Sharing the Love at Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to share our abundance with others.

This Sunday, November 19, the Men's Breakfast Fellowship will have a donation pot at the Courtyard entrance to the Sanctuary; funds collected will go directly to Valley View Food Bank for their program to furnish Thanksgiving food bags for those in need. Valley View can provide a complete Thanksgiving meal for a family of four for every $22 donated! Men’s Breakfast will match the first $250 donated by the congregation.

If you will not be in the Phoenix area this Sunday, you can mail your donation to the church this week; be sure to put "Thanksgiving" on your check or envelope.

All funds will be delivered to Valley View Food Bank on Tuesday, November 21.

Thank you for helping to help the needy this holiday!

Thank God It's (almost) Friday!

The winter session of our TGIF! Bible Study starts tomorrow, November 3, in the Fireside Room. Coffee and treats will be available at 8:30 am, with Bible Study from 9:00-10:00. Join the "4 Ds" (David Glenn Walker, David Hodgson, Doug Wright, and Dick Zabriskie) this and every Friday to learn more about the Word of the Lord. Bring your Bible and a friend!

Summer Services in Swain Hall

This Sunday, June 4, our worship services will return to Swain Hall for the summer. This will allow us to save money on our air conditioning while enjoying a more intimate setting for worship. Worship starts at 9:00 am, with fellowship and coffee following at 10:00 am. Since this is the first Sunday of the month, open communion will be served by intinction, and non-perishable food items will be collected for the Valley View Food Bank. See you Sunday in Swain Hall!

Quote of the Day

“Two things to remember in life. Take care of your thoughts when you are alone, and take care of your words when you are with people.” ~Anonymous

Quote of the Day

"Don't treat people the way they treat you. Treat people the way God treats you." ~Dave Willis

April Service of Reflection

Join Rev. Dr. David Hodgson and Kelsey McKee in Swain Hall on Tuesday, April 25, at 5:00 pm for the last spring Service of Reflection. Featuring "psalms and psongs," the service will recap the Lenten and Easter sermons. Dinner will follow. If you haven't yet made a reservation and would like to attend, please call the church office at 623.974.3605 by noon on the 25th.

Dinner in the Upper Room

Holy Week – the span of days between Palm Sunday and Easter – will mark the triumphal end to our Lenten journey together. I want to thank you for sharing the adventure with me and to invite you to a very special opportunity in the spiritual life of our church family. I am inviting you to sign up to be part of what I am calling A Meal in the Upper Room. It will take place on Maundy Thursday, April 13th, at 5:00 in the evening.

We will begin in the Sanctuary with a brief service of celebration and of preparation and then move by way of the inside corridor to the Upper Room (also known as Swain Hall). Before entering the hall the elders, acting as disciples, will offer the washing of hands to prepare all guests for the sacramental experience.

The meal will be shared in complete silence, and will be served family style at each table. The only words spoken will be the words of Jesus to his disciples and will be spoken by me, seated at the head table with twelve disciples. The meal will culminate in the celebration of communion at each table by the twelve disciples.

This experience is not envisioned to be the Jewish Passover, or the traditional Seder meal. It is a Christian celebration to remember and to be inspired by the Lord’s Spirit at work in the life of our church. Our Meal in the Upper Room is open to all – but reservations will be required because seating will need to be arranged beforehand.

Throughout our Lenten journey we have examined ways in which the Storyteller put himself into his stories in order to reveal the mysteries of God with us. On Maundy Thursday he will invite us to become a part of the never-ending story of his life. I look forward to sharing this sacred moment with you.

∼David

March Service of Reflection

This month's Reflection Service featuring "psalms and psongs" from David and Kelsey will be tomorrow night, Tuesday, March 28, at 5:00 pm in the Chapel. Pizza and salad will follow in Swain Hall. If you plan to stay for dinner and have not already signed up to attend, please call the church office TODAY so we can be sure we have enough food.

TGIF! Bible Study Continues

Thank God It’s Friday! Bible Study continues in Swain Hall this week with a DVD and discussion on “The End Times.” Join our pastors on Friday, March 31, at 8:30 am for coffee and 9:00 for the program. Bring your Bible and a friend!

Lenten Fish Fry on Thursday Night

Sign up today for our annual Lenten Fish Fry, this Thursday, March 16, at 5:00 in Swain Hall. We will be serving battered fried fish with tartar sauce, lemons, or ketchup; coleslaw; potato salad (new this year!); rolls and butter; ice cream; and coffee, iced tea, or water, plus entertainment from Mike Chamberlin, The Singing TV Guy. Expect some pre-St. Patrick’s Day numbers from him!

