Faith Alive. -John Stanley, Minister-Visitation

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1 Summertime. Beach time. Coffee on the beach or balcony as the sun rises. The sound of the ocean waves. A quiet, reflective time. Apparently Jesus liked the beach, too. In John 21 we read, Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore While Jesus stood on the shore several of his disciples were fishing. It was the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. Jesus invited them to come to shore where he had prepared breakfast for them. On the shore (BEACH!) after breakfast, Jesus addressed Peter (yes, Peter had denied knowing Christ three times) saying, Simon son of John, do you love me? After Peter had responded that he did, Jesus charged him saying: Feed my lambs. A second time Jesus said, Simon son of John, do you love me? Again, after Peter had responded in the affirmative, Jesus said: Take care of my sheep. Finally, the third time he said to him, Simon son of John, do you love me? Peter responded, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. Jesus said, Feed my sheep. Ultimately, Jesus charged Peter: Follow me! As disciples of Jesus if we are to follow Jesus, we must Feed my lambs, take care of my sheep, and feed my sheep. The biblical scholar Leonard Sweet writes, Truly loving Christ means feeding the sheep. It means loving, protecting, caring for all those whom Christ loves. " Peter, do you love me? Then feed my lambs. Peter, do you love me? Then tend my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Then feed my sheep. Why would Christ use sheep to charge Peter? As was His teaching method, Christ relates through common and ordinary means. Surely Psalm 23 was deeply engrained in Peter and those other young Jewish young men. Loving Christ and loving and tending Christ's flock are one and the same thing. And who is Christ s flock? All are Christ s flock. The entire congregation of First Presbyterian is His flock. All the members of the entire congregation are essential and important. Dr. Chuck Swindoll asks, Imagine the body saying, My throat hurts, but boy do I feel good everywhere else! Nope. Just doesn t work that way. When one part of the body hurts, we all hurt. When one part of the body has joy, we all have joy. All parts of the body of the church are valuable. And we should, as the slogan of the phone commercial of another generation stated, Reach out and touch someone. In this day of instantaneous electronic communication perhaps the AT&T Commercial to Reach Out and Touch Someone would have more meaning today in the church for face-to-face contact. So we can all ask ourselves the question, Whose lives are we touching with our love and caring? Do we leave the reaching out to the pastoral staff? Or, perhaps the real question that we might ask ourselves as members of the Body of Christ, is the question posed to the graduating class of a seminary a few weeks ago, when the speaker said, In the days ahead, at the end of each day, in your evening meditation, how will you answer the question: How have I feed your sheep today? Is this a question that we should ask ourselves in our evening meditation? Today how have I loved, protected, and cared for all those whom Christ loves? We do hope and pray that your summer is enjoyable and safe. -John Stanley, Minister-Visitation Faith Alive

2 Presbyterian Women News Women, remember our upcoming celebration: You Can Help... Volunteer at Samaritan s Feet. Save the date: Fr iday, August 18, 4-7 p.m. at the Boy s and Girl s Club. Signups will start in early July. A big thank you goes out to everyone who donated blood or helped with the blood drive on June 5! Plan to attend or assist with: Bible Camp (VBS) Water All Around the World June 19 22nd Evenings beginning with dinner at 5:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall till 8:15 p.m. Rising K Rising 5th Grade Register at Bring beads for our pr ayer bead group to repurpose into items of care. You Gave Our Presbyterian Endowment Foundation recently approved grants for the annual Gaston Area Presbyterians (GAP) house, to the YMCA Resource Connection Gateway, to Camp Sertoma and to the Presbytery s Building H.O.P.E. Campaign. The Scholarship Committee also recently met to award scholarships to FPC members who applied (award letters will be coming soon). Rise and Shine Concludes...Where is God Leading Us Next? While weeping may last for the night, joy comes with the dawn (Psalm 30:5b). This has been the mantra of Rise and Shine Free Breakfast ministry for over five years. After meeting and serving an estimated 500 different people over the course of the last five years, the Rise and Shine team has concluded that the time has come to discontinue this ministry due to reduced numbers of guests each week. Rise and Shine has made an impact in the lives of the people we have served and has helped the community get to know FPC in a new way. It has been a blessing to get to know our guests in true, intimate ways over table fellowship. A cup of coffee really can build bridges between people from different places, cultures and generations, and Rise and Shine has been testament to this truth. Thank you for the faithful support of this congregation, particularly the Presbyterian Women, who have prepared a hot dish each month to feed our guests. Special gratitude to the loyal Rise and Shine team members who have been up with the sun each Wednesday morning (sometimes up before the sun!) to share your time and your service with our guests. Indeed, you have made a difference in God s kingdom here on earth. Onward we go, preparing ourselves for the ways God will use us in the future to do a new thing in our community as we seek to bring hope and healing to people in need. Peace, Lauren

