CHURCH NEWS Volume 3, Issue 3 March 2018 Bitter-Sweet Bittersweet feelings flood my heart as I prepare to follow where God has called our family to serve Him. Sweet, because it is always exciting to get a fresh calling and vision from God. In some ways I really look forward to experiencing God s call of newness in my life ministering and serving a body of believers that He has prepared me for, and whom He has prepared for me. That is truly sweet. Bitter seems to be a very appropriate word, because I will be physically leaving many great saints of the church (YOU), many experiences that have spiritually shaped me, and many memories that have brought us great joy. My time in Johnson City might seem brief to some of you, but I have never lived over a decade in one place my whole life until Johnson City. I simply cannot express with words how God has used many of you to shower us with love, provide joy to our family, to encourage us when we are down, to faithfully lift us up in prayer, and to allow me to be your pastor and your friend. Thank you, is simply not an adequate word to relay my heart felt feelings of gratitude. Know that although I am physically leaving, that you will remain in my heart, prayers, and thoughts. You are loved more than you may ever know. It is important to say to you that I am in awe of how you follow Jesus. This church (remember that means you, the people, not the building) has such immense potential to love each other and be one together. As you live into that calling, you will begin to share Jesus with Johnson City like never before. People in the dark need you to reflect Christ s light to them. Keep shining brightly. Keep polishing One Anothers mirrors, so you can together shine brightly in this community. I cannot wait to hear stories of how lives have been changed within this church, amidst this community, and to Mexico, Haiti, and the rest of God s world. Never get tired shining your light. I truly believe in you. You have the best church staff in Christendom, so please continue to lift them up in prayer, support them, encourage them, and help them reach out for Christ. Be partners that build each other up. Cherish each other. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21) Your pastor and friend, Louis
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On Sunday, March 25, Palm Sunday, we will gather as one congregation to begin our Holy Week journey as the Chancel Choir, accompanied by full orchestra, presents Testimony of Life, a cantata written by Joseph Martin. Written in a traditional style and inspired by the celebrated lessons and carols format, Testimony of Life presents the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Comprised of choral anthems, Scripture and congregational songs. From joyful celebrations of Christ's early ministry to the deep sadness of His suffering and crucifixion, from the shadowed whispers of Gethsemane to the brilliant alleluias of Easter, Testimony of Life is a thoughtful mix of word and music. Be sure to invite folks to join you, and mark your calendars for our combined Palm Sunday worship service on Sunday, March 25, at 11:00 AM. Come join us on Thursday, March 29 at 6:30 PM, as we gather for our annual Maundy Thursday worship service. Our student ministry will guide us through those last moments in the Upper Room when Jesus celebrated the Passover with the Disciples. Holy Communion will be celebrated in groups as a part of the worship service, with Rev. Tim Meredith and Rev. Alan Chapman officiating. Following the time of Communion, we will conclude the service as we look to the shadows of Good Friday. 4
March Calendar 4-11 IHN - Family Promise 6 Staff Meeting 10:00 a 7 Mid-Week Lenten Worship 12:00 p Meditation Luncheon 12:30 p Imsande Celebration 5:30 p 8 Civic Chorale Rehearsal 7:00 p 9 Civic Chorale Rehearsal 7:00 p 10 Civic Chorale Concert 7:00 p 11 New Membership Class 10:00 12 Mid-Week Lenten Worship 12:00 p Meditation Luncheon 12:30 p 15 Presbyterian Women 10:45a Deacons Meeting 5:30 p 18 Miracles Happen Business Mtg 1:00 p 19 Good Samaritan Lunch 10:30 a 20 Staff Meeting 10:00 a 21 Mid-Week Lenten Worship 12:00 p Meditation Luncheon 12:30 p 24 Chancel Choir Cantata Rehearsal 10:00 a Easter Egg Hunt 11:00 a 25 Easter Cantata 11:00 a 27 Session Prayer 6:40 p Session Meeting 7:00 p 28 Day of Fasting and Prayer Mid-Week Lenten Worship 12:00 p Meditation Luncheon 12:30 p 29 Maundy Thursday Service 6:30 p 30 OFFICE CLOSED 31 Streetside Ministry 11:00 a Easter Egg Hunt Raindate 11:00 a Apr. 2 OFFICE CLOSED Each Week Sunday Praise Team Rehearsal Worship service Fellowship and Refreshments Sunday School Officers' Prayer Time Worship Service 1PSM Games and Devotions Monday Sanctuary Reserved Miracles Happen Celebration Ringers Tuesday Worship Planning Team LXI Bible Study and Dinner Wednesday Fellowship Dinner - 1Table Adult Bible Study 1st Street Kids and 1PSM Chancel Choir Thursday Sanctuary Reserved Men's Lunch, Bible Study Girl Scouts Friday Miracles Happen Saturday Miracles Happen 7:45 a 8:45 a 9:45 a 10:00 a 10:45 a 11:00 a 6:00 p 2:00 p 7:00 p 7:00 p 9:00 a 5:00 p 5:30 p 6:15 p 6:15 p 7:00 p 9:00 a 12:00 p 6:00 p 7:00 p 7:00 p In Spirit Birthdays (Consider sending a note or card to our folks who are not physically able to join us but join us in spirit to brighten their day on birthdays, or just because...) Bible Study and Lunch March 15 10:45 AM None in March WEST MAIN PANTRY NEEDS MARCH Household Cleaners Toilet Paper GOOD SAMARITAN LUNCH (MELTING POT) MONDAY, MARCH 19 10:30 AM Church Office Bring sandwiches (individually wrapped), bananas and chips. Sign-up sheets for food donation or to help serve are posted outside the church office and the Worship Center. For further information, call Shelby Ingram (282-5856). 5
