Happy October! One of the wonderful events on the church liturgical calendar is the Children s Sabbath. This is the 25th annual national observance

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1 A Happy October! One of the wonderful events on the church liturgical calendar is the Children s Sabbath. This is the 25th annual national observance of Children s Sabbaths, uniting people of faith in common concern for problems like child poverty; in shared conviction that the God of love and justice calls us to the same; and in renewed commitment to reach out with love and to speak up for justice to improve the lives of children. FPC will be participating in this national observance in worship on Sunday, October 23, joining other congregations/faiths in celebrating the children in our houses of worship. The Presbyterian denomination s theme is Educate a Child, Transform the World. Will you encourage them to know, trust, and follow Christ, and be faithful members of the Church? Does this question sound familiar to you? At baptism, this is one of the oaths we as a congregation make to our new members in faith as they are baptized. This trust, encouragement, guidance, to show belonging to the greater body of Christ comes from all of us. On Children s Sabbath, children will help with the worship leadership as examples to the rest of us! In 1993, the 205th General Assembly of the PC (USA) adopted A Vision for Children and the Church as a social witness policy. It states, in part: Because we affirm that all children are a gift of God, created by God and created good; all children are a gift to the whole human community; all children have a real faith, and gifts for ministry; all children have the right to be children; and all children are not just tomorrow, they are today... Where there is shame, children s spirits are wounded. Therefore we hope for a world where all children can find a safe place; Where all ages, races, genders, creeds, and abilities are recognized, valued, and celebrated; Where all adults hear the voices of children and speak with as well as for them; Where all children have first call on the world s resources and first place in the minds and hearts the world s adults. Because Jesus welcomed children and encouraged us to welcome them in his name; Jesus lifted up a child as an example of what the realm of God is like; Therefore we hope for a church where we take seriously our baptismal vow to nurture all children committed in our care; Where we bring good news to all those places where children are in need; Where adults and children alike share in ministry. We covenant to act so that this vision may be made real for all children, now and in the times to come. Again, happy October! See you on October 23. Debbie Rowley Director of Christian Education

2 The Sanctuary Choir will participate in the Church Music International s (CMI) Festival of Church Music on Sunday evening, November 6, at 7 p.m. at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas. This festival, which occurs every three years, features a massed choir comprised of singers from many churches across the metroplex, accompanied by Mary Preston on the Meyerson s Lay Family Pipe Organ, and a professional brass choir. This year s festival conductor is the renowned singer and conductor Bob Chilcott, a long time member of the popular British vocal group, The King s Singers. Since his time with that group, Chilcott has become a prolific composer and conductor and travels the world leading choral workshops and festivals. The CMI Festival is dedicated to the promotion of the sacred choral arts and the festival will feature anthems (both old and new), psalms, spirituals, and hymns. Several of Mr. Chilcott s compositions will be highlighted as well. Our Sanctuary Choir attended the Festival s first massed choir rehearsal last Saturday at Wilshire Baptist Church and everybody had a great time. It s always fun when singers from different churches and faiths come together to sing. You re quickly immersed in the music and the beauty and sheer power of a large choir. I know you ll want to attend this special Festival and support our singers in the choir. Tickets are reasonably priced and children are admitted free. Contact me for further concert details and ticket information. The FPC Chamber Ensemble held a fundraising concert recently in the sanctuary. A free will offering was collected and raised just over $1,500 to help with the purchase of new appliances for the CE Building. The afternoon program included several classic choral works alongside some newer pieces composed by American composers, including Richardson resident and ensemble singer, Debra Scroggins. The concert also featured soprano Jackie Lengfelder and pianist Shirley Latham. A beautiful reception for the singers followed the concert and many attendees wondered if there would be another performance by this highly skilled choral group. I certainly hope so. It was a dream come true for me and a testament to the richness and depth of the music program at FPC. The Ruth Greer Handbell Choir, under the very capable direction of Becky Lormor, returned to worship this past Sunday. They played an arrangement of Beethoven s Ode to Joy which made quite an impression. Ringing handbells is a lot of fun and teaches the ringers the true meaning of teamwork! If you would like to give it a try then please contact Becky and let her know you are interested. There is handbell music for all levels and abilities. Once you try ringing I know you ll be hooked! Grace and Peace, Ralph Officer Nominating Committee Begins Its Work From the Book of Order: This church shall be governed by presbyters, that is ruling elders and teaching elders. Accordingly, congregations should elect persons of wisdom and maturity of faith, having demonstrated skills in leadership and being compassionate in spirit. Ruling elders are so named not because they lord it over the congregation, (Matt. 20:25), but because they are chosen by the congregation to discern and measure its fidelity to the Word of God, to strengthen and nurture its faith and life. These presbyters shall come together in councils/sessions. The session is responsible to guide and govern the life of the congregation and leads the congregation in fulfilling its responsibilities for the service of all people, for the upbuilding of the whole church, and for the glory of God... Teaching elders shall be committed in all their work to equipping the people of God for their ministry and witness. The church officer nominating committee is meeting to discern those who are called to the office of Elder for the Class of The committee is chaired by Laura Houston; members are Bryan Quillici, Don Freeman, Robin Smith, and Bob Wright. Election of the new elder class will be at the annual meeting in late January. The committee would welcome any suggestions for its consideration.

