Holy Week & Easter
Maundy Thursday Communion Services
Thursday, April 1, 12pm & 7pm | Join us for an opportunity to hear the word, share the Lord’s Supper, and sing a hymn together. We will meet on the sanctuary steps and in the rose garden for 15-20 minutes. Please wear a mask; all ages welcome.
Good Friday Stations in the Street
Friday & Saturday, April 2 & 3, 9-6 pm | Experience the stations of the cross through imagery and prayer. Stop by any time between 9-6 pm to walk through the outdoors stations.
Easter Vigil | Community Rising from the Grave to Resurrection & Liberation
Saturday, April 3, 6-6:30 PM - Parking, 6:30-7:30 PM - Vigil
LOCATION: MT. LEVEL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH PARKING LOT (316 HEBRON ROAD, DURHAM, NC 27704). Together with Mt Level and the Mt. Level Community Partnership for Racial Justice, participate in an outdoor Easter vigil. Please note that this will be a drive-up service facilitated through FM transmission. Lawn chairs socially distanced are welcome. Masks are required.
Easter Outdoor Worship | Sign up
Sunday, April 4 at 9, 10, & 11 am | Celebrate the resurrection with the birds of the air in an outdoor worship service on Easter morning. Worship from home liturgy also provided.
Announcements
Sanctuary Worship | Live stream & In-person
Sundays, 8:30 & 11 am
Blacknall will begin livestreaming worship on April 11. Registration will open to the congregation for Sunday, April 18. An abbreviated worship from home liturgy will also be provided. Read more here: Sanctuary FAQ, Sanctuary Plan.Class of 2024 Officers
Blacknall is excited to welcome the Class of 2024 officers. Deacons: Rhett Davis, Daniella Goldfarb, Heather Hodge, Kristy Roberts Ponce, Bill Shively, and Ryan Stults. Elders: Cullen Rodgers-Gates, Sherbie Skeen, Paul Tshihamba, and Michael Whisenhunt. Thanks to all those nominated for their willingness to serve.
The Great Divorce Book Group
Wednesdays, April 14-May 12, 7:30 pm | Zoom
A book group on “The Great Divorce” by C.S. Lewis, led by Allan Poole.
“What to Expect: Parenting Teens During Uncertain Times"
Sunday, April 11, 6:30 pm | Webinar
As we seek to parent our teens well during this exceptionally challenging year, let’s learn from the wisdom of those among us. Blacknall Congregational Care and Youth Ministries invite you to a webinar presented by Blacknall member Emily Cox. Emily is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and faculty member at UNC-Chapel Hill. She and her husband, Jonathan, have been members of Blacknall for 12 years and have two children, Coltrane and Caroline.
47th Durham CROP Hunger Walk
The week-long virtual event will kick off Saturday, April 10 and end on Sunday, April 18. If you would like to walk with other Blacknallites, please join a walk here (or add your own to the list)! Many of you knew and loved Deanna Koenig who was involved in CROP and CWS fundraising for 20 years. Her personal walk ended March 1, 2021, but you can continue to donate and walk in her honor. “Walking for Deanna” buttons are available at the church office or through David Dunderdale (ddunderdale@blacknall.org). Register or donate here.
Prayer
Ministry Partners:
Campus—We pray for Jennifer Hagin working with InterVarsity as the Regional Director for the Virginia Highlands region. Pray for Jennifer as she begins her sabbatical on April 1. Her goals for her sabbatical include:
Cultivating awe and contemplating the desert as she spends 4 weeks hiking and biking through national parks in Arizona and Utah.
Reflecting on her 40 years and practicing gratitude.
Imagining how to keep these practices a part of normal life.
Pray for:
Safe travels in all of her adventures
The Lord’s guidance in her reflection time, that she might be sensitive to what he highlights
Establishing needed disciplines and patterns for the next season of ministry.
International—We pray for Blacknall supported missionaries John and Karen Friesen, affiliated with the Mennonite Central Committee, involved with Community Development in Egypt. Karen writes, “We are grateful for the work here and it has been going well. We continue to support our various Partners with financial grants for projects such as women’s literacy, education for youth, health and peace building … many of our partners are tackling the problems of Gender Based Violence and FGM [female genital mutilation].” Specific pray requests: (1) stable health for Karen’s father in New Jersey; (2) a harmonious and fruitful relationship with their Egyptian partners; (3) comfort for the many who have lost loved ones during the pandemic; (4) the ability to minister comfort and hope to refugees and vulnerable people in Egypt; (5) the protection of Christians and their churches from violence and their freedom to walk worthily as Christ’s ambassadors.
Durham—We pray for our sisters and brothers at Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church and for their pastor, Dr. William Turner. We pray for:
Wisdom as they navigate this season of COVID and a strong sense of connectedness until they are able to worship in person again.
The Mt. Level Community Partnership for Racial Justice that it would be led by the Holy Spirit and would be used by God in our city to bring racial justice and healing. Pray that the Easter Vigil this Saturday would glorify God and honor Christ.
The Vision 150 Capital Campaign as they seek to build the William C. Turner, Jr. Community Family Life Center to serve four purposes: Community Outreach, Strengthening Families, Education & Development, and Health and Wellness.
Grief:
We pray for Faye McLamb on the death of her husband and longtime Blacknallite, George McLamb on March 7
We pray for Doug & Cheryl Koenig and their family on the death of their daughter, Deanna on March 1.
We pray for those who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus.
Joys
We celebrate with Emily, Jason, and Simon Logan on the 2nd birthday of daughter and sister, Claire on March 19th.
We celebrate the birth of Joanna Austell Bradshaw to Maria and Zach Bradshaw on March 10.
We celebrate the birth of Halle Claire, the great granddaughter of Carolyn and Roy Beamer this week.
We celebrate the distribution of the COVID vaccine and the hope that we will be able to begin coming back together in worship soon.
Concerns
We pray for Bill Beckman who had back surgery on Friday.
We pray for Scott Crane recovering from a gall bladder infection.
We pray for Caroline Raby with severe back and neck pain.
We pray for those couples in our congregation who are hoping to adopt.
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 our schools as students are back in class. We pray for teachers and pray that the bonds between teachers and students would quickly be deepened and students might recover academically.
We pray for the families of the ten people who were murdered in Boulder, CO this past week.
We pray against actions and words of violence and hatred being done to Asian Americans. We pray that there would be a growing recognition and reckoning of the racism that Asians face in our country. We pray that we would listen well to our brothers and sisters.
Life Together
We pray for good weather Holy Saturday and Easter morning so that we might be able to worship together outside at Mt. Level on Saturday and at Blacknall’s parking lot on Sunday.
We pray for wisdom and the necessary volunteers who will be able to help out so that we might begin having worship inside the sanctuary on April 18. We pray for all of the ways that we will be worshiping “together” so that we will feel connected to one another and to the Lord.
We give thanks for the announcement that Becky Gould will be Blacknall’s new Director of Congregational Care beginning on July 1. We give thanks for the hard work of the members of the search committee.
We give thanks for our pastors, Allan, Goodie, and David. We pray for wisdom, energy, imagination and love to sustain them in their work among us.