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Grace For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2.8-9) The word "grace" appears 156 times in the New Testament, especially in the letters found there. It is a uniquely Christian word, and it is nearly always an attribute of God. It is sometimes translated as God's favor. In the letter to the Ephesians, we read "by grace you have been saved," and "grace was given to me," and "each of us was given grace." I often think of God's grace as God's gift, freely given, no strings attached. We are saved by God, not because we have earned it, but because it is God's gift to us. We are graciously loved by God, that is, freely loved. God's grace is a challenge to us to forgive as we have been forgiven. To love as we have been loved. Freely. Completely. No strings attached. In a world full of strings that constantly pull on us to judge others and condemn others and diminish others, we have something called grace that welcomes and dignifies others- the grace of God. We are challenged today to forget God's grace for all and accept retribution and payback instead as the way to exert our agency. But we are saved by grace. All of us. Everywhere. What if we saw each other through that lens? |
Please consider praying for the people who left these concerns on our church's front fence on August 26: - I worry I won't lead a life I'm proud of and am letting down my younger self.
- I worry I will never be able to have a family with my husband.
- I worry that I'm broken and can never be fixed.
- I have severe OCD and I feel like it sabotages my ability to be happy.
- I am worried that I will never be truly at peace with myself.
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Support for LGBT+ There are good reasons to be angry and afraid now as executive orders have been directed at you, and especially at transgender and gender non-conforming friends. I support you-- and I am available to talk by phone or in person. Don't agonize alone. We will do better together. Interim Pastor Danila Noble danila.noble@firstchurchbrooklyn.org |
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| | | NOTE: You can find the Bulletin for Sunday's worship online here. 11:00 AM Sunday Worship Pastor Danila Noble, preaching Wednesday, September 10th Men's Fellowship New location: Vineapple at 17 Pineapple St. For more information contact Dave Ehlke 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Homeless Street Ministry Peace Garden Thursday, September 11th 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM |
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| New Member Classes Curious about what it means to be a member of this church? What it means to be Presbyterian? If these are some of the questions to have and want to explore our spiritual journey with us, join Rev. Noble on 9/28, 10/5, 10/12, and 10/19. Please RSVP to info@firstchurchbrooklyn.org so we know to expect you. If you have any questions, please see Patrick Tirino and remember ALL are always welcome!! 
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Hearing Help We have a wireless headphone listening system available for anyone who is hearing impaired. For more information please see any tech operator for assistance. |
Summer Hours are Over Sunday Worship 11:00 AM |
Homecoming Weekend, 2025 
Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21 Save the date! And get involved! Parade planning Games and events Food and music Hanging the Adrienne Thorne portrait Including the neighborhood Planning is underway- join the fun! Many years ago, I was a member of a little Presbyterian church in central Utah with about 50 members but no sister congregations in hundreds of squares miles. Our church building had a bell tower - not very big but right over the front door. Kids loved to pull the rope to ring the bell at Sunday worship. It became clear that some pointing needed to be done on the bricks of the bell tower. Our small congregation didn't have the funds to do it. So, a fundraiser was organized to raise the money. The event would be a boxed lunch fundraiser. Members would make a lunch for two people and bring it to the church where it would be auctioned off to the highest bidder. And the winning bid also won the opportunity to share the lunch with the person who made it. The auction began and the first lunch went for $15. The second lunch went for $12. And then someone spoke up, saying, "This isn't about getting your money's worth and we're not competing with the diner down the street to see if we can get a lunch a little bit cheaper. The lunches are an added benefit to donations we need to make to fix the bell tower." The next lunch went for $100. And we were focused! Our Session is leading an effort to plan a Homecoming Weekend this fall on September 20-21. Yes, two days. Plans now include parades through the neighborhood inviting our neighbors to attend, games for children, food and music, hanging of the Adrienne Thorne portrait, closing the sidewalk or street, possible tours of stained glass windows, church history videos playing, a social action project of some kind, and a special Sunday worship. This is the year we will be starting the journey toward our next installed pastor. Let's start with some fun, with welcoming our neighborhood, and working together to make it a memorable celebration. It won't happen with a few elders planning alone. It requires all of us contributing ideas now and helping with the implementation in September. Please join in the effort! Here are the planning teams you are invited to join by contacting info@firstchurchbrooklyn or signing up in Sunday worship. And thanks to those who signed up last Sunday! Activities (with Patrick Tirino, Joyce Waller and Dimitri Moise) Music/Entertainment (with Jon Abernethy) Food (with Emily Thomas, Richard Greene, and Erik Brogger) Communication/Advertising (with Joyce Waller) Finance (with Gladys McNish, Richard Green) |
| Session Digests 2025 Dear Friends, We invite you to check out a summary of the most recent Session meetings for your reference and information. Please let us know if you have any questions, we are grateful for your interest and support. Thank you for being a part of the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn community. Current Ruling Elders: Jonathan Abernethy, Kevin Bentley, Erik Brogger, Jenny Gage, Richard Greene, Diana Lee, Gladys McNish, Dimitri Moise, Lynn Schnarr, Zayn Silva, Terrance Stroud, Emily Thomas, Patrick Tirino, Joyce Waller, Sarah Wyss Interim Pastor Danila Noble - Moderator Elder Barbara Cummings - Clerk | |
Looking for Food and Fellowship Volunteers First Church Brooklyn serves a Sunday fellowship lunch once each month at the Church of the Gethsemane, our sister Presbyterian church in Park Slope, Brooklyn, whose members are mostly formerly incarcerated. First Church volunteers prepare a meal, either at home or at the church's kitchen, attend worship at 11:00AM, and serve lunch after service to approximately 15-20 congregants. It's a wonderful opportunity to make good food and even better friends. We are looking for volunteers for September and August, on whatever Sunday works for you. Please contact Marta Nelson if you have questions or would like to volunteer. |
Food Pantry Serving Thursday, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM 
On Thursday, September 4, our pantry served 120 clients thanks to 12 volunteers with the help of YAI. According to the 2023 edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, between 691 and 783 million people faced hunger in 2022, representing an increase of 122 million people compared to 2019. Volunteers are welcome to arrive on Thursdays between 8:00 and 11:00 AM to serve in the pantry. No advanced notice is required. Please contact the church office to inquire about volunteering. We look forward to serving with you. |
Congregation and Community News |
First Church Softball! 
