Through the years, we've always tried to love our neighbors at Midland High well. During the last year, as schools have had to change their own systems and routines to keep students safe while remaining open, we've also had to adapt and adjust. But while some things have changed, our desire to love and serve our neighbor has never been stronger!  Here are just a few of the ways that's taken shape:

Partnerships

Midland High has always used our building. Teachers use Lynn Hall for testing, and our gym is more frequently used by MHS teams and PE classes than even us, most of the year! But during the last few weeks, we had a new partnership opportunity: the MHS band.

Instead of traveling to the All State Band Competitions this year, the contest was moved online. Students had to record their submissions one at a time, and so the MHS band needed a quiet place with good acoustics where the students could perform. What better place than the Sanctuary and Chapel across the street?

Here's what Brian Collins, the MHS band director, had to say about the final outcome: "Senior Coby Mount (left) and Junior Ryleigh Kitch (right) both earned placement in the Texas Music Educators Association All-State Band representing Midland High School this past week. Coby qualified on baritone saxophone and Ryleigh qualified on bassoon. Both students earned all-state honors through a highly competitive audition process that began at the region level in November and extended to January for the area level auditions. In order to become Texas all-staters, both students had to earn 1st chair in their respective auditions, competing with the most outstanding musicians in area "A" which includes El Paso, Midland-Odessa, Abilene, San Angelo, Wichita Falls, Lubbock, Amarillo, and everywhere in-between. Congratulations to these students for this monumental achievement and for representing Midland High School in such an outstanding way."

After the submission deadline passed, Ryleigh's first recording was discovered to be corrupted. The judges allowed her an exception as long as she could turn in another one right away. She said, ""Thank you to everyone at First Presbyterian! Not only for allowing me to come record on the days everyone did, but especially for letting me come back on Friday when they realized my recording was empty.  I think being able to record at the church rather than just in my bedroom made a huge difference!"

Clearly the MHS band has some incredibly talented musicians, including our very own Evie Goode's son Mikey who won 4th chair in state for Percussion! We're so proud of them, and we enjoyed hearing their music fill our building. 

Lunch Bunch

After being on a "pandemic pause," we're eager to relaunch Lunch Bunch this next month. We've made some adjustments to the traditional service plan, but we're planning to start serving pizza and soda to MHS students in February on the first and third Thursday of each month. As always, this is about far more than pizza:

"We're looking forward to getting to be in-person with more students soon," said Grace. "We're excited to focus more on getting to know students and showing them Christ's love in a real way." 

If you want to help serve, contact !

Food Pantry

Throughout this long pandemic, our food pantry for food insecure MHS students and families has continued with a slightly altered delivery system. Instead of coming in to shop, families are met curbside with prepackaged boxes of pantry staples. Thanks to the West Texas Food Bank for keeping us stocked and our deacons for keeping the boxes moving each month!

If you're part of the FPC family, you're a part of this ministry to MHS. Your tithes and offerings help us keep our doors open to them. Your prayers lift up the students and staff. Your open-heartedness makes it possible for everyone to feel welcome. May we continue to grow into being a community that loves our neighbors well.