FBC Raleigh News • September 1, 2020
CENTERPOINT RETURNS

The Adult Ministries Council is excited to announce the return of Centerpoint this fall! The past several months have pulled each of us in different directions, with many of the rituals and routines that used to draw us together no longer viable options. The time and space apart, however, has pushed us to reflect on what community means to us. The council has planned a variety of sessions that will allow our First Baptist community to reflect even further on this theme.

Our meetings this fall will consist of two alternating structures. The first will be a presentation offered via Zoom. While the need to meet virtually brings many challenges, it also offers us the opportunity to line up speakers who might not normally be available, and we’re excited about those speakers. The second structure is a small group discussion. Some of those meetings will be in person at the church, held outdoors with plenty of spacing; on the same weeks, you have the option to attend a Zoom meeting that will also break out into small groups. We hope that these options will make it feasible for everyone to find what they’re looking for on Wednesday nights. One way or another, we look forward to seeing you soon!

September Centerpoint Schedule
Wednesday, September 9 (small groups, 6:00-7:30pm): What Is Community? Join us for an overview of community that introduces this topic and lays the foundation for the rest of our semester.
Joining us online? Click here
Joining us in person? Consider signing up here.

Wednesday, September 16 (presentation, 6:15-7:30pm): Christian Community in Times of Duress: Insights from Bonhoeffer, Moltmann, and Others. Our own Chris Chapman will kick off the first of our large group Zoom meetings by helping us to think about the role community has played during deeply challenging times.

Wednesday, September 23 (small groups, 6:00-7:30pm): What’s In A Name? Our names shape our identities, both as individuals and as groups. Connect with others over a conversation about how our communal names shape us and what those names convey about us.
Joining us online? Click here
Joining us in person? Consider signing up here.

Wednesday, September 30 (presentation, 6:15-7:30pm): Paul’s Letter Writing. New Testament scholars Diane Lipsett and Rick Vinson will lead us via Zoom as we discuss how Paul used letters to foster community, especially when he couldn’t be physically present.

Children's Music & Missions:
Though more details will be communicated directly to parents, we will have outdoor, socially-distanced children’s activities on Wednesday nights in various backyards from 6:30-7:30pm. Three-year-olds through Kindergarteners will have missions and non-singing music activities on one Wednesday night, first – fifth grade GA’s will combine and have missions and non-singing music activities on another Wednesday night, and first – fifth grade RA’s will combine and have missions and non-singing music activities on another Wednesday night. The cycle will continue as long as it is light and warm enough to continue being outside!    
DEACON ON CALL • AUGUST 30- SEPTEMBER 5
Sterling Brickell (919-812-6682)
HOUSING ALL FUND

As a faith community, we are deeply grateful to have a way to extend financial help to our neighbors in need. The Fellowship Fund is used nearly every week to help individuals in our community that find themselves in various crisis situations. We help people with everything from rental assistance to Food Lion gift cards. Pre-COVID, folks would call on the first of the month, and we would book in-person intake appointments. Leah would meet with the individual during the Clothing Ministry hours and have a chance to get to know their need, providing assistance when possible. The need is so great that we are very rarely able to help with an individual's entire bill. This means that we can pay a part, and then we end up piece-milling help together from other churches. This ends up being a headache for our neighbors in need, because they have to call multiple churches to get the help that they need. Last fall, four downtown churches sat down with the Wake County Housing Department to talk about the possibility of pulling our resources together for a collaborative, multi-church fund to provide assistance to our community.

