First Presbyterian Church News (Clarksville, TN)

Our offering on Christmas Eve this year will be given evenly to two very important community outreach ministries, the Missions & Service Committee and Loaves & Fishes. We hope that everyone attending will come prepared to give generously in the spirit of Christmas to support those in our community who need help during the coming year. Thank you!

Join us at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, Dec. 24 to hear Scriptures, sing favorite carols, worship by candlelight, and celebrate Christ's birth. All are welcome to attend, so please invite your friends and family.

During our "Blue Christmas" 10 a.m. worship service on December 15, we will offer anointing with the sign of the cross and prayers for healing and wholeness for anyone who would like to come forward, either for themselves or a loved one.

With the First Sunday of Advent quickly approaching, our new church year will begin. You will find in our sanctuary a set of paraments that change color as the church year progresses. Each color marks the seasons and festivals of the Christian year. Purple will be on display in Advent and Lent and reminds us of penitence and preparation. Some churches will use blue in Advent in lieu of purple. In our church, you will see red for Pentecost, Palm Sunday, and anytime there is an ordination service. Red reminds us of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus Christ. White, a symbol of purity, will be used for significant days such as Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord, Transfiguration, and Ascension Sundays. It is also used for the seasons of Christmas and Easter to honor the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. It will also be present for Sundays such as Trinity Sunday, All Saints’ Day, and Christ the King Sunday. Green will be around for the rest of the liturgical year when there is no special festi...

We thank the Fellowship Committee, who really outdid themselves with an amazing Thanksgiving meal on Consecration Sunday, November 10.  We also want to thank Will Arrington and the Stewardship Committee (Ben Haynes, Lesa Goder, Sara Little, and Karla Posey) for their faithful, excellent work in presenting the opportunity to our congregation to give thankfully, joyfully, and generously.  Here is the initial report from the estimate of giving cards.  We received 79 estimates of giving totaling $379,086.00 (Last year on Consecration Sunday the number was 62 totaling $288,000.00.) By the end of the campaign last year, the amount pledged was $475,696.28 of which there is still about $147,000.00 outstanding. This is not unusual, as many people complete their giving in larger lump sums at the end of the year.) The number of people who pledged the previous year but have not yet turned in a card this year is small compared to previous years. We have sent a letter to everyone ...

Advent is upon us, that beautiful season of longing and waiting, hope and promise, yearnings and faithful expectation of  the coming of Christ. Every year I look for a devotional resource to lead me into the depth of this season and am often disappointed. This year is the exception. I recently came across a devotional from Plough Publishing House entitled   Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas   and have been captivated. The daily readings, which stretch from November 24 to January 7, include some of the most profound reflections on the season that I have ever seen--in both concept and scope, classic and contemporary--all gathered together into a single volume. Some of the world's best-known-and best-loved writers (Plath, Nouwen, Aquinas, L'Engle, Barth, Romero, Goodwin, Day, Manning, Bonhoeffer, Dillard, Soelle, Lewis, Kierkegaard, Eliot, Donne...an illustrative but not exhaustive list) explore the depths and limits of our human desire for the...

In Advent we celebrate that Jesus' kingdom has already come while we acknowledge that it has not yet come in fullness.  Between the tension of "already" and "not yet," our focus in Advent is often on the "not yet" as we look forward to Christ's return.  But as Karl Rahner reminds us ("The Divine Dawning"), Christ could hardly approach any nearer than he did when he "adopted our ordinary little ways so thoroughly that it's almost hard for us to distinguish him from the rest of fallen humanity."  After all, he "promised to come, and actually made good on the promise."  And still in this season of Advent we pray, "Come, Lord Jesus!"  As Rahner says, "It won't really be 'another' coming, because you have never really gone away. ...you have never left us." This year our Advent sermon series will take a cue from  Reformed Worship  and focus on the "already" side of the equation--...

If you would like to honor or remember someone with a poinsettia placed in the sanctuary, please donate to the FPC Memorial Fund and let the church know your loved one’s name by emailing fpcclarksville@gmail.com or by calling 931-645-6551 before noon on December 11.  Names submitted will be listed in the December 15 & 22 bulletins.

Appropriate for this time of year when we reflect on life and death, Jennifer Ellis will present "Living Fully with the End in Mind" from her perspective as a hospice physician. Please join us at Faith Focus on Nov. 13 from 5:30 to 7 pm for dinner and discussion (children's activities included).

The Faith Focus Steering Committee is gearing up to write and submit a new project proposal for the Vital Worship Grant that we previously received from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. The project proposal will build on the existing Wednesday program in exciting, meaningful ways. We want your input! Be a part of the imagination process on Wed, Nov. 20 from 5:30 to 7 pm! Dinner and children's activities provided. 

Sunday morning worship on Dec. 8 will be very special this year as it will incorporate the nine readings of Lessons and Carols, big music from the choir, as well as art and performance by the children and youth. Second Sunday Lunch will follow. Highlight 10 am on Dec. 8 in your calendars!

The Middle TN Presbytery's Leadership Visioning Team has been tasked with creating a vision and structure to guide us into the future that reflects our diverse congregations, members, and communities. The process will begin with a listening session at the next Presbytery meeting on Thurs, Nov. 14 (8:30 am meeting start, 11:00 listening session) at First Pres. in Dickson in the Fellowship/Parish Hall. The team wants to hear your stories of the past in order to inform the present and future. Congregation members, elders, staff: all of your voices, hopes, dreams, and even frustrations are important information, so please participate if you can!

