Balmoral Presbyterian Church  Where the Spirit Takes Flight   BPC NEWS BRIEF Wednesday, November 3, 2021

mailing address:  Balmoral Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 17309, Memphis, TN 38187

NEWS THIS WEEK WORSHIP SUNDAY November 7 FALL SUNDAY STUDIES Locations for each class Assignments for the week HR TEAM ANNOUNCES TRANSITIONAL PASTOR SURPRISE! From the Youth NOTE from the HR TEAM ALZEIMER'S MONTH INTER-FAITH FOOD AND FUNDS DRIVE BOOK CLUB Nov. 9 will meet in the Sanctuary BPC Photos Worship Oct 31 Halloween

WEEKLY INFORMATION Birthdays Calendar of Events OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES CONTACT INFORMATION HELPFUL COVID-19 LINKS LINKS to DOCUMENTS REMINDERS: CHANGES to WORSHIP IN-PERSON POLICIES & PROCEDURES UKIRK CONCERT Nov. 7 STORYTELLING FESTIVAL with DONALD DAVIS, Nov 12-14 at BPC & LiveStreamed (reservations required for in-person attendance)

SUNDAY WORSHIP Balmoral Presbyterian Church Sunday, November 7, 2021                                    BALMORAL WORSHIP 11:00am  IN BPC's SANCTUARY Scriptures: Psalm 127:1-2 & Mark 12:38-44 Sermon: "In Whom We Trust"

IN-PERSON WORSHIP Due to the new CDC Recommendations EVERYONE WILL BE REQUIRED to WEAR MASKS, whether vaccinated or not. We will also NOT be coming to the Lord's Table for Communion at this time, but instead will be having a Communion Meditation time one the 1st Sunday of each month. SEE BELOW for POLICIES and PROCEDURES. You will also receive our regular worship email, with the bulletin and link for livestream worship, if you plan to worship at home.

CIRCLE of FAITH WORSHIP at 8:30am IN BPC's Fellowship Hall Everyone is also invited to join the Circle of Faith's return to In-Person worship service! To enter the building, use Office door to the Fellowship Hall.

FALL SUNDAY STUDIES 9:30-10:30 am

Fall Studies will run 10 weeks through Nov. 21 2 classes are offered:

Bible Study— Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st & 2nd Thessalonians Leaders: Clinton Bailey, Stanley Gates, Cliff Stockton and William Warren Bible Study will meet in the BPC Sanctuary Please use the BPC Sanctuary doors to enter and exit from the Bible Study Class this week. The group will be led this week by Stanley Gates and cover 1 Thessalonians chapters 1 to 3:5. Bring your Bible and be sure to wear a mask! (Click here for the schedule of the class this semester.) 

"Love is the Way" by Bishop Michael Curry and Sara Grace Walk the path of love and learn how to put faith into action. The way of love is essential for addressing the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing the world today: poverty, racism, selfishness, deep ideological divisions, competing claims to speak for God.  Leaders: Kristen Gurlen and Sherry Wilkins "Love is the Way" book discussion will meet in the Fellowship Hall Please use the Church Office door to enter and exit the building for the "Love is the Way" book discussion class. Books are available online from several book sellers, including Amazon, and is available on Kindle and Audiobooks.

Classes will meet in person. REMINDERS: All participants must be masked at all times!

LIVE STREAM ONLINE WORSHIP

Balmoral's service will ALSO be LiveStreamed online for those who want to "be there" but still need to be able to worship remotely.

You will still receive an email on FRIDAY with links to the Worship service online access link & a downloadable Sunday Worship Guide.  If you are planning to attend on LiveStream, instead of in person, keep Friday's email handy! Previous Worship Services at Balmoral are still available on the  Balmoral YouTube channel

HR TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: BPC TRANSITIONAL PASTOR

Welcome Mary Gale! Balmoral Presbyterian Church Transitional Pastor The Reverend Mary Newburg Gale The HR Team -Mary Schmitz, Becky DeLoach, and Cliff Gurlen - announced their selection, and the Session has approved, to begin serving as Balmoral's Transitional Pastor beginning Monday, November 22, 2021. Rev. Gale will serve as Minister of the Word and Sacrament as well as Moderator of the Session as our congregation begins the process of selecting a new pastor after Rev. Carla Meisterman's retirement at the end of this month. She will also be working with and supporting Rev. Elizabeth Dick, Pastoral Care Resident.

Reverend Mary Newberg Gale is a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA) and most recently served as Temporary Stated Supply Associate Pastor at Idlewild Presbyterian Church. A native Texan, she graduated from Austin College before pursuing her Masters of Divinity at Columbia Theological Seminary. She has served churches in North Carolina and Kansas, as well as the national church and local communities in a variety of ways during her 15 years of ordained ministry. Her husband, James, is the Executive Presbyter for the Presbytery of the Mid-South in Memphis, Tennessee, where they currently reside with their two daughters, Ainsley and Fiona.

SURPRISE!

BPC Youth, Casey and Eli Gurlen, and Youth leaders, Lorie Blackwelder and Janice Carney, pose for the “Retirement Celebration” they surprised Carla with on Sunday, October 31, 2021. Carla was gifted with a magazine from the 70’s with stories about Charlie’s Angels, Columbo, Mannix and Kojak, a plastic bubble blower gun; and some pom poms. Casey and Eli Gurlen presented Carla with new business cards that say “RETIREMENT – Ask Someone Else, MON thru SUN - Not My Problem; No Phone, No Email, No Business, No Deadlines”; and some beautiful messages from everyone. Carla presented everyone with her favorite sheep, selected especially for them, from her sheep collection. Laughter was generous and tears were stifled, and love was present – as always.

SAYING “GOOD BYE” TO CARLA ... a NOTE from the HR TEAM

Incredibly, time has passed very quickly and we will soon be saying "Good Bye" to our pastor of 18 years. Due to Covid-19 restrictions on the use of our church building, we are not going to be able to hold a reception on November 21, following Carla's last service.   We are suggesting that anyone who wants to deliver her a special message bring a card or a personal note. We will have a basket on the table in the narthex on Sunday Nov. 7, 14, and 21. You can drop in your message to Carla, and she can take these home and read them following her last day. We did this for Rev. Anne Hagler and the result was a bundle of meaningful keepsakes that Anne loved. As we do this again for Carla, each of us will be able to craft our own farewell message for her to keep. Thank you!

ALZEIMER'S MONTH

November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month and this week, Action News 5 caught up with Terry Balton to talk about her experience as a caregiver & advocate. Here is the link to the interview: https://www.actionnews5.com/2021/11/02/woman-shares-personal-story-ahead-walk-end-alzheimers/

On November 13th, the Memphis “Walk to End Alzheimer’s” will be held at Memphis Botanic Gardens. It is a 1-mile walk & will be held rain or shine. If you’d like to join Terry’s team of walkers, or to show support in other ways, find Walk info on Terry’s fundraising page through this link:  https://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=14782&pg=personal&px=11212867

INTER-FAITH FOOD AND FUNDS DRIVE TO BENEFIT THE MID-SOUTH FOOD BANK

Saturday, November 20 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Gather at Second Baptist Church, 4680 Walnut Grove Rd   Make plans today to take part in an interfaith initiative to benefit neighbors being served through the Mid-South Food Bank. Due to COVID-19, nearly 1 in 4 people in the Mid-South face food insecurity. Working together with a diverse group of members from other congregations, we can make a difference in people’s lives during the season of thanksgiving.   On Saturday, November 20 from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. we will join volunteers from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim congregations who have been coming together for worship for more than 30 years. Everyone is asked to volunteer for a 90-minute shift alongside other people of goodwill from across our beloved community. We will meet 15 minutes prior to each shift in the east parking lot of Second Baptist Church for a time of prayer and instructions for collecting donations. The food bank needs shelf-stable, non-perishable food items as well as funds to support its work. Just $10 will purchase 30 meals.    Sign up here and work alongside others who share a common commitment to serve, even if we express our faiths in different ways. The Food Bank is providing all of the collection bins, stickers and signs Please bring any banner/sign that could be a tangible visual of your involvement and we will set those up for donors to see Encourage your participants to wear “swag” or any other identifying clothing from your faith community that could help show off our many houses of worship NOTE: Due to the pandemic considerations, we will NOT be celebrating our traditional Inter-Faith Thanksgiving Worship Service this year.

BOOK CLUB Tuesday, November 9, 1:30pm in BPC's Sanctuary

The Giver of Stars, by Jojo Moyes. Fiction, set in Depression-era America, the story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond. Led by Kathrine Getske

Donald Davis Storytelling Festival Fri-Sat, Nov 12 & 13, 7:00pm Story in Worship, Sun, Nov 14, 11:00am Reservations will be REQUIRED for Fri. & Sat. In-Person Attendance Because of COVID concerns, everyone attending must have a reservation (see more information below), must provide proof of vaccination, and is required to wear a mask covering their nose and mouth. Social distancing of 3 feet will be observed; therefore, seating will be limited. For the safety of all, Balmoral Presbyterian Church’s COVID Taskforce has developed certain restrictions that will be required at the storytelling events: Masks (covering both nose and mouth) must be worn at all times in the building. Attendees must provide proof of COVID vaccination to be admitted to the event. Attendees must maintain social distancing (3 feet for this event). Seats will be arranged to accommodate social distancing. Attendees may not move chairs. Attendees must have made reservations for the event [see instructions below]. Because of the social distancing required, there may be limited seating. There will be no intermission during the event. There will be no sales of CDs, DVDs, etc. Reservation deadline has passed, BUT we will be on YouTube! LiveStreamed on our YouTube channel here

CONCERT

Greetings friends of the Presbytery of the Mid-South! I want to let all of you know that you are invited to the upcoming UKirk Concert on Sunday, November 7, from 4-6PM at Railgarten, featuring the musical talents of Bailey and Wyly Bigger! All proceeds will benefit UKirk Memphis. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at this link. Attached is our concert flyer in both a PDF and JPG format. Please share this with your congregations and invite them to attend! Additionally, we'd love for you to let us know that you're attending through our Facebook Event, and would love for you to share this with your friends!     I am so excited for this concert and the opportunity to share the ministry of UKirk Memphis! I hope that you can join us in supporting our students in campus ministry.     In Christ’s Peace, Rev. Elizabeth H. Doolin

UKirk Concert Flyer

CURRENT WORSHIP PROCEDURES

Due to New CDC Recommendations regarding the Delta Variant the following will be observed: Masks will be worn in the building at all times Social Distancing of 6 feet will be observed at all times; please avoid close contact with others, such as hugging or shaking hands. Passing of the Peace is eliminated from the worship service Pastor will be masked at all times except at the pulpit when she is preaching and leading worship Choral leaders will be masked at all times except when they sing or lead liturgy Musicians will be masked at all times, except those who play brass or wind instruments The congregation will not sing IN CASE of a SERIOUS EXPOSURE of COVID-19 THAT MAY HAVE AFFECTED Worship Leaders or the Congregation, Sunday Worship may have to be cancelled at the last minute. IF SO, the CONGREGATION WILL RECEIVE an EMAIL as soon as the DECISION to CLOSE is made, and again the SUNDAY MORNING EMAIL WILL SO INDICATE.

PLEASE, FOR THE SAFETY OF YOURSELF, ALL THOSE YOU LOVE AND CARE FOR, UNVACCINATED CHILDREN, AND PEOPLE WHO WILL COME INTO CONTACT WITH PEOPLE YOU COME INTO CONTACT WITH: Anyone who is experiencing symptoms of illness (EG: sinus infection; flu like symptoms; sore throat; fever or chills; cough; shortness of breath or difficulty breathing; fatigue; muscle or body aches; headache; new loss of taste or smell; congestion or runny nose; nausea or vomiting; diarrhea) should consider contacting your Healthcare Provider and let them know you may have been exposed to a breakthrough case of COVID-19 to a fully vaccinated person. PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THE CHURCH IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS Thank you for continuing to observe the ever-changing policies as we navigate the pandemic together. BPC COVID-19 Task Force Scott Hill - Chair Mary Schmitz, Clerk Kathy Singleton, Barry Dotson, Beverly Hooker, Scott Dawson, Frank Carney To contact the Chair of the BPC COVID-19 Task Force: Scott Hill - signed text: 901.277.9794 email: hill8910@bellsouth.net

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE EXPOSED TO OR HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH COVID ·        Contact The Reverend Elizabeth Dick 314.330.0506 or elizabethdick2@gmail.com ·        Let Elizabeth know when you were last in church ·        Give permission for notification to the congregation ·        Get Tested, if you have not already been ·        Contact any person or persons you have been with and follow with your doctor's and/or the Health Department's advice.

