It is week #47. Time for updates.
Before we launch into the rest of the news, I want to encourage you all to make Advent worship a regular part of your December calendar. It is a special time in the life of our church, but it is also a prelude to a central part of the scriptures (incarnation). This Sunday we will also have made a cute little bookmark with the Advent gatherings on it. Grab a few extra and invite a friend to experience this season of worship with us. I can’t wait to share what we have been planning behind the scenes.
A few weeks back we did a couple of family dedications. This is one of my favorite pictures from the day.
Sunday Worship
This Sunday morning we will be exploring eschatology. Y’all, this is the last teaching on my ordination essays. Fittingly, we are ending with an exploration of endings in the Christian tradition. We will tie a lot of things together this week, while sufficiently frustrating all of those folks looking for a definitive statement about mysteries beyond our comprehension. Fair warning, I will be dropping some savage critique of those most popular fictional books from the Left Behind series. We will look at the Lord’s Prayer again while also revisiting Genesis/Exodus/Isaiah/Ezekiel/Romans/Hebrews/Revelation. So pretty much a regular Sunday at FBCP! Also on Sunday…
Hanging of the Greens (and other things)
Plan to stay around after worship to help us get the church building ready for Advent and Christmas. Corrie will have the to-do list. Pastor Lindsay will have the lunch food. We need a bunch of you all to lend a hand. Christmas music will be provided at no extra charge.
New Outdoor Banners
Corrie, our resident Creative Director, has created a set of banners for this Advent season. Check them out this Sunday on your way into worship. The large banner is an attempt to capture the hectic nature of the holidays through a ton of spilled Christmas stuff, offset by an invitation to find shelter in the liturgical rhythms of Advent worship. The side banners are simple but beautiful. All paintings, photographs and lettering are done in house, which I find brilliant.
surviving holiday stress
The holidays can be a wonderful time to reconnect with family and friends. But for some of us, those times can be fraught with tension over differences that seem to get amplified in the midst of holiday stress. Join us as Dr. Ken Fong leads a discussion on how to cope with challenging family dynamics during the holidays. Child care is available upon request. The session will meet on the 2nd floor at the church building. Click here to register so we can make sure there is room for you.
Gratitude Night Recap
On November 17 we held our annual church business meeting known as Gratitude Night. Y’all really committed to the potluck, and those last minute egg rolls were the highlight of my plate. We voted to approve our 2020 budget as presented, as well as our new Board members and bylaws revision. To learn more about the proposals, you can click on the Town Hall link and see the provided documents. We also debuted our pledge cards, asking people to pray about how they will contribute to the ministry fund of 2020. We will be sharing the Intended Giving Cards with you all soon through snail mail along with some useful info about our yearly budget and long-range planning. Keep an eye on the mailbox.
Friends In Deed Christmas Gift Drive
Hey friends, it’s time again for Friends in Deed’s annual Christmas gift drive! As a church we want to bless 80 families with gifts this Christmas. We need help with crafting gift tags this coming week. If you’re interested, please contact Pastor Gretchen.
