We will blend our two regular worship services into ONE on this Sunday, November 8. We will gather at 10:30 in the sanctuary for worship; Sunday School will begin at 9:30, and the Cherub Choir will not rehearse. A special feature of Sunday's service will be the celebration and commissioning of confirmand mentors. Please be sure to join us for worship and stay for the congregational meeting afterwards.

These church members have volunteered to mentor our confirmands:

Ann Abel

Nancy Allerton

Vicki Fey

Rebekah Heacock

Peggy Hill

Brian Miller

Shannan Miller

Kathryn Parker

Stuart Parker

Lensey Richardson

Matt Richardson

Donna Sikorski

Reagan Streetman

John Vann

Linda Welch

Dottie Whitesides

Ann Woods

Congregational Meeting This Sunday

The following names will be placed in nomination for officers of the Class of 2018 during the congregational meeting to be held immediately after worship this Sunday, November 8:

For the Session of Elders

Aaron Brooks, Randy Cook, Debbie McMillin, Stuart Parker, Chuck Thompson

For the Board of Deacons

Adam Abel, Nancy Butterworth, David Ginn, Rett Stocstill, Ann Woods

For the Board of Trustees

Charles Webb

Come to the Hoedown This Sunday!

Rejuvenate as you do-si-do at Sunday's hoedown!

We're having a hoedown this Sunday afternoon, November 8, in and around the Fellowship Hall. There will be plenty of outdoor games, a photo booth, and irresistible music. The games will begin at 4:30, and we'll sit down to a meal at 5:30. When we've finished eating, we'll clear the tables away and dance!

FPC will provide beverages, hamburgers, and hotdogs, and the musicians will provide the zest! Attendees are encouraged to bring the rest, according to the list below:

Last name:

A-H

I-P

Q-Z

Please bring:

Dessert

Side dish

Salad

Anyone interested in serving at the hoedown should contact Katie Arnold (karnold@fpcbristol.org) or Lilly Osborne (losborne@fpcbristol.org).

Leaf Day Next Saturday

What a turnout for Leaf Day 2014!

Our annual Leaf Day will be next Saturday, November 14. We are recruiting people to serve on Leaf Teams armed with rakes, blowers, and ladders to take care of leaves and gutters. We are also looking for people who have jobs for these teams to do. The FPC deacons in charge of this project are Nathan Heacock and Jon McClain. The church office is the contact point for sign-ups and requests.

To Serve

If you are interested in serving on a Leaf Team, fill out a sign-up form (available at the church) or call the church office at 423-764-7176. On the morning of November 14, team members will meet in the Fellowship Hall at 9:00 for coffee, doughnuts, and directions, then head out on their rounds. Each team should be finished by noon.

To Request Service

If you would you like a visit by a Leaf Team, please call the church office to let us know what we can do to help. We will call back to confirm before the event.

Wednesday Evening Dialogue with Dr. George Sabra

Dr. George Sabra

In our next Wednesday evening Adult Learning program, Dr. George Sabra, Professor of Systematic Theology and President of the Near East School of Theology (NEST), will discuss the ongoing belief structures in the Middle East and our faith response. NEST, located in Beirut, Lebanon, is a joint venture of the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal, and Armenian Evangelical communities in the region.

Dr. Sabra has served on several international dialogue committees. He represented the Reformed Churches of the Middle East in the World Alliance of Reformed Churches-Oriental Orthodox Churches Dialogue Commission from 1993 to 2001. He is a member of the International Theological Dialogue Committee between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Catholic Church. He is also the editor of NEST's Theological Review and the author, editor, or translator of several books and articles on theology, ecumenism, Middle Eastern Christianity, and Christian-Muslim dialogue.

Please join us for an evening of keen insight and authoritative information November 11 at 6:20. We will gather in the Fellowship Hall at 5:30 for dinner, and the program will follow. Wednesday Night Kids and Student Small Groups will meet at 6:00.

Session to Receive New Members Nov. 15

Those wishing to join FPC are encouraged to attend the special Session meeting next Sunday, November 15. It will be held at 10:20 a.m. in the chapel for the sole purpose of receiving new members into our congregation.

Men's Breakfast This Saturday

The men of the church will meet for breakfast and Bible study this Saturday, November 7, at 8:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. All men of the church are encouraged to come for good fellowship and a great start to the weekend. Bring a friend!

Thursday Noon Bible Study Continues with New Leader

The Thursday Noon Bible study group welcomes Peggy Hill as its new leader and continues its regular meeting schedule. This group studies and discusses the scripture lessons for the upcoming Sunday. Anyone is welcome to join the regular members in room 117 each week, except holidays.

Heart to Heart Inductive Bible Study Will Meet Nov. 10 & 17

The biweekly Heart to Heart Inductive Bible Study will meet twice in November, on the 10th and 17th, and at least once in December, definitely on the 1st and possibly on the 15th. Scottie Bales reports that the group will complete the EPIC series, which members have found to be a very rich study. Kaye Crutchfield has offered to lead some of the remaining sessions, volunteers to take an evening would be appreciated. Please contact Scottie at scottie@rtherapeutics.com, if you can help.

