NOVEMBER 2021
Dear First Presbyterian Family,
“It is the Fourth Quarter, and we are all tired.” I heard this observation from a friend recently. The challenges included those related to jobs, children, and their activities, navigating some relationships, and normal household tasks. These words also reflected navigating life in this chapter of the Pandemic. This friend is in a place where the questions “to mask or not to mask” and “to vax or not to vax” dominate. Also, this friend is navigating different expectations in different locations. This friend is tired.
Maybe you can identify with my friend. As I reflected on my friend’s lament, I could see signs of “Pandemic Stressed and Tired Syndrome” all around me. This syndrome seems to cover the spectrum. For a community of faith, we have these words of Scripture and words of folk wisdom to guide us as we conclude 2021.
*“Be Kind, Everyone You Meet is Facing a Battle”. I have heard this pearl of wisdom given many times. Remember, we are all tired from the Pandemic. Also, many of this church’s families have faced acute challenges recently.
*Galatians 5:22-23 “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” We can seek the Holy Spirit to guide us in our actions.
*Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Maybe the best remedy for us is to reach out to those with greater challenges. Even if one is tired, serving another person in need can actually give energy.
*II Corinthians 4:16 “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day”. Actually, all of Chapter 4 gives good insights.
As I write these words we are in the last week of October. After the fun that surrounds this time of year, we get a short break. Then, we will be in the joys of Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, and New Year. I do see 2022 as a positive year to rebuild. Let us all give one another the space and grace we need to make it through this last chapter. Let us focus on the joy of what is before us-even as we find joy in these challenging times.
Worship:
October 31 we will honor those who have gone before us in the past year with an All Saints Litany. This will include members of the church family and of the extended church family. We will also mark the Protestant Reformation.
November 7: We will celebrate Communion, we will acknowledge of Veterans, and we will Dedicate our pledges for the coming year.
November 14: We will hear from the Gideons.
November 21: We will conclude the Church Calendar as we mark Christ the King Sunday. It is also a time when we will look to Thanksgiving. Finally, it is also known as Stir Up Sunday. You have to show up to find out more about that fact.
November 28: We will mark the First Sunday of Advent-and the start of a new liturgical year. Christ the King-and Stir Up Sunday-and Thanksgiving Sunday; Advent will be upon us.
Mission:
We had a great turn out for Address Mesquite on October 2. We also had a pretty good turn our for the Blood Mobile on October 10. As we move into November and December, we will have opportunities to support Sharing Life and its work around the holidays.
Fellowship:
The October Picnic and Vespers Service returned on October 3. We fellowshipped for the first time since February 2020. It was a great opportunity for those who attended. You can see some of the pictures in this newsletter. If the way be clear, we will have a Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday, November 21. The Men’s Council will over see the event. This year we will have a short Thanksgiving Service as our program. This should mark our return to Wilbanks Hall.
Christian Education (Spiritual Formation):
The Youth met on October 9 for fellowship and a humorous movie at the Pitchfork Pumpkin Patch near Royse City. Faith Builders returned there on October 24 for Pumpkin Patch fun. Look at the calendar for upcoming activities.
Mission Support :
Dedication Sunday will take place on Sunday, November 7. This will be a day when those who have yet to make their pledge-or make a commitment-may do so.
Wilbanks Hall restoration is almost complete. If the way be clear we will be able to hold our Thanksgiving Dinner in the Fellowship Hall.
Thank you all for your prayers, support, and encouragement.
Jones Doughton
OCTOBER 2021
“The Golden Rod is Yellow; the corn is turning brown; the trees in apple orchards with fruit are bending down. By all these lovely tokens, September days are here, with summer’s best of weather, and autumn’s best of cheer”. My pastoral colleague and friend Joshua Long shares this poem just about every fall. He learned it from his grandmother. While September can seem like August Part Two in Texas, we have begun a new season. School-and Football-have returned in full force. Our minds have turned to Fall Festivals and Halloween, Thanksgiving, and yes, even now, to Christmas. We have many days to enjoy. However, this is the “Harvest” phase of the year. It is a time to reap the work of what has gone before, to celebrate the present, and to begin to build for 2022.
October 3 we will officially begin our 2022 Stewardship Campaign. “‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former’ says the Lord of hosts.” These words come from the Prophet Haggai. The Hebrew people had returned in successive waves from Babylon. The people had spent 70 years in exile. Most of those who came to the Promised Land were born in captivity. The people began to rebuild the Temple during those early days of the Return. However, they did not complete the job. Eighteen years later Haggai encouraged the people to get on with the task. It took some doing, however, in the end they built a new temple.
We began 2021 inspired with such words as: recalculate, renew, and rebuild. We had hope with the vaccines. We had the confidence to return to two services and to add some trappings of worship from before. We had setbacks-“Snowmaggedon” and the Delta Variant are just two of them. We make progress, we have challenges, and then we get back to work. 2021 is a year to recalculate, renew, and rebuild. It is a year to lay the foundation. We can look to 2022 as a time to complete the work and a time to see something new take place. As always some things will remain the same. Yet, what we create in a post-Pandemic world will be different. We will not go back to February 2020. During the next several weeks we will hear about new opportunities for 2022. I invite you to listen, to ponder, to pray, and then to respond as we seek to build a new church in a new world.
Worship: We continue to gather at 8:45 and 11 AM on Sunday. We are also making a few steps back to a more recognizable pattern. Sunday, October 3 we will celebrate World Wide Communion Sunday. We will offer Traditional Communion as well as the Miracle Meal Communion kits. Also, as of September 26 the Bibles, Hymnals, and Attendance Pads are back in the pews. Special thanks goes to Renee and Edie who made the hymns and scriptures available to us over the past eighteen months.
Mission: We continue to exceed the 100 Can Challenge. Address Mesquite will take place on October 2. Once again FPC Mesquite will be present. We will host another Blood Mobile on October 17. The Mission Committee met September 22 to dream big dreams for 2022. Despite the many challenges of the pandemic, we have continued to serve our community.
Christian Education: The Faith Builders and the L.I.F.E Youth met again this month. Both groups will begin to meet on a regular basis. Sunday School continues to operate. Adults have their online option with Steve Leake as well. Though it is September-we are already looking to 2022 and what could take place then.
Fellowship and Congregational Care: Fellowship Gatherings will return!!! Saturday, October 2 we will gather at 4 PM at Town Center Park. This year the church will provide box meals and canned/bottled drinks. Games will be available. Ben Clifton will help lead us in our Vespers Service.
Mission Support: Slowly but surely the Wilbanks Hall Repair Project is nearing completion. I hope to report in November that it is finished. See the pictures of the latest progress.
Sermons:
October 3: The Church at Thyatira, Revelation 2:18-29
October 10: The Church at Sardis, Revelation 3:1-6
October 17: The Church at Philadelphia, Revelation 3:7-13
October 24: The Church Laodicea, Revelation 3:14-22
October 31: The Church at the Crossroads, Ephesians 2:8-9
November 7: The Glory of the Second Temple, Haggai 2:6-9
