First

August, 2019

Announcements & Celebrations p. 2 Reminders p. 3 Nurture p. 4 Teach p. 5

Worship p. 5 Fellowship p. 6 Serve p. 7 Directory p. 8

As a diverse family of believers in Jesus Christ, our mission is to glorify God

by celebrating and sharing God’s renewing and transforming love as:

We worship the living God with joy and thanksgiving.

We teach the Word of God to deepen our faith and to grow in

our love for Jesus Christ.

We serve others through sharing the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We fellowship to enrich and energize our life together as a congregation.

We nurture and embrace all God’s children.

One of the things I have enjoyed about this summer’s sermon series is getting reacquainted with an old friend - the

Book of Acts. The Bible, as we all know, is a huge work of literature, but it’s actually more of a compact library

than a single work. Beyond the divisions of the Old and New Testaments there are smaller divisions like the Penta-

teuch, the Wisdom literature, the Prophets, the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Apocalyptic writing of Revelation. The

diversity of this masterpiece makes it virtually impossible to retain it all, which is why I appreciate times like these

when I can go back and spend time with a book like Acts.

This summer I have been taken by all the firsts that occur in this book. How the church was born and the

leadership had to develop “on the fly.” It reminds me of the first few weeks after Shay and I brought Emery home

from the hospital. A new life was looking at us, so dependent and trusting, yet we were looking around wondering,

“Where’s the instruction manual?!?” In a similar way, the church was born with almost no resources, and with their

number one source for wisdom and guidance having vanished into the clouds! They also had a boatload of enemies

working hard to make sure they would not succeed. Poor Peter and John and all the others, left behind with no

choice but to work this thing out on their own, with only the Holy Spirit to help.

But, I think that is the point of this very honest retelling of the church’s history. To show the struggle of what

it means to be human...and to follow Christ...and to attempt to live a good and peaceful life...and the blood, sweat,

and tears it takes to build anything from the ground up. Yet, at the same time, it teaches us that God and Christ never

abandon us. It is their Spirit at work in our lives: supporting, guiding, prompting, and - as we will see this Sunday -

even knocking us off our high horse when we’re headed in the wrong direction. If nothing else, this should offer us

hope.

So, I hope you will join us this Sunday as we continue our historical journey through this fascinating book.

We will follow it all the way through to its conclusion sometime this fall, and then maybe we will find another old

friend to visit for awhile.

Peace - Richard

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I wish to thank Rod Hicks, Chip Hutchison, Paul Horne, and Ken Holt for carrying all of the items from my house to the church for the sale. Karen and Ken had already carried lots. It was a very hot day and they worked tirelessly. Also, a big thank you to Kinch Edwards for coming to my new place of residence to hang pictures. What a grand bunch of guys and gals we have in our church! I’m very blessed to call them friends.

Margaret Ann

I wanted to thank Congregational Care for assisting and hosting my Mom’s service and visitation. As always, the special touches made the day special. It is great and heart warming having such a great church family.

Michele

Thank you to everyone for the visits, food, cards, texts and emails during my recent recovery from knee surgery. The people at First Presbyterian are the best!

Sue Munn

Thanks so much for all the emails, thoughts, prayers, cards, and the wonderful meal that was provided while Nick has been incapacitated! It has been an awfully long 4 months, but since the total knee replacement on July 1st, he is recuperating nicely and his leg is now STRAIGHT and not at a 23-degree angle! Being able to walk again is such a joy! He is well on the road to recovery and hopefully, will be back in the choir before too long. Thanks for being such a GREAT church family!

Janet and Nick Miller

Rally Day

Come join us on August 18th as we celebrate Rally Day, the start of a new year in

Christian Education. This is the day we celebrate all the places our faith has taken us

and the places we will journey together. We will kick off the day with a covered dish

breakfast at 9:45. We ask that you bring your favorite breakfast foods to share:

breakfast casseroles, bagels with cream cheese, biscuits, fruit, yogurt, etc. Please

bring your dishes ready to serve.

Join us as we learn about Christian Education opportunities for the upcoming year.

We will also recognize and promote our children, as they enter into new Sunday

School classes. Come and be a part of this exciting day in the life of our church!

Educators and students of all ages are invited to bring their backpacks and school

bags to our annual Backpack Blessing on Sunday, August 18th.

Sunday, August 25th

Sunday School and Worship will return to regular schedule.