Officers Thank You Luncheon

Presbytery Pastor Brad Munroe

Wednesday, March 8, David Hodgson will host an Officers Thank You Luncheon at noon in the Fireside Room. Brad Munroe from the Presbytery of the Grand Canyon will be the motivational speaker.

All current Session members and Deacons are invited; please call the church office to let us know whether you will be able to attend.

Our Lenten Adventure

This is your personal invitation to participate in the story of the Christ Life through Lent. We will begin that story on Ash Wednesday, March 1st, in a 5:00 pm service in the Chapel. The Lord will be introduced as the greatest storyteller the world has ever known because of the way he wove together in his stories the themes of heaven and the themes of earth. The anointing of ashes will be available for any and all who want to be marked as People of the Story. Then on each Sunday in Lent I will feature one of his favorite stories - stories I have come to believe he told about you and me, stories in which he put himself into the story to show how he is relating to each of us, stories in which he shows us how we are reacting to his amazing life among us. I have prepared a series of monologues for Sunday worship through which these parables will be told. You will hear the story of the Good Samaritan as told by the Samaritan; and then on successive Sundays you will hear from our four Gospel writers: Matthew the historian, John the evangelist, Luke the poet, and Mark the mystic. Their stories will bring us to Palm Sunday when the greatest storyteller of all times becomes the leading figure in the greatest drama ever lived. I invite you now to let this storytelling journey through Lent be the story of your life with Christ. Come to worship with your curiosity and your faith, with all of the sacred memories of your life and all of the visions you cherish of evermore.

~David 

Shrove Tuesday

Tomorrow, February 28, is Shrove Tuesday! Drop in for a pancake brunch any time between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm; entertainment will be by DJ Roy Gray of the "Jazz Joy and Roy" radio show. At 5:00 pm we will also have our February Reflection Service in the Chapel, with light refreshments to follow in the courtyard. Kick off the Lenten season at First Presbyterian!

Potluck and Bingo!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Celebrate Valentine's Day by finding out exactly what makes some couples happier than others at Happify.com: http://my.happify.com/hd/the-science-behind-a-happy-relationship/?et=a86c20f5-57a2-4396-818d-dc2152cfb58e

Rick Ufford-Chase Program

Rick Ufford-Chase, former moderator of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) from 2004-2006, and lifelong advocate for social justice, will be speaking at Faith Presbyterian Church at 3:30 pm on Sunday, February 12. For more information, call their church office at 623.974.3611.

Annual Congregational Meeting This Sunday

Our annual congregational meeting will be Sunday, February 12, at 10:00 am (right after the conclusion of the worship service), in the Sanctuary. We will vote on this year's budget, elect those to serve on the Foundation board, recognize Elders and Deacons who have completed their terms of office, and conduct any other business necessary. If you are not a member of the church, we will have people ready to greet you and serve you coffee or tea in the Fellowship Hall right at 10:00. We hope to see you Sunday!

Thank God It's Friday! Bible Study

Join us Friday mornings in the Fireside Room for the regular, intentional discipline of Bible study. The four pastors in our church, led by David Glenn Walker, will each Friday lead a discussion of the Scripture passage used in the previous Sunday's worship service. (You need not have attended the service to participate in the discussion.) Coffee is available at 8:30 am, and the Bible study will run from 9:00 - 10:00 am. Please come; bring your Bible and a friend!

January Service of Reflection

Memory Training Workshop

This Memory Training workshop is an interactive class for people who want to enhance and keep their memory strong. There will be tips and tricks given for improving memory as well as a handout for notes to take away for continued practice at home. If you want to increase your memory power this is the class for you! To sign up, CLICK HERE.

Tuesday, January 24, 1 - 2:30 p.m., in the auditorium of the Marinette Center, 9860 W. Union Hills Drive, Sun City. Sponsored by the Maricopa County Library District. Registration is required.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2017

The first worship service of the local Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is next Monday, January 16, at noon in our Sanctuary, followed by lunch in Swain Hall at 12:30. Shepherd of the Desert Lutheran Church is our co-host for the day. The suggested offering, which will benefit the Valley View Food Bank, is jam or jelly. We hope to see you then!

For more information about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, visit the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute website.

Dinner with Your Deacon

"Undecorating Day" is this Saturday!