FPC Forney

​The church council is working through a visioning process. The process will set up the church with specific steps to work toward as we prepare for our 150th anniversary in 2022. The council expects the visioning to be complete by summer 2019.

We strive to be an inclusive fellowship of disciples serving our community.

​For now, the group has adopted a new Vision Statement: We strive to be an inclusive fellowship of disciples serving our community.

Inclusive: We strive to accept ALL of God's people.

Fellowship: Nurturing the Body of Christ. Being together is important. Knowing and being known.

Disciples: We learn from Jesus and desire to be more faithful followers in his Way.

Serving Our Community: We desire to continue the congregation's long tradition of serving our community, with special emphasis on local needs and supporting our schools.

Strive: We don't always get it right, but this is who we hope to be and what we try to do, to the glory of God.

Nehemiah 8 & Luke 4

​We must be diligent and discerning in what to keep doing, and what to stop doing so we may be open to the movement of the Spirit in our lives and in our churches. 

We decorated the tree with ornaments similar to those used on our Sanctuary tree--symbols of Christian faith such as angels, butterflies, and crosses. 

​In 2018 we expanded our Christmas traditions to include the City of Forney Christmas Tree project. The trees were donated by Lowe's and were decorated by various groups or families from the community. 

Our beautiful tree did not win the prize, though we are pleased that the proceeds from the contest were donated to one of our partners, The Sharing the Love Foundation. 

​Our 2018 Advent Mission Project changed from Shoeboxes to Stockings. This year we stuffed 82 stockings with everyday supplies like shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, and other helpful supplies. We also included free copies of the Gospel of Mark and a list of "Scripture Verses for Graceful Living." 

We partnered with Sharing the Love Foundation which delivered the stockings to local nursing homes and the elderly who often go without basic hygiene supplies. 

Our "Advent Workshop" tradition has continued for many years. In 2017 we incorporated the mission project into our annual Hanging of the Greens service, which is usually in the evening on the 2nd Sunday of Advent.  

The vision of FCM is to build a stronger community in Forney through charitable acts of service.

​First Pres Forney is blessed to have become a founding partner and part-owner of a new local non-profit entitled Forney Community Ministries (FCM). 

We have joined with Mike and Amanda Lewis of Forney and Sharing The Love Foundation Forney, Tx to create this new entity with the vision to build a stronger community in Forney through charitable acts of service. 

Our initial ministry is the School Uniform Exchange which we inherited from Forney ISD Clothing Closet. 

We invite you to follow FCM Forney Community Ministries and read more about how God brought all this together online at www.forneycommunity.org

Psalm 5 and Ephesians 2:14-16

We have a problem with race, guns and violence. This is a statement of fact but also a confession and a lament...        

We had 5 of our Children and Youth attend Camp Gilmont Summer Camps in Gilmer this past week.

1 Youth attended Adventure Camp, which involves sleeping in treehouses every night and cooking most meals for themselves. Another youth attended Explorer Camp which is for ages 11 - 14, and three attended Discovery Camp for ages 7-10.

This year's theme was Fearless Faith:

     The Courage to Show Up

     The Courage to Trust

     The Courage to Forgive

     The Courage to Change

     The Courage to Connect

"We believe that camp is one of the foundational experiences for a healthy faith."

A great time was had by all! Not only did they have a chance to be outside in beautiful East Texas, but they were able to connect with other campers they had met in previous summer camps. They were able to learn more about God, hear important stories from the Bible, and sing great worship and camp songs!

We are grateful to the church for supporting our children and youth by paying their way to summer camp! We believe that camp is one of the foundational experiences for a healthy faith. They will report to the church during worship on Sun., July 10th!

Thank you!

​1 Kings 19:1-15a Elijah runs from Jezebel's threat and finds God in the sheer sound of silence

Enter Sermon Teaser Text ONLY here...

​The 222nd General Assembly adjourned just before noon on Saturday. I had a little bit more committee work to do as part of 02 Bills & Overtures. We looked at the Protests and Dissents that had been filed and made sure they were in order. The GA remains in effect until the next GA (223rd) convenes in St. Louis in June 2018.

Afterwards I went two stops down on the light rail and ate lunch at the Portland International Beer Festival. It was in a beautiful tree-lined park with music, food, games and of course beer from all over. People brought their dogs and I enjoyed so much just being outside in the wonderful weather.

On Sunday I went with a group on a "Mission Tour" to Mount St. Helens, which is just about 1.5 hour bus drive. We had an excellent tour guide who explained the history of the volcano and went into great detail about the events around the explosion in May 1980. We made several scenic stops along the way and ate box lunches at Coldwater Lake. Coldwater Lake is within the blast zone which killed everyone and everything, so everything around us was new growth within the last 36 years. In fact Coldwater Lake didn't exist before the blast, it was formed naturally as a result of it. Previously it was only Coldwater Creek.

