FEBRUARY 2023 - 2ND EDITION

SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - WWW.2NDPRES.ORG

The fellowship time following w be going very well. Each week since we began the post-worship fellowship time, the Mary Chambers Room has been full of people visiting, chatting, catching up, and spending quality time together. I have spoken to a number of folks who are finding it to be a very meaningful and enjoyable time. Several people have mentioned to me that they have gotten to meet and get to know other members that they didn’t know, or know well, previously. Personally, I have especially loved seeing the different generations of folks at 2nd interacting with one another, especially our children and young people who seem to really enjoy the cookies!

One thing I have noticed, however, is that not many visitors have dropped in. In fact, I’m not sure any of them have. We have had a number of visitors in recent weeks and they speak to Pastor Sarah or I as they are leaving, but they are not coming into the fellowship time, for whatever reason. Likely, they are a bit intimidated because they don’t know anyone. I believe some of them would come if they were invited to do so beyond my blanket invitation during the announcements. So this is where you

come in!

If you notice a visitor sitting near you in worship, don’t be afraid to go up to them (either before worship, during the Passing of the Peace, or following worship), introduce yourself and welcome them, and then invite them to the fellowship time. Say something like, “Hey, we’re glad to have you here today. I’m going over to the fellowship time. Why don’t you come with me?” Or, “It’s great to meet you. Let me introduce

ver in the fellowship time. Or maybe just a simple, “Can I buy you a cup of coffee? I’d love to get to know you a little bit.” Or anything along those lines. If you make the invitation before or during worship, be sure and go to them afterward and walk with them over to the Mary Chambers Room.

Remember that part of our Vision Statement: We are a welcoming, faithful, and hopeful community! Let’s truly be welcoming of any and all who choose to join us in worship on Sundays by inviting them into the community. At best, they will feel very welcome and you might make a new friend. At worst, they will politely refuse and say they have somewhere they have to be. I promise you – no one is going to be rude to you in declining. What do you have to lose? Absolutely nothing!

That brings to mind one other thing –NAMETAGS! Everyone gets one when they join 2nd Pres. Let’s wear them! To make this easier, since our nametag board isn’t in the most convenient place, we have ordered 2 new magnet boards for nametags. (They should be here by the time this 2nd Edition goes to print.) One will be placed just outside the Sanctuary near the Mary Chambers Room, and one will be placed in the Narthex. Put your nametag in whichever place is most convenient for you to grab (and leave behind) when entering and exiting the building on Sundays. And if you took yours home at some point and misplaced it, let Bonnie know and we’ll get you a new one!

Grace and peace…

U P C O M I N G S E R M O N T E X T S & T O P I C S

From now until Easter we will be journeying through Matthew’s account of the life and teachings of Jesus February contains a very familiar teaching, a notso-familiar parable, and a strange event before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd. That night we will hear about a disagreement among the disciples. The following Sunday we will continue that story and consider Jesus’ words on handling conflicts within a community.

FEBRUARY 5TH

FEBRUARY 12TH

FEBRUARY 19TH

FEBRUARY 22ND

FEBRUARY 26TH

MATTHEW 7:1-14, 24-29

MATTHEW 13:24-43

MATTHEW 16:24-17, 8

MATTHEW 18:1-9

MATTHEW 18:15-35

THE GOLDEN RULE

WHEAT AND WEEDS TRANSFIGURATION WHO IS THE GREATEST? FORGIVENESS

2nd Presbyterian Church will again join with other houses of worship in Knoxville to celebrate and proclaim a message of Love on Valentines Day weekend. In a world of so much divisiveness, the Purpose of the Love Your Neighbor (LYN) initiative is to help our community realize there are far more common core values that unite us rather than divide us. We believe an effective way to do that is to profess a unified message of love, respect, and kindness for each other from our diverse religious bodies.

This is the third year we have joined with other congregations to highlight this message during Valentine's season and remind one another to carry this spirit of love throughout the year. Each house of worship will share this unified message during the 2nd weekend in February to help promote this effort

If you would like to help advertise this initiative, we have a limited number of yard signs available for you to take home and place in your yard. They are available for pickup in the church office on a first come, first served basis.

The Annual Congregational Meeting will follow worship on Sunday, February 12th. The meeting will be held in conjunction with our annual Souper Bowl fundraiser and luncheon. The luncheon and the meeting will take place in the Fellowship Hall.

