The Banner - First Presbyterian Church, Oak Ridge TN fileThe Banner Inside this issue: From your pastor 2 Member spotlight Narthex decor 3 Food for thought & Session news 4 Continued

This Month’s Events

Coffeehouse

Swing dance

Middle school movies

Centering Prayer

New youth director

arrives

Benton Baby Shower

Annual lasagna dinner

& Congregational

meeting

Evening Light & BYOB

FPC has new director of youth and children’s ministries

January 2014

The Banner

Inside this issue:

From your pastor 2

Member spotlight

Narthex decor 3

Food for thought &

Session news

4

Continued from pg. 1 5

Parish Nurse

ORCMA Concert

6

Children, Youth, &

College Students

7

Adult CE classes 8

Bits ‘n’ Pieces 9

Worship volunteers

Guest preachers 10

Calendar 11

First Presbyterian Church

Center, the Smoky Moun-

tain Homeless Shelter,

Knox Area Rescue Mission

volunteer ministries, stu-

dents at Austin East High

School, Project GRAD, and

a family crisis center.

“Karissa is excited to start

work at FPC this month

and is looking forward to

meeting everyone attending

our church,” said Colin

Colverson, chair of the

search committee responsi-

ble for selecting her.

Welcome, Karissa!

Prepare to welcome a new

face at First Presbyterian!

Karissa Stewart will begin

serving as our new director

of youth and children’s min-

istries on Jan. 15. She has

more than six years experi-

ence working with children

and youth at First Presbyte-

rian Church of Knoxville.

Karissa, a lifelong Presby-

terian, has had a passion

and desire to work in a

church ever since watching

her mother teach Christian

education classes for many

years.

A graduate of the Univer-

sity of Tennessee, Karissa

has experience working

with the UT Presbyterian

FPC members urged to help homeless Jan. 27-30

ing Anderson County’s

homeless a temporary

home, where they can sleep

overnight and receive some

nourishing food and drink.

This “Warming Center” will

be open Jan. 27, 28, 29, and

30.

Members of ORUUC,

First Presbyterian, First

Christian, High Places

Community, Roberts-

ville Baptist, and United

Church, Chapel on the

Hill, are asked to pro-

vide food to and con-

verse with the homeless

these four nights.

“Whoever is generous to

the poor lends to the Lord,

and he will repay him for

his deed.”—Proverbs 19:17

In 2012 at least 85 persons

in Anderson County were

classified as homeless. Yet

the county has had no emer-

gency shelter—until now.

“Some of the homeless

live in cars or outside, and

others are couch surfers

who are ‘precariously

housed’ and have no address

of their own,” said Zabrina

Minor, executive director of

TORCH in Anderson

County.

TORCH, based in Oak

Ridge, is the lead agency for

conducting the point-in-time

(PIT) count. The Anderson

County mayor appointed

TORCH to conduct the

count in coordination with

the Tennessee Valley Coali-

tion to End Homelessness.

Every January Zabrina and

many community volun-

teers count the number of

homeless in the county.

On Jan. 24, 2013, they

counted 85 homeless, in-

cluding an elderly cou-

ple huddled in a car in Clax-

ton and a person in the

Kroger parking lot. Con-

gress allocates funds to the

county based on data col-

lected from the PIT count.

The 2014 federally man-

dated 24-hour PIT count of

the homeless will be held

Jan. 28. To help with the

effort, Oak Ridge Unitarian

Universalist Church is offer-

Happy New Year!

As I recuperate from sur-

gery and become acquainted

with my newest knee, I am

cherishing the gift of time to

ponder the year just passed

and the opportunities that

lie ahead in 2014. How

blessed and grateful I am to

be part of the First Presby-

terian Church family of

faith.

‘Tis the season for making

resolutions, of course. In-

stead of offering a list of the

usual fare, I want to share

with you a prayer written

by Ted Loder (Guerillas of

Grace). It holds much to

ponder at the beginning of a

new year. The title is “Keep

Me in Touch with My

Dreams”:

O Lord, in the turbulence and

the loneliness of my living from

day to day and night to night,

keep me in touch with my

roots, so I will remember

where I came from and with

whom; keep me in touch with

my feelings, so I will be more

aware of who I really am and

what it costs; keep me in

touch with my mind, so I will

know who I am not and what

that means; and keep me in

touch with my dreams, so I

will grow toward where I want

to go and for whom.