We ll begin March with Read Across America Day on March 2nd Dr. Seuss s birthday! We will have a new Bible verse for March as we welcome Spring! For Everything There is a Season Ecclesiastes 3:1 Preschool registration for 2018-2019 has been a huge success! All of our classes are full for next year and we can t wait to welcome these precious new families to First Presbyterian Preschool in the Fall. God is so good! STUDENT MINISTRY Thank you to all who came to the Valentine Banquet on February 14. It was a great night of food, fellowship, music and dancing! Over $5,900 was raised for the student ministry s mission trips! This is far and away the most we have raised and on behalf of the students. I would like to thank everyone who came, helped or sent in donations. All the money raised goes towards sending our group of 27 students and adults on the mission trip to Alaska this July 6-14. This will help greatly, but the students will still need to raise $500 each for this trip. If you need any yard work or babysitting please contact Tim Jones to arrange for some of the students to help secure the rest of the funds they need for this summer s mission trip. Email: tim@fpcjc.org Phone: (423) 926-5108 6
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SURPRISED? On November 12, 2017, Jeff Holt joined First Presbyterian Church. That may surprise you since Jeff has been seemingly around forever, well, at least for several years. His story with wife Fawn is an interesting one. She joined 16 years before, on November 18, 2001. Jeff Holt Fawn had come to Johnson City from Illinois with her mother, a minister in the Nazarene Church. She graduated from ETSU with a degree in Religious Studies and Philosophy and was seeking a church for herself that was friendly and very importantly had the commitment to take the love of Jesus to everyone. That church for her was First Presbyterian. It was not long after Fawn joined that her mother, who was suffering with cancer, increasingly required more care. Fawn took on the responsibility of primary caregiver until her mother s death in 2013. In 2002 Fawn herself experienced the beginning of an ongoing serious health issue. She tore her ACL and post knee surgery found she was suffering from CRPS or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. This is a nerve condition causing acute and chronic pain, inflammation, swelling and spasms. Since that time and through the challenge of caring for her mother, Fawn has courageously lived with this disability which has no known cure. Most recently she has been part of a research project for pain management through the Carolina Pain Institute, adjunct to Wake Forest University. She wished to make her involvement public to put a spotlight on CRPS and the implications for living with it since it impacts every aspect of one s life. One implication is that Fawn has many medical appointments. It was in August 2004 that she was in her doctor s office when this fellow, also waiting, struck up a conversation. Fawn said he seemed nice enough, but she was not terribly interested. Besides, she was already faced with another challenge of the day getting the brakes on her car repaired and figuring out how to pay for the work. This fellow, who introduced himself as Jeff Holt, said he could do the job if she would have dinner with him and then go to his Baptist church the next Sunday. It was an offer she couldn t refuse despite that she was not terribly interested. He fixed her brakes; dinner was good; and the Baptist service wasn t so bad. Eight months later they married but she insisted they had to take turns attending church, his one Sunday, then hers, FPCJC, and at that time, also The Journey, church plant in Gray. Jeff is a NE Tennessee native. He works in construction as a heavy equipment operator, additionally doing carpentry work and handyman jobs. His decision eventually to join First Pres came after much prayer and talking with Pastor Louis. He commented he appreciates Pastor s sermons based on Scripture and principles for daily Christian living. They have appreciated the fellowship here and Fawn hopes to find the time and place in the community for her ministry to the deaf and clown ministry for children. For now, they are a very involved aunt and uncle to Jeff s seven-year-old nephew Chad and two-year-old niece Chloe. In fact, Fawn is home schooling Chad and loving every challenging minute of it. Of no surprise is that Jeff, who also has health concerns, and Fawn have come to depend wholeheartedly on their faith in Jesus Christ to sustain them and each other and are not hesitant in making their testimony known and making FPCJC their church family and home. 8
