2023 Fall Home Groups Conclude

The fall 2023 Home Group curriculum has been completed. However, the curriculum is still available for personal or family study.

Click here to access all past Home Group studies and let us know how we can help you as we continue to study the scriptures together.

Coming soon: Spring Home Groups!

July Mission Focus

During the month of July, our mission focus will be donations of school supplies for Fairmount Elementary School.

Any of the following will be greatly appreciated:

Crayons
Kleenex/Tissues
Clorox Wipes/Disinfecting wipes
Pencils
Glue Sticks
Ziploc Bags (gallon or sandwich size)
Scissors
Expo markers
Composition notebooks
First Aid Supplies

Donated items may be brought to the church office or placed in the bins in the Narthex or the hallway outside Fellowship Hall.

Keep Growing

In John 8:31 Jesus says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Abiding in (to live in, to dwell in, to make your home in) God’s word is important to our spiritual journey as Christians. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV)

We cannot think of any better method for spiritual growth than to spend time together in God’s word. We invite one and all to come study and linger in that which can grow us and equip us for service. The opportunities for doing so at FPC —

Men’s Bible Study, Thursdays, 7:00 a.m. in the Parlor

Women’s Bible Study, Thursdays, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. in Room 123

Sunday School Classes for all ages: Explore here for adults, college, youth, and children

Wednesday night Bible studies following fellowship dinners at 5:30 p.m. each week

Together, Let’s Keep Growing!

Volunteer: Vacation Bible School

You’re invited to help launch kids on a cosmic quest where they’ll have a blast shining Jesus’ light to the world. This year’s Vacation Bible School, Stellar, rockets kids on an out-of-this-world adventure that’s light years of faith-building fun.

If you would like to help, register here.

Stellar VBS

July 16, 2023 — July 19, 2023

5:30pm — 8:30pm (EDT)

June Mission Focus

June’s mission focus is our local branch of Young Life, a world-class ministry for adolescents. Its mission statement is:  

 INVITING YOUNG PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE LIFE AS

GOD DESIGNED IT TO BE LIVED

Their aim is to introduce every teenager in Bristol to Jesus and help them grow in their faith. Their staff and volunteers enter the world of kids, focusing on what matters to them — fun, adventure, friendship and a sense of significance.  

In doing so, they have the privilege of talking to them about something that matters most of all — the truth about Jesus and His love for them.

While Young Life was founded in 1941 and exists in more than 100 countries, here locally the ministry includes the area high schools as well as all the middle schoolers they can find.

Senior Legacy Letters

If you know one of these seniors, we would love for you to write them a letter or a card!

Claire Hankins, Paige Helms, Payne Ladd, Tom Meredith, Chelsie Proffitt, Laynie Richardson, Maddie Smith, Logan Tudor, Ethan Webb, Grayson Webb, Jeremiah Webb, Wade Witcher

Legacy Letters are written by family and friends to a senior and describe ways in which the senior has impacted the writer’s life. Letters can share old memories, stories, lessons learned, or significant moments. This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage the senior in their faith and future plans as well as to acknowledge the beautiful gifts God has given them. Our hope is that the Legacy Letters will give family and friends an opportunity to share the incredible impact the seniors have had on those around them. The letters will be a beautiful collection of love and truth that the seniors can read as they begin a new journey after high school and serve as a reminder of the incredible community they have cheering them on in their journey!

All letters need to be turned in by May 12. Please send to: karnold@fpcbristol.org, or mail to:

First Presbyterian Church

Attn.: Katie Arnold

701 Florida Ave. karnold@fpcbristol.org

Bristol, TN 37620

Encourage Our Confirmands

Since September 2021, 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 the combined service on Sunday, May 21, these young people will have the opportunity to proclaim their faith to 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.

2023 Confirmands

Palmer Akard

AJ Arnold

Lucy Bechtold

Lilly Hankins

Sylvia Kingsley

Rob Meredith

Branch Sword

Katie Arnold is your contact for more information. Please deliver all cards and letters to her attention at the church by Friday, May 19. Thank you for joining in the celebration of this important and exciting time in the lives of our students! 

May Mission Focus: Montana Indian Ministries

Montana Indian Ministries is a Christian organization that aims to share the gospel and serve the needs of Native American communities in Montana. They work with several tribes, including the Blackfeet, Crow, and Northern Cheyenne, to provide various programs and services.

Their programs include Bible studies, discipleship classes, and youth camps that aim to help Native American individuals and families grow spiritually. They also offer a home repair program that assists with home maintenance and repairs for those in need.

In addition to their spiritual and practical services, Montana Indian Ministries also works to promote cultural understanding and respect between Native American and non-Native American communities. They strive to bridge the gap and bring people together through various events and activities.

First Presbyterian church has been able to partner with Pastor Bruce and have sent teams who have helped with maintenance repairs as well as serving at the annual Powwow.

To highlight the Powwow ministry specifically, Bruce and his teams will set up tents during one of these events, provide water and coffee, and pick up trash. If the opportunity arises from this form of hospitality, they will share the gospel with those in attendance. The goal is to publicly acknowledge the Montana Tribes culture and demonstrate a servant's heart. The hope is that by embracing the wonderful and unique culture of these tribes and having a heart of service, the Gospel will be exemplified. 

This month's Special Offering will be going to further assist the work that is being done on the reservations in Montana. Montana Indian Ministries is dedicated to sharing God's love and providing practical support to Native American communities in Montana. We will have a special collection bin on Sundays as well as a Montana Indiana Ministries label in the online giving drop down menu.

Read more about the history of Montana Indian Ministries here.