3 I haven t even been back for a full 24 hours, as I sit down to write this reflection. To say that my recent journey to Lebanon was eye-opening is going to be an understatement. It was that and so much more. It was heart wrenching at times. At times, I found myself to be in a state of both shock and sensory overload. While I struggled to come to grips with centuries of historical backstory and current political context, I was also very aware of the daily challenges that many face in that environment. Later this month, I will prepare a presentation to share with the congregation, that will surely give a better idea of the scope of our visit but for now, I want to just focus on the incredible witness of the Church in Lebanon. Our sister denomination in Lebanon is known officially as the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL), but informally, they refer to themselves as Presbyterians. And the Presbyterians that we met in Lebanon are engaged in mission and ministry that we can all be proud of. Over the course of eleven days, we visited elementary schools and universities that have existed for decades, village medical clinics that are relatively new, and educational ministries that have been established over the past couple of years especially to address the current refugee situation. In all of these contexts, the church seeks to serve the larger community regardless of religious or political affiliation, economic status, or nationality. There came a point, not too long ago, where the church in Lebanon had to make a decision: to serve or to survive. They had been focused on survival for years. They had maintained church buildings that were considered historic, even during the civil war that devastated their country. They had preserved certain structures within the church that ensured that things could continue administratively. But they began to see that the church was turning into one big Non- Government Organization and that there was something missing. So they asked the question that becomes so important for all churches What are we here to do? The answer, overwhelmingly, was to serve the communities and the country in a way that was faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In that service, the Church in Lebanon has found a new life. What has made the greatest impact on me, and what is still fresh on my mind as I re-acclimate to life back at home is the school ministries that churches have established. Several of the congregations that we visited were running several shifts of classes to accommodate refugee children. These classes were often the only schooling that the children had ever attended. The focus is to provide some education, so that basics can be taught, even in the midst of uncertain residency in the hope that the children may be able to return to regular schools at some future point. English, Arabic, Math, Science and Ethics round out the curriculum. One story, in particular, keeps coming to mind. A father of three boys was picking up his youngest son from one of the church s schools. The man and his family are Syrian refugees, but he has managed to find space in secular schools for his two older boys. As he is picking up the youngest, he tells the teacher, This youngest is the only one that is learning anything. All of them are in school, but he is the only one that has hope in the future. What a testimony that is for our Christian counterparts that are ministering to the people of the Middle East! I am sure that I will have many more thoughts about this experience, and I want to thank the church and church staff for supporting me on this trip. I am so encouraged by what the church is doing, even in the face of a complex and difficult situation in that part of the world. Blessings, David