O Lord, deliver me from the

arrogance of assuming I know

enough to judge others; deliver

me from the timidity of pre-

suming I don’t know enough

to help others; deliver me from

the illusion of claiming I have

enough when I have only

risked little, that, so liberated, I

will make some of the days to

come different.

O Lord, I ask not to be deliv-

ered from the tensions that

wind me tight, but I do ask for

a sense of direction in which

to move once wound, a sense

of humor about my disap-

pointments, a sense of respect

for the elegant puzzlement of

being human, and a sense of

gladness for your kingdom,

which comes in spite of my

fretful pulling and tugging.

O Lord, nurture in me the

song of a lover, the vision of a

poet, the questions of a child,

the boldness of a prophet, and

the courage of a disciple.

O Lord, it is said you created

people because you love sto-

ries. Be with me as I live out

my story.

I’ll see you in a couple

of weeks!

With a grateful heart,

Sharon

From your pastor

Page 2 The Banner

Sharon Youngs, Pastor

Additionally, we ask all of

you to pray for the well-

being of the church, its staff,

and its members.

-Rosalyn McKeown-Ice

Completing and returning

your “time and talents” form

to the church is an impor-

tant part of the stewardship

campaign. The information

from the time and talents

forms is being entered into a

database that will be shared

with the chairs of standing

committees and special

teams. The chairs will then

call for volunteers to help

out as needed.

Here are some responses

from church members about

their forms: “It is still in my

email inbox.” “I am volun-

teering for the same things I

did last year.” “I completed

it and it is sitting right here,

but I’ve not taken it to

church yet.”

Whatever the reason, be

assured that the steward-

ship team and the commit-

tee chairs want everyone to

complete and return a time

and talents form.

To return the form, you

can place it in the large ma-

nila envelope on the bulletin

board in the fellowship hall,

put it in the collection plate,

or email or mail it to the

church office.

O Lord, it is said you

created people because

you love stories. Be with

me as I live out my

story.

Calling for all time and talents forms

Page 3 J anuary 2014

Kathy Carney-Layendecker,

a doer and a leader, is one

of the five new members of

our session. She is a native

of Beloit, Wisconsin. Her

father was a manager for

Sears, Roebuck & Company.

She earned a B.A. degree

in industrial management

from the University of Ken-

tucky and an M.S. degree in

environmental management

from the University of

Findlay in Ohio. She is also a

certified hazardous materi-

als manager.

Kathy met her husband

Steve, son of a Presbyterian

minister, when they were

both working at Battelle

Memorial Institute in Co-

lumbus, Ohio. Steve is a

certified health physicist and

nuclear facility complex

manager for ORNL’s Non-

Reactor Nuclear Facilities

Division.

At Battelle Kathy was

manager of its hazardous

waste operations and at

Brookhaven National Labo-

ratory, she was manager of

its Waste Management

Division. In 2002 the

Layendeckers moved from

Long Island to Oak Ridge to

work at ORNL.

Kathy worked as program

manager and then director

of ORNL’s Environmental

Protection and Waste Ser-

vices Division. She is cur-

rently operations manager

for ORNL’s Physical Sci-

ences Directorate. In sup-

port of the directorate’s

Center for Nanophase

Materials Science, Chemical

Sciences Division, Physics

Division, and Materials Sci-

ence and Technology Divi-

sion (whose director is

Gene Ice), Kathy is respon-

sible for providing the facili-

ties, equipment, systems,

and tools.

She is also the environ-

ment, health, and safety

manager for a worldwide

collaboration of physicists

who are building a special-

ized detector a mile under-

ground in Lead, South Da-

kota. “They are searching

for a rare form of radioac-

tive decay that may help

Member Spotlight—Kathy Carney-Layendecker

scientists understand why

matter exists,” Kathy

said. “I will be going back

there this month.”

Steve and Kathy’s daugh-

ter Ashley, who once per-

formed as a dancer at FPC

services, is in the Art

Education program at

the University of Tennessee,

where she is pursuing a

master of education degree,

with an emphasis on special

education.

In 2003 the Layendeckers

joined FPC. “What we like

about FPC are the church

members, the music and

inspiring worship services,

and the community out-

reach programs,” Kathy

said.

As a new session member

Kathy will chair the Prop-

erty and Maintenance com-

mittee. “I like to do a lot of

stuff with my hands,” she

said. “I would like to avail

myself in a way that meets

the needs of the FPC mem-

bership, learning along the

way and yielding myself to

the Spirit’s calling.”

