Calendar

SUNDAY, JUNE 20

Kicking off this afternoon! Summer FUN-Day Evenings Sundays, June 20- July 25, 5:30- 7 p.m. Duke Park Picnic Shelter (106 West Knox Street, Durham). Pack a picnic dinner and join your Blacknall family for fellowship, fun, and devotion. Blacknall will provide popsicles and a fun theme each week. The Duke Park shelter is reserved for the whole afternoon, feel free to arrive early and kick off the picnic. Bring a friend, and share this link with others.
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.

The Poole Tote Bag Giveaway! We have several beautiful and functional tote bags filled with goodies from our celebration of Allan and Betsy Poole’s retirement. If you or a friend would like one or more, they are there for the taking in the upper atrium!

Coming Up:

Summer Small Groups | Details and Sign up

Two small groups are starting up this week! (Monday 6/21 and Thursday 6/24) Groups are co-ed and open to youth (16+) and adults. The format will include discussing the upcoming Sunday’s sermon text, fellowship and prayer.

Announcements

Please note, we will be discontinuing the Worship From Home liturgy (text only, not the Livestream) beginning June 27. Song lyrics and Scripture text will be visible in the upper right corner of the livestream service. We apologize if this affects your worship time, but we encourage you to watch the full livestream or attend sanctuary worship, as you feel comfortable. Thank you for bearing with us as we navigate our return to corporate worship!
The Blacknall Library is open!
As Sunday morning worship is now underway, the library is ready too! Our books, DVDs and CDs are here for your summer enjoyment.
Hours: Sundays between services, self-service midweek when the church is open. Masks are requested, and we’ll limit the number of people as needed. Come see us for all the books you’ve missed!
If you have library materials at home, it’s time for the great Blacknall Book Bring-Back! Since the beginning of the pandemic, we extended return dates. Please return any overdue library materials to ensure our collection serves everyone.
SHHH! It’s a surprise! On the afternoon of June 26, there will be a car parade in celebration of Sylvia Belcher’s 60th Birthday! Please see the Life Together email for more details.
Summer Nursery Volunteers | Sign up
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.

Prayer

Campus—We pray for Andrea Bridges, with InterVarsity. Andrea, a member at Blacknall, serves as the editor of The Well, an online gathering place that is part of InterVarsity’s Women in the Academy and Professions ministry. Please pray for Andrea and Matt (and Alden, Rosie, and James) as they are moving from Durham to Illinois as Matt begins a PhD. program. Pray for the women whom Andrea and her team serve, that they would experience a summer of rest, renewal, and preparation. Pray for her team, as they enter a season of fundraising and planning.

International—We pray for Blacknall missionaries, Rich and Barb Leary who are with Cru and have been serving in Eastern Europe. Pray for them as they are in transition (not retirement) from Budapest to Virginia in the U.S., with all that that entails. (The delightful picture, with 10 adults and 10 children, is of the large Leary clan.) Prayer requests: (1) patience and strength to pack up their stuff in Budapest and ship it (now done and they arrived in the U.S. last Monday); (2) more opportunities for their team in Eastern Europe to disciple people in government, business, education, and sports; (3) a spiritual hunger and an acute interest in the gospel among the people of eastern Europe; (4) guidance about joining a new Cru ministry in Europe next year.

Durham—We pray for the ministry of Urban Ministries of Durham) and for Sheldon Mitchell, the Executive Director. We celebrate the faithful service of Helen Trotter, Charlene Trotter, and Evelyn Yankana (pictured at right) who recently won the Governor’s Medallion Award for volunteer service. Last year these three packed over 35,000 bagged meals for clients and since then have packed breakfast and lunch every day for medically fragile clients residing at a local hotel. Pray for UMD as they prepare for re-opening. Pray that volunteers will step up in the Food Pantry, the Clothing Closet, and the Café.

Grief

We pray for those who are grieving the absence of their earthly fathers on this Father’s Day.
We pray for those grieving through the loss of miscarriage or infertility.
We pray for those who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus.

Joys

We give thanks for all those who helped to raise over $10,000 for CROP through walks in honor of Deanna Koenig.

Concerns

We pray for Mark Paulson, who is undergoing surgery on Wednesday.
Support the Paulsons by taking them a meal.

We pray for Sophia Chen and Jesse Sun who are in Belize. They went to the U.S. embassy there so Sophia could apply for a student visa. She had her interview and now they must wait. Pray that she will be granted the visa quickly.

We continue to pray for Joy Manila, daughter of Ron & Betsy, as she recovers from orthopedic surgery on both of her legs. Pray for patience and strength as she goes through the recovery and rehab process.

We pray for Julie Weems who is still struggling with persistent health problems.

We pray for Ann Housel whose cataract surgery was postponed until July.

World

We pray against the growing violence in Haiti. Pray for Romel, a Haitian doctor that works in a clinic that many in Blacknall have worked with in Haiti, who is sending his wife and two young daughters to stay in the U.S. out of fear of violence and their being kidnapped for ransom. We pray for April and Shelia who will be hosting Romel’s family in their home.

Life Together

We celebrate Juneteenth and pray that this holiday will help us as a nation heal and move toward a deeper reckoning of our racial sins and of our need for a Savior.

We pray for wisdom for elders and staff as we navigate these times with decisions about how to be together safely and faithfully in a way that honors Christ and our interconnectedness as his Body.

We pray for our office staff: Leslie Cenezy, Ali Shoenfelt, and Carol Smith and for all the ways they serve us. We pray as we begin the search process for a new Director of Communication that we would find a person who will be a great fit for the job and for our staff.

Prayer Concerns PDF

Community

Housing for New Hope (HNH) is in need of 6-8 volunteers for 4-6 hours at their Williams Square location – the address is 501 E Carver St #2579, Durham, NC 27704. This will be an opportunity to load up 40 of each of their 3 client kits (instructions will be provided). Reaching, bending, pulling, kneeling involved. Please contact lauren.holahan@gmail.com if you are interested in helping and I will coordinate date/time with our group; HNH is flexible and wants us to name the day/time.
Durham’s Story, Your Story and God’s Story – The Durham Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope
There are two upcoming opportunities to participate in a weekend pilgrimage to immerse yourself in the story of Durham and the Biblical story – learn the history of Durham, how God is working and has worked here, and how you fit in. You can choose either July 30-August 1 or October 22-24. So you know, Blacknall is planning a customized pilgrimage in partnership with St Johns MBC and Mount Level MBC in early 2022. Participation may be limited for that pilgrimage so you may want to consider the opportunities this summer and fall. Additional information about the pilgrimage and registration is available here: DurhamCares
Samaritan Health Center is growing and has a position for a part time Medical Director! The Medical Director will have primary responsibility for managing the clinical performance of Samaritan Health Center. He or she will work closely with the Executive Director to ensure that medical and vision services at the Health Center are provided at the Health Center are provided at the standard of care. Please check HERE for the full description and application. We would love to have you join our team!
CCS Volunteer "Senior" Intern Wanted: Do you want to get out of the house once a week, be around a youthful presence, and use your bookkeeping, database, and office management skills for ministry purposes? The Center for Christianity and Scholarship is looking for an enthused retiree with bookkeeping and database skills to volunteer for several hours a week in the office at the CCS house. The need is from June through August, but with the possibility of extending through the calendar or academic year if all parties agree. If interested, please contact Laney Alspaugh at margaret.alspaugh@duke.edu.
A friend of Blacknall is looking for a paid caregiver for her son in High Point: