FBC Raleigh News • August 16, 2022
CENTERPOINT
THIS FALL

We are looking forward to the return of Centerpoint, beginning Wednesday, September 7! We are grateful for your flexibility over the last two years as we have attempted to keep our programming afloat while juggling layers of covid concerns. This fall, we are relieved to resume some semblance of normalcy in our Wednesday night programming for all ages! Our theme of "Re-engaging Community" is a very appropriate premise to guide us in imagining ways to bring our community of faith back together after two years of a hybrid, adjusted schedule. Our hope is that we will re-engage not only with our outside community but with one another. We'll have a new menu for Wednesday night suppers, including the reappearance of a full buffet line and a children's table. Seating will be available both inside the Fellowship Hall and outside in the Garth. We have made some slight changes in the timing of supper and programming, so please note that in the schedule below. Supper begins for everyone at 5:15pm, and all programming ends at 7:15pm. We are looking forward to welcoming you back to our Wednesday night rhythm of church life!
ADULT WEDNESDAY NIGHT SCHEDULE:

5:15-6:15pm - Supper line is open
6:15-6:30pm - Prayer time and announcements
6:30-7:15pm - Adult program
(Zoom will not be offered every week)
CHILDREN'S WEDNESDAY NIGHT SCHEDULE:

5:15-5:45pm - Supper line is open
5:45-6:30pm - Children's music
6:30-7:15pm - Children's missions
Celebrate with us in this August evening extravaganza of entertainment and inspiration showcasing the talented FBC Community.
Featuring:
  • The Good Old Summertime (singalong)
  • Turn Your Radio On / Sweet Beulah Land
  • George Gershwin (on the organ)
  • Wizard of Oz medley
  • Carolina in the Morning / Route 66 / L-O-V-E
  • The Sound of Music medley (singalong)
  • Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
  • And much more!

Featuring an array of soloists, children, choirs, and instrumentalists presenting gospel, Broadway, folk, jazz, and more. Ice cream social to follow!
FAMILY PROMISE WEEK COMING SOON
 
As was the case last March, Family Promise is continuing to house families experiencing homelessness in their transitional housing apartment building rather than in churches. Two to three families are sharing each apartment. Although housing and transportation are not needed, we will be providing meals the week of September 25–October 2, and the process will be similar to what we did this past spring.
 
A reminder of what that will look like: we are being asked to provide evening meals to individual family units Monday through 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.
 
Questions you 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, so teams volunteering can submit receipts to the church office for reimbursement.
• Where is the day center? The day center is located at 903 Method Road, 27606, just off Western Boulevard.
 
If you are interested in signing up to support these families, please email Holly Ivel. She will coordinate with you directly, and answer any further questions.

RISE AGAINST HUNGER MEAL PACKING DAY

We’re starting early this year as everyone ends their summer vacations. And YES, we are bringing our annual meal packing event back to our Fellowship Hall! Mark your calendars for Sunday, August 28, immediately following worship in the Fellowship Hall. Moving the event back to our church allows us to come straight from worship to change clothes, have a quick lunch, and spend two hours packing 10,000 bags of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and a vitamin pack. If you help us pack meals for starving families around the world, we’ll feed your family with pizza, salad, cookies, and lemonade. 
There are jobs for all ages and abilities. We have seated jobs for seniors, others that require the unending energy of our youth, and plenty of jobs in between. There’s a place for everyone. We need 60 volunteers for a successful event. Come help us help others as we strive to end world hunger.

Sign up at this link or email Nancy Moore Phillips with your interest or questions.
—Nancy Moore Phillips, WMU Director

SCHOOL SUPPLIES NEEDED

Most of us are aware that school teachers usually spend their own money to help equip their classrooms. For the month of August, we'll collect items listed below that will be distributed to various Raleigh schools. Your donations may be placed in the marked drawer in the cabinet in the Lewis Lobby anytime during the month of August.
  • dry erase markers
  • regular colored markers
  • gallon Ziplock bags
  • pens

  • pencils
  • white copy paper
  • colored card stock
  • Papermate flair pens (colors)


SANCTUARY CHOIR

Rehearsals for choir are on Wednesday evenings at 7pm through August. After Labor Day, they move to 7:30pm. Consider adding music to your life! Join the Sanctuary Choir. Fall/Christmas music begins in September. Questions? Contact Warren Howell.
 THIRTY-NINERS ARE BACK
 
It’s been almost two years since covid brought us to a halt, but we are now ready to resume our weekly activities in September. Come join us on Thursday, September 8,  for our “Welcome Back and Get Reacquainted” meeting at 10:30am in the Fellowship Hall. Lunch will follow at 11:30. No reservations are needed — just come and see if we’re for you! Here’s a peek at our fall schedule…
HOUSING ALL UPDATE

If you have been tuning into any news outlet lately, you’re seeing the headlines about inflation. We’re all feeling it, from $4 per gallon to fill up your car at the pump to the rising costs of vegetables, bread, and milk at the grocery store, not to mention a recent spike in interest rates, soaring to the highest they’ve been since December of 1981. Last week, the News & Observer shared an article outlining the hike in Raleigh rental prices, up 48.9% from exactly one year ago. The average price of a 2 bedroom apartment in our beloved city is now $1,974.00. If you’re lucky enough to have a mortgage, I would guess that price is more than you pay per month for your home. 

