Page 1 The First News First Presbyterian Church July/August 2019 From Pastor Taylor Dear Friends, Summer is a funny time in church life. We both slow down and revel in activities like vaca- tions and long weekends but we are also in hyper-drive mode planning for the fall, spurts of energetic meetings to make sure we’re ready for what is to come. When you receive this, I’ll be with my family in Montreat on vacation, having already spent one week there and finishing out this holiday week there, too. We’ve never had this time together as a family in the summer because I (joyfully!) was on youth trips for about a month total in my previous call so I thank you, FPC friends, for giving the Hartmans some space to rest and be with our immediate and extended family. I packed a stack of books to read on the porch so when I get back, hold me accountable for some oral book reports! We’re hard at work here, too! In the past month, the staff and Session worked through some big-picture ideas for the year and is working hard to get those launched. We’re excited about using Brian McLaren’s book We Make the Road by Walking as our church-wide guidebook for 2019-2020. We’ll use it in worship, Christian Education, fellowship, and personal devotion. Look deeper into the newsletter for more information about this journey. The Session is also coor- dinating our calendars church-wide so that we can be more intentional about the time we spend together. On a detailed committee level, elders have taken to heart your words and wisdom from our Fish Fry visioning night. Congregational Care created new prayer request cards for worship; Worship Council is busy recruiting more folks to volunteer in wor- ship. Mission is faithfully figuring out how to best serve our neighbors, especially through our food ministries. Chris- tian Education is supporting our campus ministry - UKirk - as they prepare to welcome students in August (make sure you’re here for our Lemonade on the Lawn welcome for GS students August 18). Facilities is tending to our list of building needs including working on the carpet in the sanctuary. Administration is planning our Stewardship Campaign and Fellowship has thought about the flow of our gatherings so we can best deepen our relationships. Our June-July Sermon Series is on Joy and I can tell you this: y’all bring me such effervescent and resounding joy because of your love of Christ that you pour out to our community and to one another. May you find joy wherever you go this summer! In Christ, Pastor Taylor
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Page 1
The First News
First Presbyterian Church
July/August 2019
From Pastor Taylor
Dear Friends,
Summer is a funny time in church life. We both slow down and revel in activities like vaca-tions and long weekends but we are also in hyper-drive mode planning for the fall, spurts of energetic meetings to make sure we’re ready for what is to come. When you receive this, I’ll be with my family in Montreat on vacation, having already spent one week there and finishing out this holiday week there, too. We’ve never had this time together as a family in the summer because I (joyfully!) was on youth trips for about a month total in my previous call so I thank you, FPC friends, for giving the Hartmans some space to rest and be with our immediate and extended family. I packed a stack of books to read on the porch so
when I get back, hold me accountable for some oral book reports!
We’re hard at work here, too! In the past month, the staff and Session worked through some big-picture ideas for the year and is working hard to get those launched. We’re excited about using Brian McLaren’s book We Make the Road by Walking as our church-wide guidebook for 2019-2020. We’ll use it in worship, Christian Education, fellowship, and personal devotion. Look deeper into the newsletter for more information about this journey. The Session is also coor-dinating our calendars church-wide so that we can be more intentional about the time we spend together. On a detailed committee level, elders have taken to heart your words and wisdom from our Fish Fry visioning night. Congregational Care created new prayer request cards for worship; Worship Council is busy recruiting more folks to volunteer in wor-ship. Mission is faithfully figuring out how to best serve our neighbors, especially through our food ministries. Chris-tian Education is supporting our campus ministry - UKirk - as they prepare to welcome students in August (make sure you’re here for our Lemonade on the Lawn welcome for GS students August 18). Facilities is tending to our list of building needs including working on the carpet in the sanctuary. Administration is planning our Stewardship Campaign and Fellowship has thought about the flow of our gatherings so we can best deepen our relationships.
Our June-July Sermon Series is on Joy and I can tell you this: y’all bring me such effervescent and resounding joy because of your love of Christ that you pour out to our community and to one another. May you find joy wherever you go this summer!
In Christ,
Pastor Taylor
Page 2 The First News Page 2
The First News
FPC To Spend A Year Making The Road By Walking We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation is an in-vitation to a walk deeper into our faith as individuals and as a covenant commu-nity. The First Presbyterian Session is excited to name this as our theme for the year 2019-2020. We’ll use this book as our guide in worship, Sunday School classes, and small groups.
Why this book? Our hope as a Session and staff is that it will bind us together as a community and provide a common language and experience. We’re already a healthy bunch and are prepared as a people to explore our faith. This will book will allow us to do that in a way that makes space for the Spirit to stir our imagina-tions and enliven our conversations.
On August 25 at our Rally Day Breakfast (9:45am, Carlton Hall), Pastor Taylor will present the introduction of the book, provide a reading calendar, and give an over-view of our year together. We are able to offer 50 free copies of the book (one per household) to those who haven’t purchased it yet. This is made possible by a gift to the church in honor of Pastor Taylor’s friend Amy who passed away in Decem-ber and was an avid walker, runner, and reader of devotionals.
If you’d like to learn more about this journey, Brian McLaren’s website offers the first few chapters of the book and other resources: https://brianmclaren.net/we-make-the-road-by-walking-2/
Becoming Mrs. Lewis is
August Book Club Selection
Author C.S. Lewis called Joy Davidson, “my whole world”.