We believe deeply in the Reformation notion that the most faithful response a person can make to God is gratitude. We grow spiritually through living gratefully in relationship to God. Thankful living includes the grateful consecration of a percentage of our income to God through the church. We do not view giving as merely a way for the church to pay its bills; we do not appeal for offerings on the basis of the church's need. Every year we teach the biblical perspective that giving is an aspect of spiritual development and our members are followers of Jesus Christ who want to give unselfishly as an act of worship and discipleship. On Sunday, November 10, we will offer the congregation the opportunity to offer thanks by dedicating a percentage of the coming year’s income to God with joy and gratitude.  Thanks in advance for your enthusiastic and courageous participation on Consecration Sunday 2024!

If you would like to light a candle in honor of a loved one for All Saints' Sunday, come 10-15 mins early to the 10 am worship service this Sunday. You are invited into this practice in memory of those whom you have loved in this life, who now live eternally with the Lord.

Don Atkins Ted Atkinson George & Margaret Ackley Angel & Helen Adames Dan & Lynette Aiken Janet Aiken Judy Aiken Marshall Aiken Robert Aiken Kathleen Rowe Agnew Dee Albright Celia Ambrester Barbara Ann Arnold John M. Arrington John K. & Mary Arrington Bayless G. Atkins Ed & Anna Kathryn Atkinson Ned Atkinson William Hunter Atkinson Harper N. Ausenbaugh Elizabeth Baddley Corinne & Jim Bailey Sam & Florence Bailey Patsy Baker Rupert "Coach" Baker Mrs. N.R. Bardwell John D. Bartee Hershel Basham, Jr. Don & Marita Beck Janie Black Carol Blewett Elston & Hannalee Blythe Vera Boyd Lois Ann Bowley Diane & Jay Bowland Robert & Margaret Brannon Elizabeth Jane Briggs Sarah Britt Jack Brooks Wilbur Brown Thelma Bruce Marie Burnett Greer Busbee Ethelyn Carder Bonnie Cassetty David Charlesworth Frank Childers Betty Lou Cobb Tom & Bonnie Coffman Hacna & Helen Colburn Vinton Cole Dorris Comer Lucien & Alice Conn...

The Annual Congregational Meeting will take place on October 27 at the end of worship (11am) in the Sanctuary. The one item of business this year is to elect elders to serve on Session for the next three years. The slate chosen for nomination for the class of 2027 is as follows: Sherrie Giles Aiden Goodwin (Youth Elder) Todd Harvey Mary Johnson Nicholas Nieves Note: Todd Harvey is currently serving on Session to fill the unexpired term left vacant by the death of Elder Liz Thomas. If elected, he would serve a full, 3-year term. The election of elders is one of the primary responsibilities of membership. Please pray for God's direction of the meeting and make every effort to attend. Also, please join us in thanking our Elder Nominating Committee for 2024, chaired by Todd Harvey and Chair Elect Patty Orr. Patty served as acting chair this year after the death of Todd's mother. At large members included Sam Mills, Craig Schryver, Jane Wallace, Charene Watson, Issac Wright and Jame...

You may have noticed that we've been singing more psalms in worship lately. T he Psalms, the Bible's songbook, encompasses the full range of human emotion and helps us deal with the paradoxes of Christian life. In singing psalms, we offer all of ourselves, including our difficulties, to God in the company of Christ's body. The ancient tradition of psalm singing resets our straying inner soundtrack to God's tune. Singing roots Scripture into the body such that phrases bubble to memory's surface during times of struggle or joy. God's tune begins to dwell within us. Please heartily join in singing the Psalms when they are included in worship as we continue to rediscover this transformative practice. 

Aren't you curious to find out what Pastor Greg experienced and learned this summer during his sabbatical? Hear all about it at Faith Focus this Wednesday, October 23. Eat dinner with us at 5:30 and stay for the program from 6 to 7 pm! Children's activities provided.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. -1 John 4:18–19 We live in anxious and fearful times, but the Scriptures are clear that God wants us to live abundant lives, without fear.  From the command in Joshua 1:9 to take courage (Jimmy Terry's favorite verse), to the assurance of the 23rd Psalm (I will fear no evil; also Psalm 27:1, 34:4-8, 46:1-3, 56:3-4, etc.), and the many commands throughout the Bible to "Fear Not!"--we can find the courage we need to face these uncertain times in the assurance we have of God's love. Our Stewardship theme this year is "Fear Not!" Join us on Sunday mornings for tales of the FPC fearless!  October 20   Proverbs 16:1-6, Matthew 6:25-34, "Fear Not! (Temporal Realm)" October 27   Proverbs 1:2-7, Romans 8:12-17, "Fear Not! (Spiritual Realm)" November 3   Nehemiah 6:...

For World Communion Sunday on Oct. 6, we will celebrate our unity through song and Scripture. You can expect to sing some old standards as well as new-to-us songs from other cultures. You may even hear some of the liturgy read in other languages. We cannot wait to hear the sound of FPC echoing through the sanctuary!