BucsWorth Men's Choir

We are thrilled to announce that the FPC Arts Series returns this fall for its fourteenth year! This joyful ministry will bring us four musical afternoons for all ages to enjoy. Each performance is scheduled for 3:00 on a Sunday afternoon in our sanctuary. The complete brochure is on our website, here.

November 1: BucsWorth Men's Choir of ETSU, under the direction of Dr. Alan Stevens. This popular men's ensemble will sing a wide variety of literature.

March 6: Dr. Tim Altman and Dr. Larry Wells, duo trumpeters. Dr. Altman is Chair of the Music Department at the University of North Carolina, Pembroke, and Dr. Wells is Associate Director of Instrumental Studies at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They will be accompanied by Vicki Fey on organ and harpsichord.

April 3: Cheryl Parrish, soprano. Ms. Parrish is on the voice faculty of Texas State University in San Marcos. She has sung with opera companies all over Texas, as well as with opera companies and orchestras in California.

May 1: Dr. Carl Angelo, organ and piano. Dr. Angelo is Artist in Residence in piano and organ at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan, and organist and handbell director at First Presbyterian Church of Flint, Michigan.

Suggested ticket donations for each event are $10 for adults and $5 for students from age 6 through college. It is anticipated that an additional $4,000 will be needed to meet all the expenses of this series. Donations received will be acknowledged with series tickets at the following levels:

                $500+                    4 series season tickets

                $250-499             3 series season tickets

                $100-249             2 series season tickets  

                $50-99                  1 series season ticket

If you wish to make a donation, please make your check out to the church and mark it "Arts Series," so that it may be properly credited. Donations received by September 30 will help us more accurately plan the work of the Arts Series. If you wish to sponsor a performance in memory or honor of someone, please contact Steve and Vicki Fey, Directors of Music Ministry, at 423-764-7176 or svfey@fpcbristol.org. 

In our adult learning segment next Wednesday evening, September 16, Dr. Ray Bloomer will lead a discussion of intelligent design and faith. We will gather in the Fellowship Hall at 5:30 for dinner, and the adult program will follow at 6:20. Wednesday Night Kids and Student Ministries small groups will meet at 6:00. Please join us!

We need volunteers to help prepare our fellowship dinner on the following Wednesdays: September 23 and 30; October 21; and November 4. Prep work takes place in our big kitchen from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Come and enjoy a day in the kitchen, then return at 5:30 to enjoy the results of your labor! To volunteer, contact Ruthie Blair at 423-797-1815.

FPC youth will lead worship on Sunday, September 27, when we gather in the sanctuary for a single service at 10:30 a.m. Our youth will also collect the Five-Cents-a-Meal offering that morning, so be saving your change! Look for details of this service soon.

Cary Umhau

Our annual men's service retreat will be held in a new location this year. We will travel together to Louisville on Friday, October 23, to work with WaterStep, a ministry that teaches people in developing countries how to purify their water, repair their wells, and take care of their own water needs. We'll enjoy Bible study as well as cultural events in the area. We plan to worship at Calvin Presbyterian Church on Sunday before returning home.

The total price of $60 covers travel, two nights' lodging, and food (except for Saturday night dinner). Scholarships are available. Space is limited, so reserve your place with a $10 deposit. Registration forms are available at the church.

If you're willing to drive your car, let Dave Welch know. We'll pay for the gas. Please note: We will be sleeping on the floor of Calvin's Youth Building, so bring an air mattress! For more information, contact Dave at dwelch@fpcbristol.org. 

We will take our turn among our sister churches in hosting guests in the Family Promise of Bristol program from the evening of Sunday, September 13, through the early morning of Sunday, September 20. Thank you to all the FPC volunteers who help to make this ministry possible!

All FPC high school students are invited to Fifth Quarter, a party after the Virginia-Tennessee high school game this Friday, September 11, at Velocity Sports Performance. We'll have a dodgeball tournament and a great time until midnight. Food and drinks are free! Velocity is located at 515 Melrose Street in Bristol. You can let Katie Arnold know you'll be there by contacting her at karnold@fpcbristol.org.