This is the tentative schedule for next four meetings:

Nov. 10: "God's Wonderful Surprise" and "Going Home"

Nov. 17 : "God Sends Help" and "A New Way to See"

Dec. 1: "A Dream of Heaven"

Dec. 15: EPIC will be finished; the group will meet if someone has a great idea for a study that night.

Planning for 2016

We want to thank all who have responded to the recent invitation to stewardship, and give a word of encouragement to those who are in prayer and thought about it. In fleshing out the lesson on Stewardship Sunday, Dave Welch reminded us that after Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were invited to look into the tomb, they were instructed, "Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples." Dave summed it up: "New beginnings, indeed new life, take action on our part to come forth."

Pledges to date amount to promises of $407,794 in 2016. We ask those who have not yet responded to prayerfully consider what you can contribute toward maintaining our church and our ministries for the coming year, then mail your pledge to the church, bring it in person to the office during the week, or drop it in the weekly offering some Sunday.

We strive to handle all gifts, pledges, and inquiries with the utmost fidelity and discretion. If you have any questions or need more information about the church's finances or your own giving, please feel free to contact Betsy Galliher at (423) 764-7176. The stewardship brochure and a printable pledge card are available on the Stewardship page of our website at http://fpcbristol.org/sending/stewardship/.

Our September Financial Summary

We here present our financial summary for the year, as of September 30, prepared by Aaron Brooks, chairman of the Finance Committee. Highlights are followed by a tabular summary.

Highlights

Pledges/Offerings through September 30 were over budget by $4,202. Comparatively, pledges/offerings are up $15,321 over the same period in 2014. However, it should be noted that with a few larger pledges paid in advance for the year, we could still be looking at a fiscal yearend deficit to budget of as much as $36,000.
Expenditures year-to-date are tracking under budgeted expectations, coming in $10,685 below budget through the end of September. Although Christian Education and Administration are tracking below budget, it is very probable that each category will approach the budgeted dollars for the year. The expectation for the end of the year continues to be that we will be over budget on annual expenditures.
Expense Notes: (1) Interest paid to date on our Eastman Credit Union capital loan was $20,487; (2) utility expenses, year-to-date, were $52,547, which is $6,691 more than the same time last year and $9,347 over budget YTD 2015.
Capital Loan: The balance with Eastman Credit Union at September 30, was $686,613. In September, we extended the term of our loan for the remaining ten years left on our original commitment, locking in our interest rate to maturity at 3.75%.
Anticipated Budget Shortfall: Through September 2015, we have had to utilize $16,650 of our budgeted $21,723 surplus carryover from prior years to meet current year cash-flow needs. Our goal is that we can end the year with an operating surplus, so that those funds already transferred may be restored to our carryover reserves.

2015	Sept. Actual YTD ($)	Sept. Budget YTD ($)	Over/(Under) Budget ($)
Revenue
Total Pledges	474,671	467,814	6,857
Offerings	108,011	108,900	(889)
Other Gifts , Income & Reimbursements	68,867	73,997	(5,130)
	651,549	650,711	838
Expenses
Evangelism & Outreach	23,217	18,014	5,203
Worship	112,446	111,914	532
Christian Education	160,818	167,112	(6,294)
Administration	216,328	222,610	(6,282)
Building & Grounds	122,418	124,874	(2,456)
Fellowship & Stewardship	21,105	22,494	(1,389)
	656,332	667,018	(10,686)

Surplus/Deficit (-)	(4,783)	(16,307)

Anticipated Budgeted Shortfall/Transfer*	16,650	16,400

Net Position	11,867	93

*Anticipated Budget Shortfall is an estimated amount of money that is expected to be drawn from our emergency reserve funds in order to fulfill our ongoing budget. Our reserve funds are limited and comprise monies from prior years that were above and beyond what was required to meet those years' respective budgets.

November Is Diaper Month for BFIA

Families with young children often go to Bristol Faith in Action for assistance to get them through a rough patch. Our Evangelism and Outreach Committee is asking our church family to help by donating disposable diapers in all sizes.

We'll be collecting these diapers throughout the month of November and will take them to Bristol Faith in Action to distribute to local families in the name of Jesus Christ. Diapers, and packages of diapers, of any size will be welcome; BFIA will repackage them before giving them out.

Please bring disposable diapers to the church and put them in the box labeled "Diapers" that the E&O Committee will soon place beside the little red house in the Fellowship Hallway. Thank you!

Teddy Grahams for Fairmount Students

We are collecting Teddy Grahams, the original kind, for those among our young friends at Fairmount Elementary School who cannot afford to bring snacks from home. We want to make sure all the children have the energy they need to attend to their lessons. You can help by bringing in one or more boxes of original Teddy Grahams and placing them in the little red house in the Fellowship Hallway. We appreciate it, and so will our neighborhood schoolchildren!

Thank You, FPC Mowers!

