| | | The Groundskeepers' Rebellion |
| Greetings First Church Brooklyn Family and Friends, This Sunday we begin a new church year in the first book of the Bible – Genesis. These are stories of origin, stories of creation, stories that invite us to recalibrate and reconsider where we are and where we are going. As children and educators return to school, as we grieve the murder of Daniel Prude, as we continue our global dance with coronavirus and the safety of our faith community, it helps to return to these ancient texts that have grounded faithful followers in troubled times for thousands of years. We are back to worship at 11:00 am this Sunday and looking forward to welcoming every member of our growing community as we gather virtually to worship God. You are loved, |
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| Gather. Our 9-11 memorial this year will be different but no less meaningful. Join the Brooklyn Heights Interfaith Clergy Association from 8:30-10 am or 5:30-7 pm on Friday, September 11th to leave a written tribute on the promenade at Montague Street. In our sacredly distant way, we will honor those we lost, and we will remember. Gather. Beginning this Saturday, September 12th join us Saturdays in the Peace Garden for an hour of fellowship from 4-5 pm. Chairs provided. MASKS REQUIRED. Act. Sign up and plan to attend the Moral Monday Mass Assembly. Monday, September 14, 2020 | 7 PM ET. A digital gathering. VOTING IS POWER UNLEASHED! Watch this feel good piece from Suzan-Lori Parks. Parks created it for Trickle Up, an organization birthed in this moment to support members of the performing arts community. Named among Time magazine's "100 Innovators for the Next Wave," Suzan-Lori Parks is one of the most acclaimed playwrights in American drama today. She is the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, is a MacArthur "Genius" Award recipient, and in 2015 was awarded the prestigious Gish Prize for Excellence in the Arts. |
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| | | |  Please be advised Sunday September 13th, service will begin at 11am.
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| Saturday, September 12th 4:00 PM- 5:00PM Saturdays in the Garden Weather Permitting Sunday, September 13th NOTE: You can find the Bulletin for Sunday's worship online here. Worship Sermon Title: "The Groundskeepers' Rebellion" Worship online at fpc.church or Facebook Monday, September 12th 12:00PM- 12:30PM Monday Meet-Ups with Rev. Thorne Zoom: 863 9710 5794 Wednesday, September 16th 7:30 AM - 8:30 AM Men's Fellowship Book Discussion "Caste" by Elizabeth Wilkerson, also author of "The Warmth of Other Suns" For invite info contact Adam Wright Thursday, September 17th 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Food Pantry For information on how to volunteer contact the church office |
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| | Congregation and Community News |
| Stay tuned for something incredible! 
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Food Pantry 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM On Thursday, September 10th, our pantry served 117 clients with the help of 7 volunteers. We will maintain the bins on the church steps to support the food insecure and the homeless population who have benefitted from the offering. If you need food, please help yourself. If you have food to share, thank you for dropping off. Please contact the church office to inquire about volunteering. PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE UNSCHEDULED as we must manage the number of personel on site. Can't make it to the First Church Brooklyn? Text FOOD to 877-877. No questions asked, food for kids. Use your zip code to see if there is food available in your area. |
| Worship service video is streamed live over the internet. We provide the worship bulletin on the website so that you can follow along. Tune in to worship at 10:00 AM Eastern time between July 4th and Labor Day. If you have access to a screen of any size, try our Video LIVE Stream on fpc.church and our Facebook page. Want to hear a Sermon again? We have a podcast of Sermon audio! Click the "Sermon Podcast" icon, below, to subscribe. |
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First Church Brooklyn Community, It is not always clear to you all the work your faith community is doing in the ongoing work for love and justice. Please know that we partner with several organizations in the city, when it makes sense, to lend our voices to collective efforts pushing for legislation that makes for a more just world. Below is one such effort we have signed onto in collaboration with our friends at The New Sanctuary Coalition. Thank you for keeping them and their good work in your prayers. Click here to learn more and to get involved. -Pastor Adriene Dear Governor Cuomo:
We are writing to urge you to sign important custody legislation into law that passed this July. S222-C (Benjamin)/ A1436-C (Epstein) was overwhelmingly passed in both houses as a response to the Trump administration's policy of separating refugee children and parents at the border and sending the children into the nation's foster care system — including in NYS. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Trump administration continues to separate families at the border, two years after claiming that they have stopped the practice.