Beginning September 6, this dream is becoming a reality with the new Housing All Fund. In partnership with Pullen Memorial Baptist and the Wake County Housing Department, our church will be doing a coordinated intake process for anyone in need of rental or utility assistance. Wake County has significant funding and programs available for rental and utility assistance, but not every resident qualifies for that help. For example, our undocumented neighbors do not qualify for any assistance through the county, making up roughly 9% of our population that is in danger of becoming homeless over the next few months. When it's safe to gather in person again, we'll be training volunteers on Wake County's coordinated entry process so that we can bridge the gap between the church and county, connecting folks to available help. We have already had several churches give towards this effort, and we hope in the days and months to come that this develops into an interfaith, multi-church fund to help those in need. We will still keep the Mike Morris Fellowship Fund, and gifts to that offering will go to this new effort along with our own continued emergency assistance needs. Our hope is that by working together as downtown churches, we will be able to help more families through this new, collaborative approach. For questions or further information, please email Leah.
RISK MANAGEMENT TEAM FOR COVID-19

In the newly revised church bylaws, adopted on December 18, 2019, the church council has responsibility for “risk management, including physical security, safety, and emergency procedures.” In recent years, we have been addressing security and safety issues and we have reviewed our emergency procedures, recognizing the need for more work in this area. But until March of this year, we had not thought seriously about a major pandemic and all of the associated risks and decisions. Now we have, and we are grateful that we have a group identified as having the responsibility to address these concerns.

Up until now, the ministerial staff, in consultation with the church council, has been making decisions related to COVID-19 – which activities and events to cancel, which to hold, and which to adjust in minor or major ways. We developed a general set of guidelines by which to make decisions regarding church activities onsite, outside groups wanting to meet in our facilities, and church events scheduled to take place away from the church. We have managed, learning as we go, and you have been very supportive of our efforts, but are at a place where we need help, the kind of help that a more defined group with explicit authority and needed expertise can provide.

So, we have formed a risk management team for COVID-19. Ron Maness, from the church council, has agreed to serve on the team and will chair it. Joining him in this work are John Baldwin, Sam Ewell, Alice Marshbanks, and Hollis Yelverton. If you know these people, you realize that we have medical expertise, workplace safety wisdom, and wise and seasoned decision makers. We are asking them to guide our process for decision-making throughout this pandemic in consultation with the ministerial staff and church council. We deeply appreciate their willingness to help with this critical task!

The document below outlines general guidelines for the church office and small group events. Please visit our church website for the online request form for meetings and activities.


Chris Chapman, Pastor
Mary Nash Rusher, Deacon Chair
FAMILY PROMISE WEEK

Like everything else in our world, Family Promise is operating differently this year. To minimize risk for all involved, Family Promise has shifted to housing families experiencing homelessness in their transitional housing apartment building rather than in churches. Two families are sharing each apartment. Currently they have 7 families, 18 people total.  While housing and transportation are not needed this fall, meals still are a need, which brings new changes for hosting the week of September 20-27.
 
• First, we are being asked to provide evening meals to individual family units Monday – Friday and to deliver a list of needed breakfast and lunch supplies the Friday before. Family Promise is finding that families have more than enough left-overs for dinners on the weekends.
• Second, Family Promise has paired us with Asbury UMC to help split up the load. Asbury UMC has agreed to cover the beginning of the week (Monday-Tuesday) and they will be providing lunch supplies. We will be handling the end of the week (Wednesday-Friday) and breakfast supplies. Our friends at Sacred Heart also remain committed to working with us and so they will be handling Wednesday night. We will receive a firm headcount, list of food allergies/restrictions, and a family by family list of breakfast/lunch needs on September 16.

We'll need three individuals or small self-organizing teams to do the following:
• Team 1 – Breakfast supply team. This team will need to take the list we get Wednesday, shop for and individually bag up groceries and deliver them to the Family Promise Day Center by 2pm on Friday, September 18.
• Team 2 – Thursday Dinner team. This team will need to provide an evening meal on Thursday, September 24, pre-divided by apartment to the Day Center at 5:30pm.
• Team 3 – Friday Dinner team. This team will need to provide an evening meal on Friday, September 25, pre-divided by apartment to the Day Center at 5:30pm.
  
