Connections Across Distance and Time

Thoughts from
Jim Teague
FPCE director of communications.

Dear Friends –

On a cloudy Sunday afternoon, May 25, 1986, I drove to a middle school outside of Springfield, Ohio, (yes, that Springfield), parked my car and walked with my girlfriend to what was normally a lonely stretch of US 40. This Sunday, however, the roadway was lined with folks from all over Ohio. By 1:55 p.m. CDT the line of people stretched as far as we could see in either direction. I remember someone had brought a boom box and we were listening to a local radio station. The announcer told us it was almost time, and we grasped the hands of the people beside us. At precisely 2 p.m. the song “We Are the World” began to play, and we sang or hummed along until the final note ended. Then we cheered, clapped, exchanged hugs and high fives.

It was Hands Across America, and even though there were many, many gaps in the line that was meant to stretch from New York City to Long Beach California, the actual number of participants was estimated to be over 5.4 million, marginally short of the estimated 5.7 million needed to complete the human chain.[i]

The intent of the event was to raise awareness of the problems of homelessness and hunger facing many Americans at that time. It also raised over $36 million in donations to help develop long-term solutions to the problem, though success of that effort is debatable.[ii]

On Sunday, October 6, we will take part in a far more extensive celebration. It not only takes place every year, but it spans both distance—worldwide—and time, reaching all the way back to the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the very first communion.

World Communion Sunday is both a celebration of the international connection shared by all believers, and a reminder of how Jesus Christ has provided the solution to the problems of human sinfulness and separation from our loving creator.

Here at First Pres, we will mark that day in several ways:

Our 9:30 a.m. Worship & Communion Service will include the distribution of Children’s’ Bibles to kids ages 2-4. Contact Children’s Director Abigail Cunningham if you would like your child to be presented with a Bible at that time.

We will also have a guest preacher, Christopher Hays, president of Scholar Leaders, whose organization seeks “to cultivate theological leaders from around the globe for lifetimes of impact in the Church and on societies.”[iii] Scholar Leaders has recently been involved in efforts to help provide theological learning and teaching resources in war-torn Ukraine.

A one-day Life Together Membership Class will be held after Fellowship Time, running from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those interested can still register at https://firstpresevanston.org/lifetogether.

At 4 p.m. in the Sanctuary, renowned author and speaker Philip Yancey will share his thoughts on the importance of the Christian Presence in the War in Ukraine. He will ask—and seek to answer—the question, “After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, what lay behind the radically different paths chosen by the former Soviet Republics?” Drawing from his book What Went Wrong?: Russia’s Lost Opportunity and the Path to Ukraine, he will offer an inside view as to the role religion played. This free event is open to all and will also include a time at the end for book signings.

It will be a full and fun day, celebrating the unity we have as believers and, most importantly, the connection we are acknowledging—the communion—when we eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of all that has been done for us by Jesus.

This Sunday, September 29, we begin the Stewardship 2025 campaign, for all intents and purposes.

On Sunday, November 3, all who consider First Presbyterian Church of Evanston to be their “church home” will be asked to make a pledge of financial support toward the church’s operations in 2025. In the next week or so, Stewardship information will be going out via email and postal mail providing instructions on how to pledge and information on where those gifts go throughout the year.

This year’s campaign theme is “Disciples Bear Fruit” and is taken from John 15:5, which says “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” One of our main goals this year is to increase the number of pledges made as a means of improving our budgeting and planning. We would ask everyone who is a regular attendee of First Pres to prayerfully consider making a specific pledge and enrolling in automated payments. You can learn more at https://firstpresevanston.org/stewardship.

Our annual meeting to elect officers will take place the previous Sunday, October 27, immediately after that morning’s worship service. A preliminary church budget will be presented at that time.

Hands Across America was a fun event and is still a good memory for me, but it can’t hold a candle (or a piece of bread and a cup of juice) in comparison to our regular celebration of all God has done for me through Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Body of Christ.

Blessed to be in the First Pres family,

Jim Teague
FPCE Director of Communications

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hands_Across_America#Number_of_participants

[ii] https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fresno-bee/140605449/

[iii] https://www.scholarleaders.org/mission-vision-values/