Our annual church picnic will be held this Sunday, August 14, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Rotary Shelter in Steele Creek Park. We have some new information since the last newsletter: You will need to bring $2 for admission to the park. If it rains, we will gather in the church Fellowship Hall.

The shelter is on the left, not far from the park entrance. Seating is limited, so you may want to bring chairs and blankets. FPC will provide hotdogs and bottled water, and we will eat at 5:30. Please bring one of the following dishes with you, according to the initial of your last name:

Last name beginning with	A-H	I-P	Q-Z
Please bring	1 side	1 dessert	1 salad

We look forward to sharing fellowship, fun, and food with you!

The Church Officer Nominating Committee (Chuck Thompson, chair; Scottie Bales; Andrew Beck; Beth Flannagan; Heidi Harkleroad) has prepared a slate of nominees for the Pastor Nominating Committee:

Nominees for PNC
Ann Abel Nancy Allerton Randy Cook Stuart Parker	Matt Richardson Annette Tudor John Vann

The congregation will meet to elect members of this committee Sunday, August 14, at 10:20 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Please make plans to be there to cast your vote!

After a long search, we have hired an interim pastor! The Reverend Dr. Stuart Thomas Wilson will begin his work with FPC on Saturday, October 1, and deliver his first sermon during ONE Worship on World Communion Sunday, October 2. Here he introduces himself:

With grateful anticipation, I await our life and ministry together in the Lord. Serving as your Interim Pastor is a responsibility, and a gift that weaves us into a mutual calling of intrinsic worth.

Your Interim Pastor Search Committee has worked prayerfully and diligently. I am thankful to have had the opportunity of getting to know them and others, and I am grateful to have been warmly introduced to you, the members of First Presbyterian Church of Bristol.

I'd like to share with you some reflections on my family background, childhood nurture, and service to the church, along with a snapshot in words of the Wilson clan. I was born on January 11, 1952, in Norfolk, Virginia, which was my home for the next 22 years. My father (who died in 2015) was Thomas Benjamin Wilson, a native of Norfolk and a Marine fighter pilot in World War II. After his military service, he started his own business and became a general construction contractor. My mother (who died in 2014) was Katrina Jane Styers of Rural Hall, North Carolina. She attended business college and worked in civil service before she and my father were married. They had four sons: Duane, Stuart, Ben, and Lance. The two youngest, Ben and Lance, are deceased. After the boys were out of the nest, my mother was employed as the manager of a women's specialty shop that attended to the needs of breast cancer survivors. She became an avid participant in a local chapter of the American Cancer Society, under whose auspices she gave talks and comforted patients. My mother and father were Presbyterian elders, actively involved in their home church for 30 years.

I was raised in a Presbyterian congregational family of faith. My childhood was graced with worship, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and children's choir. I was encouraged to memorize several psalms, the Ten Commandments, and the Beatitudes. I creatively proclaimed Biblical stories in word, print, and picture through weekly lessons that I kept in my personal notebook. Those richly colored messages, along with the empathic images of my Sunday School teachers, still linger with effect.

I've received the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts (1974), Master of Divinity (1978), and Doctor of Ministry (1994). I wrote a book, Sketching a Scheme: A Friendship Model of Ministry as a Mediating Structure, that was published in 2005 by University Press of America. During 38 years in parish ministry, I have served churches in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Pennsylvania. Thirteen years ago, I felt called to and received specialized training for interim ministry.

My interim training is as follows: Interim Ministry Week One, Interim Ministry Network, Jacksonville (2003); Interim Ministry Week Two, Montreat (2005); and Advanced Interim Training Week Three, Montreat (2007), where I was invited to join the faculty of interim ministry instructors. I am committed to the unique tasks of transitional ministry. I also trust God to grant us its unique blessings.

My wife, Babbs, is my best friend. During the empty nest season, Babbs presides over the Home Place, enjoys our two dogs, a cat, and four horses, serves on the Christian Education Committee of First Presbyterian of Wadesboro, and teaches children on Wednesday evening and Sunday morning.

We have four sons and a daughter. The Wilson family includes Nate and Kate, with grandson Camden and granddaughter Sydney; Adam and Brittany, with grandson Emery; Caleb; Hannah and Austen; and Ethan.

In our Presbyterian Hymnal, #430 is "Come Sing, O Church, in Joy!" May its inviting refrain be our winsome way together:

In Bold Accord, Come Celebrate the Journey Now, and Praise the Lord!

In Christian love,

Stuart

Family Promise of Bristol is looking for volunteers to drive the families in its program to and from host churches, in its 15-passenger van. Drivers must be at least 18 years old but do not need a special license. The main need is for a weekday driver to arrive at the host church at 6:30 a.m. and take the family back to the Family Promise Day Center. The program can also use drivers on the weekends or evenings.

If you are interested in volunteering to drive one day a week, five days a week, or as needed, please call the Family Promise of Bristol office at 276-494-0388. More information about the organization is available at www.familypromiseofbristol.org.

Music Notes