Faith Alive

In May, we (Brian Schroeder and Betsy Keith) went to Malawi, Af-rica for two weeks to support the Nkhoma Hospital. We felt buoyed and protected by our congrega-tion’s prayers during our travels and are grateful beyond measure that you sent us.

While there we painted housing near a remote clinic in Mvera for the resident nurses, painted murals in the children’s wards at Nkhoma

Hospital, scraped and painted a near-by public schoolhouse, attended the graduation ceremony for a group of nine ministers presenting the gradu-ates with study Bibles and cleri-cal shirts, and visited with the staff and students of Ebenezer Institute of Learning. Other ac-tivities included the dedication of the Prayer House, a visit to the Cultural Center in Mua, a tour of the Peanut Butter + Jesus (PB+J) factory in Nkhoma, and a Soy Milk factory.

This is not a complete list of what we did or saw; almost every day was packed. We were fortu-nate to spend some time with Dr. Barbara Nagy who has been a PC(USA) missionary at the Nkhoma Hospital for over twelve years and will be returning to the

United States later this month. Her disciplined work in Malawi created a significant reduction in infant and maternal deaths through staff training, patient education and improved medical care.

Everyone was appreciative of the long term support provided by Presbyterian Churches in NC.

to Kim and Kay Price on the death of Kay's

mother, Patricia Maxwell Archer, who died May 24

to Fred Robertson and his sons on the death of

Margaret “Peggy” Robertson, who died

May 28.

Brian Schroeder, Jackson Mott with a nurse & painter in Malawi

Betsy Keith & artist Andrea McFee in Nkhoma Hospital

Many adults, when asked what they remember most about church as a child, will tell about the decorations, the music, crafts and Bible stories of Vacation Bible School. It is an important week in the life of our church as children play and learn about God’s love for them in a one of the most child-friendly environments of the year. Make plans to have your children here! Register on our website: www.fpcgastonia.org/vbs today!

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2016 Under Construction

June 20th – 23rd 5:30 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.

RISING K – RISING 6TH GRADE

To our graduates (see pg. 3)

THANK YOU

To our incredible church family---those who have prayed, pre-

pared food, sent cards, and phoned---, we are truly grateful

for and amazingly blessed by each of

you. Our love and God's

peace to all, -Rick and Brownie

Smyre

Presbyterian Women News

The year started with Kay Brown taking charge as Moderator and ended with Jennie Williams installed as the next Moderator. In between…

4th Mondays of the month dedicated women were found working in Women’s Council to coordinate schedules for bereavement meals, casserole preparation, Prayer Lunch service and other activities supported by Presbyterian Women.

2nd Mondays and Tuesdays brought Circle meetings with Bible study and fellowship.

In the Fall our women represented our church at Fall Gathering, worked on baskets for Grandfather Home, planned Christmas surprises for others and assisted with the blood drive.

Winter began with planning for Blanket Sunday, the Bake Sale, and Women’s Sunday.

With the thawing of Spring came great success in each of these endeavors: Blanket Sunday raised $5,742 for Church World Service, the Bake Sale raised $7,921 to support missions of Presbyterian Women and leadership in an inspirational Women’s Sunday service.

May brought the Birthday Luncheon which raised $1,080 for Presbytery missions and the announcement of Geraldine Johnston as a Life Member of Presbyterian Women.

Throughout the year there is always a focus on missions supported by Presbyterian Women.

Presbyterian Women Year in Review

INVITATION TO SUNDAY SCHOOL STUDIES

The Seekers invite you to: "Wicked" is one of our words with two diametrically opposed meanings! Webster defines it as "morally very bad, disposed to mischief, and disgustingly unpleasant, while in slang parlance, it means "very good, excellent, 'cool' or awesome."

In the 13 lessons, the class will identify the wicked "good" and wicked "bad" women from the scriptures and see how God uses everyone for his ultimate purpose, though we do not often understand the method at the time!

It is a series of lessons about people - good and bad and how God uses each one for a role in his kingdom. Please join the Seekers Sunday School Class in room 208 at 9:30 A.M. for a most interesting series. Connections invites you to: What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian? During this thought-provoking study we’ll consider the basics of our Christian faith and how our beliefs inform our theology. Join us! (Below the Sanctuary, 1st room on the right.)

YOU CAN HELP. . .

5-Cents-a-Meal Offering The second Sunday of each month we collect this offering to help with hunger ministries at home and abroad. RISE & SHINE We need breakfast casseroles for our Wednesday morning ministry. Contact Tom Avery. BOX TOPS PWS is always accepting Box Tops for Education. You can find a box at the reception desk. ATTEND FPC financially supported PC(USA) Missionaries Elizabeth & Dan Turk. Dan will be with us for worship and Sunday school on June 26 to share about their work. YOU SHARED. . .