Becoming Mrs. Lewis, the August selection of the Book
Club for All Seasons explores their
unconventional love story.
When poet and writer Joy Davidman
began writing letters to C. S.
Lewis—known as Jack—she was
looking for spiritual answers, not
love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding
together her crumbling marriage.
Everything about New Yorker Joy
seemed ill-matched for an Oxford
don and the beloved writer of
Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters.
The book club will meet on Monday, August 26, at 11:30
am in the Fielding Russell Room. Everyone is invited to
come enjoy the journey of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
A Note From: Elder Nominating
Committee
Your recently elected Elder Nominating Committee
asks that you begin prayerful consideration as to
which individuals you would like to have serve as
ruling elders for the Class of 2022.
The PC(USA) Book of Order describes a ruling
elder as one who seeks to discern the Holy Spirit in
guiding the congregation in discipleship.
Look around you in the weeks ahead and think
about those among us who you feel could best serve
in this important role.
We will begin taking nominations on August 4, and
will close on August 25. Nomination forms will be
located on the table in the narthex and should be
returned to the adjacent box. Election will be held
on September 22. Thank you for your participation
in this important process in the life of our church.
We’ll continue our Joy Series for the rest of July, exploring Joy in Exile, Joy and Laughter, Joy as Re-sistance, and Complete Joy. For August, we’re launching a one-month series called “Back to the Basics.” We are a congregation full of people with insights, skills, and wisdom about a wide array of subjects. For this series, a few folks have volun-teered to explore their faith through their lens of study and offer us fresh perspectives on texts we hold dear. The sermon will be expansive in this se-ries, with Pastor Taylor and members dialoguing and coming to the same text different ways. This worship series is coupled by a Sunday School forum in Carlton Hall from 10-10:45 August 4, 11, and 18. Here’s what we’ll explore together:
August 4 - Science August 11 - Math August 18 - Arts August 25 - History
July Birthdays
Chloe Radford 7/2 Robert Brooks 8/6
Bob Scherer 7/2 Logan Chappell 8/6
Lauren Thomas 7/7 Nicole Riggs 8/6
Worth Presley 7/9 Christopher Toth 8/6
Brockman Presley 7/10 Anne Nevil 8/8
Julia Basquin 7/11 Charles Webb 8/8
Charles (CJ) Mann 7/12 Andrew Allen 8/11
James Christy 7/14 Bill Barnes 8/11
Paige Haymons 7/17 Mike Herndon 8/12
Katrina Toth 7/17 Jay Broucek 8/14
Phoenix Eyrich 7/21 Jo Callaway 8/14
Ruth Baker 7/25 Jill Nevil 8/15
Nan LoBue 7/26 Chaz Shepherd, Jr. 8/17
Bill Broucek 7/27 Linda Kimsey 8/19
Tucker Dennis 7/27 Carlita Slatky 8/20
Mark Davis 7/28 Lauren Massee 8/23
August Birthdays
Marti Schriver 8/2
Christine Brooks 8/5
Allison Strickland 8/25
Jim Lobue 8/27
Timothy Cariney 8/29
Get ready for a new Sunday School year at Rally
Day, August 25.
Rally Day Breakfast - 9:30 am in Carlton Hall.
Bring a covered dish to share.
Pastor Taylor will introduce our theme/book for
the upcoming year, “We Make the Road by Walk-
ing” by Brian McLaren. We will have books avail-
able at the breakfast (1 copy per household).
Our Sunday School teachers will also have an op-
portunity to share information about their classes.
Rally Day
Page 4 The First News Page 4
The First News
Session Highlights June 2, 2019
CONSENT AGENDA
Approved the Minutes of the April 14, 2019 Stated Meeting of Session
Approved the Worship Theme “We Make the Road by Walking”
Approved a small committee to meet with staff to brainstorm ideas for newsletters and communication
Elected 2 Elders and nominated 3 at large members to serve as a Nominating Committee. Lynda Webb (chair) and
Patti Moore will serve from Session and Burke Basquin, Jim LoBue and Verdery Kennedy were nominated as the at-
large members. The committee was approved at a Congregational Meeting on June 16. The timeline for the elder
nominating process is included in dates below.
The Facilities Committee has gotten approval from Session to begin clearing out some of the brush at the back of the church property to improve the safety of those who walk through the woods there. Some signage will be placed to encourage walkers to refrain from littering. The Committee will inquire of the city if some lighting could be placed there for added safety.
TREASURER’S REPORT TO SESSION – See Page 5
IMPORTANT DATES:
Mission Monday: July 1
Rebecca’s Café: July 9
Nomination for Elders open: August 4
Nominations for Elders close: August 25
Session Approves Slate of Elders: Sept. 8
Slate announced to congregation: Sept. 15 and 22
Congregational Meeting to elect Elders: Sept 22
The next Stated Session Meeting is scheduled for July 14, 2019 at 9:30 a.m.
Blessing of the Backpacks
Sunday, July 28, 11 am Worship Service
We will have a special “Blessing of the Backpacks” during
worship. Our FPC students are invited to bring their back-
packs to be blessed as they begin a new school year.
We are also asking for donations of new backpacks for our
Backpack Buddy children at Mill Creek Elementary school.
If you can purchase one (or more), please bring the back-
packs to the church on or before July 28. See Susan Parrish