It was a beautiful clear day. We were able to see a great distance, and I got a sunburn. We got within 6 miles of the mountain, on the north side, near Spirit Lake. It was an incredible experience. The bus was full of Presbyterians who were really enjoying the day of nature after a long week at the Oregon Convention Center.

Monday was travel day. I had a direct flight to DFW but made the mistake of asking the flight attendant on the way in how long the flight was: 3 hours 13 minutes, she said. Instead it turned out to be a 4 hour flight that landed in Lubbock. DFW was surrounded by intense storms around 6 or 7pm last night, so DFW rerouted all the traffic. We few around in circles and finally had to stop in Lubbock to refuel. They did let us de-plane, but the "food court" was only a Pizza Hut, Burger King, and a Bagel Sandwich shop. We got back on the plane and arrived at DFW around 10:30, 3 hours after schedule. I got home around midnight.

"I absolutely loved every bit of it. I loved being a part of the process and having a voice."

Some Reflections on General Assembly Experience:

• General Assembly is an overwhelming experience. It is emotionally and mentally draining, but also incredibly inspiring. I absolutely loved every bit of it. I loved being a part of the process and having a voice.
• This reaffirmed my love for my denomination. Though I didn't agree with every decision, I gained a new hope for the direction we are going.
• I am proud of Grace Presbytery. Our 10 commissioners and YAAD represented us well, making prudent and helpful comments and motions. Grace proved again to be smart and thoughtful.
• I was so glad to meet so many new people from all over our denomination. Most of the group dinners and table conversations forced us to eat next to people we didn't know, and I was thoroughly impressed with how we are represented (pastors, elders, etc.)
• I was also so glad to catch up with some old friends that I had met at other Presbyterian events in the past. I saw three others who were in my CREDO experience last September, old colleagues from the Presbytery of East Iowa to which I used to belong, other interim pastors. It's nice to know others working across the country, even if we don't keep up with each other on a regular basis.
• So my only question is: when can I go again? HA!

​Five of our Children and Youth attended "Mission Camp" at First Presbyterian Church of Rockwall the week of June 20-24th.

The idea started when First Rockwall approached us about visiting and working in our Garden on the Tuesday of their mission camp. From there, the idea expanded when they invited our children to attend their mission camp for the rest of the week. So it went. Rick drove our kids to Rockwall on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and they came to our church on Tuesday.

On Tuesday they worked in our garden, weeding, harvesting and planting under the direction of Jennifer.

​We are grateful to have partnerships with other churches like FPC Rockwall which help us pool our resources and build community!

The rest of the week, Rick drove them to Rockwall where they engaged in other mission activities and had a lesson and devotional time with Pastor Cheryl, who is a good friend of David's. This year's theme was "Feed My Sheep," based on Jesus' instructions to his disciples in John 21.

Mission Camp is a new variation on traditional Vacation Bible School. Rather than spending time inside, Mission Camp engages the children with service activities, followed by a time to reflect on what they did and why they did it.

Besides working in our garden on Tuesday, activities included stuffing pillows for the hospital, making dog biscuits for the animal shelter, and shopping for Helping Hands. Of course there was also time for fun such as swimming and bowling.

Thanks First Pres Rockwall!

​Thursday and Friday were very full days with so much business to digest, that I didn't have the time to provide an update.

You can read other news that will highlight all that we did. A good resource is our denominational website:

http://oga.pcusa.org/section/ga/222nd-general-assembly-2016/ganews/

Another excellent resource is the independent news agency, The Presbyterian Outlook:

https://pres-outlook.org/   

​the compromise was orchestrated on the floor of the assembly by members of Grace Presbytery

​Of special note, we did not vote for full divestment from fossil-free companies. This was a surprise, because the overture had a great deal of concurrences, and the advocacy group Fossil-Free PCUSA ran an excellent grass roots campaign. However, the assembly chose instead to follow the recommendations of the study compiled by the PC(USA)'s Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI). This is described as a middle way, and interestingly the compromise was orchestrated on the floor of the assembly by members of Grace Presbytery working in coordination with the commissioners from New Covenant (Houston area). The MRTI report suggests that we use a "focused engagement process" with oil, gas, and coal companies, working with them through our investments to reduce emissions and reliance upon fossil fuels.

In other business, on Friday morning  I spoke on the floor against a recommendation that we change "teaching elder" to "minister of Word and Sacrament." The assembly voted for it anyway, so now it goes to the presbyteries for approval since it is a constitutional change.

I can speak to more of these things later on.