Weekly Update for June 21, 2019

This Sunday is our second Summer Sizzle, and it will be a chance for you to enjoy coffee and fellowship in the Social Hall as you peruse the tables for a few good summer reads.

Also, please be in prayer for our first Youth Mission Team for the summer as they head to Aiken, SC tomorrow as part of the Salkehatchie Mission Camp. Together with other youth and adults from around our region, they will spend the week repairing homes in that area.

See below more information of lots of happenings around the church, including two new staff members that we welcomed to our team this week!

God Experience Survey
As part of his continuing sabbatical research on how people experience God, Tom Evans has developed a survey with input from around the country. The session approved this survey at its last meeting, and the survey is finally ready to launch. We hope you will carve out a little bit of time to take it. It will help the session, pastors, and program staff better shape our ministries to connect you to our Lord. The survey is confidential, and no one will know your individual answers. Tom will also be sending this survey to congregations around the country. Tom will reflect on the survey and write up the results during the remainder of his sabbatical in July. So please take it right away! The link to the survey is: God Experience Survey .

THIS SUNDAY
8:30am Chapel Worship Service
9:30am Sunday School for All Ages
9:45am Young Adult Coffee Fellowship (SPDR)
9:45am Summer Choir Rehearsal (Choir Room)
10:30am Sanctuary* & MorningSong* Worship Services
11:30am Session Meeting (Purnell)
11:30am Summer Sizzle – Book Swap & Coffee Shop (Social Hall)

(* 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.)

Book Swap and Coffee Shop
11:30am in the Social Hall
On Sunday, June 23 we will have a free book swap in the Social Hall with coffee and coffee cake after the 10:30 worship services. We hope you will join us as we share our mutual love of books. Besides, summer is a great time to read!

Young Adult Coffee Fellowship
Young adults, ages 22-35(ish), are invited to meet in the Small Private Dining Room of the Family Life Center, 9:45-10:15am, in June for coffee and fellowship (and sometimes snacks). This will be an informal time for fellowship, sharing of joys and concerns, and building connections. Even if you’re only around for a week or two in June, we’d love to have you! (PS – Childcare is provided in the Clark Building during this time). If you have questions, please contact the Rev. Leslie Lang ( llang@fpcspartanburg.org).

Summer Sunday School – 9:30am
Experiencing God (Room 2201)
Led by Tom Evans and Local Missions Partners
This Summer Series will explore the ways that we experience God through the lens of Tom Evans’ sabbatical work and through the work of several of our local mission partners.

June 23 & 30: Tom Evans: Experiencing the Holy
July 7, 14, 21 & 28: Local Mission Partners
August 4, 11: Tom Evans: Experiencing the Holy
August 18: Experiencing God through Youth Mission
August 25: Tom Evans: Experiencing the Holy

Encountering Jesus (Room 2200)
Led by Ansley Page, Jason Loscuito, John Lefebvre
This summer open your Bible! Throughout the month of June, this Summer Series will explore five passages from John’s Gospel, using Encounters with Jesus by Francis Taylor Gench as a guide. She writes about John, “when we read it, the person and promises of Jesus Christ seem more immediate and available. Jesus seems up close and personal in John and we find ourselves in direct encounter with him.” Additional chapters of this summer series for July and August are in the works, and may include one of the minor prophets and one of the New Testament epistles.

Children’s Sunday School
Birth-age 2 – Clark Building, room 105
Completed 3K-5K – Clark Building, room 110
Completed 1^st-4^th Grade – Clark Building, room 201 (red door)
Rising 6th graders will join the youth classes for Sunday School.

Youth Sunday School
We will have two youth Sunday School classes this summer led by Robert, our youth interns and other volunteer teachers. Rising 6th graders are invited to join the Middle School Sunday School class. Rising 9th graders are invited to join the High Schoolers as well. In June, both groups will explore the Book of James in a series called “You Have Issues.” In July, they will look at “Friendships and Peer Pressure” through the Book of Proverbs. Finally, in August, they will do a series called “Busting Myths” and, guided by the book of Ephesians, tear down myths about being a Christian. Come as often as you are able!

NEXT WEEK
CAST – Monday-Thursday, June 24-27
Next week will also be the first of our CAST Camps for the summer, as we welcome children and youth living in nearby motels to our church for a week of enriching activities that give us the opportunity to “Care, Accept, Share, and Teach” with those who are almost literally on our doorstep. Please pray for the young people and the leaders involved in this vital ministry.

All Recovery Addiction Support Group – Wednesdays
6-7pm in the Arthur Center
All Recovery is a F.A.V.O.R. (Faces and Voices of Recovery) support group. The group focus is to have a conversation with each other and learn more about recovery from addiction. This group is for anyone who has suffered from addiction to a substance and/or who has been affected by the symptoms and/or disease of addiction. This includes family and friends. The group meets every Wednesday evening 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. in the William L. Arthur Center. For more information contact Lauren Gilmore (864-357-4376) or Beth Cecil (864-208-2136).