Sunday School—10:00 am

Worship—11:00 am

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1 Ken Holt

Claire Stevenson

2 Christy Kay

5 Mandy Cutrone

6 David Chubb

Olivia Delgado

Ashley Jones Lawson

Alison Sundermier

7 Ashley Stevenson

8 Bill Blackwell

Shannon Huggins

Richard Kay

9 Sally Bedenbaugh

11 Donna Martin

13 Adam Scull

14 Evelyn Arrington

Natalie Ojalehto

15 Katherine Seerden

17 Joe Hopkins

18 Adrian Delgado

20 Cynthia Johnson

21 Andy Cloninger

Sara Curry

David Esposito

23 Eric Park

Sophia Smith

Reeves Williams

25 Matt Goodner

Julia Nichols

Carroll Terry

26 Bob Barrett

27 Tom Hickman

Mike Hunsucker

David Richardson

Walt Williams

28 Bob Ballard

Nancy Gainey

Lindsey Skinner

Bobby Williams

29 Andrew Sundermier

Rhett Keener

30 Kia Hicklin

NURSERY & CHILDREN’S CHURCH

Aug 4

Nursery /Preschool

Traci Jackson

Children’s Church

Lindsey Skinner, Natalie Harper

Children’s Sermon

Richard Carr

Aug 11

Nursery /Preschool

Sherry Hutchison, Patti Cloninger

Children’s Church

Rebecca Bridges, Joanne Lehman

Children’s Sermon

Dr. George White

Aug 18

Nursery/Preschool

Joanne Edwards, Christy Goodner

Children’s Church

Janelle Chubb, Heather Deese

Children’s Sermon

Clair Britt

Aug 25

Nursery/Preschool

Denise Ice, Jennifer Green

Children’s Church

Kia Hicklin, Sherry Hutchison

Children’s Sermon

Mickey Johnson

Deacons on Call for

August

Charles Gresham Joan Musselwhite Michelle Elston

COUNTERS

Aug 04 Heather Deese, Susannah Hayes Aug 11 Jimmy Hicklin, Bobby Smith Aug 18 Tom Hickman, Michelle Elston Aug 25 Sherry Hutchison, Pat Johnson

ACOLYTES

Aug 4 Jill Smith Aug 11 Sara Jurado Aug 18 Riley Elston Aug 25 Evan Hicklin

Tuesday, August 6

5:30 Worship Committee

Tuesday, August 13

6:30 Christian Ed Committee

Tuesday, August 27

5:30 Visitation Ministry Meeting

Nursery Assistants Needed!

We are looking for caring, responsible, and fun-loving individuals to help with our littlest Presbyterians. These positions will work each Sunday from 9:45 am until 12:15 pm. Contact mimi.goodner@gmail.com with any questions or to apply. Please share with anyone who might be interested!

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Please keep these members of our congregation in your

prayers:

Health Concerns (Members): Bill Kayser, Beth Easley, Worth Kendall, Mary Tice, John Granacher, Audrey Moore, Lena Hopkins, Pete Wheeles, Alex Luse, Debbie Norwood and Linder Tucker.

Christian Sympathy is extended to Eric Park and his family on the death of his father. Mr. David Park passed away on July 20.

Eric Park—409 West Clarendon Place , Rock Hill, SC , 29732

Friends and Family Members to keep in our prayers: Carol Hines—(Susan Demchak's friend) 1106 Christopher Circle, RHSC

29730

Bob Renz (heart attack /rehabilitation) Cathy Kayser’s brother

43 Dayton Road, Jamesburg, NJ 08831

Colleen Eddington (Cathy Kayser’s sister) recovering from a stroke

106 Village Rd. Wickatunk Village, Morganville, NJ 07751

Keira Esposito (Sanfilipppo Syndrome)

746 Quicksilver Trail, Fort Mill, SC 29708-6548

Don Ferguson, Jr—Phyllis Ferguson’s son (surgery)

Charlie Brewer-Brother of Suzie Brewer Price (colon cancer)

150 Panilla Ct., Murrells Inlet, SC. 29576

Cheryl Hoffman - Cancer

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Please keep the following mem-bers of the military in your prayers:

Stephen “Anthony” Bradley (Teresa Bradley’s son & Jean Horton's grandson) Navy: Stephen Bradley, 515 Chesterfield Rd Hampton, VA 23661 Matthew Blackwelder Blackwelder, Matthew B. Navy: Matt, Kellie and Jackson Black-welder 120 Kenneth Ct Newport News, VA 23602 Major and Mrs. Ryan Middle-ton (Laura Keely) 9190 Brenahm Court Montgomery, AL 36117

