Calendar
Sunday, May 23
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.
Sunday, May 30
Allan & Betsy’s Last Sunday in Worship | Register here for in-person worship
Sunday, June 6
Congregational Meeting | Immediately following 8:30 am and 11:15 am worship services for the sole purpose of voting on the dissolution of the pastoral relationship between Blacknall and Allan Poole. This is a necessary step required by our denomination’s Book of Order as we begin this transition process.
Ordination & installation of officers | 8:30 am Worship Service
Acknowledge senior students | 8:30 am Worship Service
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!
New Small Groups Coming Soon!
Groups will study the upcoming Sunday’s sermon text. Interested? Want more information? Email Goodie Bell.
Women’s Fall Bible Study Survey | Take here
Give feedback on Women’s Bible Study for the 2020-2021 season.
Session Notes | View on CCB homepage
Session has been discussing the pastoral transition, in-person worship, race and the gospel, and more.
Prayer
Ministry Partners:
Campus—We pray for Stephanie Holmer working with InterVarsity with graduate students and faculty on campus at Duke. She asks for prayer for:
o Work with students: “Pray that God will bring new students to the Science & Faith Reading Group. I yearn for Christian students to grow in their understanding of how science and faith fit together in their lives. Even more, I long for students who are not Christians to join us and to experience Christ's love and hospitality while having impactful conversations.”
o Work with campus ministers: “This summer I will be co-leading a group especially for white campus ministers to grow in our understanding of how we should understand race, ethnicity, and culture in light of scripture and the Gospel, and how we move toward racial healing in our lives and communities.”
o Professional development: “I am considering enrolling in a course offered through Regent in partnership with a local private school and taught by the Christian historian Mark Noll. Prayers for discernment are appreciated here.”
International—We pray for Blacknall supported 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.
Durham—We pray for the ministry of St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church. Please pray for their pastor and first lady, Robert and Kathleen Daniels. Pray for physical health for the congregation as several members of the congregation are struggling with health issues. Please pray for Sylvia Belcher, their minister of outreach and community service as she heads up the Walltown Neighborhood Ministries Food Bank. Pray for the group of folks from St. John’s and Blacknall who gather on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at noon to pray together. Pray that our connection with St. John’s would deepen and grow. Pray for St. John’s outreach in the neighborhood of Walltown and that people would respond to the invitation to not only have physical needs met, but to place their trust in Jesus and become a part of this community of believers who love one another and their neighbors.
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 with Abby Turner (and parents Don & Karen) as she married Hunter Cox last weekend.
We celebrate with those who completed academic programs this year: Kyle Gibbs, Amy Webster, Joel Finney, Brad Boswell, and Nate Lo.
We celebrate with Jill Marcantonio as she passed her preliminary exams for her PhD.
We celebrate with Aaron & Deb Ebert as he passed his preliminary exams for his PhD.
We celebrate with Mike and Barb Eyster on their 39th wedding anniversary.
We celebrate with Ron and Shelly Epps on their 20th wedding anniversary.
Concerns
We pray for Julie Leyva who will be taking her PhD. preliminary exams later this month.
We pray for Joe Crupi at Hillcrest recovering from hip surgery.
We pray for Rachel Freyer recovering from carpal tunnel surgery last week.
We pray for Joe Bohn in Budapest, Hungary as he and Karen prepare to return to the U.S. and for Joe to have cardiac surgery here at Duke to treat blocked cardiac arteries.
We pray for Julee Weems who is finishing up an intensive two-week program to try and ascertain and treat the serious health conditions she has been suffering under.
We continue to pray for Oscar Shoenfelt, John Shoenfelt’s brother, who is still in Duke hospital waiting for a heart for heart transplant surgery.
We pray for Noe and Bethany Kasali and their four little girls as they traveled back to Beni, DRC this weekend, via Uganda.
World
We pray for the nation of India as they continue to struggle with the coronavirus. Our mission partner in India asks for prayer for several of their discipleship leaders who have come down with the virus.
We pray for Israel and Palestine and thank God for the ceasefire. We pray for God to be at work to bring peace and a just way to move forward in this conflict.
Life Together
We thank God for the ministry of Allan Poole and particularly for his preaching and all that God has taught us and spoken to us through him.
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.