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.

Stephen Ministry needs YOU !!
Classes start August 5
If you are looking for a way to serve First Presbyterian that allows you a flexible schedule and once-a-week interaction with someone who is desperately in need of some Christian caring, this is the place for you! The new class starts Monday, August 5 at 5:30. Interested? Call, email or text Dana Halliday ( danahalliday1@charter.net / 864 237-0330) More information can be found in Ministry Finder .

Child Poverty Initiative
The Faith Summit on Child Poverty held in April was only the beginning of a long-term initiative in Spartanburg to end child poverty. If you would like to be involved moving forward and were not able to attend the summit or to put your name on the follow-up list, please contact Caroline Goodman ( cgoodman@fpcspartanburg.org ) and ask to be added. Four focus groups are in the process of forming now, so you can choose your preference: Childcare, Generational Literacy, Living Way, and Neighborhood Isolation.

OTHER NEWS
Welcome Carrie Coleman and Caroline Goodman to the FPC Team
On Monday, June 17 we welcomed two new staff members to our team.

Caroline Goodman joins our staff as the Administrative Assistant to Communications, Young Adults, and Missions. She will be working with Katie until Katie’s departure. (Katie and her family will be moving to Bosnia in July). Caroline comes to us from The Spartanburg County Foundation, where she has served as their Communications Officer since October 2015. She has earned a B.A. in Art History from Converse and a M.A. in Art Administration from Savannah College of Art and Design. Caroline is a Spartanburg native and resides in Inman with her husband, Travis, and two children, Amelia and Duke. You can reach Caroline at cgoodman@fpcspartanburg.org or at extension 139.

Carrie Coleman joins our staff as Youth Program Administrator. This is a new Program Staff position – an amalgam of an Administrative Assistant and Assistant Youth Director. Carrie will work directly with Robert; her office will be the former Youth Admin area. Carrie and her family are members of our church and she already plays an active part in our Youth Program, with two middle school aged children. She has worked with our youth by teaching Sunday school, being a chaperone at youth functions, and also acting as a small group leader. After earning her BA in Psychology from Converse, Carrie worked for her alma mater for many years in the Admissions, Alumnae and Institutional Advancement offices. She also worked for the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce, for both the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Spartanburg County Economic Development Corporation. A few years ago, she was one of our Preschool Teachers at the Weekday School and is currently an instructor at Pure Barre Spartanburg. She also volunteers throughout the Community. You can reach Carrie at ccoleman@fpcspartanburg.org or phone extension 129.

We extend our warmest welcome to both Caroline and Carrie and our prayers for them they contribute to the mission of Christ though our congregation.

Summer Hangouts with Holly
Come and spend some time with our new Children’s Director, Holly Bannan. Be ready to play games in the gym/outside, share a special snack, and talk about your Summer “God Sightings!” We will meet from 1:00-3:00pm on the following dates:

July 18: For rising kindergarten, 1^st and 2^nd grade
July 25: For rising 3^rd and 4^th grade
August 1: For rising 5^th grade

Please drop your kids off and pick them back up in the gym.

Please bring your access cards with you to the church
For the safety of our members, staff, guests, and facilities, an access card is required to enter the building at times other than Sunday morning. Please be sure to bring your FPC access card with you each time you come to the church. If you do not have a card or have lost yours, please see Didi Terry in the church office. Access cards can now be made on the spot while you wait, and cost just $10.

LOOKING AHEAD
June 22-29 – Youth Salkehatchie Mission Trip
June 23 – Summer Sizzle: Book Swap and Coffee Shop
June 24-27 – CAST Camp
June 29-July 5 – Youth Wyoming Mission Trip
July 4-5 – Church Facilities Closed
July 8-11 – CAST Camp
July 14 – Summer Sizzle: Undies and Sundaes
July 18 – Hangouts with Holly (rising K-2^nd)
July 21-27 – Montreat Youth Conference
July 25 – Hangouts with Holly (rising 3^rd & 4^th)
July 28-August 4 – SPIHN
August 1 – Hangouts with Holly (rising 5^th)
August 5-8 – CAST Camp
August 11 – Summer Sizzle: Dog Days of Summer
August 25 – Last Day of Summer Worship Schedule
August 25 – Summer Sizzle: Wet & Wild Back to School Bash
September 1 – One Worship Service (No Sunday School)
September 8 – Rally Day
September 20-22 – Church Retreat at Montreat
September 20-25 – Cuba Mission Trip
November 3 – Ecumenical Blood Drive

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