3 ADULT MINISTRIES RoadRunners Join the RoadRunners on a trip to Boone on Thursday, July 13. You will enjoy an old time jamboree featuring Strictly Strings with Rodney Sutton, freestyle clogger. The bus will leave the church at 10:00 a.m. We will enjoy lunch at the Daniel Boone Inn (on your own) before the matinee performance at 2:00 p.m. lasting approximately 1.5 hours. The suggested donation for the concert is $10 collected at the venue. Sign up to join us by Thursday, July 6. PRAYER LUNCH each Wednesday through June at noon in the Fellowship Hall. Come to be fed body and spirit! FAITH & FICTION The next meeting will be Sept. 3. Make A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner part of your summer reading in preparation. A Look Back on Youth and Graduate Recognition Sunday, May 21, 2017 Congratulations to all of our spring 2017 graduates! They were recognized in worship on May 21. They were: Harrison Graham Conner, George Macaire Mac Gallman, William Sumter Henry, Jr., Megan Leigh Holland, Dakota Shook, Holly Shropshire, Charles William Will Gallman, III, Jacob Shelton Jake Kennington, Theodore Hayes Pierce, Michael Lee Wallace, Jr. PWS Continues to Shine! Our Presbyterian Weekday has been awarded accreditation through the Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education Programs! Our award letter states, PWS has been recognized as a program exemplifying excellence in the care of young children...provides a high quality program for children, professional development opportunities for staff and an environment for children that is conducive to their individual growth and development that exceeds state licensing requirements. Dr. Pat Sudderth and her staff worked very hard on completing this honor. We are blessed to have PWS as a vibrant ministry of First Presbyterian Church! Bible Camp (VBS) is Almost Here! June It s that time of year again! Bible Camp. A whole week of fun, storytelling, music making, recreation, food, crafts, water magic, and mission as we learn about the wonders of Water All Around the World. This year s camp will introduce children to the importance of access to clean water for health and to make them aware of the way in which this access (or lack of access!) affects the lives of children in other countries. We will be collecting offerings each day to be used to purchase water purification equipment through the organization Living Waters for the World. Each evening of this four-night camp includes dinner, an opening time which focuses on a different country, a Bible story, a mission story, activities and crafts, recreation, music, reflection, and a closing time that includes water magic which illustrates some of the surprising characteristics of water. This Summer Bible Camp is set-up using a rotation model meaning that groups move around from station to station each evening. The children are organized into small groups (10 12 children) based on age groupings and shepherded around by two adults to each manned station of two experts. We also have youth volunteering opportunities to assist where needed. Register with Jill Kimbirl or online at Volunteers are invited to get the scoop on activities and planning on following 11 a.m. worship on Sunday, June 18th. This meeting will last approximately 30 to 45 minutes. All volunteers are encouraged to attend.

4 Upcoming Parish Nurse Events: Tai Chi Class ever y Fr iday in J une at FUMC, 9:30-10:30 a.m., $5 per class. alyssa@fumcgastonia.org with questions. NC MedAssist OTC Medicine Giveaway: Over -the-counter medication giveaway on June 9 in the FUMC FLC. Each person will receive $100 in free OTC meds/supplies. $120,000 in products will be distributed that day. Health Education Awareness Programs, Noon in the Fellowship Hall of FPC; pr ogr ams ar e fr ee, lunch is $6. RSVP to The topic on June 14 is The Rotary Garden led by Jane Sumner. Free Lunch and Learn at Caromont Health: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at DiscoverYou!, 420 E. Central Ave., Mt. Holly. Register online at discover-you.org or call The topic on June 16: Minding Y our Mental Health Summer Social: If you ar e a r esident of Covenant Village, please join the minister s of FUMC and FPC on Tuesday, June 13, 12:30 2:00 p.m. for dessert and fellowship in the area outside of the CV dining room. Our Presbytery s Malawi Mission Team May 13-May 29, 2017 Front Row (L-R): Brian Schroeder (PFC Gastonia), Betsy Keith (FPC Gastonia), Molly Franklin (FPC Morganton), Teresa Locke (Southminster, Gastonia), Barbara Heilman (Waldensian, Valdese); Second Row (L-R): Billy Robinson (PWNC Staff), Hal Bennett (Dulatown, Lenoir) Tom Kilgore (First Presbyterian, Morganton), Jackson Mott (Southminster, Gastonia), Pat Bacon (Calvary, Asheville). First Press Summer Sunday school for children will meet in the 3rd grade Sunday school classroom (Ms. Lenise s and Mr. Brent s room) for the summer! This is for children from rising Kindergarten through rising 6th grade. We move up to our new classes on Rally Day in the Fall (Aug. 27). Several adult classes are continuing all summer, too! PERIODICALS US POSTAGE PAID Gastonia, NC

5 June 2017 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1621 EAST GARRISON BLVD GASTONIA, NC PHONE: 704/ WEB: FB: Calendar of Events Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday :00 AM THRIVE 10:00 AM Seekers SS Breakfast 05:30 PM Diaconate 09:30 AM Staff 06:00 PM Building and Grounds Mtg. 06:00 PM Youth 12:00 PM Prayer Lunch 05:00 PM Personnel Mtg. 07:30 AM Finance 09:00 AM Roadrunner Trip :00 AM THRIVE 10:00 AM Young Adult Small Group Father s Day 05:30 PM VBS 09:30 AM Staff 04:30 PM Communication Mtg. 05:30 PM Membership Development 05:30 PM VBS 06:15 PM Worship & Music Mtg. 10:30 AM Roadrunner Mtg. 12:00 PM Prayer Lunch 05:30 PM VBS 05:30 PM VBS

6 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday July 01 09:00 AM Thrive 06:00 PM Session Mtg. 09:30 AM Staff 05:30 PM Missions Mtg. 06:30 PM Ted Talks Planer Small Group 12:00 PM Prayer Lunch 12:30 AM Extended Staff Mtg. July 02 July 03 July 04 July 05 July 06 July :00 AM Thrive 10:00 AM Young Adult Small Group 11:00 AM Communion Independence Day Holiday Office Closed Newsletter Deadline July 09 July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 July 15 09:00 AM Thrive 09:30 AM Staff 06:00 PM Youth Min. 01:00 PM Mail Newsletter 05:00 PM Personnel Min. 10:00 AM Prayer Beads Small Group 10:00 AM Roadrunner Trip