Questions you all may have:
• Do they need paper-ware? – no – families have stocked kitchens.
• What about drinks? Request for drinks will be part of the breakfast/lunch request list. No additional drinks need to be provided with dinner
• Do we need to provide condiments with meals? No – the day center has plenty in stock.
• Costs - our Family Promise budget can cover these meals and so teams volunteering can submit their receipt to the church office for reimbursement.
• Where is the Day Center? The Day Center is located at 903 Method Rd, 27606, just off of Western Boulevard.

If you are interested in signing up for one of these teams, please email Holly Ivel by September 14. She will coordinate with you directly and answer any further questions.
RISE AGAINST HUNGER MEAL PACKING

2020 has been full of new ways to do old things and Rise Against Hunger has worked hard to find safe but productive ways to continue their goal of stopping world hunger. Leah Reed and Nancy Phillips visited their warehouse this week and they feel good about their set-up to ensure proper social distance between volunteers.

We are now seeking volunteers to sign up for one of two shifts on Sunday, October 11, at the Rise warehouse location at 3200 Wellington Court, Suite 111 (near Gresham’s Lake). The 1st shift is 1-2pm, and the 2nd shift is 3-4pm. These one hour shifts will allow us to keep the numbers smaller so work stations can be spread out all across the warehouse. Also, the hour break will allow us time to properly clean equipment, work stations, and bathrooms between shifts. We're asking that everyone wear a mask, so that we can do this as safely as possible. Work stations will be set up based on the relationship of our volunteers. Some will work great for family units and others are designed for non-related individuals. There is room for everyone!

To sign up, please go to FBC's Rise Against Hunger website and register. On this site, you can also read more details about safety precautions.

We're looking forward to this opportunity to be in the same room with some of our church family as we do our part to stop world hunger. For questions or more information, please email Nancy Phillips.
VIRTUAL CHURCH CONFERENCE

We had a great experience with our first-ever virtual Church Conference in June, so we're planning on doing it again! Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, September 2, at 5:30pm. The Zoom invite for the meeting is listed below, as well as a call-in number for those who would rather join via phone. We will send out the needed attachments that normally would be on the tables via email before the meeting. Several deacons (and their families) are available to help with the technology. If you need assistance, please email Deborah ahead of time and we will get you connected with a deacon. We look forward to seeing as many of your faces as possible on September 2!

Meeting ID: 824 2402 5801
Passcode: 453627

  Phone number: +1 646 558 8656   
Meeting ID: 824 2402 5801
Passcode: 453627
BEING THE HANDS AND FEET OF GOD IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC

The biggest challenge in this pandemic has been how to balance serving individuals in need while also working to ensure we are not contributing to the spread of the virus. Having served our community for over 35 years, the Clothing Ministry team knew we had to find a way to continue this ministry in the midst of this pandemic. We have spent the summer brainstorming new strategies for distributing the summer inventory we already had in stock, and creating new protocols and procedures in order to keep volunteers and guests as safe as possible yet still enable us to receive, sort, and distribute donations. 

THIS SUMMER: From May to July, we had more than 35 volunteers work in small teams following new church protocols, social distancing procedures, and wearing masks to make individual bags of clothing, sorted by size and gender. These volunteers put together approximately 1180 individual bags of summer clothing, just from the inventory we had collected at the time we closed back in March. These bags contained a total of over 5000 articles of clothing. Then, to get these bags into the hands of those who needed them, we researched and learned of other agencies who already had a viable avenue for distribution and were connected to many of the same agencies and individuals that we currently served.

We were able to work with Note in the Pocket to distribute our children and teen bags. This agency works through social workers and counselors (our school system is their largest client) to give clothing to children in need. Healing Transitions received our men’s and women’s clothing bags. This organization runs both a women’s and men’s treatment center in Wake County, serving up to 150 men and 100 women at a time in their overnight centers. Both agencies were grateful for our support in this way and were able to immediately distribute the individual bags to those in need, many of whom were current guests of our ministry.

