First Presbyterian Church News (Clarksville, TN)

The One and Done Choir is becoming a THING! Everyone who attended this summer had a blast and sang with gusto. So, look forward to another One and Done Choir on October 3 at 9:00 a.m. in the sanctuary . If you are hankering for donuts, good company, and low-stress singing, join us  to learn and perform an easy, fun piece. Contact Hannah Cruse  for more details (call the church office). And don't forget to share this post with your friends in the community--the more the merrier! Caveat: VACCINATIONS ARE CURRENTLY REQUIRED TO SING WITH THE CHOIR. A little preview of what we will sing for World Communion Day...

This month, Chapel Cinema is screening  "The Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats Its Young." Attend for FREE  on Thursday, September 30, at 7:00 p.m. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE! MOVIE TEASER: There were no finishers again in 2018 and 2019. The course won, again! Every year, 40 international runners descend upon a small town in Tennessee to test their mental and physical limits against the Barkley Marathons. Devised as a mockery of James Earl Ray’s historic prison escape gone awry, the race has seen only 10 finishers in its first 25 years. The race’s co-founder Lazarus Lake is as weird, unpredictable, and irresistible a character as the idiosyncratic event he has created. With a secret application process, unknown start time, and treacherous terrain, the Barkley has gained cult-like status with ultra-runners and amateurs alike. This award-winning, oddly inspiring, and wildly funny documentary invites you to the sports world’s most guarded secret; where pain has value, failure is

Closing Hymn #643 "Now Thank We All Our God" (NUN DANKET)  This text by Martin Rinckart (1586-1649) was certainly written during or soon after the Thirty Years’ War . British Hymnologist J.R. Watson accounts that as one of the last surviving ministers in the city, Rinckart had to stretch personal resources to take care of refugees and spend most of his time performing nearly fifty funerals per day at the height of the plague. This experience during the Thirty Years’ War had a profound impact on Rinckart’s poetry, just as it did for his hymnwriter contemporaries. Lutheran scholar Carl Schalk observes that unlike the objective hymn texts of the Reformation period, the “cross and comfort” hymnody of the time reflected life situations of the people with greater metrical regularity, smoother language, and a theology relatable to everyday life. The tune was composed by Johann Cruger (1598-1662) and included in his collection  Praxis Pietatis Melica , which became the most reprinte

Worship Resources Paperless Bulletin:   September 12, 2021 Scripture Reading: Ezra 3:10-13 ; Psalm 71:17-24  Sermon Preview: Letters from an Elder Online Invitation to Worship:  Youtube   or  Facebook Hymns & Music:  Music Spotlight Liturgy Explanations:  "Why do we worship this way?" Get Involved: Events This Week The Pink Sheet: Prayers & Praises Give to the Church:   Make an Offering

Prayers & Praises We mourn with those who mourn: For the family and friends of Sharon Falvey, as they give thanks for her life. For the family and friends of Dorris Natalie Comer, as they mourn her passing.  Obituary here . For those who lost friends and family in the attacks on 9/11, as they remember on this 20th anniversary. Please be in prayer this week for:   Anita Randolph, Lee Persinger (niece of Larry and Charene Watson), William Jennings (father of Perry and Dianne York's son-in-law, Patrick and Cayce Stephens Jennings), and Dennis Moore. Please continue to pray for: Don Atkins, Florence Bailey, Don Beck, Jay and Diane Bowland, Sara Brooks, Melanie Cobb, Bessie Costanza, Vickie Duncan, Abigail Henson, Ruby Jean McLeod, Lew Metts, and Arch Shuler, the FPC Bicentennial and Capital Campaigns, the FPC Christian Ed Program, as well as those in LaGonave, Haiti, Rwanda, and South Sudan.  We give praise for: Choir rehearsals for the first time in over a year!

Events Sunday, September 12 9:00 a.m.   Town Hall Meeting (in Fellowship Hall) Choir Rehearsal (in Choir Room) 10:00 a.m.  Morning Worship & Presentation of Teachers Children's Church & Sunday School (after Scripture reading; nursery available) PreK-4 in Chapel 5th-8th Grade in Parlor Confirmation Class  during Sermon (in Parlor) 11:00 a.m.   Rally Day Picnic (at Downtown Commons) Tuesday, September 14 10:00 a.m. Congregational Care Committee (in Library) 12:30 p.m. Martha Circle (in Library) 5:00 p.m.  Yoga (in Fellowship Hall) 7:00 p.m. Night Circle (in Library) Wednesday, September 15 10:30 a.m. Bible Study with Pastor Greg 6:00–7:00 p.m. Bell Choir Rehearsal (in Bell Room, 2nd Floor of Education Wing) 7:00–8:30 p.m. Choir Rehearsal (in Choir Room, 2nd Floor of Education Wing) Thursday, September 16 8:30 a.m.   Yoga (in AOC Gym) 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Seasons Open House (at Activities and Outreach Center)

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.... a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4) 'Tis the season for laughing and dancing! The FPC Service & Missions Committee is pleased to announce the opening of a  new special needs program called "Seasons".   As we begin, the program will be 2 mornings per week, from 9:00-12:00 (with extended hours until 2:00 available). The former dining room used by Loaves & Fishes will be the main area for this program. We anticipate morning activities such as art, music, yoga, and baking. Additionally, we are planning field trips to the Commons, Customs House, and maybe lunch at Hot Pita!  We welcome volunteers ! If you are interested in teaching a class (one time or monthly) or being a "chaperone" for walking trips downtown to the Commons, the Museum, etc.,  please contact Marcie O'Neal at moneal@fpcclarksville.org or  931-413-9113

  As has long been noted, at least since the church historian Eusebius ( Ecclesiastical History , VII.25.11), the writer of the letters of I-III John is anonymous, referring to himself only as  ‘ὁ πρεσβύτερος’  ( presbyteros ),  "The Elder."  The latter two letters are personal, addressed to an individual, hardly a page of papyrus for each.  They are a post script and a p.p.s. to the longer and more general first letter, which reads more  like a treatise than a letter (like Romans or Ephesians).  It has none of the usual features of a letter, opening with a poem-like section and ending abruptly.  There is no salutation or greetings, no indication of sender or recipient.  Taken together, the three letters contain a full explanation of Christian life and doctrine in somewhat symphonic form, like a piece of music that returns to themes and notes with variations: light and darkness, love and hate, truth and lie, sin and righteousness. Join us this fall in reading these letters fr