Kathy Carney-Layendecker

Favorite Bible verse:

“Whatever your hand

finds to do, do it with your

might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

Favorite quote: “We are

all faced with a series of

great opportunities, bril-

liantly disguised as impos-

sible situations.” (Chuck

Swindoll)

gested this idea for the De-

cember display. “Please pick

up your scene on Sunday,

Jan. 5, so Karen can get

started on a new display for

January.”

Many church members and

visitors have greatly enjoyed

the variety of nativity scenes

displayed in the sanctuary

narthex during the Christ-

mas season. For those who

haven’t been able to spend

time in the narthex, photos

of each scene appear on the

church website at

www.fpcor.org/

narthex.html .

“I would like to express

my thanks to Karen Pence

and all the folks who loaned

her their nativity scenes for

her attractive display in the

narthex,” said Music Direc-

tor Anna Thomas, who sug-

Nativity scenes in the narthex: pickup date is Jan. 5

need of clean drinking wa-

ter. We thank you for your

healing touch on the lives of

men, women, and children

who will live because of the

kindness of others giving

money, time, and other re-

sources to go and help our

neighbors. We thank you

for providing the resources

we need to carry out the

work of the ministry. Please

continue to make a way for

us to help our neighbors in

need. We ask that you

would quench the thirst of

those who are thirsty and

heal the bodies of those

who are hungry because of

chronic diarrhea that comes

from unfit drinking water.

We ask that you would

make a way for all your

creation to drink from your

fountain. Please minister to

your people. Protect those

who go to serve. In Jesus

we pray, Amen.

-Living Waters for the World

newsletter

don’t let your hearts be

troubled. I have overcome

the world. So wait in the

midst of it all, just before

the dawn, for in the midst

of the night, there are

strange and redeeming

events afoot. And with this

the church begins a new

year, asked to begin afresh,

not just on a calendar, but

in individual hearts, in rela-

tionships, in congregations,

and in our yearning for a

promise worth living for.

Hearers of this passage are

bidden to live lives of faith-

ful, active waiting in the

meantime because they hear

again the name of the One

who holds them in the end-

ing time.

-Wesley D. Avram

Religion & science

The Living Waters for the

World ministry is an excel-

lent example of the theo-

logical implications of sci-

ence and technology.

”Thank you God for your

generous hand to those in

New Year’s prayer

Dear God, Thank you for

your love and watchful care

in days gone by. I am grate-

ful for your guidance along

life’s pathway. Please help

me reach forward to the

future. I ask you to help me

leave every negative thought

behind and enter into this

new year filled with dynamic

thoughts and anticipation.

Please, Lord, deepen my

faith. Give me a greater ca-

pacity for meaningful life.

Help me to believe that

good things will happen this

year.

Thank you for the gift of

life itself. Thank you for

helping me to be a better

person than I had been be-

fore. Grant that a better

tomorrow may dawn for all

humanity through Jesus

Christ, our Lord. Amen

-Norman Vincent Peale

Devotion based on Luke

21:25-36

In this text Jesus said, “the

world is a scary place, but

Food for thought Jim Wessel, Clerk of Session

Page 4 The Banner

Expenditure of $800

from the Early Head

Start escrow fund ac-

count to trim limbs

overhanging the play-

ground;

The first communion in

2014, which will occur

in February, and

The proposed 2014

budget, as amended

($347,600).

At the December 2013

meeting, the session ap-

proved:

The baptism of Miles

Thomas Suratt, son of

Sarah Strickler and Cory

Suratt, at the early

Christmas Eve worship

service, Dec. 24;

Don Thomas, Daniel

Tipton, and Bob Cantrell

as the preachers on

Dec. 29, Jan. 5, and Jan.

12, respectively;

The purchase of the

Holman Old and New

Testament Commen-

tary to assist Sunday

school teachers and the

curriculums for the

Early Bird class and

LGBT Bible study;

Use of the Educational

building’s ADFAC room

by our Boy Scout troop;

Session News: substitute preachers, 2014 budget OK’d

Annual Congregational

meeting scheduled for

Sunday, Jan. 26, following

worship and a lasagna

dinner. Annual reports will

be available for review

Sunday, Jan. 19.

Page 5 J anuary 2014

“I prefer a church

which is bruised,

hurting and dirty

because it has been

out on the streets,

rather than a church

which is unhealthy

from being confined

and from clinging to

its own security.”