An electronic sign-up sheet has been created so you can let us know what kind of soup you will bring to share with everyone. You can find the link on our website's homepage. If you prefer not to do it electronically, you are welcome to call the church office and let us know what you will bring.

BUDGET SUSTAINABILITY TASK FORCE BUDGET SUSTAINABILITY TASK FORCE BUDGET SUSTAINABILITY TASK FORCE

At its November stated meeting, your Session charged the Budget and Finance Committee to establish a Budget Sustainability Task Force “to plan for how to achieve budget sustainability in the future” and to select task force members

Those task force members are:

Matt Casey

Ileen Cheek (Vice Chair)

Joe Clarke

Dick Dodson

Kathy Duggan

Becca Kite

Tim Wright (Chair)

mcasey@crsdata.com

ileencheek@hotmailcom

jclarke859@gmailcom

rtdodson52@gmail.com

kduggan55@gmail.com

beccabryan32@gmail.com

otwright47@gmail.com

While it’s simple to say, “increase income and reduce expenses” to achieve budget sustainability, the challenge is figuring out how to do that. Please help the task force members by sharing your thoughts and suggestions. Your input is not only welcomed but needed! Thank you!

SCOUTSUNDAY SCOUTSUNDAY

FEBRUARY19TH

For over 100 years Boy Scouts have enjoyed the support of religious organizations. Our own Troop 6 was founded on January 29, 1915 and is the oldest troop in the Great Smoky Mountain Council.

Second Presbyterian Church has been the charter organization since 1916. Together we have enriched the spiritual lives of youth for over four generations. We will celebrate this long history of common service together, as members of Troop 6, and their families will join us in worship.

Lindsay Casey

Neal Peebles

Leilla White

Cameron Kite

Bobbie Denton

Phyllis Robinson

Garret Kite

Becca Kite

Christina Young

Margaret Walther

Patton Lewis

Andrew Butler

Leonard Bailey Jr.

Doug Barbour

Bill Ragsdale

Haley Wall

IF WE INADVERTENTLY MISSED SOMEONE...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

PLEASE HELP US UPDATE OUR RECORDS SO WE'LL HAVE YOUR SPECIAL DAY ON FILE.!

Nelson worked with Second Church’s Preschool Director, Linda Sue Byrd, and her staff to demonstrate the importance of the preschool Storytime experience in young children' brain development and learning growth

Nelson presented a Storytime with a small group of our Preschool’s older youngsters where they enjoyed an learned from children’s books, finger plays, songs, flannel board, and

ThePresbyterianWomen’sorganizationhelditsDecember13,2022,meetingintheFellowship Hallwheretheyhostedachildren’sspecialistfromtheKnoxCountyPublicLibraryElizabeth rhymes(thePWadultattendeesjoinedintheactivitiesalongwiththechildren).

Alongwithsharingthepurejoyofthemoment,Nelsondemonstratedsomeofthe experiencesthatourpreschoolprovideseverydaytoourchildren:

Children are introduced to and encouraged in their social skills

Children’s brains are nourished and expanded with Storytime stimuli.

Children’s skills required in learning to read are emphasized such as letter knowledge, vocabulary, print awareness, word sounds, and general knowledge from stories.

Some of the Storytime activities exercise both gross and fine motor skills, support the children’s natural rhythm and work out the wiggles

Presbyterian Women and the Second Church Preschool Staff are so grateful that Elizabeth Nelson and the Knox County Public Library shared their expertise with us. Our congregation continues to learn more about our Preschool’s role in Second Presbyterian Church’s mission

outreach to over eighty youngsters all year long. Second Church’s Preschool outreach is one of the longest continuous operations of any of Second’s missions throughout its over 204 years of existence.

Do the youngsters in your life have a public library card?

PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN

FEBRUARY 14TH, 10 A.M. SPECIAL GUEST

The Presbyterian Women’s organization will be meeting representatives from the Emerald Youth Foundation who will provide us with a mission program on the status of Emerald’s encompassing efforts in so many different areas of needs within the inner city youth among us. All Second PresbyterianswhocareforallHischildrenareinvitedtothisprogram.

The Bible study for February 14 is on Luke the Physician in the New Testament. WasheJeworGentile?