Many, many heartfelt thanks to the hardy volunteers on the FPC mowing team! Please join us in thanking the daring men on the flying Tiger Cat who kept the church lawn in line in 2015:

Keith Blair

Larry Connolly

Randy Cook (captain)

Pat Flannagan

Dan Gross

JB Madison

Jim Mayden

David Moore

Roger Sikorski

Jim White

You can join our 2016 mowing team by contacting Randy Cook at 423-956-1541 or npolecook@aol.com. Sign up to mow once a month or once a year, or whatever your own schedule allows. If you've never used a Scag mower before, Randy will have you up and running in no time.

From Steve & Vicki Fey

Music Notes

Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir, soloist George Huber; Cherub Choir; Abbey Kitts, percussion; Dan Kreiss, guitar; Mark Mervis, bass; Shannan Miller, piano, vocals; Madison Ratliff, vocals.

Sunday's music: During the first half of the 20th century, a number of fine African-American composers made notable choral arrangements of spirituals from the slave tradition. William Dawson (1899-1990) had a respected career as a composer and choral conductor, particularly of the Tuskegee Institute Choir. For our Pentecost celebration in our EPIC series, the Sanctuary Choir will sing his arrangement of "Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit." About this song one author writes, "[This] spiritual describes the power and energy released in devotion to God.... It is the feeling of the Spirit of God that renders the religious experience ... incomparable to any other."

The Cherub Choir will offer "Rainbow of God's Love" with words and music by Daniel Burton (b. 1944). Burton served as organist at a Methodist church in San Diego for more than thirty years and is now retired. This song is a lesson about striving to be gentle and to care for those who hurt, grieve, and suffer, just as Jesus did.

Program of Note: The Symphony of the Mountains will present a program in our sanctuary featuring a string ensemble and principal cellist Matthew Wilkinson this Saturday, November 7, at 7:30 p.m. This program is part of the Symphony's subscription series, and ticket information can be found on their website.

Christmas pageant: All children from age 4 through grade 6 are welcome to participate in our annual Christmas pageant to be presented on Wednesday, December 16, and followed by the annual Joy Gift Dinner. Children's choirs have already begun rehearsing music and auditioning for speaking parts/singing kings; those auditions will continue until all those wishing to audition have done so. Almost all the children have auditioned for or chosen the character each wants to play.

Heads up! Our first pageant rehearsal and costume fitting will take place Wednesday, November 18, at 4:30 p.m. in the sanctuary!

EPIC: God Sends Help

Our EPIC tale of the week is "God Sends Help," the story of Pentecost and the first acts of the Apostles, drawn from Acts 1-5 and John 15 and retold in The Jesus Storybook Bible. Please join us Sunday, November 8, for ONE worship in the sanctuary at 10:30 a.m.

Pray for One Another

In Our Prayers

Becky Busler

Jane Crewey

Dorothy Dollar

Fred Frazier

DeeDee Galliher

Dorothy Giesler

Ron Grubbs

Will Hankins

Bonnie Haskins

Sharon Hatcher

Hawley Heglar

Vivian Hill

Andrea Hyde

Nancy Preston

Mary Rice

Brenda Rogers

Virginia Rutherford

Faye VanNostrand

Deborah Whitaker

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

Congratulations

We rejoice with proud grandmother Jennifer Kennedy in the birth of Primrose Anne Rollins, born October 20 to Katerina Borsch Rollins.

Birthday Prayer Fellowship

November 8 Danae Kreiss

November 9 Ann Arnold, Andrea Pennington, Dawn Regan

November 10 Courtney Bailey, Greg Roberts

November 12 Charlie Moore

November 13 Samuel Hankins

Memorials and Honoraria

We gratefully acknowledge these recent gifts in memory of the following individuals:

Carolyn King: from Tom & Leigh King, to the Capital Campaign Fund/MEP; from Barbara Thomas, to the Memorial Fund

Jane Davis Whitlow (mother of Bettie Hite): from Jim & Bettie Hite, to the Capital Campaign Fund/MEP

We gratefully acknowledge these recent gifts in honor of our former pastor and his wife:

Gordon Turnbull: from Dr. Raymond & Margaret Feierabend, to the Honorarium Fund

Gordon & Betsy Turnbull: from Millicent B. Pippin, to the Minister's Discretionary Fund

Church Calendar

Sunday, November 8

9:30 a.m. Sunday School

10:30 a.m. ONE Worship, Sanctuary

12:00 p.m. Congregational Meeting, Sanctuary

3:00 p.m. Finance Committee, Room 123

4:30 p.m. Hoedown, Fellowship Hall

Monday, November 9

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

Tuesday, November 10

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

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

6:00 p.m. Venture Crew 3, Cub Scout Room

7:00 p.m. Heart to Heart Inductive Bible Study, Room 117

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

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

Wednesday, November 11

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

6:00 p.m. Student Small Groups

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

Thursday, November 12

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

8:30 a.m. Meals on Wheels, Fellowship Hall

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

Saturday, November 14

9:00 a.m. Leaf Day Service Project, Fellowship Hall

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