-Pope Francis, The

Joy of the Gospel

Homeless (continued from page 1)

homeless if they are not

veterans or have no mental

or physical disabilities, ad-

dictions, or abuse experi-

ences. Thus, a single

mother with two children

and a very low income finds

it more difficult to access an

emergency shelter (such as

one in Knox or Blount

county) than do people

with certain classes of prob-

lems.

TORCH can provide case

management clients with

three to five days of hotel

space until permanent hous-

ing can be arranged.

TORCH tries to address

the needs of clients who

know they will be evicted in

the next 10 days.

PIT count purpose

The Tennessee Valley

Coalition to End Homeless-

ness gathers data for the

U.S. Housing and Urban

Development Department.

HUD was directed by Con-

gress over nine years ago to

gather information annually

about homelessness from

each state.

From November 2009 to

January 2013, the coalition

served 44 chronically home-

less people in Anderson

County. These chronically

homeless cost county tax-

payers $1.6 million in one

year—a staggering statistic.

The PIT count allows

TORCH to estimate the

number of area homeless.

Because no emergency shel-

ter has existed here, the

homeless are scattered

rather than concentrated in

a shelter.

Some pastors and mem-

bers are also volunteering to

sleep overnight at ORUUC

to help with the Warming

Center.

If you want to partici-

pate in these efforts,

please contact Carolyn

Krause. Maureen Hoyt and

Christine Purcell at ORUUC

will provide more informa-

tion later in the month and

are writing a shared ministry

plan for the six local

churches.

“I believe that our church

members have the compas-

sion, resources, and willing-

ness to participate in this

Warming Center effort,”

said Pastor Sharon.

The chronically homeless

are those who have had no

home four or more times in

the past year. The sheltered

homeless are clients who

live in emergency shelters

and have no other place to

go. Reasons for homeless-

ness are loss of job, lack of

affordable housing, under-

employment or low income,

domestic violence, or sub-

stance abuse.

Michael and Lynn

McCutcheon will make a

house available as a transi-

tional housing site for a

homeless family identified

during the PIT count. The

Agape House is located in

the Woodland section of

Oak Ridge. Michael is a

member of the board of the

Free Medical Clinic of Oak

Ridge.

“Anderson County,”

Zabrina said, “has long

needed a transitional house

for eight to ten persons to

address the people falling

through the cracks.”

How does TORCH help?

The mission statement of

TORCH is “to invest in and

support the holistic trans-

formation of the economi-

cally disadvantaged in our

community as they pursue

self-sufficiency.” Shelia Mi-

chel, TORCH founder, vis-

ited different communities

to determine the gaps in

services for the homeless

and ways to meet those

needs.

Oak Ridge and Anderson

County have service agen-

cies with missions for spe-

cific populations. For exam-

ple, Ridgeview Psychiatric

Hospital serves the chroni-

cally homeless suffering

from mental illness or sub-

stance abuse. However,

some clients are too poor

to afford the $12 photo ID

they need to get food

stamps or housing. This bar-

rier prevents Ridgeview

from meeting some families’

basic needs.

TORCH’s program called

GAPS—gathering assistance

to provide services is de-

signed to “to address those

little gaps that become huge

barriers,” Zabrina said.

TORCH has a literacy pro-

gram where tutors meet

students once a week to

help them earn their GEDs.

In April TORCH started a

“teaching English as a sec-

ond language” program.

TORCH also identifies

agencies that can assist cli-

ents with utility payments

so they don’t, for example,

have to pawn car titles to

pay electric bills.

No programs are currently

available for sheltering the

From your parish nurse: Blood clots can be serious health risk

Page 6 The Banner

Meg Tonne, Parish Nurse

A Health Luncheon

will be held Thurs.,

Jan. 16 at noon in

room 102, Activities

building. Naseem

Saadia, MD, Infectious

Disease Specialist with

Oak Ridge Internal

Medicine Associates,

will speak on “The

Battle Against Infection:

How Our Bodies Protect

Us.” The program is

free and open to the

public. Lunch costs

$5.00. Please call

the church office at

483-1318 for reserva-

tions. Come and

bring a friend!

Know the signs of

serious clots

Venous thromboembolism

(VTE) doesn’t just sound

scary. If left untreated, it can

be fatal.

The disease includes two

separate conditions: deep

vein thrombosis (DVT),

which occurs when a blood

clot forms in one of the

deep veins, typically in the

leg; and pulmonary embo-

lism (PE), which arises when

a clot—usually DVT re-

lated—travels to the lungs

and blocks blood flow.

