The 2022 Spring Softball Season has begun, and we are excited to support the Turnips. They started their season with a bang, handily defeating their opponents and bringing home an early season victory. Please come out and cheer for our church team, and contact Coach Preston Smith with any questions: prestonsmith07@gmail.com.

First Presbyterian Church,

It is with a mixture of sadness and joy I announce that my last day on staff as the Youth and Children’s Ministry Director will be on Sunday, April 24th. As of May 1st I will be starting a new position in business development for a legal non-profit. I believe that everything First Presbyterian has taught me has prepared me for this next step.

Congrats to Savannah Leitch, who competed in her first race at the 2022 Covenant Kids Run! Way to go, Savannah!

One of our FPC First Fellowship Groups met last weekend at the home of Jim and Pam Givens and had a great time!

Find your Easter treasures at the Mission Market! Purchase colorful quilled eggs, natural wooden eggs or foil wrapped Easter Eggs, in either milk or dark chocolate, $6.50 for a bag of 18 eggs. Don’t forget chocolate coins in dark and milk ($5) and our popular chocolate bars for $3.50 each. For baskets, choose natural grapevine nests or raffia baskets ($8, $10, and $12) to hold critters crocheted in Vietnam or hand painted chicken "boxes" ($16 and $19) from India.

As part of our partnership with the Downtown Knoxville churches, during the Lenten Season we invite you to join others from the downtown community for a weekly time of ecumenical worship and lunch.
The last Lenten lunch will be held at First Baptist Church at 510 W Main St in downtown Knoxville.

Genesis of Grace: A Lenten Book of Days
John Indermark

This book leads readers to a deeper understanding of God's grace by tracing Lent through the familiar stories of Genesis. Daily readings explore the theme of God's forgiveness as revealed in such stories as the Creation, the Flood, Cain and Abel, and Abraham and Sarah.

This year's Youth Sunday was a big success! Download photos from the breakfast, service, and luncheon afterward in the link below.

To Walk with Jesus : A Guide through Lent, Roberta Parker Martin
Call #: 242.34 MAR

To Walk With Jesus answers the Lenten call to take a sacred journey of the heart, to embark on a path of self-exploration and savor the experiences of repentance, renewal, and healing that are at the core of the Lenten season.

Please remember to bring your offering on Easter Sunday. We will all have the chance to donate to One Great Hour of Sharing, the single largest special offering of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Three vital programs draw support from this annual offering -- Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self-Development of People.

Find your Easter treasures at the Mission Market! Choose natural grapevine nests or raffia baskets to hold critters crocheted in Vietnam or hand painted rabbit or chicken "boxes" from India. Fill your nests with quilled eggs, natural wooden eggs or foil wrapped Easter Eggs, in either milk or dark chocolate, $6.50 for bag of 18 eggs.

Recent profits from the First Presbyterian Mission Market will help pay for a foster care program for homeless children in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Presbyterian Community of Congo has found that church-supported foster care provides better care for homeless children than any other method. As the rate of child abandonment in Congo has grown, Presbyterians have struggled as they saw children living alone in brutal circumstances.

In order to keep First Presbyterian Church Knoxville a safe and healthy place for our children and youth to learn and grow in their spiritual lives, we are requiring periodic background checks of all volunteers and teachers. Alex McGavic has copies of the necessary forms for each of you to fill out, and you can contact him at alex@fpcknox.org. You may drop them off at the church office or fill them out and return to Alex personally. For your privacy, please don’t email the forms; they will have all your personal information on them.

The Officer Nominating Committee requests prayers as they select nominees for the 2025 Class of elders and deacons. If you have a willingness to be considered or would like to recommend someone for either office, please contact any committee member or email Melanie Payne at mpayne@kcc.com.

They’re Back! Popular Grocery Items Have Returned to the Mission Market

Two longtime seasoning favorites are back on the shelves in the Mission Market. Your purchases will create jobs in South Africa, where nearly 60 percent of black women and half of the youth are unable to find jobs.

Plans Underway for Fall PW Women’s Retreat at Montreat!

What is one of the best loved yearly events of Presbyterian Women at First Presbyterian?

You’re right! It is the Women’s Retreat in Montreat, slated this fall for Sept. 9-11! Plans are already underway for this event. Details will come soon.

New Series Starting in the Foundation Builders Sunday School Class - Join Us!
Beginning next Sunday, March 13, which is also the first day of Daylight Savings Time, our class will begin a new series on an overview of the Old Testament.

The classes will be in the form of a 30-minute DVD lecture by Professor Robert D. Miller II of Catholic University in America. Dr. Miller is a scholar of the history, literature, religion and archaeology of ancient Israel.

Justice Knox Plans May 2nd Nehemiah Action after Successful FPC Gathering!
About 35 of our Justice Knox team members met over pizza on March 6 to review progress and make plans for the Nehemiah Action on May 2 at World’s Fair Park. Everyone in the church will receive a personal invitation. Be watching for yours!
Now in its sixth year, this initiative on behalf of the city's weakest members is creating measurable change. Justice Knox urges city leaders for help in these areas: mental health, affordable housing, education, public transportation, and gun violence.

Church Women United met at First Presbyterian on Friday, March 4th. It was the organization’s first meeting since the pandemic began. First Presbyterian has long been a partner in this multiracial, ecumenical Christian women's group. The women stood shoulder to shoulder in fellowship and in prayer for God's mercy and grace in Ukraine.

First Presbyterian is accepting donations to provide humanitarian aid for the people of Ukraine.

Shortly after Russia attacked Ukraine last week, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) launched an appeal for funds to help support the Church’s humanitarian response to the war. As the violence continues, the number of people being displaced internally and fleeing to neighboring countries increases by the day.