Next Week at FPC (April 29, 2022)

Dear FPC Family,
This Sunday we take two more steps toward our pre-pandemic normalcy as the 8:45am traditional service returns to the Chapel, and we return to celebrating communion by intinction. There’s lots of excitement around the church these days about new faces coming (or coming back) to church, and new activities cranking up. Find your ways to join in that excitement below!

Blessings and Peace,
Craig Foster
Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Communications

SUNDAY – May 1
8:45am MorningSong (Fogartie Hall)
8:45am Traditional Worship (Chapel)
9:45am Sunday School for children, youth, and adults
11:00am Traditional Worship (Sanctuary)
5:00pm Sunday Night Youth (Family Life Center). This will be the last one this semester!

Stream our services live on FPCSpartanburg.org/worship, YouTube, or Facebook.

Sunday School
Pre-K & Nursery – Clark Building, First Floor
Elementary – Clark Building, Second Floor
Youth – Family Life Center, Second Floor
Adults:

• Abide – Room 2200 (New permanent location)
• Bible Alive –Room 2208 and on Zoom
• Emmaus – Room 2207
• LIFT – Room 2201

Early Traditional Service Returns to the Chapel – THIS Sunday, May 1
Beginning this Sunday, May 1, we look forward to seeing all of our Early Morning Traditional congregants in the Chapel at 8:45am!

Welcome Class – THIS Sunday, May 1
10am in the Purnell Room (NEW LOCATION!)
This four-week series is a wonderful way to get acquainted with the Presbyterian church, the opportunities available at First Presbyterian, and to meet the church staff. Classes will be held during the Sunday School hour (10:00-10:45am) in the Purnell Room. There is no pressure to join. We welcome non-members, members, and anyone seeking a church family to join us for a fun time of fellowship and learning together! Questions? Contact Rev. Joanne Hull.

Maymester for 5^th Graders – Sunday mornings May 1, 8, & 22 in Room C212
Being a “tween” between childhood and adolescence is tricky stuff. Maymester is a special class all about God helping you in that time. Fifth graders will have a breakfast snack and conversations about Time for God, Real Friends and How We Treat Others, and Gifts in Me from “Be Tween.” Contact Callie Hammett or Pastor Ansley with your questions.

NEXT WEEK
NEW DAYS/TIMES: Connect over Coffee – Meet Alan Dyer
Alan is looking forward to the opportunity to get to know each member of his new church family and would like to connect with you – over coffee! Gatherings will be on select Tuesdays at 8:00am and Wednesdays at 10:00am in The Perrin Room.
Additional Opportunities to meet with Alan are:
(1) Connect over Zoom; Bring your own Coffee (May 5, 10:00am)
(2) Connect over Afternoon Beverages of Lemonade, Tea, or Coffee (multiple dates available on web)
For All “Connect with Alan” days/times, please RSVP HERE.

Fellowship on Two Wheels
Wednesdays at 5:30pm & Fridays at 12:15pm during May
Leaving from the FLC Parking Lot
May is National Bike Month and a wonderful time of year to get that bike out of the garage, pump up the tires, and enjoy a ride with friends old and new. Each Wednesday evening and Friday at lunchtime in May (weather permitting), Pastor Craig will lead a short bike ride at a conversational pace down to the Rail Trail and possibly around Duncan Park. All ages and levels of fitness are welcome. No one will be left behind! This will be a great opportunity to learn how to safely ride on the road, on multi-use trails, and in a group, all while enjoying exercise and good fellowship outdoors. Helmets are required. No registration is necessary, but we will leave promptly at the appointed time. Parents with young children can meet us at the Henry St. trail head of the Rail Trail, for a trail-only ride. On Fridays, the locker rooms will be available before and after the ride, if you wish to change and freshen up before heading on to whatever is next. Join us!

The National Day of Prayer is Thursday, May 5. The theme “Exalt the Lord, who has established us” is taken from Colossians 2:6-7, which reads, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Please set aside time on May 5 to pray for our nation. We also invite you to pray in the Chapel that day; it will be open 9:00am-5:00pm.

Mother’s Day Offering – Next Sunday, May 8
Mother’s Day has traditionally included a special offering in our church to support the ministry of Presbyterian Communities of South Carolina, which serves older adults at 6 retirement communities across the state. The Mother’s Day Offering provides charitable care to residents who have outlived their life’s savings due to old age or costly medical bills, so that they can continue to call PCSC “home.” You can donate using the designated Mother’s Day Offering envelopes, by writing a check and adding “Mother’s Day Offering” in the memo, or you can give online at giving.prescommunities.org (and include our church name in the memo). Thank you for keeping this special Presbyterian tradition alive!

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
Prepared to Thrive Book Drive
We know that by third grade, reading proficiency shifts from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” If children cannot read proficiently in third grade, they fall behind. In Spartanburg County, only 50% of third graders are testing at or above grade reading level. As part of United Way's Prepared to Thrive initiative, they are collecting book donations to support first-year teachers as they establish their classroom libraries. Books donated will be used by local students at Mary H. Wright Elementary and Cleveland Academy as they read in their classrooms this fall! Click here to learn more.

