Announcements
Congregational Meeting | Sunday, Dec. 6, 12 p.m.
The purpose of the meeting is to receive new members and to celebrate Dave Stuntz. We hope you can join us!
ADVENT DEVOTIONAL | Sign up
Jesus is coming – so let’s sing! Each day of the Advent devotional will include a reflection by Dave Stuntz and a carol recorded by Blacknall members.
ADVENT WREATH KITS | Sign up
Blacknall is providing Advent wreath kits this year as our gift to the congregation so we can walk through the season of Advent together, even while we're apart. Kits include 4 candles, a floral foam wreath ring, and instructions. Photo above of the kits being prepared for you!
ANGEL TREE FOR ST. JOHN'S & FAMILY MOVING FORWARD | SIGN UP
Every year the people of Blacknall have graciously chosen to participate in our Angel Tree gift-giving. This year will be a bit different, but the spirit will be the same! We have names of children and parents living in shelter at Families Moving Forward and we have the need from St. John's for gift cards to buy gifts for children living in Walltown. Thank you for your generous spirit as we work together to make these dreams happen!
Prayer & Thanksgiving
Ministry Partners:
Durham—We pray for Housing for New Hope (HNH) and for its Executive Director, Russell Pierce. We also ask prayer for Blacknall member, Kay Ferguson, who has been deeply involved with HNH. Please pray for: 1. Efforts to rebuild its Street Outreach efforts where staff are spending time on the streets with those who are homeless and assessing their needs; 2. Efforts to double the capacity of their Rapid Rehousing Team where they quickly find permanent housing for homeless individuals without preconditions; 3. Funds to enhance their Barrier Busting Fund which provides financial assistance to individuals and families who have a difficult time finding housing because of past arrears on rent or utilities; 4. Ways for Blacknall to partner with HNH so that we might be able to love our homeless neighbors better.
International—Please pray for Tom Harvey, the academic dean of the Oxford Centre of Missions Studies (OCMS), and for his wife, Judy Harvey, who continues her pastoral work with St Andrews Church in the Cutteslowe Community of Oxford. Tom writes, “OCMS continues to go full steam ahead even in lockdown, but everything has been moved online and I'm the officer overseeing that transition. That said, we have had 12 students successfully complete their degrees from around the globe. We hold the examinations online via video conferencing. We also have a strong cohort of students wanting to join the programme, which is good. On the down-sided we won't be able to hold their induction in Oxford due to travel restrictions, housing matters, social distancing, and required isolation upon arrival, so we have postponed the Induction programme until 2021 April.” Prayer requests: (1) an increase in financial contributions so that the center will not have to cut staff; (2) thanksgiving for Blacknall Church’s $10,000 gift from the Future Vision Fund; (3) wisdom and strength for Tom in his role as academic dean to make budgetary decisions, to plan for the orientation of a new cohort of PhD students next spring, and to prepare online presentations; (4) Judy’s ministry in St Andrews Church and in its local mission project.
Campus—We pray for John and Jeanie Hamilton and his work with Navigators at Duke and in the Triangle.
Praise: for the many Zoom conversations this pandemic has fostered with former Navigator-trained Duke students.
R is leading a great SS class in the Falls Church.
D is representing Christ well as Chair, Engineering Department at his mid-west university (needs better quality time in the Bible).
S in Africa, is wallowing in Be Thou My Vision (says I introduced him to it 25 years ago--I had no idea.).
B is contemplating retirement from his medical practice (trying to figure out the next step in God's call on his life).
D in Singapore, is learning to be a new husband. (Learn to say, "I'm sorry, honey, I was insensitive.")
Prayer: for wisdom in proclaiming the gospel to the several non-Christians Jeanie and I are deeply engaged with each month:
a PhD psychologist, wife dying of brain cancer, both a long way from God. ("John, how is it that though we were both raised in the same church, you've majored on helping people get through life with God, and I've majored on helping people get through life without God? How is that?")
an entire book reading club of a dozen professionals who rejected the churches (and God) of their childhood, yet allow Jeanie to explain how her view of Jesus relates to the main theme of each book they read. They've just asked her to take over the job of facilitating group discussion.
a group of retirees, golfers, with whom I walk the fairway each week. ("So Pete, What would you say is the fundamental difference between your Catholic faith and my Protestant faith?" And we're off and running, discussing Romans 5:1. PS. The answer is NOT faith v works.)