Formerly known as the Separation of Children Accountability Response Act (SCAR), this bill seeks to shine a light on the shadowy practice of family separation of immigrants. We cannot allow 'out of sight, out of mind,' to rule in these circumstances. While the State of New York did not initiate this inhuman practice, we can increase transparency when it comes to the numbers of separated and unaccompanied children sent into foster care in our state. Currently, because of the secrecy demanded by federal contractors, we do not have any way of knowing whether any such separated children are in New York. This legislation provides a step forward.
This legislation is the product of collaboration between secular and faith-based groups fighting for social justice and immigration reform and the New York nonprofits that provide services to foster children and accept children from the federal government. It requires the Commissioner of Social Services to provide the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Majority Leader of the Senate with regular reports on the children in foster care in the state, in particular statistical information along with the reason for their being in the state's care. This information is to be provided to the public online, as well.
Making this information public will let New Yorkers know whether any children separated from their parents by the federal government are in our state. For many people, the affairs at the country's southern border seem remote. If New Yorkers knew what is being done in our name and in our own communities, we would open the door to addressing this deeply flawed practice of the Trump Administration.
The legislation requires the first such report at the end of 2020, so a prompt signature will allow us to meet this goal. There are humane, moral reasons to move ahead with speed and intention. We the undersigned encourage you to sign this bill as soon as possible.
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| Reminders and Looking Ahead |
| Project Connect Men and women in prisons can go for years, even decades without any contact from the outside. Through Project Connect they can reach out to request letters and visits This program is run by the Church of Gethsemane and we are their partners. Therefore I am asking you to write a couple of lines of hope and encouragement and email them to me (sarahjwyss@gmail.com). I will cut and paste them into a letter that will be photocopied and sent to many people. Anything is appreciated, a couple of lines of poetry, a Bible verse, or simply some words of hope and encouragement. Our letters mean a lot to people and particularly now when other contact with the outside world is limited. -- Sarah Wyss |
| Men's Fellowship Book Discussion 
FPC Men's Group enjoying a recent discussion via Zoom FPC Men's Group Meets virtually each Wednesday from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM to discuss what we are reading and, if time allows, solve as many of the world's problems as possible. Reading Now Caste: The Origins of Our Disontents by Isabel Wilkerson 
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK • The Pulitzer Prize winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. If interested in joining the Zoom meeting discussion, please contact Adam Wright to get the invite. |
| Prayer Requests "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." (1 John 5:14 NIV) Our world is changing daily, and yet we still believe in the power of prayer. We still desire to pray with and for our community. If you have a prayer request – a joy or a concern, please send your prayers to us at info@firstchurchbrooklyn.org. We will add prayers to our worship bulletin each week and keep your prayers in our hearts and on our lips for the week to come. |
| Fill Out Your Census Form Today Only 50% of Brooklyn has been counted! The census impacts our number of congressional representatives. The results will show where communities need new schools, new clinics, new roads, and more services for families, older adults, and children. Visit CENSUS.GOV to find out more. Please, fill out your census form today. #MakeBrooklynCount Watch a "Faith-Based Audience Video" produced by the U.S. Census Bureau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izJPdJlo9Y0 |
| Wednesday "Flash" Text Devotionals Sometimes the weeks are long, right? Our Wednesday morning "flash" text devotional is meant to help give you a boost in the middle of the week. Simply Text the word DEVOTIONAL to 66599 to sign up. Every Wednesday, a super-short, thought-provoking piece will be texted to you - written by a different First Church member each week! A history of the devotionals can be found here, also on Twitter and Facebook. |
| A full calendar of church events can be found on the church website. |
| This week's eNewsletter was edited by Christina Adorno. |
| Online Donations: Set up a recurring gift to the church through a secure online account. To set up an account or to edit an existing gift, go to First Presbyterian Church's website. A simple one-time gift can be made on fpc.church. Flower Donations. We welcome flower donations of $30 or more in memory or in honor of friends and loved ones. Call Annie Solages in the Church office at 718-624-3770 or see Barbara Cummings during fellowship hour on Sundays. Appointments with Ministry Staff may be arranged by calling the Church at 718-624-3770, or via email. |
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