Thank you to everyone who helped us host Family Promise for two weeks in May! Thank you to everyone who helped make the Spring Picnic a great success! We collected 24 units of blood on June 6. Through the Mothers’ Day Card project we raised $775 for the Guatemalan Microloan Project.

SPRING PICNIC 2016

The youth at First Presbyterian Church are in a season of transition. We are wrapping up some of our annual programs and gearing up for summer fun. And as the youth director, I am in a brief period of reflection as I come up on my first anniversary here at FPC. This place has become a home in many ways and the youth have become like family. Meaning that seeing a portion of our family growing up and moving into the next chap-ter of their lives has been bittersweet, as some of my favorite memories of this past year have involved this group of seniors. I was proud and delighted to hear from them during this year’s Christian Education Sunday, I was amused by their honesty during our Senior Pilgrimage class and I always enjoyed the tired looks on their faces at Bibles & Biscuits every other Thursday morning.

Growing up in my household, a lot of our time together as a family was spent over meals, which is why I think I enjoyed Bibles & Biscuits so much. Starting the day together over good food and God’s word was a delight. It was an opportunity for all of our youth to interact and share life with one another. I quietly listened to our high schoolers share stories of teachers the middle schoolers were currently experiencing. And, without fail, I laughed when every student

ADULT MINISTRIES would successfully avert their eyes when I requested

someone pray us out at the end of our time together. Those mornings, we celebrated birthdays, talked about the days ahead and those that had passed and started our day together, acknowledging God.

Our last time meeting for Bibles & Biscuits this year, some of the seniors surprised me with a gift and heartfelt card while others sur-prised me by bring-ing new friends to this “family” gather-ing. While this time together is a small portion of the youth activity that goes on at our church I think it's a wonderful picture of the foundation it provides for each student as they are sent out as college students, graduate students, and professionals.

On CE Sunday, Preston Bullock said “it takes a village to raise a child” and for many of our students this church has been and is that village. A big thank you to “the village” for supporting, mentoring and shepherding this wonderful group of youth that I am fortunate enough to work with. I hope you will continue to be a part of each of their journeys.

PRAYER LUNCH Lunch at noon

(optional) in the Fellowship Hall ($6);

Program at 12:30. June 15: Allison

Greene on her trip to Cuba

June 22: Rev. Vanacore

June 29: Daria Ragan

FAITH & FICTION takes a break in July

and August, returning on September 4, dis-cussing Redeeming

Love by Francine Rivers

ROADRUNNERS invite you to Dolly Par-

ton’s 9-5 at the Flat Rock Playhouse on July

30. Sign up with the church office by July 7.

Tickets are $38.00.

CONGRATULATIONS, GRADUATES!

Your church family is proud of you for all you have accomplished!

Emily Caroline Bowyer Ashbrook High School

Preston Elizabeth Bullock

Ashbrook High School

Caroline Parks Cole Highland School of Technology

George Dustin Dent

Highland School of Technology

Natalie Montgomery Jordan Gaston Day School

Katherine Scott Pierce

Highland School of Technology

Jessica Lynn Schultz Ashbrook High School

Michelle Elise Vaughn

Piedmont Community Charter School

Robert Davenport Wallace South Point High School

Rebecca Joy Vaughn Bounous University of New England

Natalie Elizabeth Jones

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Anna Kathryn Renfro

North Carolina State University

First Press PERIODICALS US POSTAGE

PAID Gastonia, NC

May attendance: 10:30 Worship Thrive May 1 148 40 May 8 253 48 May 15 230 58 May 22 213 43 May 29 One Combined Worship Service 181

WANT TO JOIN FPC? Let Rev. Lauren Vanacore or the church of-fice know so we can plan our next New Member Class soon.

NEW DIRECTORY! Directories are now available at the church office and in the Narthex after worship.

COMBINED WORSHIP! Sunday, July 3, we will have Sunday school at 9:00 A.M. followed by one combined worship service in the Sanctuary at 10:00 A.M.

SUMMER OFFICE HOURS The church office will close at 3 P.M. each Friday until Labor Day. Monday—Thursday hours remain the same: 8:00 A.M.—5:00 P.M.

