First the good news, then the background. We are closing in on our search for an interim pastor! Interim Pastor Search Committee members Tom Daniel (chairman), Ann Abel, Scottie Bales, Beth Flannagan, and Ernie Pennington have met frequently since October with the objective of nominating an experienced interim pastor. They hope to offer the Session a nominee in a few weeks.

Since the departure of our former pastor, we have been abundantly blessed by the gifts of members and friends who have agreed to fill the pulpit. So why do we need an interim? Statistics indicate that for churches replacing a longtime pastor, an interim makes the best bridge between the last and the next.

With the help of the interim pastor, we as a congregation will take on several tasks:

After approval from the Session in December, the search committee submitted a Ministry Information Form through the denominational website that operates as a clearinghouse for churches seeking leadership. The form serves as an announcement of what we are looking for and who we are in terms of size, programs, and other essentials. In turn, through this same website, pastors and others who are seeking positions in churches can submit a Pastoral Information Form that describes their ministry attributes and work history, includes a statement of faith, and lists contacts for references. It's almost like a matchmaking service!

The search committee received a number of information forms from pastors seeking to serve in a church like ours. With prayer and careful review of the forms, the committee chose those who seemed to best fit our congregation. We are in the process of conducting interviews, checking references, and listening to sermons, with the goal of nominating a candidate in the next few weeks. After Session approval of the nomination and terms of employment, we hope to have an interim pastor in the very near future.

If you have worked with our children's ministry in any way in this program year, please come to the Education Wing this Sunday, February 14. The Children's Ministries wants to show you how much you're loved! They will hold a drop-in, "We Love Volunteers" appreciation breakfast from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for all who have served our children in any capacity. 

Dave Welch will continue his series, "Spiritual Gifts: What are they, and what do we do with them?," next week. Please join us Wednesday, February 17, at 6:20 for this adult learning program, which will follow the 5:30 fellowship dinner. Youth and children's programs will begin at 6:00.

We are asking anyone interested in taking a turn in the monthly rotation of sound engineers for the 11:00 service to contact the Feys. We have two very faithful volunteers, Kevin Buck and Lee Galliher, who would love to include you in the rotation! Please volunteer if you can take a month of Sundays to serve in this way. It's easy and you get the best seat in the sanctuary. See you in the balcony! 

There's nothing like a little green when you're a little blue. And the cure for the winter blahs is lurking underfoot; volunteer to mow that stuff down when it springs back up again. If you can spend a couple of hours once every few weeks, or even only once in the growing season, the swath you'll cut on the Tiger-Cat will keep the grass trim and ensure that FPC continues to be a good neighbor in Fairmount.

Randy Cook coordinates our mowing team. He will make himself available anytime to train new team members on our Scag mower. If you're interested in helping out in this way, even for a single morning or afternoon, please email Randy at npolecook@aol.com or call his cell at 423-956-1541.

Cary Umhau

If you are interested in performing in our churchwide, intergenerational talent show, be sure to submit your performance proposals soon. Give the Feys (email is fine) your name, act, and equipment needs (microphone, chair, piano, music stand, etc.) by Sunday, February 28. They will arrange a time to hear your act before the show date, so that they can determine program order and technical needs.

Our talent show and chili cook-off will be held March 13 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Both the acts and the chili will be prepared at home and shared in the Fellowship Hall. Matt Richardson will be our emcee for the evening. Please join us for hot chili and warm fellowship!

They also request your more earthly support in the form of donated school supplies and soccer balls! They have placed bins to receive these items in both the Fellowship Hallway and the narthex (look for a picture of a green, yellow, and red flag on the lid). Please help fill these bins with: 

We are continuing to collect small pretzels to help keep our young friends at Fairmount Elementary School alert in the afternoon. The small sticks and the small curved pretzels fit best into snack-sized portions. And we encourage the donation of heart-shaped pretzels through February! Why not? As always, please place your contributions in the little red house in the Fellowship Hallway. Thank you!

Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir; Sanctuary Bells; Cherub Choir (8:30 only). Parents, please review the song your children will be singing and have them in the children's choir room to robe by 8:15 a.m.! Thanks! We will have regular choir time after they sing.

Brian Wren

Sunday's music: At the 8:30 service, the Cherub Choir sings "When Children Pray," an anthem with a text by Brian Wren (b. 1936) and music by Anne Wilson (b. 1954). Wren is one of the premier hymn-text writers of our time; these words encourage us as worshipers to consider the musical offerings of children as more than clever entertainment, that through their voices we may hear the song of angels. Wilson is a noted American organist and composer; she presented a program in our Arts Series in November 2002.

At the 11:00 service, the Sanctuary Choir anthem, "Out of the Depths I Cry to Thee," is an arrangement by Robert Leaf (1936-2005) of a hymn with words and music by Martin Luther (1483-1546). Luther's hymn is a paraphrase of Psalm 130, which is a plea for forgiveness of sin. Numerous English translations have been made of Luther's text; this anthem uses the translation of Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878), who created many now-standard English versions of German hymn texts. Leaf's arrangement begins, as the text does, with a pleading nature, and moves to joy in recognition that in the Lord "is my comfort and my trust!"

For the season of Lent, we will be using new responses to the Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Pardon at the 11:00 service. "Lord Jesus, Think on Me," which we will sing after the confession, draws its text from an ancient Greek hymn set to music written in the 16th century, originally to sing with the Psalms. "Praise God, All You Nations," which we will sing after the assurance, is a Ghanaian paraphrase of Psalm 117.

Programs of Note: Last week highlighted the February 13 concert celebrating Tennessee Ernie Ford, with performances by the Paramount Chamber Players and a three-movement work by Ann Holler, commissioned by the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. The following week, the Paramount Chamber Players present their regular program series, having added a fourth performance to each set of programs. You will hear one of Handel's organ concertos, with Vicki Fey at the organ in all four locations. The programs will take place Thursday, February 18, at 7:30 p.m. at St. John's Episcopal Church in Johnson City; Friday, February 19, at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Kingsport; Saturday, February 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Paramount Center in Bristol; and Sunday, February 21, at 3:00 p.m. at Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church in Abingdon. Students get in free to all PCP programs.

 

We gratefully acknowledge recent gifts in memory of:

8:00 a.m.       Drop-In for Children's Volunteers,

      Education Wing

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

6:00 p.m.       Student Fellowship, Youth Wing & Fellowship Hall

4:45 p.m.       Administrative Committee, Room 117

5:30 p.m.       Sanctuary Handbells, Handbell Room

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

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

4:30 p.m.       Heart to Heart Inductive Bible Study, Room 117

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

9:30 a.m.       Lorri Looney's Heart to Heart 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, 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

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