Friends at FBCP,
Here are the updates and announcements you need for the week.
This Sunday
Join us for worship in the sanctuary at 10:30 am! Heating in the sanctuary is down so be sure to bring a warm coat and/or blanket this Sunday. Come early to hang out with folks in the lobby and prepare for worship. The nursery will be open as usual for our toddlers and babies. Our kids four years old and up can join us in the park, and youth are invited to join us for worship. Please note there is no youth gathering after service this Sunday. As a reminder, here are our community guidelines for being together in the sanctuary.
We’ll begin our service with an open time of sharing gratitudes, so we invite you to consider this prompt as we head into Sunday: What is one aspect of your hometown for which you are grateful?
You can also prepare for worship by listening to this week’s scripture recording. This week’s meditation on Matthew 2:13-23 is a combination of the slaughter of the innocents and O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
This year’s Advent devotional uses Mary Oliver’s poetry from her book Devotions. Feel free to pick up a printed copy at the Connections desk in the lobby or click here for a digital copy.
Click here to listen to FBCP’s The Advent Album. You can also pick up a CD copy on Sunday at the Connections desk in the lobby. Any and all proceeds will go directly to support our local partners, Friends In Deed.
Join Rene and John Jay from 9-10 am this Sunday for our last class in the Advent Sunday School series that explores the season and all of its power and promise. The class will meet in the parlor, and childcare will be available so parents can attend. The curriculum uses the exquisite poetry of Mary Oliver as a lens to focus our hearts uniquely on Advent themes and practices. Copies of the poems will be provided, and no experience or expertise is required!
This week we are asking you to bring cereal for the Friends In Deed Food Pantry if you are able. Right now this will help meet a major need in their supply. Thanks for contributing!
Future Happenings & Other News
Our Thursday noon Bible study will be taking a holiday break for the rest of this month and resume meeting in the new year on Thursday, January 6th. Email Pastor Chip for more details.
Celebrate Christ’s birth at our Christmas Eve Communion Service on Friday evening, December 24th, at 6 pm in the chapel. We’ll be giving our childcare workers the night off to be with their families, but Pastor Mary will send out more information about the evening’s accommodations for our families with small children. Please note that we will not have any service on Christmas day itself, but will meet for our regular worship service the day after on Sunday, December 26th.
Planning on checking out the Rose Bowl Parade this year? We have up to ten free parking passes for our garage available for the Rose Bowl Parade. If you’d like one of the passes, please email our office for more details.
We’ll be starting a new 8-week series of Sunday School classes in the new year on Sunday, January 9th. Similar to before, classes will meet from 9-10 am before service and childcare will be available so parents can attend too. We’ll be offering the following four classes this time:
Spiritual Values in Literature - Champ Singleterry and Rene Scheys
Contemporary Issues, Practices of Inclusion - Nori Ochi
Early Christian History - Jennifer Wolfe
Pattern, Symbol, and Form: Exploring Faith Through Design - Jessica Henson and Chris Torres
More information about each class will be coming next week. You’ll be able to sign up for classes either online or at the Connections Desk in the church lobby starting on Sunday, December 26th.
Grace and peace to you as we head into the weekend. We can’t wait to worship with you in our sanctuary on Sunday!
Less without you,
The FBCP Community
