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GOOD NEWS AND WORSHIP UPDATE
MORNING WORSHIP / COMMUNION
Sunday, May 7, 2023 @ 11 am
Sermon - "Feeding a Family" | Scripture reading - Ruth chapter 2
Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor
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both in-person and on Facebook or YouTube (click here)
Comments: We have set our YouTube channel to accept comments. If you are viewing, we ask that you say hello or to let us know you are there so we can count you as part of our attendance.
ELDER OF THE MONTH - DICK LURA
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SPECIAL NEWS AND INFORMATION | |
EASTERTIDE THOUGHTS
Over and over again, throughout scripture, God calls and uses the outcasts and the rejected to proclaim the good news to God’s people. According to all the rules of society, Ruth should have been that outcast, that foreigner. A Moabite woman entering into the field to gather and glean was given acceptance and honor in the town of Bethlehem. God works through people. God intervenes into Ruth and Naomi’s story. Ultimately God will act through their family line to bring Jesus into this world. So come this week, and hear about how God does that through Ruth, Naomi and Boaz.
Yours In Christ,
Brandon
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ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS
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The class has begun reading and discussing Philip Yancey's book, "Vanishing Grace: what ever happened to the Good News?" There is still time to join the class, just secure a copy of the book for yourself. Good used copies can be found on Amazon, as well as BetterWorldBooks.com.
The class meets in the Poteat Library at 10 am. If you wish to join the class there is always room for one more.
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SEE YOU ON SATURDAY
There will be a wedding shower for Alynda Worrell in the Fellowship Hall THIS Saturday, May 6th, beginning at 2 pm. The wedding of Alynda and Alec Welch will be on Saturday, June 17th in Hillsville, Virginia. Everyone is invited. Go to their website for more info: https://www.theknot.com/us/alynda-worrell-and-alec-welch-jun-2023
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UPCOMING WALK @ Jacobs Nature Park - May 7th
Johnson City’s 28-acre Jacob’s Nature Park at Sinking Creek was dedicated in 2016 to Jacob Francisco who passed away in 2004 from an E. coli infection contracted from an unknown source. The park is open to the public and offers several hiking trails, a living roof pavilion, a wetland area and an abundance of wildlife including fish, frogs, salamanders and many species of birds. In 2018, the National Wildlife Federation recognized Jacob’s Nature Park as a certified wildlife habitat. Within the park boundaries is also a native tree arboretum. Learn more about the park at jacobfrancisco.com. Meet in the parking area at 1220 King Springs Road about 2 pm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L174GyfXIg
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SPREAD A LITTLE SUNSHINE
6th ANNUAL PLANT DISTRIBUTION PROJECT
Saturday, May 13th
Deemed "Spread a Little Sunshine Campaign" by JCHA, everything is being prepared for us to do our annual plant distribution of tomatoes, peppers and marigolds, along with soil, to participating residents of the Johnson City Housing Authority. This is our sixth year working with both Evergreen Nurseries and the JCHA to bring a personal touch to the residents. There should be many requests with the delivery to approximately 125 households as we have done in past years. If there is no rain we will bag dirt from 8:30 - 10:00 am and begin delivering plants at 10 am. If it is to rain the dirt will be bagged prior to Saturday and delivery will begin at 10 am. Helpers should meet in the church parking lot to pick up their plants and supplies and get their route assignment. Members from Covenant Presbyterian Church have been invited to participate. We rejoice that this ministry is so well received and appreciated. Please contact Debi Hughes (423-794-8194) or the church office (423-926-7942) if you would like to assist. Thanks.
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FOOD, FOOD AND MORE FOOD
The Lunch Bunch / Meal Schedule for MAY
May 7 @ White Duck Taco (126 Buffalo Street, Downtown JC)
May 14 @ Rainbow Asian Cuisine (2412 N. Roan Street, JC)
May 21 @ Fellowship Potluck Lunch (sign-up on bulletin board)
May 28 @ Carrabba's (175 Marketplace Blvd., JC)
IF ANYONE HAS SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER DINING VENUES, PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE TO ADD THEM TO OUR LUNCH ROTATION. THANKS.
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CINCO DE MAYO FELLOWSHIP POTLUCK
We had lots of good food and fun at our recent potluck lunch last Sunday. A Cinco de Mayo theme and lots of tasty Mexican dishes and desserts. Yummm. Pastor Davis gave us some history on Cinco de Mayo and we took up a Love Offering for the PC(USA) Latin American & Caribbean Mission Work project. We raised $160 to that effort. Thanks.
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SURVERYS FROM GENERAL ASSEMBLY
During the next several months a variety of General Assembly-mandated surveys will be distributed. The first is The GA-MC-12 CHANGING FAMILIES survey the is for members of the congregation and staff alike. This survey covers marriage and romantic relationships, family structures, and expressions of gender identity. For each of these sections, they ask about your statuses and identities, your thoughts and opinions on certain topics within these categories, and what you may need from the Church in terms of these topics. Your answers are entirely anonymous. They have absolutely no way of knowing who you are unless you tell them in one of the open-ended questions.
