BPC NEWS BRIEF
Wednesday,
June 1, 2022
mailing address:  Balmoral Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 17309, Memphis, TN 38187
NEWS THIS WEEK

  • WORSHIP for SUNDAY, June 5: PENTECOST SUNDAY

  • "COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME"

  • PRAYER VIGIL for VICTIMS of GUN VIOLENCE, tonight 6:00pm

  • PENTECOST OFFERING to SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE

  • GERMANTOWN HONORS DICK VOSBURG

  • JUNETEENTH PAINT PARTY

  • DONATED BOOKS WANTED for the VA!

  • David LaMotte discusses horrific violence and ‘the beautiful and wonderful things’ that are also occurring

  • BPC Photos
  • Worship Sunday May 29

WEEKLY INFORMATION
  • Birthdays
  • Calendar of Events
  • CONTACT INFORMATION

OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES
  • BRING FOOD for the FOOD CART
  • Give out Hospitality bags
  • SIGN UP to be a WORSHIP LITURGIST!


BPC SUMMER SCHEDULE
  • SUNDAY STUDIES will start back up in the Fall
  • BOOK CLUB for SUMMER
  • NEWSLETTER will be MONTHLY over the summer




BPC WORSHIP & COMMUNION

Pentecost Sunday,
June 5, 2022

11:00am IN BPC's SANCTUARY

Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14 & Romans 8:22-27
Sermon:  Can These Bones Live?
We will still send an email on FRIDAY
with the LiveStream YouTube link & Sunday Worship Guide. 
Previous Worship Services at Balmoral are still available on the 
CIRCLE of FAITH WORSHIP 8:30am
IN BPC's Fellowship Hall

Everyone is invited to join Circle of Faith's worship service!
To enter the building, use Office door to the Fellowship Hall.
SUNDAY STUDIES is
ON VACATION for the SUMMER
Studies will start up again in September
"COME, O HOLY SPIRIT, COME"
June's Congregational Response
Each season of the church year, we change the Congregational Response after the Prayer of Confession and the Assurance.
Beginning in June, BPC will be singing "Come, O Holy Spirit, Come" which may not be familiar to everyone.

The hymn is based on a Nigerian gathering song that was originally created in Yoruba, one of that country’s three primary trade languages.
The recording below first sings the Nigerian words, 3 times. It then sings the English words, 3 times. (The words are shown below)
NIGERIAN:
Wa wa wa Emimimo. (Emioloye.)
Wa wa wa Alagbaram. (Alagbarameta.)
Wao, wao, wao.
(Emimimo.)
ENGLISH:
Come, O Holy Spirit, come.
(Holy Spirit, come.)
Come, Almighty Spirit, come. (Almighty Spirit, come.)
Come, come, come.
(O Spirit, come.)
For our Congregational Response at BPC, we will be singing only the English version, and singing it 2 times.
PRAYER VIGIL
Idlewild Presbyterian is holding a Prayer Vigil this evening, Wednesday, at 6:00pm in the sanctuary to stand with the victims of gun violence. It will include liturgy, prayer, silence, and action steps for the community as we witness to the call of the Prince of Peace in our world. The entire community is welcome to participate.
PENTECOST OFFERING
June 5

The Pentecost Offering unites us in a church-wide effort to support young people and inspire them to share their faith, ideas, and unique gifts with the church and the world.
Nurturing the faith of those
solid foundation of faith.
A gift to the Pentecost Offering helps the church encourage, develop, and support its young people, and also address the needs of at-risk children. 40% of the Pentecost offering can be retained by individual congregations wanting to make an impact in the lives of young people within their own community. The remaining 60% is used to support children-at-risk, youth, and young adults through ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
Balmoral will be collecting Pentecost offering gifts through Pentecost Sunday, June 5. Envelopes are provided on the sanctuary table. Or you may put a check marked for PENTECOST in the offering plates.
CONGRATULATIONS!
May 26, 2022, was officially Dick Vosburg Day!
At least if you live in Germantown, TN. Dick had this day proclaimed in honor of the MANY years of service to the city of Germantown.
Casey Gurlen graduated last week! Cards of Congratulations can be placed for her on the table at the entry of the sanctuary or can be mailed to her home at 6735 Aberfoyle Cv., Memphis, TN 38119-7806
ORLANDO WHEATLEY
is leaving for a six- month sea tour with the navy. Please encourage him by keeping in touch by emailing him at:

  • WORSHIP will be IN-PERSON and LiveStreamed as usual at 11:00am each Sunday all summer!
  • SUNDAY STUDIES will be ON VACATION for the SUMMER (We will start up again in September)
  • PW BIBLE STUDY will meet in JUNE for a luncheon then will take off for the rest of summer. Watch your email for details!
  • Balmoral Book Club is taking a summer break in June, but plans to meet again Tuesday, July 11, at 1:30 p.m.
  • THE NEWSLETTER will be a MONTHLY email on the 1st Wednesday for June, July, and August. (see below for dates you will receive your newsletter this summer)

Check with your Small Group Leaders about their Summer Plans!