About one million cases of

VTE are reported each year

in the United States, and

people with arthritis, espe-

cially rheumatoid arthritis

(RA), are particularly vul-

nerable. Studies show they

are twice as likely as indi-

viduals in the general popu-

lation to develop VTE. Joint

replacement surgery and

corticosteroids also in-

crease the risk.

What to watch for

If one of your legs is swol-

len, tender to the touch,

red, warm, or feels like you

have a persistent charley

horse, you may be experi-

encing DVT; therefore, you

should be examined by a

physician the same day. A

PE can mimic heart attack

symptoms, including short-

ness of breath, a racing

heartbeat, or a pain in the

chest that gets worse when

you take a deep breath. If

you have any of these symp-

toms, head to an emergency

room immediately.

How to reduce your risk

The best way to prevent a

PE is to lower your risk of

developing a clot. Steps that

ease arthritis symptoms—

keeping your weight in

check, not smoking, and

staying physically active—

also lower the risk of devel-

oping blood clots. Long pe-

riods of sitting or airline

flights longer than four

hours increase DVT risk.

Consider wearing com-

pression stockings, which

enable the veins and mus-

cles in your legs to work

more efficiently. While fly-

ing, drink lots of water and

walk in the aisle every hour

to promote circulation. Sur-

gery poses the most danger,

but most surgeons are on

high alert. They will monitor

you carefully and may put

you on blood thinners to

prevent clotting.

-Camille Noe Pagan in Arthritis

Today

Coffee concert Feb. 1 at FPC features member’s brother

2005 to 2007 and the Cen-

tral Florida Symphony Or-

chestra in Ocala during the

2005-2006 season.

In two commencement

concerts at the Berklee

College of Music, Aaron

performed with celebrities

such as Smokey Robinson,

Linda Ronstadt, Juan Luis

Guerra, and Steve Win-

wood. He also played violin

in The Life and Music of

Burt Bacharach concert and

the Movie Premier Orches-

tra for August Rush con-

cert, both in Boston.

Donations of $5 or more

will benefit ADFAC, the

charity of Colin and Aaron’s

choice.

There are at least five rea-

sons you should attend the

Coffee Concert on Saturday,

Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m.

First, the Oak Ridge Civic

Music Association concert is

free. Second, the refresh-

ments are free. Third, the

location is our church.

Fourth, the program will be

a mix of classical and con-

temporary music by a pro-

fessional violinist—music

that should appeal to all gen-

erations.

Last but not least, the vio-

linist is Aaron Colverson,

brother of Colin Colverson,

a member of our church.

Recently, Colin visited

Aaron and their parents,

who all live in Kenya.

“Aaron is currently a con-

temporary violin soloist,

working across East Africa

in a variety of musical gen-

res with a host of different

bands and artists,” Colin

said. You can listen to se-

lected cuts of Aaron’s music

at his website reverbna-

tion.com/aaroncolverson .

For the concert, Aaron

plans to play music from

Appalachia, Africa, China,

and Europe (classical), ac-

companied by visual images.

In 2009 Aaron earned a

B.A. in professional music

from Berklee College of

Music in Boston. He played

violin with two orchestras

in Florida: the Gainesville

Chamber Orchestra from

Aaron Colverson, violinist

Page 7

J anuary 2014

Children and youth ministry

Children’s moment

1/05: Anna Thomas

1/12: Bob Cantrell

1/19: Mike Hilliard

1/26: Chuck Hadden

1/5

PYC meeting—welcome back!

1/12

TBD

1/19

TBD

1/26

TBD

Upcoming Presbyterian Youth Connection (PYC) activities

Middle school

movie nights—

6:00 p.m., Rm. 102.

January 10—National Treasure

January 24—TBD

Pizza, popcorn and drinks

provided ($3 donation).

Bring friends!

Activity time

1/05: Tiffany Murray, Luke Holt

1/12: Anne Backus, Lily Jaques

1/19: Sue Byrne, Andrew Brittain

1/26: Mary Keller, Laura Budai

NEXT COFFEEHOUSE

Friday, January 3

from 7:00-10:00 p.m. in Rm. 102

Come catch up with friends.

SWING DANCE

Saturday, January 4

from 7:00-10:00 p.m. in Rm. 102

of the Activities building.