Mobile Meals Volunteers Needed
Mobile Meals has resumed daily deliveries and needs more volunteers! You can sign-up to participate in a regular route or offer to be a substitute driver when it suits your schedule. If you'd like more information, please contact Vivian Tanner at Mobile Meals (vivian@mobile-meals.org)

Support for Ukraine
So many have heavy hearts over the war and violence occurring in Ukraine. We as a denomination invite you to pray for peace and strength, as well as for a change of hearts and minds so that world leaders can reach some agreement. If you would like to support humanitarian relief to those fleeing violence in Ukraine, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has set-up a fund to support organizations working directly with families on the ground. Donations can be made through a fund at the church at fpcspartanburg.org/give.

Crafters Needed!
Do you knit, crochet, or cross stitch? Would you like to share your gifts and talents with your church family in a meaningful way? The Life Events Committee needs your help! Please contact Scottie Lummus (scottie.stan@gmail.com) or Meg Evatt (m_evatt@hotmail.com) for more details.

Ministry Finder
Find all sorts of ways to get involved in serving God and serving others on the church website through Ministry Finder!

OTHER NEWS
May Newsletter
Unfortunately, the May Newsletter may be a day or two late arriving in your home mailbox this month. Please accept our apologies for the delay. However, the newsletter is finalized and can be found Online Here; paper copies are located throughout the church.

Chamber Singers Concert – Sunday, May 15
6pm in the Sanctuary
Join the Chamber Singers for their Spring Concert. The group will be joined by strings and percussion as they present a musical meditation on time and eternity.

Congregational Meeting – Sunday, May 22
The Session has called a Congregational Meeting, including a meeting of the members of the Corporation (First Presbyterian Church of Spartanburg, SC), for Sunday, May 22, 2022, at the conclusion of the 11:00am worship in the Sanctuary for the following purposes:
a. To elect the Class of 2024 elders and the chair of the Diaconate to the Board of Trustees of the Corporation: Harold Ballenger, Louie Blanton, Blair Clementson, John Faris III, Patti Foy, Callie Hammett, John Harrill Jr, Josh Jones, Cesily King, Andy Lancaster, Cathy Martinez, Paul McKee Jr, Brand Stille, Wesley Stoddard, Charlotte Verreault, and Cheryl Lang.
b. To act on a request from the APNC to call our next Associate Pastor of Youth and Campus Ministries, pending successful completion of the ordination process and transfer of membership to the Foothills Presbytery.

Vacation Bible School will be June 27 – 30 from 9:00am to 12:00pm
Please Register by May 15!
Rising 4K to 6^th Grade, come explore how God’s great light shines and how we can reflect that light! We will explore Adventure Island together!
Registration is open from April 1^st to May 15^th. VBS will be $20.00 per child with a maximum of $50.00 per family.
Register at www.fpcspartanburg.org/vbs and contact Pastor Ansley at apage@fpcspartanburg.org if you have any questions.

VBS Volunteers
There’s room on Adventure Island for lots of helpers. Be a part of our fun and pass along the faith by helping for a day or all week in hands-on-ways or behind the scenes!
Here is the volunteer link: Volunteer HERE!
Contact VBS Co-director, Suzy Cole, with your questions or to find your perfect spot to help: suzyboulwarecole@gmail.com. Thanks for being church family to our little ones!

First Pres “Store”
First Pres Cookbooks: Apparently, word got out that copies of the First Pres cookbook are available! Click here to get your copy!
FPC Tartan Ties and Scarves: Ties and scarves in the FPC tartan pattern are once again available for sale. The ties are $25, and the scarves are $35. You can order here or by contacting Lynise Clarke.
Church Ornaments: First Presbyterian Church 175^th anniversary postcard ornaments are available for $10. The porcelain ornaments feature a picture of the Sanctuary with the anniversary date 1843-2018. Place your order here.

Peace and Justice Task Force Spotlight:
Racial Healing Circles are conversations that honor and value each person’s humanity, better reflect our common humanity, and build mutually respectful relationships across racial difference to bring about racial healing and repair in communities. They were developed as part of the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) framework by Dr. Gail Christopher, who was the City of Spartanburg’s MLK Unity Celebration keynote speaker in 2020 just before the pandemic closed everything down. As she puts it, “A racial healing circle is not just a conversation, not just a safe space. It is an experience that engages the heart and requires the heart to be open and expansive. It re-affirms the humanity in all of us. It is a commitment to acknowledging that unconscious bias lives in all of us, and it is the spiritual work of affirming and loving ourselves.” To date, about 150 people in Spartanburg have participated in one. Please join us. To learn more and to register, visit https://justfuturespartanburg.org/racial-healing-circles.

LOOKING AHEAD
April 24 – Confirmation Sunday
May 15 – Church on the Lawn
May 15 – Chamber Singers Concert
May 21 – 250^th Anniversary at Nazareth Presbyterian Church (Our Mother Church)
May 21 – Presbytery Meeting (Clinton, SC)
May 22 – Baccalaureate Sunday
May 22 – Congregational Meeting
June 5 – Pentecost (ONE Service at 11:00am in the Sanctuary)
June 27-30 – VBS

More activities and events can be found in First News.