Grief
Pray for Becky Takiguchi whose Dad, Daniel (96), died recently.
Pray for Emily Cox and her family on the death of her grandfather.
Pray for those who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus.
Joys
We thank God for Abby Demarest’s engagement to be married to Toby Finizo.
We thank God for 19 new members who are joining Blacknall this Fall.
We rejoice with Jenna and Jac Brown on the birth of their son, Caeden Samuel on Nov. 11.
Concerns
We pray for Taylor Brennan and Scott Crane as they continue cancer treatment.
We pray for Beth and Tim Filston as Beth recovers from surgery at Duke.
We pray for medical and frontline workers who are caring for those with the virus.
World
We pray for deliverance from the virus as it surges in our nation and around the world.
We thank God for the development of vaccines that promise to help fight this virus. We pray for a speedy and just distribution of these vaccines around the world.
We pray for Christian brothers and sisters around the world who are facing persecution because of their faith in Christ. We pray for perseverance, hope, and relief for them.
Life Together
We pray for the search committee for the Director of Congregational Care (chair, Melissa Hartemink).
We pray for Patrick and Catherine Timmis as they prepare to move to Michigan in December.
We pray for Durham Public Schools and for the Learning Center that we are hosting at Blacknall. We pray for the staff from the YMCA who are with the children and that our building will be a place of safety and learning.
We pray for this season of Advent that we would use this season as a time for repentance, reflection and to build our hope in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Finance
Blacknall remains financially strong in these uncertain times. Our budget for this fiscal year (July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021) expands our ongoing support for local, campus, and international ministries. As Allan noted in his recent letter, our session recently approved additional gifts to specific local ministries whose needs have increased during the pandemic. We are always grateful for the generosity of our congregation.
Our offerings have fallen behind our expenses, and we would like to bring these back into balance by the end of the calendar year. We have received $367,000 in offerings from July 1 through October 31 (four months), and are projecting expenses of at least $730,000 through December 31 (six months). We will need to receive $363,000 or more in November and December to end the calendar year in balance. We believe that this is feasible since December has traditionally been a strong month for us. Please contact Rich Frothingham with any questions.
There are multiple ways to give to Blacknall:
Cash or check brought to the church office.
Checks mailed to the church office.
Automatic bank drafts as a part of bill pay directed to Blacknall using your local bank.
Gifts of stock. For more information about how to transfer stock, contact Rick Every (919-489-9733) or Carol Smith (919-286-5586).
Online giving is available from our website (including ACH, debit card, and credit card donations). Members can also schedule recurring online gifts when signed on to CCB.
Details on all giving options are available at www.blacknall.org/give.
About the Music
Today begins the season of Advent – our annual pilgrimage of preparation. When two of John the Baptist’s followers express an interest in Jesus, His reply is appropriate for us today: “Come, and you will see.” That word, “Come,” shows up in 3 songs today – notice that the first two are suffused with as-yet-unfulfilled longing; the third time (“Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus”), the questions have been answered, the longing replaced with in-the-flesh reality. Jesus has come to us, but we must come to Him – sitting passively will not suffice. Even in this strangest of Advent seasons, it’s important that we do not (so to speak) welcome Jesus via zoom. Yes, we can see Him, but if it is like watching TV or a parade, if it is like welcoming Him via our monitor, it takes us nowhere – there’s seeing, and then there’s seeing. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that though now he sees in a mirror dimly, one day he will see the Savior face to face – unmasked. We are invited this season to come closer, to see and touch, so that we might perceive more fully. Rejoice – this is the season when we remember that He came, AND prepare for His coming this year, AND anticipate His coming again. Emmanuel has come in history – Emmanuel is coming even in the darkness of this year – and Emmanuel shall come again, with ultimate clarity. I’m glad for another chance to spend the season with you.
Community Events
Community Rising Together | Saturday, Dec. 19, 11 a.m.
Join the Mt. Level Partnership for Racial Justice for a virtual community Advent celebration. Invite a friend! Zoom link coming soon.