Elaine Brown (4); Linda Warren (5); Dave Ellis (11); Brucene Harrison (12); Mary Denike (12); Sharon Blackwelder (14); Eli Gurlen (16); Kristen Gurlen (17); Amy Berthouex (19); Amelia Lucas (21)

Every Monday 2:00pm Writer's Group CLASSROOM A and/or on Zoom  JOIN MONDAY'S WRITER'S GROUP via ZOOM MEETING 1st Wednesday of the Month BIBLE STUDY 10:30am in the BPC Sanctuary 1st & 3rd Thursday of the Month Ellis Small Group 10:15 am  JOIN Ellis Small Group Zoom Meeting 2nd Tuesday of the Month 1:30pm BOOK CLUB (location to be announced each month) 2nd Thursday Evening of the Month 7:00 pm Trouble I've Seen Small Group Join Trouble I've Seen Zoom Meeting 1st & 3rd Thursday of the Month COLONIAL PARK FOOD DRIVE

Saturday Night, November 6. 2021 Central Standard Time Begins Turn your clock BACK one hour Sunday, November 7, 2021 8:30 AM Circle of Faith Worship in the Fellowship Hall 9:30am SUNDAY STUDIES: Bible Study: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians (in the BPC Sanctuary) "Love is the Way" (in the Fellowship Hall) 11:00 AM BPC Worship Service in the Sanctuary & on LiveStream Tuesday, November 9, 2021 1:30 PM BOOK CLUB in BPC Sanctuary Friday and Saturday, Nov 12-13, 2021 Donald Davis Storytelling Festival 7:00pm in the sanctuary Sunday, November 14, 2021 8:30 AM Circle of Faith Worship in the Fellowship Hall 9:30am SUNDAY STUDIES: Bible Study (in the BPC Sanctuary) "Love is the Way" (in the Fellowship Hall) 11:00 AM BPC Worship Service with Storyteller DONALD DAVIS in the Sanctuary & on LiveStream LiveStreamed on our YouTube channel here

PLEASE NOTE: The Church Office will NOT be staffed. Please continue to use your contact lists to reach us!

REMINDERS: We must help to keep the SEED children safe! Please do not enter the SEED area of the building without authorization and be sure to wear masks around the children. Small Group Meetings in Classrooms A & B must be scheduled with Barry Dotson, barry.dotson@yahoo.com or signed text/cell: 901. 277.1596 Requests for other uses of the property (including the parking lot) MUST prepare a proposal to the BPC COVID-19 Task Force (Scott Hill, chairperson) for review; the task force will review the proposal, then make a recommendation to the Session for consideration.

BPC PHOTOS

WORSHIP, October 31, 2021

Choral Leaders Erich Shultz, John Gilmer, Linda Warren, Karen Pilkington Leiza Collins on piano, Frank Carney on organ

Rev. Carla Meisterman

Musical Offering "Help Us Accept Each Other" John Gilmer

Mary, Schmitz, Becky DeLoach, Cliff Gurlen HR Team announces Transitional Pastor Rev. Mary Gale to join BPC November 28.

Halloween Pirate!

Hudson DeLoach, son of Timothy DeLoach and grandson of Becky DeLoach, had a marvelous Halloween as a pirate! ARRRGH!

COVID-19 HELPFUL LINKS

Click the link below to get current locations for VACCINES: HERE'S WHERE YOU CAN GET VACCINATIONS For COVID-19 TESTING information, go to this link: https://covid19.memphistn.gov/resources/covid-19-testing-sites-in-shelby-county/ NOTE: Several CVS and Walgreen's locations are now currently on the updated list at the link above.

