift to the Honorarium Fund from Christopher & Lisa White in honor of Nancy King's 92nd birthday.

Sunday, May 31

8:30 a.m.     Worship, Fellowship Hall

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

11:00 a.m.   Worship, Sanctuary

Monday, June 1

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

Tuesday, June 2

9:00 a.m.     Staff Meeting, Room 123

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

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

Wednesday, June 3

5:30 p.m.     Family Fun Fellowship, Osborne Home

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

Thursday, June 4

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

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

7:30 p.m.     Troop 3 Committee, Room 163