First Presbyterian Church News (Clarksville, TN)

  Launching Trinity Sunday, May 31 Beginning Trinity Sunday and stretching all the way through the Sunday before Labor Day, we will spend the summer working our way chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse, through Paul's first and second epistles to the Corinthians.  Across fifteen Sundays we will cover all twenty-nine chapters.  Paul’s message is one that our anxious age needs to hear: strength in weakness . A Church You'll Recognize If you have ever wondered whether the New Testament has anything to say to a culture like ours, Corinth is the place to begin.  It was a wealthy port city sitting on a narrow strip of land between two seas, with trade routes from every direction crossing in its markets.  It had a diverse population of Romans, Greeks, Jews, Syrians, Egyptians, and travelers from across the empire.  It was “The Empire in miniature.”  It had temples on every corner, a reputation for moral looseness so notorious that “to Corinthianize” had beco...

 Art Therapy:  An Exhibition of Paintings by David W Jones   This show represents a year of painting under the teaching of Kitty Harvill. I met Kitty after my partner Teddy commissioned a painting for my birthday. Who knew it would become my main coping skill and lead to this show and the positive feedback I get from my fans. Even though Kitty moved to Brazil a little over a year ago we stay connected. Each Friday, Kitty, Teddy and I come together on zoom to ease our stress doing what we call “Paint and Play." Kitty and I paint while Teddy plays the harp. It’s pretty special. Kitty brought out the artist I never knew was inside of me. I use my art and creativity to distract myself from the pain and anguish I feel about the state of our country and the World. Instead of watching the news and suffering over things I can’t change, I paint. My recovery coach has been encouraging me to use my art as therapy for years. I have now found that it really works. Kitty has a degree i...

  ART WALK Join us for Art Walk this Tuesday, May 5 at 5:00pm. We will be featuring artwork from artist Annalee Parker. Annalee Parker is an artist and illustrator based in Clarksville, Tennessee, and holds a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from Austin Peay State University. Her work centers on themes of local history, the natural world, and the animals and plants that exist within it. She works across a range of mediums, including watercolor, pen and ink, colored pencil, and digital illustration.  As a graphic designer, Parker has worked alongside clients such as the Customs House Museum, as well as nonprofit organizations including Amelia’s Closet in Murfreesboro and PACE Enterprises in West Virginia. Both organizations support women and individuals with disabilities during transitional periods in their lives by providing professional apparel, interview coaching, and the resources needed to build confidence, secure sustainable employment, and improve financial stability.  As a...

Technology and the Christian Life April 2026 Sermon Series What is technology good for? For the Christian, especially Presbyterians, the answer cannot be everything, but it also cannot be nothing . Yet when the question comes up about the use of social media or AI and the like, we tend to hear only extremes.  Embrace it all with the Tech Bros or repudiate it entirely with the Luddites. The Presbyterian middle, it seems, is too hard or too ambiguously murky. This April, we invite you to find the middle ground.  Drawing on Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, this series explores three areas of life where a Christian approach to technology may differ from that of our world and our neighbors.  What does it mean to follow Jesus, a first century Rabbi, in the 21st century?  How do we follow Jesus in our use of technology in this digital age? April 12 | Second Sunday of Easter Green Light: Preservation Genesis 8:15–9:7 · Psalm 144:9–15 From Noah's Ark to the modern hospi...

 

 

A Three-Year Journey through the Gospels: Introducing the Lectionary A lectionary is a collection of readings or selections from the Scriptures, arranged and intended for preaching during worship.  Lectionaries have been used in churches since the fourth century, when large churches began to arrange their Scripture readings according to a schedule which follows the calendar of the church’s year. The Revised Common Lectionary provides a three-year plan or pattern for the Sunday readings. Each year is centered on one of the synoptic gospels. Year A is the year of Matthew, Year B is the year of Mark, and Year C is the year of Luke. John is read each year, especially in the times around Christmas, Lent, and Easter, and also in the year of Mark (the shortest of the gospels). Each year, we will follow the path of one of these gospels as it leads us again to Christ. Year A, Matthew, November 30, 2025 - November 22, 2026 Year B, Mark, November 29, 2026 - November 21, 2027 Year C, Luke...