COLONIAL PARK FOOD DRIVE

IF ANYONE IS CALLED TO SERVE.... We work every 1st and 3rd Thursday.  Colonial Park UMC 5330 Park Ave CONTACT SCOTT DAWSON for more INFORMATION

THE JOHNSON AUXILIARY CLOTHES CLOSET IS NOW BACK in ACTION!

ALWAYS in NEED:  SUMMER-WEIGHT CLOTHING!  Men's casual shoes - all sizes (new or gently used)   Men's new underwear - large and XL  Women's shoes (casual) sizes 9 and up  Women's plus size clothing  New women's underwear - all sizes   Toiletry items - new, unopened (trial size are fine)   ALSO - New adult coloring or puzzle books are needed for people waiting at the hospital while their loves ones are being treated. Your contributions really help and are greatly appreciated!    Place items in the baskets in the narthex hallway. VOLUNTEERS are also needed! Contact Beverley Hooker for more information!

CONTACT INFORMATION

Pastoral Care this week will be supplied by Rev. Carla Meisterman at 901.235.1014         or email carlam@balmoralpc.com You may also reach out to our Pastoral Care Intern at Rev. Elizabeth Dick 314.330.0506        or email elizabethdick2@gmail.com      Session members are your primary contact for ongoing communication. Here's the current contact list: Lori Blackwelder .... (901) 262-8282 ............... LORIEB1165@yahoo.com Leiza Collins ........... (901) 246-5031 ..................... leiza1016@gmail.com  Becky DeLoach ...... (901) 489-3369 ............. BeckyMD2905@gmail.com Barry Dotson .......... (901) 277-1596 ............... barry.dotson@yahoo.com Janice Hill ............... (901) 826-9747 ................... janicehill81@gmail.com Beverly Hooker.........(901) 496-1241 ......................... bev.h@earthlink.net Ted Pearson home: (901) 754-9796 ...................  pearsonteda@aol.com  ...........................cell: (901) 486-6117 Erich Shultz .............(901) 268-4951 ...................emshultz@bellsouth.net John Van Nortwick (901) 605-2907 ............ jvnortwick@cornerstone- systems.com (NOTE: Many of these Session members work during the day, so you may want to text them or email them.) Keep in mind that ANY Balmoral member who is healthy will most likely be happy to help you in case of need as well! To contact other members, the most-current contact information is available by requesting a copy of the BPC PHONE DIRECTORY from Kathy Singleton by email ksingle2@bellsouth.net or by phone or text to (901) 734-7193.

LINKS to DOCUMENTS We have been keeping reference articles in the Newsletter each week throughout the summer. It's time to take them out, BUT some of these may still be helpful, so we will store them and give you links to them, but eliminate them from the body of the newsletter itself.

To access a document, simply click on the link name. The document will then open in your browser as a PDF file! TIPS for using ZOOM DOWNLOADABLE DOCUMENT of the 2021 BOOK CLUB DESCRIPTIONS REVISED PRINTABLE CDC MASK GUIDELINES BPC Building & Worship Policies & Procedures eff. 6/6/2021 BPC Building & Worship CHANGES to Policies & Procedures effective 6/14/2021 Circle of Faith Building & Worship CHANGES to Policies & Procedures effective 6/20/2021 SUNDAY STUDIES BIBLE STUDY Schedule for FALL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL with DONALD DAVIS Nov 12-14

Newsletter Articles & Photos should be emailed to Kathy Singleton at ksingle2@bellsouth.net no later than Monday at noon for the week you want the article in the news. Bulletin Information should be emailed to Rev. Carla Meisterman, with a copy to Kathy Singleton, no later than Monday noon the week before the Sunday you want the information to appear. Prayer Concerns should continue to be submitted via email to Rev. Carla Meisterman (carlam@balmoralpc.com)

NOVEMBER 2021 online church calendar Click HERE for the BPC Calendar  The calendar will take a few seconds to load and, once it opens, you will see the month that we are currently in. To see the next month's calendar, click on the arrow pointing down - it is just to the right of the name of the month. Once you click on that arrow, an icon will appear with all the months of the year listed. Click on the month that you want to see. To see a specific date, click on the number of the day you would like to see. The entire 2021 calendar is available to you.