FPC connects
The Chimes nline
Newsletter of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
SUNDAY Schedule Sunday, June 3 Seminary Sunday • Prayer breakfast for Homeless persons - 6:30 am, Fifield Hall • Communion Service 8:15 am, Winship Chapel
• The Mustard Seed Bookstore 9:00 am - 12:00 pm • Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am • Worship Service - 10:15 am, Sanctuary • Fellowship Hour - 11:15 pm, Fifield Hall
Sunday, June 10 • Prayer breakfast for Homeless persons - 6:30 am, Fifield Hall • Communion Service 8:15 am, Winship Chapel
• The Mustard Seed Bookstore 9:00 am - 12:00 pm • Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am • Worship Service - 10:15 am, Sanctuary • Fellowship Hour - 11:15 pm, Fifield Hall
June 3 & 10, 2012 Christ at the Center
O
n June 3, as we celebrate Seminary Su n d a y, w e a r e pleased to welcome The Rev. Dr. Ron Peters to our pulpit. Dr. Peters is the President of the Interdenominational June 3 - Dr. Ron Peters to preach Theological Center in Atlanta (ITC) and is recognized as one of our denominations’ outstanding theologians. ITC is the largest consortium of African-American theological seminaries in the country. Prior to his appointment as President of ITC (Jack Sibley, a member of FPC, chaired the search committee), Dr. Peters was the Henry L. Hillman Professor of Urban Ministry and director of the Metro-Urban Institute of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Before joining the faculty at PTS, he was the founding pastor of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Church in Springfield, Massachusetts and later served as pastor of the New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Miami, Florida. Born and raised in New Orleans, La., Dr. Peters graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge, received his Masters of Divinity degree from Gordon Conwell Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts and earned his Doctor of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is married to Mary Smith Peters and they have two adult children. We look forward to welcoming Dr. and Mrs. Peters to our church on Seminary Sunday, and hope that you will invite your family members and friends to join us for worship at 10:15am in the sanctuary! His sermon is entitled “God’s Light.”
C
ontinuing to celebrate our summer worship services at the corner of 16th and Peachtree Streets, I will be preaching a sermon on June 10 focused on the theme “The June 10 - Dr. George Wirth to preach B i g Te n t . ” T h i s sermon anticipates the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly gathering in Pittsburgh, PA during the first week of July as our denomination comes together to seek God’s direction and make important decisions re: the future of our entire denomination. Knowing that all Protestant denominations across the country are struggling to discern God’s will during these difficult and divisive days, I commend to you the scripture passages from Exodus 33: 7-11 and Ephesians 1:3-10 as the texts for us to explore together. My hope and prayer is that we will “press on” to pray for and work toward the “peace, unity and purity of the church”, words which are included in our ordination vows as pastors and elders in the PCUSA. The Rev. Craig Goodrich, our Associate Pastor for Administration and Executive Director, will be a commissioner to the General Assembly this summer, and alongside members of our Issues and Information Committee chaired by Judge Margaret Murphy, he will present some of the issues to be addressed in Pittsburgh at a Sunday School class on Sunday morning, June 24 at 9:00 in Fifield Hall. I hope that many of our members will attend that meeting, and that all of you will join us in worship on June 10 as we celebrate “the ties that bind us together” in the church of Jesus Christ! Faithfully Yours, George B. Wirth