Rosangela and Joćo Batista

A classroom at Bethel School.

Heart to Heart Women's Ministry invites all women of FPC to visit with Rosangela Silva de Oliviera on Tuesday, April 26, at 7:00 p.m. Rosangela is the director of Bethel School, our longtime mission partner in the Felipe Camarćo neighborhood of Natal, Brazil. We will meet in the chapel and gather in the parlor for dessert afterwards. Please come learn more about the precious children of Bethel and enjoy our sister in Christ. Your presence would be most appreciated! A nursery will be provided. Please let the church office (423-764-7176) know the ages and number of children who will need child care.

Kids had swinging fun last July.

The first harbinger of the season of Fun Family Fellowship will appear next week, in honor of our guests from Brazil! We will gather at the home of Lilly and Ray Osborne on the evening of Monday, April 18, at 5:30, for fellowship with Joćo Batista and Rosangela. We will provide the main dish and drinks; please bring sides or desserts to share. And you may want to bring a chair or a blanket to sit on. We are looking forward to this wonderful opportunity, and hope that you can share it!

The Interim Pastor Search Committee has been working since October to nominate an experienced interim pastor to serve our church in this period of transition. Committee members Tom Daniel (chairman), Ann Abel, Scottie Bales, Beth Flannagan, and Ernie Pennington have been meeting and continually communicating to that end. They offer this update on the search but have no announcement to make at this time.

Our denomination's Internet-based matching and referral system is the entry point for searches such as ours. To give you an idea of the scope of the committee's task, there are currently many more pastors seeking interim employment than there are positions available. Consequently, FPC has been flooded with the résumés of pastors who, while perfectly suited to lead a smaller church, lack the skills required for a church the size of ours, with multiple staff members, numerous programs, and a large facility and campus.

Committee members have interviewed a number of candidates and continue to review résumés, listen to sermons, and check references. They hope to call a pastor who has the particular training to lead a church through the interim or transitional period between installed pastors. That endeavor includes leading our congregation toward discovering our identity under new pastoral leadership, allowing for lay leadership changes (inviting new leaders to step forward), and helping us to redefine our current direction in ministry.

Our church has evolved considerably over the years, and this transitional period offers the ideal opportunity to take a fresh look at ourselves and redefine where we are now and who we may be in the coming years. Committee members fervently pray for God's will in this matter and invite the congregation to keep their efforts in your hearts and minds. They trust that God is with us throughout the process, and that He will provide that candidate to serve as our interim pastor in His time, which requires of all of us the hope and patience to listen to Him.

There's a new broom at FPC: our new sexton, Becky Rose. Becky brings the know-how gained from caring for other churches and for schools to her housekeeping position at FPC. When she isn't making sure our buildings are clean and neat, this Abingdon native enjoys flower gardening at her home in Bristol. Becky is married to Earl Rose, and they have three daughters and six grandchildren.

Since autumn, our confirmation students have participated in weekly classes that have taught, informed, and challenged their ideas of faith. Watching them grow over the past school year and take ownership of their faith has been a joy and an inspiration! It will soon be time to share this joy with all our congregation.

In our ONE service on Sunday, May 8, these young people will proclaim their faith before our church family and become members of First Presbyterian Church. As we prepare for this special day, we ask friends and family to send in cards and letters of spiritual encouragement for our confirmands. The kind words you share will not only encourage them as they prepare to be confirmed but also be kept for years as a reminder of the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds them and that will continue to love, guide, and encourage them as they run the race.

The following are the Spring 2016 confirmands: AnnaLee Adams, Alie Bassett, Gracie Brooks, Gracie Buckles, Hope Godsey, Madyson Kent, Riley McCracken, Rose Rosser, and Lance Tudor.

Please deliver all cards and letters to Katie Arnold at the church by Friday, May 6. Katie is your contact for more information, at karnold@fpcbristol.org. Thank you for joining in the celebration of this important and exciting time in the lives of our students! 

It will soon be graduation time again, and we are planning a Sunday of celebrations at both worship services on May 15. We will recognize those among us who are completing degrees or certifications or graduating from high school, college, or other programs.

We need your help to collect that information. If you or a member of your family will be graduating from high school, college, or any other educational or training program this spring, please let us know by calling the church office at 423-764-7176.

We need the following information by Monday, May 9, for our recognition efforts: graduate's name; current (not future) school or program; degree or certification earned; and field of study. Thank you for your help!

The summer trip originally planned for FPC high school students has been rerouted! Students can now join FPC High School Ministry on a summer adventure to Journey in Panama City Beach, Florida. We will leave from the church on Sunday, June 26, spend the night in Atlanta, and continue to Panama City Beach the next day. There we will join other church groups from across the southern states for a week of wild games, challenges, fellowship, worship, and fun on the beach, all while on a journey to experience God in a whole new way. We will return home Friday, July 1.

Journey will be held at a retreat center with separate lodges for guys and girls and a dining room where we will take our meals. We suggest that you bring $50 for fast food on the road, and more if you plan to buy souvenirs.

FPC is offsetting the cost of the trip and offering it for $350. Monthly payments are possible, but a $100 deposit is required at registration. The total cost must be paid by June 15. Scholarships are available first-come-first-serve for FPC members. Students may sign up until the camp is sold out, but there is no telling when that will be, so register for the trip now.