The link is https://surveys.pcusa.org/s3/Changing-Families-in-the-PC-USA
Please contact Research Services:research@pcusa.org if you have any technical issues with this survey. This survey will remain open through May 31st to allow churches ample time to share this survey with those in their fellowship. They thank you in advance for your patience and participation with the General Assembly mandated surveys.
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HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE COMING WEEK | |
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Thursday, May 4, 2023
10 am PW meeting in Fellowship Hall
Saturday, May 6, 2023
2 pm Wedding Shower for Alynda Worrell in Fellowship Hall
Sunday, May 7, 2023
10 am Adult Sunday School - reading "Vanishing Grace" by Philip Yancey
11 am Morning Worship / Communion, Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor (in-person YouTube / Facebook)
12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ White Duck Taco (126 Buffalo Street, Downtown JC)
2 pm Green Walk at Jacob’s Nature Park (1220 King Springs Road)
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
7 pm Session Meeting in Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)
NO Chancel Choir rehearsal
Saturday, May 13, 2023
8:30 - 10 am Bagging dirt in the church parking lot (weather permitting)
10 am Distribution of plants will begin
Sunday, May 14, 2023 - MOTHER'S DAY
10 am Adult Sunday School - reading "Vanishing Grace" by Philip Yancey
11 am Morning Worship, Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor (in-person YouTube / Facebook)
12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Rainbow Asian Cuisine (2412 N. Roan Street, JC)
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)
6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal
Sunday, May 21, 2023
10 am Adult Sunday School - reading "Vanishing Grace" by Philip Yancey
11 am Morning Worship, Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor (in-person YouTube / Facebook)
12:15pm Fellowship Potluck Lunch (sign-up sheet on bulletin board)
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GENERAL FUND: YEAR TO DATE: | |
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[2023 Annual Budget - $ 177,600
Budget through May 5, Week #18 ($ 61,477)
Receipts $ 85,985.49
Disbursements -$ 55,937.82
Balance $ 30,047.67
Please remember our offering for 5 Cents a Meal this week.
We will be receiving the PENTECOST special offering
on SUNDAY, MAY 28TH
The Pentecost Offering unites us in a church-wide effort to support young people (children at risk / youth / young adults) in Christ and inspire them to share their faith, ideas, and unique gifts with the church and the world. Please give generously!
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MAY BIRTHDAYS
May 6 - Sally Gerhardt
May 10 - Barbara Bishop Bowie
May 17 - Sally Lagle Morris
May 18 - Jo Rolling & Megan Turner
May 21 - Terry Beckman
May 26 - Marcia Songer & May Votaw
MAY ANNIVERSARIES
May 16 - Brian Bonfardin & Virginia Farr
May 21 - Matthew & Karen Clark
The Chancel flowers are given in loving memory of
Paul James Ellis
(3 May 1935 – 27 April 2010),
by his wife, Bea Ellis.
ALSO NOTE: THE 2023 FLOWER LIST IS AVAILABLE ON THE BULLETIN BOARD IN THE SIDE ENTRY FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE IN REQUESTING CHANCEL FLOWERS.
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For Friends
The Stutts and Beckman families in the loss of Terry's brother, Ricky Stoots; Hunter Lyle (at VA Hospital); Sally Gerhardt; Beth Gerhardt's friend Teri Chapa and son, Omar Torres; Jonathan Sharp; Michelle Browning's step-father, Rick Elm; Fred Burrell; Janice Hollingshead; Don Loughry; George, Jo & Nikki Rolling; Rev. Maggie Lauterer; Sue Shanks' friend Judy Klein; Sarah Suptin; Kelly Hodges.; Heather Hughes; Edna Campbell.
Update on Sally She called and said that she is feeling settled in her new apartment at the Givens Estate, 100 Wesley Drive, Apt 404, Asheville NC 28803 and phone 828-285-2313. She also reported on good news that her son, Fritz, is in remission; the stem cell transplant has worked. She and Fritz would like to thank everyone for their prayers during this time.
Prayers for others
Continue to pray for the recent wave of tornadoes across the Southeast U.S.; and the four major ongoing international crises: the Turkey-Syria earthquake; Sao Paulo, Brazil flooding; the Horn of Africa hunger crisis and the Ukrainian Humanitarian Crisis. These emerging crises also need our prayers: the aftermath of tropical cyclone Freddy in Madagascar & Mozambique; flooding in Rwanda, Italy, Pakistan and Guatemala; forest fires in Mexico, Kazakhstan, Guinea; Sierra Leone and Nicaragua; earthquakes in Papua New Guinea and Samoa. Additional prayers for the women of Afghanistan. Prayers for U.S. troops and migrants seeking refuge along the southern U.S. border. And especially prayers for our nation and for strength, endurance, faith and courage for all.