Page 8 The Banner

Dale Hadden is creating

the adult Sunday school

class on usury from the

PCUSA statement titled

"A reformed understanding

of usury in the 21st cen-

tury." The PCUSA docu-

ments present a nice combi-

nation of scripture, theol-

ogy, and contemporary con-

text in their statements and

reports.

Early Birds

The Early Bird class, which

meets every Sunday morn-

ing at 9 before the worship

service, has been studying

Ecclesiastes for the past

four weeks and the study

will continue this month.

The leaders are Sue Byrne

and Mike Hilliard, and the

class meets in Room 6 next

to the sanctuary.

“We share fellowship and

coffee, pray together, and

read scripture in class,” Sue

said. “Then the attendees

discuss that scripture, draw-

ing on Bible commentary,

the Internet, and conversa-

tion with one another to

Eco-Social Justice

Many Americans find it

disturbing that credit card

issuers and banks charge

their customers 12% or

more in interest payments

on bills not paid in time.

After all, for centuries most

societies have protected

borrowers by limiting inter-

est rates that lenders can

charge.

Owing to a U.S. Supreme

Court decision in 1978, al-

most half of all states do not

have laws that cap credit

card interest rates. Most

major credit card issuers

are based in states without

usury laws and without in-

terest rate caps on credit

cards, so they can charge

any rate they choose.

Usury—the practice of

lending money at unrea-

sonably high rates of inter-

est—is the topic of the next

series of Eco-Social Justice

classes, which are held after

the worship service in

Room 102 of the Activities

building.

gain new insights and dis-

coveries and to articulate

the application of the verses

to our lives today.”

Traditional

Ted Atkinson will lead a

Bible study on the Book of

Mark after worship in the

parlor. The class will com-

plete its study that started

last fall, picking up in Chap-

ter 4. Then the class will

undertake a Lenten study.

LGBT friendly

On Thursday nights, Rosa-

lyn McKeown-Ice will lead

the LGBT Friendly Bible

Study in the fellowship hall.

The focus of the class is I &

II Kings.

Jonah

On Sunday, Jan. 26, Pastor

Sharon and Music Director

Anna Thomas will conduct

the monthly Evening Light

service at 6 p.m. in Room

102. A light meal will be

served at 6:30, followed by

discussion of the Book of

Jonah during the Bring Your

Own Bible (BYOB) study.

Adult Christian education classes for 2014

Church Women

United Church Women United

of the Oak Ridge Area has

announced its schedule for

the first half of 2014. The

local group is part of “a

racially, culturally, and

theologically inclusive

Christian women’s move-

ment celebrating unity in

diversity and working for a

world of peace and jus-

tice.”

In an attempt to attract

career women to its pro-

grams, CWU-Oak Ridge

will hold its first Friday

lunchtime gatherings. The

dates, locations, and pro-

grams are:

Feb. 7, Oak Valley

Baptist Church, Com-

munity Mediation Ser-

vices”

Mar. 7, Grace Lu-

theran, “Church

Women United in Ac-

tion”

Apr. 4, St. Mary’s, Co-

lumbus Hall, “Healthy

Start of Anderson

County”

May 2, St. Stephen’s,

Parish Hall, “Through

God Our Hands Can

Serve”

To learn about CWU,

whose mantra is “Agreed

to Differ, Resolved to

Love, United to Serve,”

visit churchwomen.org .

For more information on

the local organization and

its programs, contact

Gaye Marie Logsdon at

483-7940.

We give our heartfelt thanks to the

congregation for their outpourings of love

in Bill’s illness and death. Our special

thanks go to Meg and Sharon, the card

senders, the kitchen crew, the guitar

group, and the quilters, whose gift quilt

was never out of his sight. “In life and in

death he belongs to God” through our

wonderfully caring church.

Mary Ann and Adele Davidson

Bits ‘n’ pieces

January Birthdays

1/4 Catherine Backus

1/4 Emily Backus

1/5 Syd Murray

1/9 Sandra Edwards

1/11 Dick Philippone

1/12 Mary Ann Davidson

1/13 Ashley Layendecker

1/13 Austin Washington

1/15 Bart Hadden

1/16 Kate Porter

1/16 Madeline Stone

1/18 Scott Trowbridge

1/19 Sue Byrne

1/20 Debra Stone

1/22 Daniel Tipton

1/23 Rick Shipp

1/26 Bob Fulcher

1/26 Janet Swift

1/29 John Drake

1/31 Brian Drane

Congratulations

and blessings!