Taylor Ferguson (Phyllis Ferguson’s grandson)

Army:

Capt. Taylor Ferguson

7653 Kessler Dr Fort Benning, Ga 31905

If you or someone you know has a pastoral need, please contact Richard at 803-818-1863 or through email at rcarr1024@gmail.com. You can also contact the church office (328-2467; firstpresrh@gmail.com) or one of the

Our Prayer Ministry is now accepting prayer requests. This important minis-try is for all of our church members and extended families. You may provide as much or as little information as you wish and know that prayers will be offered at a moment’s notice. Please contact Jane Williams (366-3834 or wjlcwilliams@aol.com).

Prayer and Visitation Ministry

“But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:43-45

The Prayer and Visitation Ministries have been combined to better meet the needs of our congregation. Members of this combined ministry will work with the pastor to show the love of Christ through their visits and prayers with congregation members in times of need. They will also help identify other needs that may be referred to other ministries within the church. If you would like to refer someone to the Visitation Ministry for possible visits or ask for prayer requests from the Prayer Ministry, please contact Jane Williams (wjlcwilliams@aol.com or 803-242-5431) or Rev. Carr ( 803-818-1863 or rcarr1024@gmail.com).

We Worship the Living God with Joy and Thanksgiving

Our Music Ministry

Music plays a vital role in worship in our reformed tradition. The Music Ministry at First Presbyterian Church is designed so that all groups of various musical abilities may learn of our tradition and participate in a singing or handbell choir.

♪ Cherub Choir (ages 4-grade 1) – Rehearsals will resume in September ♪ Covenant Choir (grades 2-5) – Rehearsals will resume in September

♪ Chancel Choir (grade 9-Adult) – Rehearsals resume August 21

Now is a wonderful time to join the Chancel Choir! Singers in all parts are welcome! Our choir will be involved in the following special events this fall celebrating our Sesquicentennial: a Joint Choral Program with the Chancel Choir of Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church (our daughter church) on Sunday afternoon, September 29, at 3 p.m., featuring several anthems along with Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria with orchestra and organ. The second event is our special 150th Commemorative Service on Sunday, November 10. More information on these events will follow.

♪ Roy S. Hutchinson Joyful Ringers Handbell Choir (grade 9-Adult) Rehearsals resume August 28

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Ever wanted to try ringing handbells? Now is the perfect time to give it a try Rehearsals resume August 28th 6:00-7:00pm

EVERYONE WELCOME Contact “Mickey” Johnson for details 803-374-1290 or Bellman@comporium.net

Women’s

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Ladies’ Night Out: Our August 15 venture will be to the Wagon Wheel in Fort Lawn at 6:00 pm. Contact Karen Holt for more information or to carpool. Come join the fun!

Men’s Fellowship and Ladies Crossroads Bible Study will

resume in the fall. Watch for information and dates in the Sep-

tember Newsletter.

The Retirees of First Presbyterian Church will resume meeting

in September. Watch for information about the time and place in

the September Newsletter.

Fellowship

There will not be a regularly scheduled Fellowship Dinner in the month of Au-gust. Dinner will resume on September 11 at 5:15 pm.

Summer Sermon Series - This summer we have been following various ac-counts from the book of Acts. Its full name was “The Acts of the Apos-tles”. Just as we spent the spring looking at events in the Life of Christ and the Resurrection Stories in all 4 Gospels, we will now turn to Luke’s 2nd Volume. He wrote for Theophilus, an early Christian Patron, recounting the stories of the development of the church both in Jerusalem and in other parts of the Roman Empire. These are the origin stories of our church; and in them we will learn much about how we came to be.

Retire the Debt!

Please consider a birthday gift to celebrate our 150th Birthday. The challenge is to make a gift equal or greater than 10% of your current annual giving. To date, we have $47,293 pledged! That brings our total to $94,586, which includes our matching gift. We have almost reached our goal of $100,000! With everyone’s support, we can retire the church debt by the Sesqui-centennial Celebration! Pledges are due by October 1st.

YARD CREW

Our volunteer yard crew keeps our property looking first rate! It only takes about an hour once a month and it saves our church from the high cost of a pro-fessional lawn service. If you would be interested in joining our team, please contact Paul Horne or Mike Hunsucker.

Women’s “Out to Lunch” Group

The Women’s Out to Lunch Group meets following Sunday worship.

