Announcements

Lenten Livestream
Wednesdays through March 24, 7-7:30 pm
Lenten Book Study
Sundays, Feb. 28-March 28, 7-8 pm | Register here.
Take a step forward in your life with Jesus by joining our Lenten study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship. Led by Chris Blumhofer and friends. Pick up a copy of the book. (Any edition will do, but this is the one we recommend. For those who have access, the Duke Library has an e-version.) View a video invitation from Chris here.
Lenten Prayer & Fasting with DMET
Saturdays, 9-10 am | Zoom Link on CCB
During this season of Lent, you are invited to join us in fasting Friday lunch and spending that time in prayer for our city, especially for our partners in ministry who will be sharing updates with us each week. Join us Saturdays over zoom to pray and reflect together for our city and our partners.
New Blacknall Directory & Raffle
Blacknall is updating the church directory! You can help us out by updating your CCB profile (view tips) with a current photo and information. Sign up here if you’d like a hard copy mailed to you. Once you’ve updated your profile, sign up here to be entered in a drawing for your choice of a $20 gift card to The Regulator Bookshop, Joe VanGogh Coffee, or Pincho Loco Ice Cream.
Blacknall Broadcasting Team
Are you awesome? Yes you are! Are you interested in joining an awesome team? Of course you are! Now that we've begun our Lenten livestream service, and have more services coming in the next season, we are building a SUPER BLACKNALL BROADCASTING TEAM. We're looking for individuals who are interested in helping with the tech and logistics of broadcasting. Comfortability with tech and/or any experience with broadcasting is a plus, but more important is a servant’s heart and a willingness to learn new systems, as well as be a part of an awesome team. If that’s you, let us know by filling out this form!
Holy Week & Easter
Maundy Thursday Livestream Service | Thursday, April 1
Easter Outdoor Worship | Sunday, April 4
Stay tuned for more details.
Allan Poole's Retirement Celebration
Saturday & Sunday, June 5-6
A committee is working hard to plan safe ways to celebrate Allan. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for more details coming soon!

Prayer

Ministry Partners:

Campus—We pray for Kris Cooper working with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at North Carolina Central University. We celebrate with Kris on his ordination as a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church of America (picture at right). Please pray for the ministry at NCCU as they start a new series this semester called, “Jesus over everything.” The series is a study on the book of Hebrews, teaching that Jesus is superior to everything that they could imagine. Please pray that the Word of God will penetrate students’ hearts and help them grow in grace. Pray for wisdom in how to connect with students since Kris is not allowed on campus due to COVID. Pray for the financial needs of the ministry at NCCU.

International—Please pray for Blacknall missionaries Dick and Nancy Baggé who continue to counsel Wycliffe Bible Translator missionaries from here in the U.S. In this regard, you are invited to take a few minutes to watch a video which clearly explains how a counseling ministry like the Baggés benefitted a Wycliffe missionary couple in a time of crisis.

Specific prayer requests:

(1) thanksgiving for progress made in settling into their new home and community (in Pennsylvania);

(2) a resolution for some health issues for both of them;

(3) preparations for a Wycliffe counseling conference in October: speaker, agenda, and travel funds for each counselor;

(4) progress in developing a multi-agency counseling center in Australia, which could serve missionaries in island nations lacking mental healthcare;

(5) trauma healing for many through the two versions of the mental health handbook they wrote.

Durham—We pray for the Samaritan Health Center and our own Elizabeth Brill who is the Executive Director. She reports:

Praises

Friday 2/19 was SHC's 12th anniversary! God has been so faithful and we're grateful for Blacknall's role from the very beginning.
Our staff continues to avoid COVID.
We have four new Board members joining us from four different churches this spring (including Blacknall). We can't wait to learn from their diverse gifts and perspectives.
We're continuing to register new patients, and our staff + volunteer team continues to faithfully provide high quality care.

Prayer Requests

A successful (limited) dental clinic reopening on Monday 2/22; wisdom as we re-envision how to best utilize this clinic.
Access to COVID vaccines for our patients; smooth timing and logistics when we are able to offer vaccines at SHC
More nurses and interpreters as our in person visits increase
God's provision and care for our patients as the pandemic continues to take a toll with addiction, loneliness, and chronic medical needs.

Grief:

We pray for Anne and Mark Paulson on the death of Anne’s Mom on Feb. 17.
We pray for Kay Ferguson on the death of her brother-in-law, Rausey on Feb. 15.
We pray for Mark and Helen Atkinson on the death of Mark’s Dad on Feb. 14. Pray for Helen’s Dad, 93, who is battling COVID
We pray for Tana O’Keefe whose sister, Verna, died on Feb. 14.
We pray for Dan & Tanya, Eric, Caleb, and James Kronstad on the death of Dan’s Dad on Feb. 10.
We pray for Brenda Boardman on the death of her Mom to COVID-19 on Feb. 10.
We pray for Martha Gore whose sister, Linda, died on Feb. 6.
We pray for those who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus.

Joys

We celebrate the news that Rose Condon is engaged to be married to Daniel.
We give thanks for Beth Solie who has served this congregation and especially our children so faithfully for these past 15 years!!

Concerns

We pray for Deanna Koenig who is in the hospital and for her parents, Doug and Cheryl.
We pray for Paul & Phyllis Immanuel who are struggling with persistent health problems.
We pray for Lori Riggs as she struggles with headaches, sinus problems, fatigue and ongoing symptoms from the coronavirus.

World

We pray for a speedy and just distribution of the coronavirus vaccines locally and around the world.
We pray for Christian brothers and sisters in countries where Christians are facing persecution. We pray especially for the nation of India where Christians and non-Hindus are being targeted.

Life Together

We pray for the search committee for the Director of Congregational Care (chair, Melissa Hartemink).
We pray for the group meeting together via Zoom tonight to begin studying Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship, led by Chris Blumhofer and Goodie Bell.
We pray for small groups and all the groups that are meeting together for study, prayer, and fellowship.
We pray for our elders as they meet this week and seek to discern how we might best begin to gather together to worship.
We pray for Brad Turnage and Tanya Kronstad and for wisdom, imagination, and love as they seek to minister to our youth and families. We pray that there will be ways for our youth and adult volunteers to gather together safely.

Community

The Center for Christianity and Scholarship is hiring!

Office and House Manager (OHM) to oversee the administrative and hospitality functions of CCS. The OHM maintains office systems, tracks finances, manages ministry partner databases, and oversees house staff, programs, use, and volunteers. Suitable candidates are organized, detail-oriented, self-motivated, and a welcoming presence.
Director of Academic Programming (DAP). This position will be responsible for developing and executing the academic program of CCS, including working with the Executive Director to develop those programs that engage the most promising intersections of the Christian tradition with teaching and research opportunities through Duke University. The regular responsibilities of this position include oversight of faculty formation, graduate student formation, and undergraduate student formation. We seek someone who is winsomely Christian, thrives in interaction with a wide variety of people from across disciplines and faith/non-faith backgrounds, and is skilled at giving voice to the breadth of the Christian intellectual tradition in a public university setting. This position will be of particular interest to recent PhDs, graduate students nearing degree completion, and other scholars interested in a career that deeply engages the academic life of the university.

For more information on either position, reach out to CCS Executive Director Edward Dixon.