ONGOING: LXI During worship on Sunday, February 18, the Minute for Missions featured LXI. Do you recall the powerful video? Several students talked about what their participation in LXI has meant to them, for them. We want to add just a bit more information about this outreach ministry. Jennifer Jacobs and Chris O Connor arranged to offer LXI a home here at First Pres 6 years ago and remain primary FPCJC volunteers. Several college students from Milligan and ETSU had back then and continue to have a commitment to provide at-risk neighborhood kids a safe place where they can belong, be assured of a good meal every Tuesday night, learn essential life skills, make friends, bond with adult volunteers (excellent role models!) who faithfully are there for them, and most importantly come to believe Jesus loves them like crazy. Every week as many as 80 kids gather in our Fellowship Hall to fellowship! Kyle Hicks and Gretchen Allie, back then in college, are now adult leaders of this outreach which has 501C(3) status. You can t miss the Minute for Missions table which will move around the church during these next few weeks with a couple of information sheets about LXI. Stop for a minute, pick up some reading and be inspired. Kyle writes about AMPLIFY. He explains this enhanced structure for the Tuesday night gathering. The other is by Gretchen, Announcing New LXI Facility. Yes, LXI now has a downtown office at 127 West Main, a neighbor to The River. The primary purpose for the space will be a new program called LAUNCH a deep investment in a group of 15 seventh to tenth grade students who will meet there four afternoons a week after school. Chris O Connor remains all in today for the kids, even being on call for rides during the week. He says, You realize you re becoming dormant in your life. Do you go into retirement? No. You must just get up and GO. I ve always been drawn to work with inner city kids and the LXI kids found me. LXI is really a rescue mission. The stories right here in Johnson City will break your heart but there are great successes, too. Among them, several LXI kids are now in college. Several younger ones go with Chris on Saturday mornings to help serve breakfast to the hungry visitors at the Melting Pot outreach ministry. Earlier, Jennifer was chief Tuesday meal provider and cook along with the help of husband Matt and their kids, Maggie, Alec and Katie. They prepared dinner together intentionally so the LXI kids could see a family working and having fun together. Matt now handles Tuesday night security and Jennifer is a special friend to growing girls and the woman for all seasons whatever the reason something or other needs doing. She says, Being part of LXI makes my heart full. It is awesome to see the kids growing in Christ, realizing their potential, and loving each other where before there was anger and distance. Jennifer, Chris, and Matt are great people to talk to about becoming involved in this outreach. All of us can pray for these kids and the ongoing faithful support from our church. All of us can give thanks for the 20 or so dedicated volunteers (including a number of current Milligan students). The website is www.movelxi.com. You can view the video there as well. By the way, the Roman numerals LXI refer to Isaiah Chapter 61. That is excellent reading, too: God s mission statement for Jesus Ministry and what He calls us to do. A message from your GO COMMITTEE. For more information about the Committee, please contact Mike McCalmont, Chair (mikemccalmont@comcast.net). 9
Mission Trip to St. Innocents School The November 8, 2017 flights from the Tri-Cities Airport to Port-au-Prince, Haiti took only seven hours for a team of seven volunteers from First Presbyterian Church, Johnson City, but that trip took them to a place a world apart. At the Port-au-Prince airport, the team was met by a crowd of men hoping to make a few dollars helping them with their luggage. After they met up with their driver he took them to their hotel over streets strewn with piles of uncollected trash and lined with small stands where merchants eke out a living. One has a table full of school supplies, another a rack of shoes, several have food for sale bananas, mangos, and other fruits, fresh eggs, bread, and cold drinks - while others sell books, clothing, cleaning supplies, auto parts and motor oil, or pieces of furniture. The team passed block after block of colorful umbrellas and cabanas each covering a table or two offering something for sale. Haiti is a mountainous country, much like here in eastern Tennessee but with a warm, humid, tropical climate. They share the Caribbean island of Street-side vendors Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic and have 1,100 miles of ocean shoreline. The country is two-thirds the size of Tennessee with 60% more people. Unemployment is quite high, dragged down by the difficulty of starting and growing a business due to graft and the lack of basic infrastructure clean water, sanitation, trash collection, good roads, reliable electricity, education, and medical facilities. Those challenges have made it difficult for the people to recover from natural disasters including the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed 220,000 to 300,000, injured another 300,000, left 1,500,000 homeless, and left a