Weekly Update for May 22, 2020

Dear Siblings in Christ,

This long weekend, we remember and celebrate those who gave their lives in the military. We will have only one service this Sunday at 11am, and we will welcome the vocalists from the MorningSong Band into the Sanctuary for a beautiful a cappella piece that I’m sure you will love! I hope that you will continue to be vigilant in your efforts to keep each other safe during this pandemic, even as we enter into this holiday weekend.

Blessings and Peace,

Craig Foster
Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Communications

THIS SUNDAY
11:00am ONE Worship Service ONLINE

*No Sunday School or Youth Zoom this Sunday

All services will be livestreamed at www.fpcspartanburg.org/live. Bulletins, scripture readings, manuscripts, and video archives can also be found on that page. Our worship livestreams also appear on Facebook and YouTube. Please sign the online guestbook when you join us for worship online and consider making your regular contributions online. Have you been having trouble with the livestreams? Check out this information on the church website.

Children’s Sunday School with Holly – Sundays on YouTube
Holly Bannan will be recording the Sunday School lesson and time of worship for children each week and posting it to the church YouTube page. A link to this video is also being sent out to parents each week.

NEXT WEEK
Weekly Community Zoom Times for Everyone!

Adult Sunday School – Sundays at 10am (Join in)
Prayer Gathering with Joanne – Tuesdays at Noon (Join in)
Share and Prayer with Ansley – Wednesdays at 10am (Join in)
Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark with Tom – Wednesdays at 6pm (Join in)

Poverty Initiative Training via Zoom – Tuesday at 6:00pm
Speaking Down Barriers will kindly hold the previously scheduled listening session for the Faith Initiative to End Child Poverty via Zoom on Tuesday, May 26^th from 6-8pm. While this meeting is designed for the Steering Team and Community Advisers of the Initiative, all are welcome.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85675719176?pwd=MFU5ZktJMHpSNm4vOXIzN1ExTTBHdz09
Meeting ID: 856 7571 9176
Password: 494767

Share and Prayer Philippians with Ansley – Wednesdays in May
10am each Wednesday in May on Zoom (Join in)
Join Ansley for a faith connection and a Bible Study on Paul's letter about joy in difficult circumstances. There will be time to chat and share prayer concerns, too.
Meeting ID: 828 0903 6239
Password: 5834531

Hangouts with Holly – Thursday
Starting at 1pm on Zoom (Email Holly for specific times and a link)
All children are invited to join Holly Bannan online for a time of fellowship and learning together.
1:00pm 3K, 4K, and 5K
1:30pm 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Grade
2:00pm 4^th and 5^th Grade

Youth Group on Zoom – New Schedule!
All youth are invited to join Robert, Carrie, and your friends on Zoom throughout the week. More information, new schedule, and links have been sent to youth families. Please contact Robert or Carrie if you have any questions
Sundays at 4pm – Middle Schoolers
Sundays at 5pm – High Schoolers
Wednesdays at 4pm – Middle Schoolers
Thursdays at 4pm – High Schoolers

Pentecost – NEXT Sunday, May 31
On Sunday, May 31, we will celebrate the birthday of the Christian Church and the power of the Holy Spirit with ONE ONLINE service at 11am. This service will be a time to open ourselves to God’s creative new future. We invite you to wear red – even if you are still in your pajamas! And please send Caroline Goodman pictures of you and your family wearing red at cgoodman@fpcspartanburg.org so that we can share with others how you are celebrating this holy day.

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
TOTAL Ministries Financial Assistance
TOTAL Ministries needs donations to help with their financial assistance program. They are doing financial assistance over the phone three days per week. Traci Kennedy, Executive Director of TOTAL Ministries, reports that 80% of the people they are serving are new or haven't needed assistance in a few years. Visit www.totalministries.org to donate.

May Happiness for the Residents of Charles Lea Center
The Charles Lea Center group homes/apartments has requested cards and letters for their residents. Any note of encouragement and love sent to them will be distributed equally to the residents. Send a note to brighten someone's day!

Send cards and letters to:
May Happiness
Charles Lea Center
195 Burdette St.
Spartanburg, SC 29302

Blood Connection and COVID-19 Antibody Testing
Donating blood is considered an “essential civic duty” during a pandemic, because blood donations are vital to all communities. The Blood Connection is scheduled to be at First Presbyterian Church Thursday, June 4th from 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Please contact Beth Cecil to schedule a time to donate (864-641-8772 or bcecil@fpcspartanburg.org). The Blood Connection will be following strict safety protocols for your protection during this blood drive. The Blood Connection is also now offering COVID-19 Antibody Testing at no cost to the donor. For more information, visit thebloodconnection.org/antibody-testing.

Stay up to date on First Presbyterian Church’s response to COVID-19 and learn how to protect yourself and those around you. Visit www.fpcspartanburg.org/covid-19.

Donate to Support Those in Crisis Locally
If you would like to help local families deal with the effects of COVID-19, consider giving to the United for All Fund. This fund is managed by United Way of the Piedmont to directly assist local community members affected in times of disaster or crisis. United Way has convened community partners in Spartanburg, Cherokee, and Union Counties to ensure families get the help they need. Funds will directly support families who have been financially affected by the pandemic with expenses like food, shelter, utility assistance, and healthcare.

Mobile Meals Volunteers Needed
Mobile Meals is still delivering meals to those who are home-bound in our community and is in need of healthy, non-at risk volunteers to help with routes. They have seen over 150 new volunteers over the past few months, but many are returning to work. If you would like to help in this way, please call Mobile Meals at 864-573-7684 and ask for Vivian or Paula.

Recent Opportunities in Ministry Finder

OTHER NEWS
Zoom Security and Privacy
We are closely monitoring the news reports about Zoom, but still believe that it is the right tool for the job. But we are using more of Zoom’s built-in privacy and security features. All newly-created events will now have a password. This password will be embedded in the link in this weekly email and in any other email invitation you get from the church. So still all you have to do is click the link to connect. However, any links shared publicly on the church website will not include the embedded password, and you will be prompted to enter a password of you click a link on the church website. For now, the password for all events is 583 4531 (the church phone number without area code or dashes). See www.fpcspartanburg.org/zoom for more information and tips on using Zoom.

Unsubscribing
If you wish to be removed from the mailing list for this weekly email, please simply email Caroline Goodman (cgoodman@fpcspartanburg.org) to make that request. The link below will unsubscribe you from ALL group emails from the church, including many occasional emails you might want to receive!