4 2016 Confirmation Class What does it mean to be a member of the church? That question is what several of our young people are answering as they begin confirmation class. Confirmation is that process by which a young person assumes the responsibility for their own faith formation. In other words, they learn enough about the Christian faith that they can answer the baptismal questions for themselves. Over the course of the next two months, five young people will explore topics that have something to do with our lives of faith. They will be discussing creeds and confessions, sacraments, polity, and doctrine. By the end of November, these confirmands will write their own, personal, statements of faith and then they will share these with the session. This is a process in which individuals often learn a lot about themselves and their faith. At the end of the class, the confirmands are not expected to know all of the answers but they are expected to grow in their understanding of who God is and who we are as God s children. You can support the confirmands by keeping them in your prayers and by encouraging them in their studies. The class will meet during the Sunday School hour, but, you may see the class exiting the Sanctuary during Sunday worship. This is because a portion of the class will be taught during the second half of the worship hour. Around FPC with Garth Gatlin Hello again, Garth Gatlin your roving reporter here with news from around FPC. Pastor David has been in Lebanon with a group of ministers from Grace Presbytery this past week. Pastor Brad Dardaganian (until recently pastor at First Church in Bonham and now pastor at Sugar Creek Presbyterian in Dayton, Ohio) is also on the trip. David is documenting the trip with photos and a daily journal which he will share with us upon his return. They got back on October 3. Shirley Bridges and the Retire-eze had their monthly get together recently and Garth has rarely seen so much delicious food laid out in one place! I try to watch my waistline but on this particular day my waistline was not to be found! Well pardners, it s time for Garth to get back out on the trail and see what s happening around the church. Keep those cards and letters coming in. Garth loves to read em! See you down the road! PCUSA Mission Co-workers Serve as Bridge People With Mission Networks PCUSA mission co-workers are vital connectors when working with different cultures. Mission coworkers (formerly known as missionaries) are known as bridge people because they bridge barriers such as language, culture, or conflict that can get in the way of a meaningful ministry relationship. Mission co-workers help Presbyterians in the United States and people in the global church connect in contextappropriate ways because they know both realities, both contexts, both cultures. They are called mission co-workers rather than missionaries to emphasize the mutual learning and inspiration that take place between partners in Christ s church. Today s mission co-workers don t parachute in to do mission for objects of the their goodwill. Rather, they stay and engage, working as colleagues with and under the direction of global church partners. They do ministry with others, despite the differences in language, culture, and even theology. They seek to partner in ways that are mutually beneficial and focused on real changes according to the partner churches objectives. The spirit of change flows in both directions. Networking in mission expands what it means to be the connectional church. Networks demonstrate the kind of breadth and depth of ministry that can be accomplished.

5 Bible Explorations: It s not a piece of cake Why do we think the Bible is so easy to understand when we so easily misunderstand one another in day-to-day communication? When texting on cell phones first became a popular form of communication, there were lots of news stories about the incomprehensible new lingo that was emerging, particularly among teenagers. Local news reporters did folksy humaninterest stories explaining the various abbreviations, from OMG (Oh, my God!) to IDK (I don t know) and YMMV (Your mileage may vary). Often these reports would include amusing anecdotes about the dangers of misunderstanding, such as when a well-meaning parent sent condolences to family and friends upon the death of a relative; the parent used the acronym LOL, believing it meant lots of love, when it really means laughing out loud... When people speak different languages, the difficulties in translation reveal just how thick and contextually dependent linguistic interpretation is. Try explaining the meaning of the idiom piece of cake to a brandnew English speaker. We can fail to understand one another even when we speak the same language and share the same culture... Cultural context, ideology, intonation, inflection, colloquialisms, pop-culture references, dialect, the depth of relationship between the speaker and the listener, and especially the dense subjectivity that comes out of identity and a lifetime of experience are just some of the factors that can inform a given act of verbal communication. Now consider the position we re in regarding the Bible. We don t share a culture with the authors of Scripture. We don t share a language. We don t even share a millennium. The Bible is just about as strange to us as any communication can be. Moreover, because the Bible is a library of texts, we don t have the benefit of intonation, inflection, or body language. We can t interrogate the authors of Scripture for clarification. All we have is this collection of thoughts and ideas probably riddled with colloquialisms, pop-culture references relevant to their own period, and insider jargon for which we lack an adequate glossary. How strange is the Bible. To the authors of Genesis, a wife trading conjugal rights with her husband for mandrakes made sense (Genesis 30:15).To the author(s) of 2 Kings, having 42 boys mauled by a bear for calling a man baldy was something a prophet of God might do (2 Kings 2:23 24).The author of the Gospel according to Mark obviously thought that a young man running away naked after Jesus was arrested would mean something to his audience (Mark 14:51 52). The real problem isn t the stuff that we recognize as strange in the Bible. The real problem is the strange stuff we mistakenly think is familiar, phrases that might function like piece of cake. Lacking the cultural cues to unlock their colloquial or figurative meanings, we might read them woodenly as referring to literal pieces of cake when the authors of Scripture never meant to imply baked goods. Whenever we read the Bible, we d be wise to remember just how strange the Bible really is to us, and how challenging the task of interpretation will therefore be. Personally, I find this realization profoundly thrilling. The Bible is like a faraway country, inviting us to wander as prodigals and explore it. We will probably get lost, but we can be sure it is always possible to come home to the love of God. Aric Clark, writer, speaker, and Presbyterian minister living near Portland, OR, is also the creator of LectionARIC, on YouTube, devoted to reading the text of religion and culture with geeky irreverence. Presbyterians Today August 25, 2016 Turn off lights and use energy-saving light bulbs. Halogen incandescent, compact fluorescent (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs use 25 to 80 percent less energy and last longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. Use ceiling fans, but only when you're in the room. Fans allow you to raise the thermostat 4 degrees. In winter, reverse the fans to force the warm air near the ceiling down into the room. Buy Energy Star appliances when replacing equipment. High-efficiency appliances cut energy consumption by 5% for a dishwasher, 20% for a dryer, and 25% for a washer.