Presbyterian Women meets in the Fellowship Hall the second Tuesday each month from 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Our programs reach out to men and womenwithinthecongregationandallvisitorsarewelcome.

February 8 at 11:30 a.m.

February 8 at 11:30 a.m. 8 at 11:30 a.m.

Buckingham Clubhouse Buckingham ClubhouseBuckingham Clubhouse

had a great time eating, watching a movie, and playing games at their Christmas Party!

LENTDEVOTIONAL &BOOKDISCUSSION

This Lenten season, we invite you to enter a daily reflection time through the book "Lent of Liberation" by Cheri L. Mills. This devotional invites readers to learn more about the brutal institution of slavery and its impact on black people in America and recognize how its evolution and legacy continue to harm their descendants in the United States today. Each of the forty devotions includes the testimony of a person who escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad, a Scripture passage, and a reflection connecting biblical and historical themes to challenge

modern readers to work for liberation. Reflecting on Lenten themes of exodus, redemption, discipline, and repentance, readers, both black and white, will be empowered for the work of racial justice.

We will meet at the church each week during Lent for a discussion of that week’s devotional readings. There will be two discussion times to choose from each week – Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. and Thursdays at noon. The book is available on the Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Westminster John Knox Press, and The Thoughtful Christian websites. We will also do a bulk order through the church if you prefer to purchase a devotional that way. Please call or email the church office no later than Monday, February 13th at noon if you would like to purchase your devotional through the church.

2NDPRESPARTNERSWITH

You may notice some delicious smells and a few unfamiliar faces around the kitchen of 2nd Presbyterian Church over the next few weeks! 2nd Pres has partnered with the local non-profit, Thrive, to help provide meals for at-risk children. As you may have seen on the news, during the freezing temperatures at the end of December, a pipe burst inside their main campus building destroying their flooring, lighting, ceilings and kitchen equipment, effectively leaving the kitchen unusable. They reached out to us and asked if they could use our kitchen while the repairs were being done. The answer was an enthusiastic, YES!

Thrive provides a variety of services to connect adults with atrisk youth across Knoxville. They run an after-school program every day where students join them for three to four hours for tutoring, mentorship, and other resources. They also provide dinner for the students, many of whom would likely not eat dinner, otherwise. Being able to use our kitchen while the repairs are being made will allow them to continue feeding the kids they serve.

If you would like to make a donation towards the repair project, visit www.helpusthrive.com and click on the “Give Now” button at the top of the page.

Sheets, pillows, blankets, cookware, towels, shower curtains, plates, silverware, and more were collected during October and November for new residents of VCM's new apartment Caswell Manor.

Thank you for your donations and support!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

A big thank you to the congregation for your support of the stuffed animals for distribution to children who have to face the trauma of the Juvenile Court.

We collected 173 animals and still have funds to buy a few more. This will be done as soon as the animals are available but know your generosity is certainly appreciated by the workers in the court and the recipients!

This is a very caring and generous congregation!

This past summer, the Session approved funding for needed renovations and repairs to the Preschool building. Over the last several months. Charles White has overseen the renovations and they are almost complete. The congregation is invited to come and tour the building on Sunday, February 12th following the Annual Congregational Meeting to see the renovations and improvements that have been made.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SESSION HIGHLIGHTS FROM SESSION

Received reports from the Preschool and Ministry Teams as information. Received the Treasurer’s Report. Elder Tracey Horton will represent Second Presbyterian at the next Presbytery of East Tennessee virtual meeting on Saturday, February 11, 2023.

The adjusted 2023 Budget was approved. The adjustments reflected the final 2022 actuals and 2023 Pledges. The 2023 Annual Contract for the Transitional Associate Pastor, Reverend Sarah Morgan was approved.

T h e e v e n t s i n c l u d e d i n t h i s c a l e n d a r w i l l t a k e p l a c e a s l i s t e d i f w e a r e i n C O V I D P h a s e G r e e n o r Y e l l o w , B U T N O T i f R e d . P l e a s e s e e t h e h o m e p a g e & c a l e n d a r o n o u r w e b s i t e , 2 n d p r e s . o r g w i t h u pt od a t e i n f o r m a t i o n o n C O V I D P h a s e c h a n g e s a n d n e w c r i t e r i a , a s w e l l a s r e a lt i m e c a l e n d a r u p d a t e s . F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3