Dear First Presbyterian Church Community,

There's a reason I preach from the Book of Job every Lent:  It's a good reminder that things don't always go according to our plans, desires, or expectations.  As the COVID19 pandemic continues to unfold, I pray you are safely sequestered at your home with your family, doing your part to be responsible and prevent further spread in our city.   Our thoughts and prayers are truly with all those in our world who have suffered loss of life, health, and wellbeing.

If you are in need of help, supplies, prayer, or even just friendly conversation, please know that you can call or text me any time on my cell phone at (915) 243-3042.  You can also leave messages for Patty on our church voicemail at (915) 533-7551 -- they are checked remotely on a regular basis, and she'll respond as soon as possible.
 

We are thankful to everyone who has stepped up in the past week to help the church, and to help each other in so many different ways.  Please be safe, and may the Lord watch over us all, granting us wisdom and patience, as we learn how to do things differently!

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Neal

 

This Sunday morning, Pastor Neal and his family will lead a family friendly online worship service at 10:00am.  You can join the service with an internet browser using the following link:  http://www.zoom.us/s/9155337551.  You can also call into the service with a telephone by dialing (346) 248-7799, and when prompted, enter the meeting code: 9155337551.  A recording of the service will be made available on our church website, our Facebook page, and our Youtube channel.

In order to comply with the stay home / work safe directive from our city, the church office and facilities are now completely closed, and all gatherings have been cancelled until further notice.  All of our staff are working from home.

We realize that many people have been financially impacted by this crisis.  If you need to modify or reduce your pledge to the church in order to take care of yourself and your family--we understand completely.  Please do what you need to do.  Conversely, if you are fortunate enough to be able to maintain or increase your financial support for the church, that help would be greatly appreciated as we do our best to keep our staff, ministries, and facilities intact.

Click the image above to hear Vanessa (our church organist and accompanist) play Mozart's Sonata in A Minor.

Our staff and church leaders are committed to helping everyone stay connected to each other and to our church by every means possible -- whether through social media, video (like the one above), online bible studies and gatherings, emails, phone calls and even good old fashioned postal mail -- let us know what sorts of things you'd like to receive from us throughout the week, and how you'd like to participate!

March 1:  (Un)Happy
March 8:  (Un)Answered
March 15:  (Un)Hinged
March 22:  (Un)Friended
March 29:  (Un)Worthy
April 5:  (Un)Ending

The novelist Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables, once said that "if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, I would save the Book of Job."  You've probably heard Pastor Neal preach several sermons on Job (his favorite book of the Bible) but have you ever actually read it?  All of it?  This Lent, instead of giving something up, take the challenge to read the entire book of Job along with your friends at First Presbyterian Church.  You can do it in approximately one chapter each day (10 minutes average reading time).  Click here for a reading calendar and to begin the challenge...

Join us this week in celebrating the following people and their birthdays: John McAdams (3/25), Karen Mouton (3/26), Joel Gilbert (3/29), Richard Wright (3/30).