WOMEN’S CONNECTION This Montreat conference will be August 12-14. The theme is “Calm in the Chaos.” Registration information is at www.montreat.org/women. SAVE THE DATE Samaritan’s Feet—August 20 Presbyterian Women’s Kickoff— August 24

Answer to our question in the last newsletter: Can you find the seven crosses designed as part of our building? They are: “inside the sanctuary, inside the chapel, outside between the chapel and fellowship hall, two on the entrances to the sanctuary, one on the rear of the sanctuary, and of course, one on the steeple.” -pg. 67 of A Christian Witness. If you found more crosses you are correct...three more crosses were added when the building was renovated in the Legacy of Love campaign! Did you know? Rev. Dr . James Hender lite served as pastor of FPC for 28 years, 1912-1940.

Do you want to stay connected to your church family even during the busy summer season? Summer brings vacations, outdoor events, and travel and some of that time you might not be able to attend worship. Here’s a great way to stay connected during the summer and help your child(ren) in their faith formation too! Here’s how it works. I am challenging all the children in the church to learn the Lord’s Prayer over the summer months. Sounds pretty easy doesn’t it. I am also challenging the adults but the catch is if you already know the Lord’s Prayer than I am challenging you

to learn it a new way; in another language. Let me give you an example or two Brian Schroeder and Betsy Keith traveled to Malawi at the beginning of the summer and they are challenging themselves to learn the Lord’s Prayer in Chiche-wa! I’m going to challenge myself to learn the Lord’s Prayer in Portuguese in honor of my exchange student, Gio. The After School program is going to challenge themselves to learn the Lord’s Prayer in sign language! Sound fun? Want to join us? I hope so.

Can’t Make Our VBS? Here Are Some Other Options at GAP Churches Nearby!

Make no mistake about it, we want you at our VBS! But if you are out of town and miss

ours, here are some of the dates and times of the VBSs from other GAP (Gaston Area

Presbyterians) churches.

Presbyterian Church of Lowell Cave Quest

June 12-15, 5:30-7:30 each night

Union Presbyterian Church Barnyard Roundup

June 27-July 1, 6:00 pm-8:30pm Nursery through Adult Classes

Beginning with dinner in the Fellowship Hall.

First Dallas

Surf Shack: Catch the Wave of God’s Amazing Love by Cokesbury

July 17th, 18th, and 19th , times 5:30 pm – 8:00pm

Southminster Presbyterian

Egypt: Joseph's Journey from Prison to Palace (Group Curriculum)

August 3-5 – 6-8pm, August 6 – 9am – noon, August 7 – 10:30 – 11:30 during Worship

K-5th grade

Please let me know you want to be a part of this challenge by emailing me at jkimbirl@fpcgastonia.org. I will be creating a bulletin board to encourage everyone and display your picture. We will share videos online on our Facebook page and there will be recogni-tion on Sunday, August 28th during the Sunday school hour kick off of Rally Day in the Sanctuary. This summer let’s stay connected!

WELCOME, NEW MEMBERS!

First Presbyterian Church is happy to welcome 10 new members. They joined during a New Member Class on 5/22/16. Here is a little bit about them. Please learn their names and faces and make them feel fully welcome into the life and ministry of the church! Carol Goode joins us by letter of transfer from Covenant Presbyterian Church, Charlotte. Carol is self-employed as a jewelry designer and sings in our sanctuary choir.

Sally Hilton joins by letter of transfer from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Gastonia. Sally is married to Gwin and is the mother of Daniel and Jonathan Hilton. She is employed by Watson Insurance Company. Lee Nester joins us by letter of transfer from Bradley Memorial United Methodist Church, Gastonia. Lee is married to the former Hayley Anderson and they are expecting their first child in August of 2016. Lee is Director of Property Management for Caromont Health.

Jennifer Winningham joins as an affiliate member from First Presbyterian Church, Huntsville, Tennessee. Jen is an athletic trainer at UNC Charlotte. She and Shon Owens married last year. Tom and Erika Wallace join us by letter of transfer from First ARP Church, Gastonia. Tom is Director of Leasing and Property Manager for Primax Properties. Tom and Erika have two daughters, Jessica and Meredith, who are active in our youth group. Jessica and Meredith are also joining. Kwabena and Lillian Osei-Boateng join by letter of transfer from Lyndhurst Community Presbyterian Church, Lyndhurst, Ohio. They are the parents of Karl (4th grade) and Kyra (3rd grade). Lillian is a registered nurse with REED working as a Clinical Case Manager and Kwabena is a Oncologist with Carolinas Health Systems.

Top left and proceeding clockwise: Carol Goode, Gwin* and Sally Hilton, Lee and Hayley* Nester, Jennifer Winningham, The Wallace Family:

(l—>r) Jessica, Tom, Erika, Meredith, The Osei-Boateng Family: Kwabena, Lillian, Kyra, Karl.

*=already a member before 5/22.

Let’s all be sure to: