The ever popular annual Christmas pageant and Joy Gift Dinner are coming up on Wednesday, December 16. Our children will present the pageant in the sanctuary at 5:30 p.m., and the Joy Gift Dinner will follow in the Fellowship Hall.

Please make dinner reservations with the church office, so that we will know how much food to prepare and how many tables and chairs to set up. The cost of the dinner is $8 per adult, $4 per child, or $20 per family. We look forward to sharing this joyous occasion with you!

Because the final rehearsal for the children's annual Christmas pageant will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 9, the fellowship dinner and the programs that follow it have been suspended for that evening.

Advent is all about preparation.

You've started preparing your home. You've started preparing presents. Don't forget to prepare your heart.

Women of the church are invited to gather for worship Tuesday, December 8, at 7:00 p.m. in the chapel. First Presbyterian's Director of Student Ministries, Katie Arnold, will share a message. The service will be followed by dessert and fellowship. This is always a very meaningful moment in the midst of Christmas craziness. Invite a friend and share the blessing.

If you'd like to bring a sweet homemade treat, please contact Scottie Bales at 423-360-5357. If you'd like child care, please contact the church office at 423-764-7176 and let us know the number and ages of the children you'll be bringing. We look forward to sharing this time with you!

Our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion service will begin at a new time this year. We will gather at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary for worship with lessons and carols. Bring the whole family; the nursery will be open.

The FPC Fusion group of fifth and sixth graders will go ice skating at Bristol Motor Speedway this Sunday, December 6, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Lilly Osborne at losborne@fpcbristol.org. 

• 7th & 9th graders: appetizer
• 8th & 10th graders: main course dish
• 11th & 12th graders: dessert
• Everyone: 1 gift for the gift exchange ($10 limit)
• Everyone: 4 small gifts for volunteer stockings

James O'Reilly

A saxophone concert featuring James O'Reilly, with Vicki Fey at the piano and Luke Ponce at the organ, is scheduled for this Monday, December 7, at 7:00 p.m. in the King University Chapel. Works by Morosco, Stamm, Swerts, Canfield, Morricone, and Monti are on the program. An offering will be collected during the intermission to benefit Bristol Faith in Action, which helps poor people in our community. The audience will benefit directly from the pleasure of the evening. Be there!

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

Sunday's music: In the nineteenth century, there was a growing interest in the hymns and songs of the early church, and many fine translations were made that we continue to sing today. In 1864, Gerard Moultrie (1829-1885) translated a fifth-century Greek hymn that we know today as "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence," a text that speaks to both the wonder of the Lord's Supper and the "King of Kings, yet born of Mary." In 1906, this text was paired in the English Hymnal with the seventeenth-century French folk melody "Picardy," reflecting its origin, in an arrangement probably by Ralph Vaughan Williams. A choral arrangement was made by English composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934) in 1921; this is what the Sanctuary Choir will sing as an anthem. Holst vividly captures the text's mystery, splendor, and majesty, which have caused it to remain a standard in the choral literature for nearly a century.

Linda Lamb

The Sanctuary Bells will offer "A Stable Rude," an arrangement of a twelfth-century French folk song melody. Better known as "The Friendly Beasts," the first lines of the song are "Jesus our brother, kind and good, was humbly born in a stable rude." The song goes on to tell how each of the animals worshiped the newborn Jesus. The setting is by Linda Lamb, a composer who makes her home in Maryland. She has captured the quiet devotion in the text.

Christmas pageant: One more rehearsal! In the sanctuary on Wednesday, December 9, at 4:30 p.m., we'll have the final run-through of the Christmas pageant. Baby Jesus will be there, and if your children missed the previous rehearsals, they may join him then. Please note that there will be no fellowship dinner or program activities after the rehearsal. Parents, you will need to pick up your children at 5:30 p.m.

Programs of Note: The Symphony of the Mountains, along with Voices of the Mountains and the MECCA Choirs, all of which include FPC members, staff, and youth, present "Peace on Earth," the symphony's annual holiday concert, this weekend: Saturday, December 5, at 3:00 p.m. at the Eastman Employee Center and Sunday, December 6, at 3:00 p.m. at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. Tickets are available online or at the door.

Gift of Music: Don't forget that the Sanctuary Choir members will present their gift of music to the congregation during the 11:00 service on Sunday, December 13. Dan Gawthrop's "Gloria," written in 2014 as a commission by the Davidson (NC) United Methodist Church will be accompanied by brass, percussion, and organ. Brass players will be students from Emory & Henry, and percussionist will be Jenn Sproles.

Becky Busler

Jane Crewey

Dorothy Dollar

Mark Dollar

Fred Frazier

DeeDee Galliher

Dorothy Giesler

Ron Grubbs

Will Hankins

Sharon Hatcher

Vivian Hill

Andrea Hyde

Nancy Preston

Mary Rice

Brenda Rogers

Virginia Rutherford

Faye VanNostrand

 

 

December 11     Tina Witcher

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

5:30 p.m.       Jubilate Youth Choir, Music Wing

6:00 p.m.       Fusion Ice Skating, Bristol Motor Speedway

7:00 p.m.       Deacons, Room 123

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.       Boy Scout Troop 3, Scout Wing

7:00 p.m.       Heart to Heart Advent Worship, Chapel

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

4:30 p.m.       Youth Handbells, Room 212

4:30 p.m.       Christmas Pageant Dress Rehearsal, Sanctuary

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

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

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