I don’t have to explain how desperate and anxious these times are for so many in our community. We all feel it, but for the unemployed, underemployed, and house-less among us, this is a dire crisis. As you can imagine, our church feels the effect of the rising cost of rent through our daily financial assistance phone calls. We’re beginning to average 20+ calls per week, and the stories we're hearing are more pressing than ever. Last week, we helped a single mother of two—a four-year-old and one-month-old—who was facing eviction. She was forced to take an unexpected leave from her job after her baby arrived a few weeks early. We also helped a single mother of a child who was recently diagnosed with epilepsy. The mother lost her job after having to take too much time off so her son could receive the medical care needed for his condition. We’ve heard heartbreaking stories of abuse, job loss, neglect, and of course, more covid stories than we could ever even count. As is the case for so many, one unexpected life event happens and it creates a ripple effect in someone’s financial life, taking months for them to recuperate. So many are living paycheck-to-paycheck with no safety net, “rainy day” savings account, or family to bail them out. 

With the help of our wonderful team of volunteers, we are doing our very best to be faithful stewards of the Mike Morris Fellowship Fund. Each week, our team of volunteers makes phone calls and collectively decides on whom we’re able to help. As a team, we sit down with the week’s requests on Monday afternoon, talking through each story and how we might best spend our weekly budget. This year alone, we have spent $21,338.37 of your generous donations on rental and utility assistance. As we look ahead to the last half of 2022, we recognize that we are not able to sustain this level of giving without an increase in donations. 

We are grateful for our continued partnership with Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, and they have agreed to use their volunteers and budget for one week per month. We want to continue helping as many people as we can during these desperate times, but if we continue at this rate, we will be out of funding by mid-December. Would you consider giving to the Fellowship Fund so we can continue the good work of keeping families in their homes? You may give online, or write a check to the church, designating "Fellowship Fund" or "Housing All" in the memo line. Please note that both of these accounts are used to help people in our community with rental and utility assistance. We are grateful for your faithful giving that allows us to continue helping so many of our neighbors in need.
—Leah Reed

HECK-JONES OFFERING

As we welcome August and the end of summer, I am reminded of the welcome that is provided to refugees in our city through the ministries of Welcome House. Refugees find open arms and hearts as they begin a new life free from war and torture. These services are more important now than ever with the continuing war in Ukraine.
Our hearts are saddened and we wonder what we can do. Kim and Marc Wyatt, CBF Missionaries, know what to do; but they need our offerings to keep their houses open and their services to continue. Fannie Heck and Sallie Jones, FBC members in the 1800s, knew what to do as well; but they needed financial help from our congregation to do their work. Please give generously to this offering that was named in their honor as we do our part to meet the needs of those around us. In addition to the Welcome House, this offering will also go to our continuing partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Every gift helps no matter how big or small. Together we can make a difference in the lives of many.
— Nancy Moore Phillips, WMU President

2022 CHURCH CONFERENCE DATES
Mark your calendar for the following 2022 dates for Church Conference:
August 24, September 28,
October 26, November 16, and December 14.
BIBLE VERSES FOR DAILY USE
  • Tuesday, August 16: Psalm 32; Jeremiah 25:15-29; Acts 7:44-53
  • Wednesday, August 17: Psalm 32; Jeremiah 25:30-38; Luke 19:45-48
  • Thursday, August 18: Psalm 103:1-8; Numbers 15:32-41; Hebrews 12:3-17
  • Friday, August 19: Psalm 103:1-8; 2 Chronicles 8:12-15; Acts 17:1-9
  • Saturday, August 20: Psalm 103:1-8; Nehemiah 13:15-22; Luke 6:1-5
  • Sunday, August 21: Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 71:1-6; Isaiah 58:9b-14 and Psalm 103:1-8; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17
  • Monday, August 22: Psalm 109:21-31; Ezekiel 20:1-17; Hebrews 3:7-4:11
DEACON ON CALL
August 14–20 • Nick Bradley (910-318-2121)
WEEK AT A GLANCE •August 17–24
Wednesday, August 17
10am High school Bible study (Blue Room)
6pm Handbell rehearsal (sanctuary)
7pm Adult choir rehearsal (choir room/S)

Thursday, August 18
7am Band of Brothers (Zoom)
6pm Theology on Tap (Clouds Brewing)

Saturday, August 20
Salt Shakers

Sunday, August 21
9:45am Sunday School
11am Worship (S/YouTube)
11:15am Japanese worship (226)
12:15pm Deacons' meeting (220/Zoom)
7pm A Summer Variety Show & Ice Cream Social (sanctuary/FH)
Monday, August 22
10am Clothing ministry open

Tuesday, August 23
10am Staff meeting (CR)
10:45am WMU Group 2 (Springmoor)

Wednesday, August 24
10am High school Bible study (Blue Room)
5pm Meal/Church Conference (FH)
AAWC'S WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Each week, we post And Also With 'Cue's weekly schedule here in Rose Window Weekly as well as on our Facebook page to let you know our lunch schedule and if there will be outside events on the weekend for you to attend.

Come eat with us this week,
August 16 –19!

• Lunch •
Tuesday-Friday:
church parking lot (11am–1:30pm)


AMONG OUR FAMILY

A link to the entire prayer list may be found below.
Please use your church directory for mailing addresses.

THE RECORD WE WROTE
As of August 11, 2022:
Current Week Revenue: $17,359.94
Month-to-Date Revenue: $44,833.69
Year-to-Date Revenue: $947,212.82
Month-to-Date Expenses: $18,307.12
Year-to-Date Expenses: $848,097.58
Heck Jones: $4,338.00

To facilitate your giving to FBC, use the QR codes below to link to the website
for our main electronic giving, VANCO Faith, and the page that lists
all our e-giving options and instructions.        
Use this QR code to e-give
to FBC on line.
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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 Jennie Herrick. Email Jennie here.