Weekly Update for August 23, 2019

This Sunday we celebrate the end of summer and the return to school with one last Summer Sizzle, and this one will be the biggest of them all! The weather should be absolutely perfect for outdoor fun. Be sure to bring your picnic blankets, lawn chairs, and appetites and be ready for a great time with your church family. See below for information about food truck options and activities.

If you did not sign up for the Church Retreat, there are still a few rooms available. So don’t miss your chance to enjoy the peace and beauty of Montreat, NC with your church family! See www.fpcspartanburg.org/retreat for more information and to register.

Family Life Center Survey
We need your input! The Recreation Committee is trying to identify what our members currently use in our fitness facility and ways we can improve it for all members. The survey is confidential; no one will know your individual answers. After the data is collected, the results will be shared with the congregation. Please complete the survey right away at: Family Life Center Survey.

THIS SUNDAY
8:30am   Chapel Worship Service
9:30am   Sunday School for All Ages
9:45am   Summer Choir Rehearsal (Choir Room)
10:30am Sanctuary* & MorningSong* Worship Services
11:30am Wet and Wild Summer Sizzle
5:00pm   Confirmation Covenant Service
5:00pm   Sunday Night Youth Fellowship
(* Services with asterisks will be livestreamed at www.fpcspartanburg.org/live. Bulletins, scripture readings, manuscripts, and video archives can also be found on that page.)

Wet and Wild Summer Sizzle
11:30am in the FLC Parking Lot
Join us for the last summer sizzle of the season.  We will have food trucks for lunch including: Fuddruckers, Carlos Tacos, Konos Pizza, and Carolina Gourmet Snowcones. Come play in the bouncy houses, slide down the water slide run through the sprinkler city or get into the Great Water Balloon Fracas (with bio-degradable balloons too)! Bring a bathing suit and a picnic blanket or chairs, and enjoy lunch, the water games and all your friends! (Some tables and chairs will be available.)

Summer Sunday School – 9:30am
Experiencing God (Room 2201)
August 25: Experiencing the Holy – Tom Evans

Going to the Good Book: James: Faithful Living (Room 2200)
Led by Ansley Page, Jason Loscuito, John Lefebvre
August 25: James 4 & 5 Patience and Faith

Children’s Sunday School (Clark Building)

Youth Sunday School (Upstairs Family Life Center)

NEXT WEEK
One Service at 10:30am on September 1
Next Sunday, September 1, we will have an abbreviated Sunday Schedule. There will be a single worship service with communion at 10:30am in the Sanctuary. There will be no Sunday School or evening youth activities and no services in the Chapel or Fogartie Hall on September 1. The following day, the church will be closed for Labor Day, but be sure to join us for Rally Day on September 8, as we return to our regular Sunday Schedule and kick-off Sunday School and other fall programming.

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
Find all sorts of ways that you can serve in the Ministry Finder section of the website (under the “Serve” menu). There you can search for service opportunities that match your interests and schedule, and with one tap make contact with someone who can tell you more and/or help you to get involved.

Find our more about these opportunities and more in Ministry Finder!
Shepherd’s Center Choir Director
Bus Drivers

Items Needed for the Cuba Mission Trip, September 20-25
Our Cuba Mission Team needs a number of things to be donated to take down with them on their trip. These include:

• Feminine hygiene products
• Adult Vitamins
• Tylenol – regular & arthritis strength
• Children’s vitamins (not gummy)
• Ibuprofen
• Razors (both men & women)
• Tooth brushes & tooth paste
• Twin sheet sets (new)
• Towels (new)

Donations for the Cuba Mission Trip may be left in the missions drop-off closet, just inside the Chestnut St. door.

OTHER NEWS
Children’s Choir and First Steps in Music
It is time to register for our Children’s Choir and First Steps in Music programs! Space is limited for First Steps, so sign up now! Click to register online for Children’s Choir and First Steps in Music.

BBC w/ Dr. Kirk Neely – Tuesday, September 3
10:30am or 7pm in the Arthur Center
A new year of readings and conversation begins the day after Labor Day. See www.fpcspartanburg.org/bbc for more information.

Tom's Sabbatical Journey – Wednesday, September 4
6pm in the Sanctuary
Come hear about Tom's adventures out West, along with preliminary results from the Church-wide Survey!

WAF Resumes – Wednesday, September 11
Mark you calendars for another season of great food, fellowship, and programming starting September 11. See the September edition of First News for menus and programming options.

Angels Charge Ministry’s Law & Order: Spartanburg – Thursday, September 12
11:30am-1:00pm in Fogartie Hall
Angels Charge Ministry invites you to experience Law & Order: Spartanburg, a luncheon featuring chefs from several departments of local law and order.  The lunch will consist of tapas style cuisine and remarks will be delivered from Chaplain Ken Apple of the Spartanburg County Detention Center.  Proceeds from the luncheon will benefit Angels Charge Ministry.  Click here for more information to purchase tickets.

Our Next Welcome Class Starts September 15
Sundays, 9:45am in Room 2200
If someone you know is considering membership in First Presbyterian Church, or just wants to know more about our church, please invite them to join in this five-week series running from September 15-October 13.

Lunch ‘N Learn: Early Childhood Education & Child Care Forum
September 17, 12-1pm, Large Private Dining Room
Join us for the first of a series of Lunch ‘N Learn events focusing on the target areas of the Faith Poverty Initiative. The cost is $7 per person. Register online or with Caroline Goodman in the church office.

Hop on the Bus to Thornwell! – Thursday, October 10
9am-1:30pm
Bet you didn’t know that the Thornwell Charter School just opened OR that some newer initiatives are being cultivated now. Join this half day tour on Thursday, October 10^th to find out more about this Presbyterian ministry to children and families. We will meet in the Family Life Center parking lot at 9am for a 9:15am departure and return by 1:30pm. Lunch is included. Make your reservation by contacting Caroline Goodman (cgoodman@fpcspartanburg.org / 864-583-4531).

Sign up now for the DR Mission Trip – February 1-8, 2020
For more information and to apply for our Dominican Republic Mission Trip, visit www.fpcspartanburg.org/dr2020.

LOOKING AHEAD
August 25 – Summer Sizzle: Wet & Wild Back to School Bash
September 1 – One Worship Service at 10:30am(No Sunday School)
September 8 – Return to Regular Sunday Schedule
September 8 – Rally Day
September 11 – Children’s Choir Rehearsals begin
September 11 – WAF Resumes
September 20-22 – Church Retreat at Montreat
September 20-25 – Cuba Mission Trip
October 2 – Healing and Wholeness Service
October 9 – Vaccination/Skin Screening Clinic
October 11-13 – Middle School Fall Retreat
October 27 – Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans
November 3 – Ecumenical Blood Drive
November 8-10 – High School Fall Retreat
February 1-8 – Dominican Republic Mission Trip

Find out more in First News: fpcspartanburg.org/firstnews