Fusion, FPC's fifth and sixth grade fellowship group, will play putt-putt this Sunday evening, September 13. We will meet in the Fusion room at 6:00 and eat a quick deli sandwich before heading out. Pickup will be in the church parking lot at 8:00. Wear your Fusion t-shirt! If you need a shirt or a different size, contact Lilly Osborne at losborne@fpcbristol.org. 

We are collecting boxes of original and multigrain Cheerios for neighborhood schoolchildren who cannot afford to bring snacks from home. We want all the young students at Fairmount Elementary School to get the energy boost they need to stay focused in the afternoon. You can help by bringing in one or more boxes of Cheerios and placing them in the little red house in the Fellowship Hallway. We appreciate it, and so will our hungry young friends!

September is beginning to wobble a bit as summer spins slowly toward fall, but it takes more than surprising turns from the sky to throw our mowers off balance. It's steady as she goes for Randy Cook this week. Next week Dan Gross is set to steer a clear course across the church lawn, and back again.

We usually mow through the month of October and sometimes into early November. To join the team, callRandy at 423-956-1541 or email him at npolecook@aol.com. If you've never used a Scag mower before, he will be happy to show you how.

Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir; Mary Ellis Rice, soloist.

Sunday's music: The hymn "How Can I Keep From Singing?" is all about perspective. It opens with an assertion that the troubles of this world are nothing when compared with the new creation that is to come. By keeping our focus on our Lord, who lives and is our Rock, we can follow the admonition of the apostle James: "My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy" (James 1:2 NRSV).

Mark Schweizer

This hymn first appeared in a collection of songs published in 1869, Bright Jewels for the Sunday School. Although printed anonymously, the words and music are generally agreed to be the work of Robert Lowry (1826-1899), also known for "Shall We Gather at the River" and "I Need Thee Every Hour." Lowry was a Baptist minister who served congregations in the New York City/Philadelphia area; in his later years he was an active music editor for a series of publications of Sunday School songs. The arrangement the Sanctuary Choir sings is by Mark Schweizer (b. 1956). A native of Florida, Schweizer received music degrees from Stetson University in Deland, Florida, and the University of Arizona, including a doctoral degree in vocal performance. Mark lives in North Carolina, where he serves as editor of St. James Music Press.

Arts Series: After putting the Arts Series on sabbatical last year while we completed work on the Montreat Worship and Music Conferences, we have a wonderful series of programs lined up! (Please see the related article in this newsletter.) Donations are now being received to help underwrite the cost of bringing these wonderful local and national artists to Bristol. Make checks out to First Presbyterian Church and put Arts Series on the memo line. We thank you in advance for your support!

Ding-a-lings welcome! While our youth and children's handbell choirs have begun rehearsals for this program year, our college age and older bell choir will begin ringing this Monday, September 14, at 5:30 p.m., upstairs in the Music Wing's handbell room. Contact the Feys for more information.

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

8:30 a.m.       Worship, Fellowship Hall

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

9:45 a.m.       Sunday School

11:00 a.m.     Worship, Sanctuary

11:15 a.m.     Kids' Kirk (dismissed from worship), Room 32

5:15 p.m.       Jubilate Youth Choir, Music Wing

6:00 p.m.       Fusion, Meet at Church

6:00 p.m.       Student Fellowship

5:30 p.m.       Sanctuary Handbells

7:00 p.m.       Building & Grounds Committee, Room 117

7:00 p.m.       Christian Education Committee, Room 124

7:00 p.m.       Worship Committee, Room 123

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

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

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

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

9:30 a.m.       Lorri Looney's DVD Bible Study, Parlor

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

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

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

5:15 p.m.       Baby & Toddler Care, Rooms 34 & 35

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, Conference Room, Parlor

6:20 p.m.       Adult Learning, Fellowship Hall

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

7:30 p.m.       8:30 Worship Team Rehearsal, Fellowship Hall

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

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