Summer Newsletter Schedule
  • JUNE 1
  • JULY 6
  • AUGUST 3

(weekly newsletters will return for Fall beginning August 31)

(NOTE: Prayer Requests on Tuesday and Worship YouTube Link on Friday will continue weekly during the summer)
THE VA WANTS YOUR BOOKS!
GENTLY USED BOOKS WANTED!
The VA has a need, a big one, that won’t cost you any money!  We need books!!! Books in good condition!  BUT we need to be a bit picky…. 
No books that smell of cigarette smoke, no books that have been sitting in open boxes in someone’s garage or attic gathering dust and/or bugs.  We need books of many genres, fiction & non-fiction: histories, mysteries, DIY, westerns, biographies, cookbooks, etc. We’ll take some romances, but most of the folks here aren’t big on the Harlequin variety!! Karen Pilkington will be collecting the books – bring them to church in bags or boxes and leave them next to the Food Cart and her DAR chapter will see that they get to the VA.
HOW DO WE METASTASIZE THE GOODNESS?
David LaMotte discusses horrific violence and ‘the beautiful and wonderful things’ that are also occurring
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE — Speaking on the broadcast “Leading Theologically” the day following the shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Presbyterian author, speaker, facilitator, composer and musician David LaMotte said that while it’s important “to name the horror of what humans are doing to each other,” it’s also crucial that we acknowledge that most of the world is at peace.
“How do we metastasize the goodness?” he asked host the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty of the Presbyterian Foundation. “How do we spread the things that are right and leave no room for the rest?”
“I don’t advocate looking away” from recent awful news reports of violence in Texas and New York and California, LaMotte said. “But in order to be mobile at all, we have to keep some semblance of hope. I need to keep reminding myself that there’s beauty everywhere.”
“I’m not saying everything’s cool. It’s definitely not OK,” LaMotte told Hinson-Hasty. “We have serious work to do. But to do the work, I need to not be completely immobilized by despair, because hope leads to action, and action can lead to any number of possibilities. With inaction, things generally go in the same direction, in my experience.”
“We have work to do. It’s a long struggle, so how do we maintain sustainability in a time when we see people burning out left and right,” including nurses, teachers and pastors, “who catch it from people on all sides,” LaMotte said. “When I see teachers, I always thank them for their service. Pastors: than you for your service.”
Just before the pandemic began, a friend gave LaMotte two rules for community: bring what you have and ask for what you need. LaMotte appreciated those rules so much he wrote and recorded a song about them. “I never want to be the voice that further burdens people who are already carrying too much,” he said. “There is toxic self-aggrandizement to thinking I have to be the one to fix this all the time. And yet we need to show up for the work at hand.”
Jesus does “a wild thing” issuing the Great Commandment, LaMotte said. He simply answers the question, “which he never did,” LaMotte said, normally electing to answer questions from disciples and others with parables or with another question. Jesus’ answer is to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. In Matthew’s account, he adds, “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
According to Jesus, “everything else you ever learned has to be filtered through these two things,” LaMotte said. “I don’t know why Christians don’t hold up those verses at football games.”
The Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty
“We could start a movement!” Hinson-Hasty replied before asking about a “Let’s be neighbors” sign hanging behind LaMotte. The sign read: “You are our neighbors. No mater who you vote for, your skin color, where you are from, your faith, or who you love, we will try to be here for you. That’s what community means. Let’s be neighbors.” To learn more, go here.
LaMotte said that message became even more valuable following the 2016 election, when in his neighborhood “it felt like the sidewalks had been torn out. There was generalized fear and anxiety. People lost their commonality.”
“When your car battery is dead, no matter who you voted for, knock on my door and I’ll jump your car battery,” LaMotte said. “We have to be in relationship because it matters. When we silo, we can’t make decisions together. People are seldom transformed by being rejected. They’re transformed by love … If we’re humanized, we can be transformed.”
“If we’re going to make any change in the world,” Hinson-Hasty said, “we’re going to have to know each other.”
“I’m also really conscious you and I are straight white guys with U.S. passports,” LaMotte said. “We sit here with a great deal of privilege. My to-do list is not everybody’s to-do list. … I’m not in a place to issue edicts as to what everybody ought to do. I think this is what we ought to do, but it’s a lot easier to see systems from the edges of the systems.”
Making peace, LaMotte said, is not the same as making nice.
“It involves engaging conflict. It’s really hard work,” both in families and in the public square. “If you’re not engaging,” LaMotte said, “it’s not peace work.”
LaMotte’s new book,You are Changing the World Whether You Like It or Not,” will be published this fall by Chalice Press.
Hinson-Hasty called LaMotte “the perfect guest for today, a reminder we are connected to each other, that hope — not despair — is the final word.”