8/4 ~ Egg’s Up 8/11 ~ Fatz

8/18 ~ Fratelli’s 8/25 ~ Friendly Billiard’s

We serve others through sharing the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Yarns of Love -The group of ladies that meets together

each Thursday afternoon in the parlor to knit or crochet

continues to find ways to bless others with shawls or

lapghans. As you all have heard or read, we began with

contributing to Hospice & Community Care for the

patients there. Then we began to wrap our own members who are sick or frail in

our prayers and love. Our next target was the newest Presbyterians born to our

members. We make each little new arrival a blanket to be presented along with

the rose from the Communion Table in his or her honor

We hope that our finished products created with prayers and love bring each

recipient much comfort, but readily admit that we, too, feel blessed for being

able to use our talents in this ministry.

If you have questions or are interested in joining this group of women, please

see: Peggy Casey, Gus Cook, Phyllis Ferguson, Karen Holt, Linda Hutchison,

Cathy Kayser, Mary Anne Sheppard, Carroll Terry, Margaret Ann Tice.

Help for HOPE - During the month of August, our congregation

will collect boxes of breakfast cereal to contribute to the clients

of Project HOPE. Please consider bringing in boxes of breakfast

cereal so that some of the less fortunate children in our area

might start their day with breakfast before going to school. You

may bring in any brand or type of cereal. (ex: Cheerios, Chex, etc.) Please

leave your box(es) in the box in the narthex by Sunday, August 18. Your

donation does make a difference to the people right here in our area and is very

much appreciated. On behalf of the Mission Committee and the clients of

Project HOPE, please accept a big thank you for your donations!

From the Hunger Outreach Program team -Thank you for your generous

support of our school supplies drive during June and July. All items will go to

deserving children in our community.

Care Bags: FPC is participating in an on-going local mission

project that will allow us to share compassion and kindness with

families who have loved ones in palliative care at Piedmont

Medical Center. You may leave items in the box in the narthex.

Items needed: Small water bottles, peanut-free prepackaged

snacks, small notebooks, pens or pencils, small tissue packs, lip balm, mints/

gum.

Items to pass the time: Crossword puzzles, word searches, small puzzles, etc.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34

We Worship the Liv-ing God with Joy and

Thanksgiving

HOP

Hunger Outreach

Program

On the 4th Tuesday of each

month (with the exception of

June, July and August), our

church participates in the

“Hunger Outreach Program”. We

are a member of a consortium of

several churches who meet and

prepare approximately 240 meals,

which are bagged and delivered

to the hungry and needy in our

community. Our next HOP meet-

ing will be September 24th .

Contact Christy Goodner (803-

370-0848) or Wendy Blanchard

(803-366-7862) if you would like

to assist in this community effort.

Dorothy Day

Soup Kitchen Ladies will meet on Thursday,

August 22nd from 10:00 a.m. -

1:00 p.m. We help cook for the

Soup Kitchen on Crawford Road.

Anyone interested should call

Wendy Blanchard at (803) 366-

7862 or Christy Goodner (803-

370-0848) to volunteer.

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Return Service Requested

The Officers of First Presbyterian Church

Members of the Session

Class of 2019 Class of 2020 Class of 2021

Heather Deese Bob Barrett Matt Goodner Jimmy Hicklin Peggy Casey Jimmy Jurado Tom Hickman Paul Horne Laura Lengers Sherry Hutchison Kathy James Susan Roberson Se Murdoch Julia Nichols George White, Clerk

Members of the Diaconate

Class of 2019 Class of 2020 Class of 2021

Deena Campbell Susannah Hayes Gene Black David Chubb Dave Keely Teresa Bradley Charles Gresham Joan Musselwhite Michelle Elston Karen Holt, Moderator Eric Park Pat Johnson Bobby Smith Jane Williams Leslie Jurado

First Presbyterian Church 234 East Main Street POST OFFICE BOX 1011 ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA 29731

Staff Contact Information:

Church Office: (803) 328-2467

Rev. Richard W. Carr, III Minister rcarr1024@gmail.com (803) 818-1863 [cell] Rev. Dr. Craig C. Butler Marriage and Family Minister butlerc@comporium.net (803) 366-5445 [cell]

Dr. Donald M. Rogers Director of Music rogersdm@comporium.net

Janet Miller Organist nljemiller@carolina.rr.com

Mickey Johnson Handbell Choir Director bellman@comporium.net Joanne Stogner Administrative Assistant firstpresrh@gmail.com

Jackie Johnson Financial Secretary jjohnsonfirstpres@gmail.com