Calendar
Sunday, Oct. 17
Festival of the Bean | 3:30-7 p.m. | Camp Chestnut Ridge in Efland
Come enjoy the food and fellowship this afternoon, even if you’re not bringing chili! Please arrive by 4 if you’re entering the chili cook-off. Full schedule and chili cook-off details here.
Sunday, Oct. 24
Congregational Meeting | 8:30 & 11 A.m. Services | Sanctuary
The session has called a congregational meeting to vote on the Officer Nominating Committee. This brief meeting will be held at the end of each service. The nominating committee identifies members to stand for election to the offices of elder and deacon. Members will be asked to vote to approve a slate of individuals (Brandon Fain, Traci Hoover, Jillian Marcantonio, Tanya Moore, Susie Meghdadpour) alongside two elders (co-chairs Evan Cate and Michael Whisenhunt), one deacon (Bo Harrison), and pastors (ex officio).
Sunday Evening Worship | Oct. 24, 31 & Nov. 7 | 6-6:45 p.m.
Please join us for outdoor worship at our Iredell St. lot (714 Iredell St.). This is an opportunity for all ages to see familiar (or new!) faces, witness to our neighbors and celebrate the Lord’s table. Each week we will look at one of the Psalms.
Inquirers’ Class | Oct. 24, Nov. 7, 14, 21, and Dec. 5 | 5-6 p.m. at Blacknall
Curious about membership at Blacknall? Come to the Inquirers’ Class, a five-session series on what it means to be a follower of Christ in this particular Outpost of the Kingdom. Childcare is available. Please register here. Contact Goodie Bell with questions.
Thursday, Oct. 28
The Betty (Women’s Storytelling Event) | 7-8:30 p.m. | Lauren Holahan’s lawn (4428 Guess Road, Durham).
The Betty is an effort to create a space for women to bear witness to the amazing/head-scratching/wonderful/ impossible/painful/glorious/joyful work of God in our lives, and a forum for all of us to hear, resonate with, and reflect on these sacred stories in the company of other listeners. We invite 3-4 women to step up to the mike and share a reading, recite a poem, do a comedy sketch, or tell a short story about a time they encountered Jesus. The Betty is the promotion of a culture of God-story tellers. Please contact Maria Bradshaw if you’re interested in being at the mike or have questions.
Saturday, Nov. 6
Historic Stagville Tour | 9:30-11 a.m. | North Durham
The Durham Ministry Engagement Team (DMET) is hosting a free, guided tour of Historic Stagville, a state historic site in northern Durham dedicated to teaching about the lives and work of enslaved people on a plantation. We have a reservation for 30 people to tour the grounds on Saturday, November 6, 2021, from 9:30-11 a.m. Due to the nature of the content, this event is best suited for people 12 years of age and older. View full details and reserve your spot here.
Friday-Saturday Nov. 12-13
Women’s Retreat | Durham and Stem, NC
You can now find all the important women’s retreat details on our Women’s Retreat page. Women of Blacknall, please join us for this year’s local, in person retreat. Come to connect with God and one another through worship, small group time, leisure and fun! Friday evening and Saturday sessions will be held at Blacknall and other locations in Durham. Our time together will culminate in a large group (outdoor) dinner and fellowship time out in the country at the Bell Farm in Stem, NC. Read all about it and register here!
Opportunities
Serve on Sunday Mornings
Serve as an Usher (Aaron Ebert), or join the Stream Team (Wen Reagan), BAT (Blacknall Audio Team) (Leslie Eibest), or Coffee Crew (Tana O’Keefe). Contact the leader (in parentheses) for more information.
Volunteer in the Nursery. Fully vaccinated adults and teens are invited to support families by providing childcare during our 8:30 a.m. worship service and Sunday school hour.| Sign up. Contact: Leslie Petree.
Community Announcements
Reality Ministries Fall Fundraiser
Reality presents Swing Music on the Lawn with the Durham Jazz Orchestra. Sunday, October 24, 2021, 4:30-6:30 p.m., 4026 Glenn Road, Durham. An afternoon of music and fun along with a presentation about Reality and an opportunity to support our work. Please bring: Chairs or blankets, friends and family, and your dancing shoes! We will have popcorn and cookies, you're also welcome to bring a picnic!
Mentorlink Global Virtual Gathering
October 19, 8 p.m. EST. The Global Virtual Gathering will focus on leading like Jesus. This event is open to everyone and has speakers from all over the world sharing their experiences leading and mentoring. Learn what leading like Jesus is and why it is vital today. Each message is followed by a time of discussion and reflection for all participants. Please use this link to register yourself and send to others who you think will profit from the Gathering.
High Strung Irish Learning Jams at Blacknall
High Strung’s weekly Irish Learning Jam is now held in Blacknall’s Community Room on Tuesday nights, 6:30- 8 p.m. All players who are comfortable enough with their instrument to play in G major, D major, A major and the occasional e minor are welcome. Fiddle, guitar, mandolin, flute, tinwhistle, concertina, tenor banjo and harp are the most common instruments you'll find at this jam. Never a fee, always a frolic!
Love and Serve
Samaritan Health Center
Blacknall local partner Samaritan Health Center is looking for project help the week of November 15 (mailing to supporters) and the weekend of December 3 (assembling and delivering volunteer gift bags). These are family-friendly ways to bless SHC and the community at year end. Service can be onsite at the clinic, or done from home. Contact communications director Meredith Martindale to learn more.