All deposits are nonrefundable. Once you pay your deposit, you are fully responsible for the total cost of the trip. If something comes up and you can no longer go, you may find someone to take your spot and have your deposit transferred to them. This is Journey's payment policy, and we cannot deviate from it.

This is an event you won't want to miss! Start inviting your friends and register early! Check out the Journey promo video on Vimeo at www.vimeo.com/144032784. For more information, email Katie Arnold at karnold@fpcbristol.org or call her at 423-764-7176 (office) or 770-296-1671 (cell).

Join FPC's Middle School Ministry on a summer adventure to the Great Escape! We will leave from the church on Sunday, June 12, and head to Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. There we will join middle school students from all over the US for a wild 'n' crazy week of incredible music, captivating speakers, engaging entertainment, and the messiest games you can imagine. And we'll spend a day whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River! We will return around noon on Friday, June 17.

This is an event you won't want to miss! Start inviting your friends now, so you can all take advantage of the early bird discount. A nonrefundable deposit of $100 is required to secure a spot on the trip. The total cost of $435 includes an FPC t-shirt, the camp, travel, and the whitewater rafting.

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 this month and will hold a training event soon. 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.

It's time to mark your calendar for Vacation Bible School! First Presbyterian will hold VBS for ages 4 years through sixth grade on the mornings of July 11-13 (Monday through Wednesday) from 9:00 to 11:30. Children, volunteers, and staff always have such a wonderful and illuminating time that we urge you to plan now to register your young friends when the time comes!

Randy Cook prepared our lawns for pastoral dances in the first half of April, and Jim White will take over next week. Jim will hand off to David Moore, who will keep the grass fit for feet in the final week of the month.

Wouldn't you like to go out and play on the lawn? We welcome men and women, adults and teens, to our mowing team. You can make a family project of it: younger children can move fallen branches and detritus to the curb, and a parent or elder sibling can mow.

Captain Cook will be happy to train you on our Scag Tiger Cat. 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. Thank you!

Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir; Brandon Story, bass; Mariel Story, guitar; Jenn Sproles, percussion.

Sunday's music: At both morning services, we will sing a Brazilian hymn, "O Sing to the Lord" (Cantai ao Senhor), that has gained wide popularity across North America. It is included in both our previous and current hymnals. A Lutheran missionary who heard it in Brazil first translated it into Spanish for use in Argentina where he served, then into English on his return to the US, and it was published for the first time here in 1986.

	David Schelat

Also at both services, we will sing a brief "Alleluia" response by Simei Monteiro (b. 1943), professor of music and worship on the Faculty of Theology at the Methodist University in Sćo Paulo, Brazil. At the 11:00 service, the Sanctuary Choir will sing a setting of Henry F. Lyte's (1797-1843) paraphrase of Psalm 150, "Praise the Lord, God's Glories Show." This English clergyman's joyous text has been sung to various tunes; this is an original setting by David Schelat (b. 1955). A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Schelat is music director at First & Central Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, Delaware. His setting expresses the text's joy with a vigorous accompaniment solely on conga drums.

Programs of Note: It's a busy weekend for music around the region! The King University Symphonic Choir, under the direction of Dr. Pat Flannagan and accompanied by Vicki Fey, will present their spring program this Friday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the King Memorial Chapel. There is no charge. The Paramount Chamber Players wind up their 2015-16 season with a set of concerts featuring young violinist (and associate concertmaster of Symphony of the Mountains) Cameron Lugo today, Thursday, April 14, at ETSU; tomorrow, Friday, April 15, at First Presbyterian Church, Kingsport; Saturday, April 16, at the Paramount in Bristol; and Sunday afternoon, April 17, at Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church in Abingdon.

Arts Series: To close our 2015-16 Arts Series, pianist and organist Carl Angelo will present a program on both instruments Sunday, May 1, at 3:00 p.m. in our sanctuary. Carl serves as organist and handbell director at First Presbyterian Church of Flint, Michigan, and also serves as the Artist in Piano and Organ at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan. He has performed as a soloist and collaborative musician on piano and organ throughout the United States and has lectured and performed for the American Matthay Association for Piano and the American Guild of Organists. Carl also served as the accompanist for the adult choir and adult chamber choir of the 2015 Montreat Conferences on Worship and Music under conference directors Steve and Vicki Fey. Thank you to our donors for your support this year! When we reschedule the program by Cheryl Parrish, you will receive tickets for that program.

Joćo Batista Amaral de Oliveira is the pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, a sister congregation to our partner church in the Felipe Camarćo neighborhood of Natal, Brazil. He is also the business administrator of Bethel School, also in Felipe Camarćo, with which FPC has partnered since 2003. His wife, Rosangela, is the school's director, overseeing curriculum and administration of its program for its 150 students.

 

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

12:00 p.m.     Reception for Dyan Buck's Art Exhibit, Fellowship Hallway

4:00 p.m.       Evangelism & Outreach Committee, Room 117

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

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

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

5:30 p.m.       Fun Family Fellowship, Osborne Home

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.       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 Ministries Team, Room 117

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

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

1:00 p.m.       Memorial for Bill Grubbs, Chapel