WHAT’S NEXT? Moving forward, we are planning to do a deep clean in the Clothing Ministry area, now that the inventory has been moved out. We will then make modifications to our space so that we are able to implement new safety procedures, working to minimize the risks for guests and volunteers, as we continue to find new, creative, and meaningful ways to serve our community. As soon as we complete these tasks, our team will post updates on the Clothing Ministry webpage and keep the congregation and community informed of the new policies and procedures for how we plan to move forward, as well as new and different ways in which you can donate clothing and volunteer to assist and support the Clothing Ministry team. Stay tuned!
AAWC'S WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Each week, we'll start posting And Also With 'Cue's weekly schedule. We post this on our Facebook page, but we want to make sure you all have this information as well. We will let you know our regular lunch schedule and if there will be outside events on the weekend for you to attend!

Come eat with us this week:
September 1-4, 11am-1:30pm
(or until sold out),
in the church parking lot.

Have an idea about how to giveaway food in our community? Email Leah!
SLIGHT CHANGE OF OFFICE PROCEDURES

While the church office will remain closed to the public for the immediate future, we will have someone in the office Monday through Friday, 8:30am-5pm to answer the phone and let people in for pre-approved activities (mail, janitorial, and food deliveries; maintenance work; and a few small meetings). The staff and church council continue to monitor all realities related to COVID-19. In addition, we are in the process of forming a risk management advisory group that will help us make decisions related to reopening. We still encourage you to contact any of the ministers if you have a pressing need, using the following email links: Chris Chapman, Trey Davis, Lynn Lingafelt, and Leah Reed.
WAYS TO GIVE

There are several different ways in which you can continue to support the church financially during this time of social distancing. We know many people are facing their own financial challenges right now and have been very generous already, but a number of people have asked how they could support the church while we are unable to gather together physically. Wayne Hager has provided the following answers to this question.

• We continue to receive mail daily. Any gifts mailed to the church will be processed and deposited as soon as possible.
• We will continue to debit bank accounts through auto drafts as we have been instructed by donors.
• If you have set up a recurring donation through one of our electronic options, those donations will continue without interruption unless YOU make a change.
• If you wish to begin electronic giving, please go to this link where each of our options is explained.
• If you are considering a stock gift, please visit this link for instructions. 

If you have any financial or giving-option questions, please email Wayne Hager.
AMONG OUR FAMILY
A link to the entire prayer list may be found below.
Please use your church directory for mailing addresses.

AUGUST 2020 – MEMORIAL & HONORIFIC GIFTS

Capital Repair & Replacement Fund
In Memory of:
Mazie S. Mangum

Clothing Ministry Fund
In Memory of:
Mazie S. Mangum
Tom Shell

Day Mission Fund
In Memory of:
Graham Crutchfield

General Fund
In Memory of:
Mazie S. Mangum

Joy Hager Veterans Assistance Fund
In Memory of:
Graham Crutchfield

Mike Morris Fellowship Fund
In Memory of:
Graham Crutchfield
Mazie S. Mangum
Jean W. Finch
Tom Shell
Jay Massey
James B. Clary

Music Ministry Fund
In Memory of:
Jean W. Finch
Thirty-Niners Fund
In Honor of:
Mary Alice Seals

Youth Ministry Fund
In Honor Of:
Mary Alice Seals
NEW MEMBER

On Sunday, August 30 we welcomed Elaine Holly into the fellowship of our congregation. Elaine joins by profession of faith and will be baptized on a later date. Welcome, Elaine!
THE RECORD WE WROTE
Week as of August 31, 2020
Current Week Revenue: $4,824.00
Month-to-Date Revenue: $93,497.49
Year-to-Date Revenue: $962,681.05
Month-to-Date Expenses: $124,080.91
Year-to-Date Expenses: $921,302.82
Heck Jones: $7,323.00
SUBMIT A ROSE WINDOW WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENT

Do you have an announcement that you would like to include in the Rose Window Weekly? All information must be submitted by Thursday at noon, to be included in the following Tuesday's edition. Just fill out the Google form in the link below, and we'll make sure to include it in next week's publication.



For any questions concerning the Rose Window Weekly,
contact Leah Reed. Email Leah here.