Page 9

J anuary 2014

ADFAC crisis cupboard FPC will be collecting toiletries

and household items for the AD-

FAC Crisis Cupboard in January.

The crisis cupboard holds practi-

cal items that cannot be pur-

chased with food stamps, such as

soap, toothpaste, and shampoo,

as well as toilet tissue and laun-

dry detergent. Items for infants,

such as diapers, are also needed.

Please bring your items and

place them in the collection box

in the narthex.

Women’s Lunch— The second Monday of each month, the

women of First Presbyterian gather for

lunch at a local restaurant. On Jan. 13 at

12:30 p.m., the group will meet at Razzle-

berry’s in Jackson Square. Razzleberry’s

will be contributing a portion of a day’s

profits to ADFAC. The women of the

church are invited to come enjoy an after-

noon of fellowship as they support this

local charity.

For the schedule of local restaurants participating

in ADFAC’s “Dine & Donate” program, see ad-

fac.org.

Christmastide Choral Festival—on

Sunday, Jan. 5 at 6:00 p.m. at Grace

Covenant Church, the First Presbyterian

Church choir will join with choirs from

five other area churches to celebrate

the beautiful music of the Christmas

season. The festival is open to all. Grace

Covenant is located at 320 Robertsville

Road here in Oak Ridge.

Last call! If your family dedicated

one of the old blue hymnals and

you’d like to take it home, please

pick it up in the back of the Fellow-

ship Hall. Thank you.

A New FPC Baby in the New Year!

Our church will be blessed with a new baby

early in 2014! Anne Marie and Jack Benton

are expecting their first child in mid-

February. Their son, to be named James

Franklin Benton and nicknamed Jim, will be

a “third generation” child of the church.

Proud grandmother is Anne Backus, a very

active member of First Presbyterian

Church.

The congregation will have a baby shower

on Sunday, Jan. 12 during fellowship

time after the worship service. To wel-

come young Jim into our church family, we

encourage gifts in the form of cash or gift

cards to Babies-R-Us or Wal-Mart.

Who’s missing Wed. night dinners? Ok, besides me? If you are, too, here’s a note from the head cooks

and a favorite recipe:

We want to give a special thank you to all

the cooks, servers, and cleanup crew mem-

bers who came out in force to help with the

fall Wednesday Night Dinner series. It was

another successful series and it really would

not have been possible without all the extra

help we got this year. God provides the best

help when you need it the most! Many

thanks to all. We are looking forward to

starting up the series again in March!

- Susan Sharp and Sandy Rohwer

Chicken & Sweet Potato Soup

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken, in bite-size pieces

2 lbs. sweet potatoes, in bite-size pieces

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 large can diced tomatoes

2 cups apple juice

2 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup reg. flour (or gluten-free)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. water

1 splash Tabasco sauce

Dredge chicken in flour, salt & pepper mixture

in a bag. Sauté garlic in a soup pot. When garlic

becomes fragrant, add the chicken, stirring until

golden brown. Remove chicken and add onions

to sauté 2 min. Add water & stir to deglaze pot.

Cover & cook until onions begin to soften. Stir

in sweet potatoes. Add chicken, tomatoes (with

liquid), juice, and broth. Stir. Add in hot sauce &

stir again. Reduce to medium heat and cook 45

min., stirring every 15 min. to prevent sticking

to bottom of pot.