cholera epidemic which continues to kill. Hurricane Matthew in 2016 set them back again, but very Hand-planted fields on steep mountain slopes terrible 2017 hurricane season. Average income for a whole family is ~$1,000/year of which 60-70% is spent on what food they can afford. Thirty-five per cent of people are undernourished according to the World Food Program. Education is extremely limited with only 50% of children ever attending school and only 10% getting to high school. The team from First Pres spent their first night in relative comfort in Port-au-Prince before making the 78-mile, four-hour journey over badly-rutted, squirrely mountain roads to the coastal town of Bainet. From there they traveled each day 2 miles up the mountain to their destination, the little village of Bellevue and St. Innocent s school, an Episcopal pre-school and grade-school sponsored by First Pres through HEF, the Haitian Education Foundation, and their partnering organizations. fortunately, they were spared the worst of the There is a whole network of charitable organizations who coordinate to help the 10 Child ea ng lunch
people of Haiti, each group focusing on their own specialization. HEF, out of El Dorado, AR operates 40 schools in southeastern Haiti in partnership with the Episcopal church of Haiti. The Episcopal priest serves as a key partner overseeing the operation of the school and feeding program, making sure all funds are properly used, and assuring that the children and teachers have a daily devotional. HEF s partner, Trinity Hope out of Nashville, TN provides highly nutritious lunches to the ~11,000 children at 118 schools throughout Haiti five days a week. They have a very low overhead operation that spends over 96% of all donations on program expenses in Haiti. At a cost of $0.25/meal, they provide over 24,000 meals every school day at schools all across Haiti. As the children in the Bellevue area average only two meals per week, these lunches are often the only food the children eat all day. Regular nutritious food improves their health and their ability to concentrate on their school lessons. A third HEF partner, Living Waters for the World out of Spring Hill, TN, a mission of our local Original school building above. New building below. PCUSA synod, the Synod of Living Waters, installed a clean water system in Bainet from which water is brought up to St. Innocents school using a motorcycle purchased by First Pres. A fourth organization, Solar Under the Sun out of Plano, TX, a mission of the Synod of the Sun, partners with Living Waters for the World to supply solar electricity to power the water purification plant in Bainet. By focusing on their core capabilities and keeping their overhead costs minimal through the use of volunteers and efficient and accountable system, these partners accomplish a lot with their limited resources. St. Innocents school consists of three buildings; two classroom buildings (pre-school and grade school) and a separate building built in 2015 for safe storage and preparation of the food. In 2016-2017, First Pres provided funding to replace the rickety old grade-school building and its leaky roof with a cinderblock building that is built to withstand severe weather and should last for decades. The primary goals of the First Pres volunteers were to visit with the children, connect with the teachers and the Episcopal priest who oversees the school, and share God s love with them. As with all children, they soaked up the attention with lots of smiling and laughing. Children love to play. Each student was given a backpack filled with gifts from First Pres school supplies, Young boy with Gospel of John toiletries, and toys. The team also inspected the new building and assessed any further needs. They brought pop-corn and Kool-Aid which were a big hit at a showing of the Jesus Film and brought Haitian Creole Gospels of John which they handed out to students and locals who they met both at the film showing and as they walked around town and along the sea shore. An unexpected event was an extended and very lively dedication ceremony for the new building. The community wanted to celebrate their new school building and to thank First Pres. The team s final day in Bellevue was Sunday where they joined the community in a lively Haitian Episcopal worship service before taking the slow, bouncy drive back to Port-au-Prince. In the morning they boarded planes that took them back to their everyday lives, but a part of their hearts remains with the people of Haiti in their daily struggles to get ahead under such difficult circumstances. School Dedica on Plaque 11
First Presbyterian Church 105 South Boone Street Johnson City, Tennessee 37604 423.926.5108 www.fpcjc.org FPC Johnson City Staff Gary Arner Director of Facilities Abraham Bodkins Contemporary and Youth Music Laura Champouillon Organist Janice Cunningham Ministry Assistant and Receptionist Linda DeLong Kitchen Manager Larry Dodd Director of Worship, Church Business Administrator Louis Imsande Senior Pastor Jennifer Jacobs Director of Children s Ministries Tim Jones Director of Student Ministries Stacy Larsen Director of The River Terry "Tree" Lewis Maintenance Amy Sentell Director of the Preschool Civic Chorale Concert March 2018 12