• Abuse Alternatives, for food for those in temporary emergency situations
• Bristol Emergency Food Pantry, to purchase food for distribution
• Fairmount Elementary School, for food for children when school is not in session
• Haven of Rest Rescue Mission, for food for homeless residents and the poor
• Bethel School (Independent Church of Felipe Camarão, Brazil), to provide midday meals to more than 150 children from prekindergarten through second grade
• Western Wollega Bethel Synod, Ethiopia, to provide hunger relief to retired ministers in the synod

The FPC Arts Series recital by Cheryl Parrish, which was to have been presented here this Sunday, April 3, has been indefinitely postponed because of a serious medical concern in the soprano's family. This program will take place at a later date, but most likely not before September. We will announce the new date when it has been arranged.

Coming up tomorrow is Family Camp, for first-time campers only. It will take place April 1-3, which translates to two nights and four meals. The cost for this event is $50 for adults, $25 for ages 17 and younger, and nothing at all for children 3 and younger. Accommodations are available in cabins only, and everyone will need to bring a sleeping bag and a pillow. Reservations are necessary; call Lisa Jones at 877-465-7866 to make yours. You will find the website for this event here.

This may be the most rewarding job you will ever have. This camp escorts kids on a spiritual journey interpreting the words of Jesus. Supervisors encourage camp staff to be leaders and consciously develop their spiritual awareness. Training will include overnight expeditions on trail and river. Counselors will supervise kids of various ages in games and activities. Adventure leaders will exhibit specific skills and qualifications that fit our outdoor program and activities. Applications are available here.

If you haven't registered your kids for camp, it's not too late. Just visit Holston's summer camp website and see what has been planned for them. Holston specializes in small group camping with age-appropriate activities. This traditional Christian camp is a transformational experience for young people searching for fun and purpose in their lives.

If you can take a meal to someone just home from the hospital, send a card or make a phone call to someone in a special care facility, or comfort someone in distress, FPC wants you for Care Shepherds, our congregational care ministry. The goal of this ministry is to show Christian love to members of our church family who are in need.

We begin a new Care Shepherds schedule in April and will hold a training event sometime that month. Come with your talents and build confidence as you serve! There are as many ways to do so as there are opportunities. Volunteers serve one month at a time on a team that coordinates the needs of the congregation for that month.

For more information or to volunteer, please contact Robin North at robinnorth3@gmail.com, Dave Welch at dwelch@fpcbristol.org, or the church office at 423-764-7176. Sign-up forms will also be available at the church.

We welcome men and women, adults and teens, whole families, in fact, to our mowing team. Care of our lawns is something families can do together, the younger children moving fallen branches and detritus to the curb, and a parent or elder sibling bringing the grass to curb.

Our team captain, Randy Cook, will be happy to train you on our Tiger Cat mower. We hope you will sign up for regular duty, but if you can help for even a single morning or afternoon, please email Randy at npolecook@aol.com or call his cell at 423-956-1541.

Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir.

	Robert Lehman

Sunday's music: The Sanctuary Choir will sing an arrangement by Robert Lehman (b. 1960) of the African-American spiritual, "Let Us Break Bread Together." There is much speculation about the origin of this song, but little is certain. Some authors believe the final stanza ("Let us praise God together ...") came first and the two previous stanzas referring to the Lord's Supper were added later. The reference to facing "the rising sun" seems to reinforce that it had its origins in a calling of the faithful to worship. In contrast, it is noted that the phrase in each stanza, "Lord, have mercy on me," is drawn from the communion liturgy that slaves would have heard, particularly if they worshipped in their masters' churches. No matter how the song came to be, it is a genuine and humble call to Jesus' table, where all celebrate together. Lehman has respected the sentiments of the song, and offers an arrangement that allows the text and tune, while beautifully stated, to clearly sing out.

Children's choirs schedule: Parents, the Cherub Choir (ages 4 through first grade) has five more rehearsals this program year. Parental assistance is needed for those five weeks beginning this Sunday, April 3. After a Holy Week break and a BTCS spring break, the Children's Handbells and Savior's Singers Children's Choir (grades 2 through 6) will resume on Wednesdays and continue through May 4. They will sing and ring for ONE Worship on Mother's Day, May 8. Attendance at these last rehearsals is extremely important! We will celebrate the children and youth singers and ringers at our annual Choir Awards dinner on Wednesday, May 4. More information will be mailed in a couple of weeks.

Brian Alderman

Dr. Brian Alderman, an ordained Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), serves as Chaplain and Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at King University. A native of Galax, Virginia, Brian pastored Madisonville Presbyterian Church and served as Chaplain at Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tennessee, before coming to King. He also taught Biblical Studies and Religion at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, for six years. He and his wife, Monica Cooley Alderman, have one daughter, Ella Kate.

 

Becky Busler

Jude Chambers

Jane Crewey

Dorothy Dollar

Mark Dollar

Fred Frazier

DeeDee Galliher

Bill Goforth

Ron Grubbs

Will Hankins

Gene Haskins

Sharon Hatcher

Vivian Hill

Nancy King

Alice Moore

David Moore

Nancy Preston

Mary Rice

Brenda Rogers

Virginia Rutherford

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

7:00 p.m.       Board of Deacons, Room 123

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

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

4:30 p.m.       Women's Inductive Bible Study, Room 117

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

9:30 a.m.       Lorri Looney's DVD Bible Study, Coffee Klatch Classroom

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

4:30 p.m.       Heart to Heart Steering Committee, Room 117

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

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

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

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

8:00 a.m.        Men's Breakfast, Fellowship Hall           

8:00 a.m.        Bristol Half & Half Water Station, In Front of Church