First Presbyterian Church News (Clarksville, TN)

Cumberland Winds Fife & Drum will provide the opening act for o pen mic night on May 9 at 6 pm in the chapel. Yvonne Kendall, lead flutist for the group, will be providing a performance/demonstration of all different kinds of period flutes along with fife and drum music.  It's sure to be a lively and entertaining performance that you won't want to miss.

Come see work by Regina Mick at Art Walk on Thursday, May 2 from 5 to 8 pm! 

Come down to the "Flower Power" exhibit in the Chapel during Art Walk this Thursday, April 4 from 5 to 8 pm! We will feature the creative imaginings of Carmen Rein.  Carmen Rein, Carmen Rein Arts I am a non-traditional artist who approaches art from a unique, joyful, and eclectic perspective. I do this through various acrylic paintings, mixed-media, assemblage, collages, wire-wrapped jewelry, and resin art. I am best known for my (acrylic) paintings of flowers, birds, and abstracts, which I render in bright and unexpected colors. The manifestation of my resolve to tell stories from my perspective through my artistic expressions of choice is what comes to mind. I open myself up to the expression of thoughts, dreams, and anything my hands can touch -- with no regard for fitting into the artist’s molds of societal expectations. What I am most proud of is the sense of accomplishment I feel when people respond to my art with a smile, a teardrop, a giggle, or relate in a way that s

You are cordially invited to a poetry reading and book signing event with Joey Grisham on Monday, April 29 at 6:00 p.m. at 213 Main St. in Clarksville. A reception will follow. Joey is the author of the 2023 poetry collection "Phantoms," professor at APSU, co-host of Literary Roundtable, and member of our congregation. 

See a double feature at Cinema Night on Thursday, April 25, 6:00 p.m. in the Chapel ! First up is "Bill Bailey and the Four Pillars of Income" (1945, 18 mins)--a story of land economy and one man from Clarksville-- then "Common Ground" (2023, 87 mins)--a regenerative agriculture documentary sponsored by Interfaith Power and Light for Faith Climate Action Week 2024. Please REGISTER FOR FREE HERE.

Greg Glover and Joey Grisham will lead a discussion about earth and ecology in "A Children's Bible" by Lydia Millet and "Farming: A Hand Book" poem by Wendell Berry at the next Literary Roundtable. Come to Hudubam Booktraders (110 Franklin St.) at 6:30 on April 18. Some copies are available to borrow outside the church office.

Watch and discuss "Inshallah a Boy" at Cinema Night on Thursday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. Come to the Chapel at 213 Main St.  FREE TICKETS HERE! After the sudden death of her husband, Nawal is struggling to cope with the upheaval in her life. However, her pain is soon compounded by the possibility of losing her home to her brother-in-law. Desperate to keep her home and provide a stable life for her daughter, Nawal resorts to deception by faking a pregnancy. But as time passes, the lie becomes harder to sustain and Nawal faces a difficult choice. With only three weeks to find a solution, Nawal embarks on a journey that challenges her fears, beliefs, and morality, as she fights to secure her rightful inheritance and protect her daughter’s future.  Runtime 1h 53m  Released 2023

Come out during Art Walk on March 7 to see artwork by Tracy Bettencourt!  The Chapel at 213 Main St. will be open from 5 to 8 pm.  Tracy Bettencourt--owner/artist of Bettencourt Originals, advocate for persons with disabilities, former fitness competitor,  motivational speaker, and APSU alumni--began to lose her eyesight in her early 30's from an eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa. Although the disease has left her blind, the hardships she experienced have not prevented her from living her life to the best of her abilities. She brings new insight to how art is viewed. She uses assistive technology on her iPhone and iPad to identify colors and textured acrylic/puffy paint. Her hands are her eyes as she moves the paint across the canvas. Her paintings reflect hope, adversity, love, positivity, strength and determination. There will always be a mountain to climb, yet no matter what the obstacle, there is light within darkness and therefore hope!

Sebastian L. Fenton and Austin Shaw will be performing the opening set at Open Mic Night on March 14 at 6:00 p.m. at 213 Main St. in the Chapel. Bring your musical talent (ie. vocals, trombone, guitar) and share your music with us, or just listen! 

Our hosts will lead a discussion about memoir and truth in "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi and "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri. Join us on Thursday, March 21 at Hudubam Booktraders starting at 6:30 p.m. Some copies of the books are available on the welcome table by the office. 

Join us for Open Studio on Saturday, February 24 from 2 to 4 pm at Makers' Corner (215 Foster St.). This is a time set aside for people to work on projects begun in classes or at home. Bring any project you are working on, knitting, painting, etc. and work in fellowship with others.

Looking forward to seeing you at our  Open   Art   Showcase  & Potluck on Thursday, February 29, starting at 6:00 pm! This is part of our ArtsConnect series at FPC. Come to the Chapel at 213 Main St. Bring a dish and share whatever artistic or musical project you’re currently working on . This is a great time to meet other artists and get feedback!

On February 8, join us at 6:00 in the chapel for Open Mic Night.  APSU students  Jocelyn Bradley and Austin Shaw will open the program with some familiar pops and jazz tunes. Then other artists are invited to share their latest work. 

Join us in the FPC Chapel for Art Walk on Thursday, February 1 from 5 to 8 pm! For more than 20 years, Gregory Player, a self-taught impressionist and Los Angeles native, has produced custom designs for art enthusiasts across the United States. In 1998, Gregory founded Creative IV Life Designs to share his unique style. His passion is to create art that captures the authentic essence of the subject, a piece that speaks to the individual each time it is viewed.

This month, we will have a discussion about race and passing as related to the books The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennett) and Antiracist Baby (Ibram X Kendi). Join us at Hudubam Booktraders at 110 Franklin Street on Thursday, February 15 at 6:30 pm. Some copies of the books are available to borrow on the welcome table outside of the church office.  Hosts: Joanna Grisham is an instructor in the Department of Languages & Literature at APSU. Joey holds an MFA in creative writing from Georgia College. She was named a finalist for the 2021-2022 Very Short Fiction Contest at the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival and a finalist for the 2021 Ember Chasm Review Flash Fiction Contest. Her work has appeared in Gleam, The Emerson Review, On the Run, The Write Launch, Construction Literary Magazine, and other places. Her first chapbook of poems, Phantoms, is forthcoming in 2023 from Finishing Line Press. Gregory Glover is pastor at First Presbyterian Church. Greg holds a P

Cinema Night: The Philadelphia Eleven February 22, 2024 @ 6:00 p.m. in the Chapel REGISTER HERE FOR FREE In 1974, a group of women and their supporters organized their ordination as Episcopal priests in an act of civil disobedience, and challenged the very essence of patriarchy within Christendom. This documentary film tells their story. The ordinations of the Philadelphia Eleven opened the way for fifty-years of living more fully into  equity across the gender spectrum in an historically patriarchal institution. While there is still much  work to do to dismantle oppression in all its forms, the Episcopal Church has inarguably been  changed because of what happened on July 29, 1974 at the Church of the Advocate. “To me this is a story about how to break down barriers with grace, and be true to oneself in the process. And it is a story about standing up to institutions that do not allow all people to be who they are called to be.” – Director Margo Guernsey “The church is already split i