Sunday, January 5

Liturgist: Jim Tonne

Children’s Moment: Anna Thomas

Activity Time: Tiffany Murray, Luke Holt

Sound Guild: Dale Hadden

Ushers: Team I, led by Irene Darko

Counters: Priscilla Campbell, Fred Haywood Flowers: Anna George Dobbins

Fellowship Hosts: Judy Greeson, Shirley Knight

Opening/Closing: Mike Hilliard, Dave Mullins

Sunday, January 12

Liturgist: Shirley Knight

Children’s Moment: Bob Cantrell

Activity Time: Anne Backus, Lily Jaques

Sound Guild: Don Spong

Ushers: Team II, led by George Darko

Counters: Elizabeth Myhre, Dan Terpstra Flowers: Shirley Knight

Fellowship Hosts: Karl & Mary Keller

Opening/Closing: Mike Hilliard, Dave Mullins

Worship Volunteers

Page 10 J anuary 2014

Sunday, January 26

Liturgist: Kathy Carney-Layendecker

Children’s Moment: Chuck Hadden

Activity Time: Mary Keller, Laura Budai

Sound Guild: Carolyn Krause

Ushers: Team IV, led by Dennis Strickler

Counters: George Darko, Anna Robinson Flowers: Anna & Bill Robinson

Fellowship Hosts: Kate & Walt Porter

Opening/Closing: Mike Hilliard, Dave Mullins

Page 10 The Banner

Sunday, January 19

Liturgist: Herb Krause

Children’s Moment: Mike Hilliard

Activity Time: Sue Byrne, Andrew Brittain

Sound Guild: Sydney Murray

Ushers: Team III, led by Joe Grey

Counters: Trygve Myhre, Lewis Phillips Flowers: Elizabeth & Trygve Myhre

Fellowship Hosts: Lewis & Phyllis Phillips

Opening/Closing: Mike Hilliard, Dave Mullins

Pulpit supply in Pastor Sharon’s absence

Daniel Tipton will speak on Sun., Jan. 5. Daniel is no

stranger to FPC, having served as director of youth from Jan.

2009 through Aug. 2010. Under the care of our church, Daniel

attended Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louis-

ville, Ky, earning a master of divinity degree in May 2013.

Currently, he is working as chaplain at the University of Ten-

nessee Medical Center in Knoxville.

On Sun., Jan. 12, our guest preacher will be the Rev. Bob

Cantrell, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church, Oak

Ridge, from 2000 to 2006.

A native of Oak Ridge who participated in FPC’s monthly Eve-

ning Light and BYOB gatherings this past fall, Bob was a pastor

at United Methodist churches in the Holston Conference for

39 years. Now retired, he lives with his wife Marie in Oak

Ridge.

He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville

and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in

Atlanta. He serves on the staff of the Keystone Adult Day Pro-

gram at First United Methodist Church in Oak Ridge, which is

his home church.

“In addition to my involvement in Keystone,” Bob said,

“some special joys are practicing daily meditation and deep

breathing, listening to jazz, and not going to evening meetings!”

Januar y 2014

Please note this calendar is subject to change.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2

7 pm LGBT

Bible Study

3

7 pm

Coffeehouse

4

7 pm Swing

Dance

5

9 am Early Bird Class

9:00 am Choir

10 am Worship

11:15 am Sunday school

5 pm *PYC

6

12 pm Men’s

Lunch

7

12:15 Centering

prayer

8

7 pm P&M Committee

9

7 pm Choir

7 pm LGBT Bible Study

10

6 pm Middle

school movie

11

12

9 am Early Bird Class

9:19 am Choir

10 am Worship

11:05 am Baby Shower

11:15 am Sunday school

5 pm *PYC

13

12 pm Men’s

Lunch

12:30 pm

Women’s lunch

(see note on pg. 9)

14

10 am Prayer

Shawl Ministry

12:15 Centering

prayer

6:30 pm Guitar

Workshop

7 pm Soc. Concerns Committee

15

16

7 pm Choir

7 pm LGBT

Bible Study

17

Banner

Deadline

18

19

9 am Early Bird Class

9:19 am Choir

10 am Worship

11:05 am Reception for

Jinny Dunlap

11:15 am Sunday school

5 pm *PYC 5 pm Finance Committee

20

12 pm Men’s

Lunch

21

12:15 Centering

prayer

6:30 pm Guitar

Workshop

22

7 pm Session

23

24

6 pm Middle

school movie

25

26

9 am Early Bird Class

9:19 am Choir

10 am Worship

11:05 am Lasagna dinner

& Annual meeting

27

12 pm

Men’s Lunch

28

12:15 Centering

prayer

6:30 pm Guitar

Workshop

29

30

31

1 February

*PYC—Presbyterian Youth Connection

Located at the corner of

Lafayette & Oak Ridge Turnpike

Phone: 865-483-1318

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: FPCOR.org

The Banner team includes

Carolyn Krause, Jim Tonne,

Adrienne Pyle, and Sharon

Youngs, with thanks to

contributors from the

congregation, session, and

church staff.

First Presbyterian Church

P.O. Box 6106

Oak Ridge, TN 37831

First Presbyterian Church January 2014 Oak Ridge, Tennessee

God’s spirit, given by Christ, flows through us as

living water to wash, heal, and satisfy. As a congregation we

become a fountain, sharing this living water with others.

The Banner

Blessed with God’s love and grace, we celebrate

gifts of diversity. By Jesus Christ’s example, we welcome,

in love, all who rejoice and worship with us.