Hey there! Are you interested in getting outside, connecting with community members, and maybe learning some new skills? You should join us for softball practice starting through the end of the month. We'll meet at Commodore Barry Park from 6:30-8 p.m. on Sunday nights for fun, social, and energizing practices that might just turn us into a formidable team for a fall league! If you'd like to know more, please fill out this form and we'll loop you in :) |
First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn is a Matthew 25 Church The Communication and Marketing committee is proud to share our new "Ask me about Matthew 25" video. |
Men's Fellowship 
The men's group is now meeting at Vineapple restaurant at 71 Pineapple at 8 am on Wednesday mornings. All men are welcome, whether you read the book or not. Our new book is Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism--and What Comes Next "A clear-eyed, compelling study of the road to Jan. 6 and the possible future of the politics-versus-religion battle in the U.S." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review Watching the eerie footage of the January 6 insurrection, Bradley Onishi wondered: If I hadn't left evangelicalism, would I have been there? The insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was not a blip or an aberration. It was the logical outcome of years of a White evangelical subculture's preparation for war. Religion scholar and former insider Bradley Onishi maps the origins of White Christian nationalism and traces its offshoots in Preparing for War. Combining his own experiences in the youth groups and prayer meetings of the 1990s with an immersive look at the steady blending of White grievance politics with evangelicalism, Onishi crafts an engrossing account of the years-long campaign of White Christian nationalism that led to January 6. How did the rise of what Onishi calls the New Religious Right, between 1960 and 2015, give birth to violent White Christian nationalism during the Trump presidency and beyond? What propelled some of the most conservative religious communities in the country--communities of which Onishi was once a part--to ignite a cold civil war? Through chapters on White supremacy and segregationist theologies, conspiracy theories, the Christian-school movement, purity culture, and the right-wing media ecosystem, Onishi pulls back the curtain on a subculture that birthed a movement and has taken a dangerous turn. In taut and unsparing prose, Onishi traces the migration of many White Christians to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming in what is known as the American Redoubt. Learning the troubling history of the New Religious Right and the longings and logic of White Christian nationalism is deeply alarming. It is also critical for preserving the shape of our democracy for years to come.  |
The Power Hour September 21st 10:00 AM The Power Hour will resume on September 21st at 10:00 AM. Location will be announced. Over the span of several weeks, our Bible Study will explore Dr. Elaine Pagels's new book "Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus." We will investigate how the mystery of Jesus' life is represented through the varying lenses of the Gospels and how a nascent movement managed to survive the confounding events of two thousand years ago. What resonances do we see in our own time? How were the miraculous events of the New Testament explained or rationalized by the ancient authors? How do we respond to certain uncomfortable assertions that hover over the miracles of the Virgin Birth of Jesus and His eventual death and resurrection? The stories of a time when the natural world spun into the supernatural (and then back again) were mediated by flawed men who became the original Gospel authors and were ascribed the names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Their narratives are filled with visions and revisions and have been told and retold from the early church to the present. How do we, the "Gospel tellers" of First Church, see these stories, and how are we challenged to retell them today?  |
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. |
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 from July 4th through Labor Day weekend. If you have access to a connected screen of any size, try our Video LIVE Stream on our website or our Facebook page. |
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Wednesday Morning Devotional message 
Signup for our Wednesday morning devotional and receive a verse of scripture, a song from worship, a short video message from our staff or an inspirational quote to meditate on. Give yourself a boost in the middle of the week! To sign up, simply scan the QR code at the right or text the word DEVOTIONAL to 718-689-6171. This number is private to First Church for this ministry and your information will not be sold or distributed in any way. |
A full calendar of church events can be found on the church website. |
This week's eNewsletter was edited by Sarah Wyss, with photos taken from the First Church Tech Team's video recording. |
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 Church Brooklyn's website. Flower Donations: We welcome flower donations of $75 or more in memory or in honor of friends and loved ones. Please contact Annie Solages in the Church office via email. Appointments with Ministry Staff may be arranged by calling the Church at 718-624-3770, or via email. |
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