Calendar
Sunday, May 16
Communion in the Rose Garden | 9:45-10 am & 12:30-12:45 pm
For those who worship with us virtually and who would like to receive communion, a pastor will be present in the rose garden.Pentecost Celebration Packet Pick-up | 9:45-10 am & 12:30-12:45 pm
Available for families to pick up in the Rose Garden after services and for children to receive a blessing from Allan Poole. The packets can also be picked up Tuesday, May 18, 10:30 am - 4:30 pm in the Rose Garden. Unable to pick up during those times? Contact Beth Solie or Leslie Petree.
Sunday, May 23
Allan’s Last Sermon | Register here for in-person worship
Sunday, May 30
Allan & Betsy’s Last Sunday in Worship | Register here for in-person worship
Announcements
Worship Preferences Survey | Take Here
We are committed to gathering in the name of Christ for worship; help us discern the best way for our community to gather right now. Please take a moment and complete this survey.
Celebrate Allan & Betsy
Celebrate Allan and Betsy’s 36 years of service as Allan retires May 31.
Camp Chestnut Ridge Gatherings Register
Saturday, June 5, 10-11:30 am & 1:30-3 pm
Drive-by Celebration at Blacknall
Sunday, June 6, 2-3 pm
A drive by farewell parade around Blacknall’s building.
Summer Nursery Ministry Volunteers | Sign up here
We are inviting fully vaccinated adults and teens in our congregation to partner with the Nursery Ministry in providing childcare during our Sunday 8:30 am worship service this summer. You can find the June/July sign-up sheet above and you're welcome to sign up as a Volunteer Worker for as many spots as you'd like. If you haven't volunteered on the Nursery Hall before, you can still sign-up and Leslie Petree will contact you about the screening process and online security training. Our goal is to have every spot filled by May 23, so we hope you'll consider engaging with and investing in our Blacknall children in this way!
Take a Meal
Take a meal to Alex & Graham Turner as they welcome baby Lily.
Take a meal to the Shoenfelts as they care for John’s brother. Send a note to encourage Oscar by mailing it to the church office c/o Ali Shoenfelt (1902 Perry St. Durham, NC 27705).
Take a meal to the Freyers as Rachel recovers from surgery
Prayer
International - Please pray for our missionaries Hunter and Lauri Lambeth. 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) government approval to conduct Young Life camps this summer on a reduced scale because of covid; (2) hearts of the campers to be ready to hear the gospel message; (3) adequate funding for the camps; (4) vaccinations for all the staff; (5) nations where there is a high growth potential for YL, particularly Egypt; (6) a way for the US teams to travel to the Holy Land in the coming months to be with the Middle East/North African staff for ministry and encouragement.
Pray for International Missionaries using the May Prayer Guide.
Durham—We pray for the ministry of the Durham Rescue Mission. Please pray for:
· The continued safety of their clients and staff. They have been blessed to not have a huge breakout even though they serve 400 men, women, and children each day.
· This time of transition as founders, Ernie and Gail Mills (photo at right) step away from their current roles after 47 years and turn the ministry over to the current Chief Operating Officer, Rev. Rob Tart.
· People will be moving into different positions and learning new roles for the rest of this year, as well.
· Plans to be able to offer their Victory Program virtually. The Victory Program is their program where they seek to teach their clients Christian values so that they can overcome addictions and other obstacles that have knocked people down.
Campus—We pray for Dean Storelli working with Navigators on campus at Duke. Dean also works at Duke with students for whom English is not their first language and helping them with their writing assignments. Please pray:
· That Dean would be fruitful in the fields God has called him to: Duke, their neighborhood, and the broader Navigators community
· For wisdom as he walks alongside 20s trying to adjust to their new lives after college and the staff and staff couple he supervises
· That his wife, Anne, and our kids would prosper and find rest
· As he works with Navigators nationally developing several Bible study materials.
Grief:
We pray for Phil Vandermeer in the death of his mother, Marie, on April 23
We pray for those who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus.
Joys
We celebrate the confirmands who made a public declaration of faith in Christ and became members of the church today: Emma Busch, Isela Coonely, Judah Epps, Erik Kronstad, Benjamin Rizzuto, Mercy Rose-Tomlinson, Jack Weinard, Patrick Stutz
We celebrate with many among us who completed academic programs this year: Kyle Gibbs, Amy Webster, Joel Finney, Brad Boswell, Nate Lo.
Concerns
We pray for Joe Crupi and his wife, Charlene, as Joe recovers from surgery.
We pray for Jill Marcantonio and Julie Leyva during Doctoral Exams.
We continue to pray for Rachel Freyer as she recovers from surgery.
We pray for Joe and Karen Bohn as they seek to get insurance approval for Joe’s bypass surgery at Duke.
We pray for Julee Weems as she participates in a two-week program to try and ascertain and treat the serious health conditions she has been suffering under.
We pray for Dean Bidgood who has been diagnosed with bladder cancer.
We pray for Diane Bidgood recovering from cataract surgery and fighting cancer.
We continue to pray for Oscar Shoenfelt, John Shoenfelt’s brother, who is in Duke hospital waiting for a heart for heart transplant surgery.
World
We pray for those parts of our nation and the world where the coronavirus is spiking. We pray for the nation of India with over 350,000 new cases every day. Our mission partner in India asks for prayer for several of their discipleship leaders who have come down with the virus.
We pray for those around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. We pray that they might be faithful and that their persecution would lead to the spreading of the gospel.
Life Together
We pray for wisdom about how to gather for worship.
We pray for volunteers who love youth and love Jesus who would be willing to volunteer in our Middle School and High School ministry with Tanya Kronstad and Brad Turnage.
We pray for volunteers who are willing to help care for our infants and children so that we can offer childcare for worship as we gather together.
We pray for the Pastoral Transition Team as they begin the work of searching for an Interim Pastor. We pray for Stephanie Wheatley (chair), Lauren Holahan, Jack Simonds, Julie Leyva, Ann Talton-Lee, Paul Tshihamba, and David Dunderdale.