StepUp Durham
Volunteer with StepUp Durham. Particular needs right now are for volunteers to serve as Resume Builders and Mock Interviewers at job readiness workshops, and to walk with participants as Co-Partners in Step2’s 8-week training modules. All opportunities are virtual through the end of 2021. To learn more, email StepUp’s Volunteer Coordinator, or contact Nancy Grigg.
Iglesia Emanuel Food Pantry
Volunteer at the Iglesia Emanuel Food Pantry. Not comfortable gathering? Sign up to bag rice and beans from home.
Walltown Neighborhood Ministries Food Bank
Volunteer at the Walltown Neighborhood Ministries Food Bank.
Deep Common Journeys
What’s a Deep Common Journey? One of Blacknall’s commitments in mission is that we would intentionally enter into “Partnership with an organization in mission toward learning to be disciples of Jesus Christ.” We call these partnership relationships “Deep Common Journeys.” While Blacknall supports approximately 60 different international, Durham, and campus mission partners, we have focused on four Deep Common Journey partners—Reality Ministries (Durham), Families Moving Forward (Durham), International Students, Inc. (Campus), and Congo Initiative (International).
How can I enter our Deep Common Journey? There are many ways to get involved:
Congo Initative— Join the monthly prayer time for our Congolese brothers and sisters (second Sundays at 6:30 p.m. over Zoom), be a pen pal to a university student at UCBC, serve on the Congo Leadership Team. To learn more about these and other opportunities, fill out the CI Volunteer Interest Form or contact Kim Dunderdale. Sign up to receive news and updates from CI.
Reality Ministries — Reality has a wide variety of volunteer opportunities including gardening, beekeeping, karaoke dance, art, music, cooking, Bible study and much more. Join a daytime or evening group at the Reality Center, have fun and make some new friends! Check out Reality’s Volunteer page or contact volunteer coordinator Tammy Rodman.
Families Moving Forward— Be a Study Buddy, join the Hospitality Team, donate to Barrels of Joy, be a Room Refresher, or dine with Chefs for Change. Visit FMF’s volunteer page or contact Mark and Anne Paulson to learn more.
International Students Inc.— Join the IstudentsDuke prayer ministry and engage in regular conversation with an international student (in person or virtual). To learn more, fill out the volunteer interest form, visit ISI’s Volunteers page, or contact Dan Kronstad (630.903.1300).
Prayer
Ministry Partners
Durham—We pray for the Child Evangelism Fellowship and their Executive Director, John Blake. We pray for John that he would be completely healed and restored from a brain tumor. We pray for the work of CEF as they run their Good News Clubs in a dozen housing projects around Durham. We pray for their Power and Light program that is being run in several schools around Durham, that it would be used to foster change in the environments of the schools where it is being run. We pray for David Johnson as he works motivating volunteers and maintaining relationships. We pray that God would use CEF to have a positive impact on kids.
Campus & National— We pray for Libby Boehne as she leads Presbyterian Campus Ministry at Duke. Please pray for this ministry as Libby steps out of leadership at the end of October and as they enter into a time of transition while they begin to search for a new director. Thank God that students are able to meet together in person this semester. Please pray that students might come to love God and one another more through worship, meals together, service, and Bible study over the course of the coming months. Pray for Duke Divinity interns Matt Cooper and Asya Coles, that they might point students to Christ while discerning God’s call on their lives. Pray for the spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental well-being of everyone on Duke’s campus.
International—We pray for Hunter & Lauri Lambeth, working with Young Life in Israel and Palestine. Hunter recently wrote, “A dear friend shared one of the more thought-provoking perspectives on the COVID crisis with me this week. He made the assertion that waiting is not wasting. Referencing a story about a monk who challenged the observation that waiting is not to be equated with doing nothing, my friend shared the monk’s perspective that in waiting we are given an incredible opportunity to ‘grow up our souls.’ And furthermore, that if we can’t learn to be still and wait, we ‘can’t become what God created us to be.’” Prayer requests: (1) the discipling of those who started their faith journey at the summer camps; (2) the formation of solid relationships between leaders and the youth; (3) Young Life Clubs which will resume this month, particularly the new clubs, includ-ing the 2 which Yousef hopes to begin around Bethlehem; (4) enthusiasm for Renay and her coworkers in Nazareth and Ibillin, as they welcome new and returning members; (5) the leaders in Jordan and the new min-istry starting there.
Griefs
We pray for Susan & Derek Okada on the death of Susan’s mom, Margaret Louise Cameron Tew on August 29
We pray for Nancy Congleton whose mom died on September 17
We pray for Jim & Linda Demarest and family on the death of his mother, Rose, on September 16
Joys
We give thanks for the Coonley family, Brad Turnage, and members of the Middle School youth group and who helped to create an outdoor space behind our building, outside of the Commons.
Concerns
We pray for Jo Oldham, who is growing weaker in her battle with cancer. Friends are invited to send her cards.
We pray for Margaret Scearce who found out that her cancer has spread throughout her body and has decided not to receive further treatment.
We pray for our continued searches for a Communications Director and a Choir Director.
World
We pray for the violence in our city and for one of Blacknall’s members who recently witnessed the murder of a young man in their neighborhood.
We continue to pray for the nation and people of Afghanistan, and particularly for Christian brothers and sisters there. We pray for attempts to rescue those whose lives are in danger.
Life Together
We pray for Carol Smith as she serves us in the front office, handling all of our finances. We also pray for the delivery guys who serve us at Blacknall: Reggie (UPS), Scotty (FedEx), and Louie (USPS).
We pray for the Festival of the Bean this afternoon at Camp Chestnut Ridge. Pray that it would be a time of strengthening the ties that bind us together in Christ and that it would be a lot of fun.