Home Groups

The Spring 2023 gatherings of Home Groups are now concluded, but you may still access the guides for your personal study of God’s Word here.

We hope you have had fun getting to know one another while studying God’s Word in a relaxed, small group setting. There’s more information on our Home Groups page.

Be watching for the announcement about the start of our Fall, 2023 season of Home Groups!

April Mission Focus: A Place to Be

Family Promise of Bristol has opened A Place to Be, a day center to provide care for unhoused people in Bristol. The center, located in the Salvation Army building, is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Anyone can come to have a snack, eat lunch, take a shower, or do laundry. Two full-time case managers help guests obtain IDs and access services from other agencies in town. Partners such as Ballad Community Health, Sullivan County Health Department, Frontier Health, Bristol Public Library, and Healing Hands come to the center once a week to serve clients. An AmeriCorps intern is there daily to help people create resumes and fill out online job applications. Family Promise is a United Way agency. We will not collect financial offerings or enable online giving for this mission.

During the month of April, FPC will collect snack items to feed the 40 people a day who come to the center. These snacks are the only food some people get all day, so please bring snacks to church! Family Promise volunteers will pack them into bags for their guests. All sizes of snack containers are useful. Suggested snacks:

• Cereal bars

• Granola bars

• Protein bars

• Peanut butter crackers

• Cheese crackers

• Goldfish

• Fruit gummies

• Popcorn

• Cookies

• Jerky

• Chips

• Pop Tarts

• Cheez-Its

• Baggies

Fall 2024 Home Groups

The new Fall 2024 Home Group study series is entitled “Jesus Is…” Together we will explore the apostle John’s writing on who Jesus revealed himself to be. Home Groups will begin the week of September 9 -16 and meet through the week November 18-22!

Plan to gather with friends, neighbors, as a single family, or with lots of families for this exciting Bible study and lots of good fellowship.

If you would like to be part of a Home Group, facilitate a group, or start your own Home Group, sign up here and we will help get you plugged in.

Congregational Meeting

The annual meeting of the congregation will be held in the fellowship hall Sunday, January 29, at 10:20, following the 9:00 worship service. All are invited to attend, but only members may vote. We will be presented with a financial statement from the previous year, and we will vote on the new officers presented by the Nominating Committee. The corporation of the church will also convene. Children’s and students’ Sunday School classes will meet, but adult classes will not.

January Special Offering

This month’s special offering will go to support Visions of Glory in Kenya. Visions of Glory is a nondenominational church committed to doing the work we read about so often in scripture: caring for the poor and placing the needs of others above our own. Many of us had the opportunity of meeting the leader of this ministry, Bishop Jeremiah Kibobi, when he preached here April 7, 2019, and led our Wednesday night Adult Enrichment program March 4, 2020. We have been heartened by his work in his community, especially through the school his church established. Called Magnet, it educates orphans and other vulnerable children so that they can break away from poverty.

 Bishop Kibobi confirms that it has been a challenging three years in Kenya since the onset of Covid-19, which cost many people their livelihoods. A four-year drought has resulted in low-yield harvests and high food prices, killed the vegetation that domestic and wild animals need to survive, and brought about a famine.

 The county of Kajiado, the home of Visions of Glory, is one of the areas hardest hit by the drought and other devastations of climate change. They are struggling to feed the children. Because poor harvests and the high costs of importing food are worsening a desperate situation, Visions of Glory has asked us to send them any amount we can to enable them to store up foodstuffs like maize, beans, rice, cooking oil, and sugar while they are still available. Their goal is to raise $30,000 to purchase food for the school for one year. Our help in offsetting these costs will go a long way toward providing for many families who have gone without food.

Parent Meeting

Join us for a listening meeting! We want to know your parenting needs. Come to the fellowship hall Sunday, January 15 at 3:00pm. Childcare provided. Ice cream for all at 3:45pm!

Celebrate MLK Day

Be sure to join your brothers and sisters across Bristol for the annual MLK service at Lee St. Baptist Church in Bristol, VA. The service begins at 4pm this Sunday, January 15. The Tri-Cities Mass Choir will be leading the singing, and Rev. Dr. William Ward will be the featured speaker. Pastor Sam will be part of the service, reading Scripture and giving prayer. It is always a good time in the Lord.

Sharing Christ

We are scheduled to serve again at the Sharing Christ downtown mission on Saturday, January 7. Our main dish will be an old favorite, Sharing Christ Chicken Casserole, with sides of green beans, applesauce, and rolls. The ministry now provides bag lunches only to those who come to worship with them on Sunday. That is usually 20 people, a big reduction from our previous provision. If you can help in any way, whether by contributing meal components or helping to serve, please email Beth Flannagan or text 423-956-3837, or email Becca Tate or text 404-790-1223. We welcome your contributions in any form. Those who turn to Sharing Christ are always so friendly and express their thanks for our presence. What a blessing to have this opportunity to serve others!

Special Offerings in December

We are collecting a Special Offering for the Minister’s Discretionary Fund every Sunday in December and on Christmas Eve. Your contributions will aid a number of projects throughout the coming year, as they did flood relief and air purifier distribution this year. We will not pass a special offering plate during Sunday services but encourage you to give online to the “Christmas Offering for MDF” in the dropdown menu on our GIVE page. If you prefer to give by check, please note “Christmas Offering for MDF” on the memo line. The entire offering collected during the Christmas Eve service will go towards this special offering.

Home Groups 2023

The spring 2023 Home Group curriculum will be rolling out soon and we are SO excited! Watch for the announcement in the next few weeks.

You can access and use previous material for personal study here.