CENTER FOR DISASTER PHILANTHROPY - https://disasterphilanthropy.org/
UN OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA) - https://reliefweb.int/
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE - https://rescue.org
US FEMA - DECLARED DISASTERS - https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations
GLOBAL DISASTER ALERT & COORDINATION SYSTEM (GDACS) - https://gdacs.org
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Who is this happy couple and when did this take place? | |
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In a tremendous victory for local Indigenous communities and their allies, the Environmental Protection Agency has blocked development of the Pebble Mine in Alaska, dealing a likely fatal blow to the proposed wilderness-wrecking mega-mine. The move, which comes following a comprehensive scientific assessment and more than 12 years of agency review, is aimed at protecting the spectacular Bristol Bay watershed and its world-class runs of wild salmon from being sacrificed for what would be one of the world's largest open-pit copper and gold mines.
As if to underscore just how much is at stake, last summer more than 78 million salmon returned to Bristol Bay, the most ever recorded. The salmon support a stunning array of wildlife and a $2.2 billion sustainable fishery that provides 15,000 jobs and more than half the world's sockeye salmon. Overwhelming opposition from Bristol Bay's Indigenous communities has fueled the campaign to block the mine for almost two decades. Nevertheless, even as Bristol Bay's tribal-led coalition has succeeded in driving a parade of multinational mining companies from the project, the mine's sole remaining owner has made clear that it is planning an aggressive legal campaign to keep its destructive mining scheme alive. To that the Natural Resources Defense Council says, "We'll see you in court!" (GSN #147)
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VIRTUAL CREATION ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK | |
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HIKING THE SKYE TRAIL OF SCOTLAND - ISLE OF SKYE
CHRISTIAN SOMMER
(JUNE 2022 | 15:23 min.)
The Skye Trail stretches 128 kilometers across the Scottish Isle of Skye. The unmarked and varied trail is aimed at experienced and fit hikers, as it runs far away from any civilization for the most part. In just under seven days, he takes his visitors into the heart of the island's rugged mountains and down to surprisingly lovely bays. But there are also historical places, such as the abandoned village of Boreraig, fairytale watercourses and mystical mountain lakes along the way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwV5NA2OPTY
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IN THE POTEAT LIBRARY
NOTE: The books donated by Sally Gerhardt are currently in process; those books not being added to the library collection are being placed on a book truck in the Heritage Room for your browsing and taking. Please remember the library is open by appointment and you are welcome to drop by the church library if you are looking for something new to read. We ask that you to sign out any books on the register sheet found on the file cabinet in the corner with the call #, book title, your name and date checked out.
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A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects: Bringing the Spiritual to Its Senses
By S. Brent Plate
(203.7/PLA)
Humans are needy. We need things: objects, keepsakes, stuff, tokens, knickknacks, bits and pieces, junk, and treasure. We carry special objects in our pockets and purses, and place them on shelves in our homes and offices. As commonplace as these objects are, they can also be extraordinary, as they allow us to connect with the world beyond our skin.
A History of Religion in 5½ Objects takes a fresh and much-needed approach to the study of that contentious yet vital area of human culture: religion. Arguing that religion must be understood in the first instance as deriving from rudimentary human experiences, from lived, embodied practices, S. Brent Plate asks us to put aside, for the moment, questions of belief and abstract ideas. Instead, beginning with the desirous, incomplete human body (symbolically evoked by “½”), he asks us to focus on five ordinary types of objects—stones, incense, drums, crosses, and bread—with which we connect in our pursuit of religious meaning and fulfillment.
As Plate considers each of these objects, he explores how the world’s religious traditions have put each of them to different uses throughout the millennia. We learn why incense is used by Hindus at a celebration of the goddess Durga in Banaras, by Muslims at a wedding ceremony in West Africa, and by Roman Catholics at a Mass in upstate New York. Crosses are key not only to Christianity but to many Native American traditions; in the symbolic mythology of Peru’s Misminay community, cruciform imagery stands for the general outlay of the cosmos. And stones, in the form of cairns, grave markers, and monuments, are connected with places of memory across the world.
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Congregational Concerns / Prayer Requests - Please contact the church office or Sherry Bailey with information.
Flower List - The 2023 Flower List has been posted on the bulletin board in the side entry. Please sign up to sponsor flowers for our weekly worship services in honor or in memory of loved ones.
Arrangements are $65 each.
Liturgists - We are always looking for new people to be liturgists. Please contact the church office, if you would like to volunteer.
e-Avenue deadline - Please submit information to church office (office@wataugapc.org or 926-7942) at any time and for the June issue of the e-AVENUE, no later than Friday, May 19th. This includes team and committee meetings, news, planned events and other newsworthy items.
Facebook - Please remember to friend and follow our Watauga Avenue Presbyterian Church Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/Watauga-Avenue-Presbyterian-Church-94712920937/ ]. All news and events will be reported there.
Photos needed - We welcome contributions to our Facebook page via your comments and photos of church events and activities. Please also submit your photos to the church office for archiving. It will be wonderful to have a visual record of all of the positive things that Watauga Avenue Presbyterian Church does for our community.
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WATAUGA AVENUE PC IS ON .. click and see for yourself. | | |
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Established 27 September 1892, Watauga Avenue Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ. Reformed in theology and Presbyterian by way of organization, it is related to Holston Presbytery, the Synod of Living Waters, and to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) | | | | |