6 October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month News You Can Use Women s Circles The Thursday Evening Circle meets in the church library at 6:30 p.m. on October 13. All women are invited to attend. Call Ginger (Bob) Anderson for more information. The Wednesday Morning Circle meets in Fellowship Hall at 9:30 a.m. on November 2. For more information contact Susan Johnson or Anne Healy. Sunday Book Club Join us at 5 p.m. 0n October 9, in the church library for a discussion of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. For more, contact Ginger (Doug) Anderson. Monday Book Discussion On Halloween, Monday, October 31, we ll meet at 2 p.m. in the church library, not to discuss a book, but to see a movie! Because we so enjoyed reading Spare Parts, we will watch the movie. Others are invited to join us. For November, we ve chosen All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. Future reads will include The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah, and The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. Questions? Contact Anne Healy. Grace Presbytery Women s Fall Gathering Saturday, October 15, 9 a.m.to 2 p.m. Flower Mound Presbyterian Church 1501 Flower Mound Rd, (on south side of 3040; next to cemetery) Keynote: Rev. Angie from Pan-Am School Lunch cost is $8; mail checks made out to FMPC to the church address. Please RSVP to Lucia: lemmaus0999@aol.com Carpooling encouraged. Questions: We can't wait! Shufflers Play casual bridge at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, in the office commons. To reserve a seat, contact Barbara Chapman or Frankie Markham. Gathering at Thanksgiving Square Again this fall, the Mission Ministry is inviting volunteers to prepare sack lunches for the homeless who attend the Gathering. We do this in cooperation with the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas. Deacon Bonnie Morrill coordinates the services. The dates are: Saturday, October 15, and Sunday, October 16. On Saturday at 9 a.m., volunteers prepare the sandwiches for the sack lunches in our church kitchen. Approximately 12 volunteers are needed. Preparation and clean up take about an hour and a half. Then, on Sunday during the Sunday school hour, the lunches will be assembled by the children and any adults who wish to join them. A group of about 7 volunteers will leave after the 10:30 worship service and go to Thanksgiving Square in downtown Dallas. After a brief church service there, the volunteers will distribute the sack lunches. This takes about two hours. Children accompanied by parents are welcome. If you haven t participated in this event before, please consider doing so. Those who have volunteered in prior years reported finding it a meaningful and eye-opening experience. If you have volunteered before, please do so again. Contact Ernie Gotts at gotto@ix.netcom.com or Lea Perkins at lperkins@pdshcpas.com Check out the new plantings around the church, especially near the chapel. This is courtesy of the hard working Sometimers and especially Kevin Wadleigh who organized the effort. The Sometimers are always looking for more help (not just on Wednesday), so if interested, contact Bill Warner or Lowell Long. A Note of Thanks Thank you for the prayers and cards expressing sympathy upon the passing of my mom. Your kind words were very comforting during this difficult time. Sincerely, Alice Morris and Family

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8 October 5, 2016 PRESBYTERIAN GIVING CATALOG The Brevard Drop-In Center located in Melbourne, Florida, provides certification and training courses for people living with a mental illness. Your generosity can create access to support and supplies designed to help course participants qualify for and keep employment. The Presbyterian Giving Catalog provides examples of how your generosity can help make an impact around the world. With examples like goats, chicks or new wells providing clean drinking water, the catalog will directly connect your church with those benefiting from your gifts. Go to presbyteriangifts.org. Small gifts. Big impact.