BOOK CLUB
THIS SUMMER
Balmoral Book Club is taking a summer break in June,
but plans to meet again Tuesday, July 11, at 1:30 p.m. in classroom A.
We will be discussing the book Moloka'i, by Alan Brennert,
to be led by Jane Rousseau.
This is the story of a 7-year-old girl sent to a leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i, who found a sense of family and belonging there. "Brimming with warmth, humor, compassion and a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is a masterpiece of storytelling about a people who embraced life in the face of death."
OPPORTUNITIES for OUTREACH
FILL UP
the
FOOD CART!
DONATIONS! DONATIONS! LET'S FILL IT UP!
Now that we can donate food again to the
St. Luke Methodist Food Pantry, let's fill it up!

HOSPITALITY BAGS
ARE AVAILABLE NEXT to the FOOD CART -
PICK SOME UP!
You can also pick up Hospitality Bags to donate to those you pass along the road who are in need.
(And bring donations for more bags - bring bottles of water,
And bring donations for more bags - bring bottles of water, boxes of raisins or other dried fruit, granola bars, cheese crackers (NO PEANUT BUTTER!!), clean socks - when you see someone asking for a handout, hand them a Hospitality bag!

URGENT NEED: WE ARE OUT of BOTTLED WATER and SOCKS for the HOSPITALITY BAGS! Please bring what you can!
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
LITURGIST SIGNUPS
We have LOTS of open slots for Worship Liturgist volunteers. Use the button here to sign-up!
Choose the Sunday(s) you are available to serve. All materials you need will be sent to you for that week!

(Contact Rev. Mary Gale if you have questions or need help signing up.)
Jack Orians (15); William Warren (25)
 
Every Monday
2:00pm Writer's Group CLASSROOM A and/or on Zoom

EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY
12:30pm CHAIR YOGA in CLASSROOM B

1st Wednesday of the Month
BIBLE STUDY 10:30am in Classroom A

1st & 3rd Thursday of the Month
Ellis Small Group 10:15 am

2nd Tuesday of the Month
1:30pm BOOK CLUB in Classroom A

2nd Thursday Evening of the Month
7:00 pm Trouble I've Seen Small Group

1st & 3rd Thursday of the Month
COLONIAL PARK FOOD DRIVE

CHECK WITH YOUR SMALL GROUP LEADER for their SUMMER SCHEDULE
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
PRAYER VIGIL
6:00 PM Idlewild Presbyterian Sanctuary

Sunday, June 5, 2022
PENTECOST SUNDAY
8:30 AM Circle of Faith Worship in the Fellowship Hall
11:00 AM BPC Worship & Communion in the Sanctuary
& on LiveStream

Sunday, June 12, 2022
8:30 AM Circle of Faith Worship in the Fellowship Hall
11:00 AM BPC Worship in the Sanctuary
& on LiveStream

Saturday, June 18, 2022
National Black Presbyterian Caucus JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION
PAINT PARTY CELEBRATION
2-4 pm PGU Church, 1005 Shelby Drive, Memphis, TN

Sunday, June 19, 2022
8:30 AM Circle of Faith Worship in the Fellowship Hall
11:00 AM BPC Worship in the Sanctuary
& on LiveStream

Sunday, June 26, 2022
8:30 AM Circle of Faith Worship in the Fellowship Hall
11:00 AM BPC Worship in the Sanctuary
& on LiveStream

Sunday, July 3, 2022
8:30 AM Circle of Faith Worship in the Fellowship Hall
11:00 AM BPC Worship in the Sanctuary
& on LiveStream

Monday, July 4, 2022
Church Office will be CLOSED for the holiday


NEXT NEWSLETTER: WEDNESDAY, JULY 6
Newsletter Articles & Photos should be emailed to Kathy Singleton at ksingle2@bellsouth.net no later than Tuesday, July 5, at noon

BPC PHOTOS
Worship last Sunday, May 29
Liturgist Mary Schmitz &
Rev. Mary Newberg Gale with her daughter Fiona
Bells of Balmoral
directed by Lynn Ward
Choir
Cellists
John Gilmer & Fran Addicott


Commissioning
of the Soup Kitchen Volunteers
CLOTHES DRIVE
for
JOHNSON AUXILIARY
Men’s Clothing:
  • Men’s Casual Shoes (athletic-type shoes) /Slippers (with backs) (All sizes needed)
  • Men’s Jackets and Hoodies (all sizes) & gloves
  • Men’s Casual Pants—Waist Sizes (All sizes needed, but particularly need sizes 30-36 waist and sizes 44 and up waist)
  • Men’s Casual Pants—Sweatpants (All sizes)
  • Men’s Casual Shirts—long sleeve (All sizes needed, but particularly need sizes XL and up particularly big and tall sizes); button down the front and pullover
  • Men’s underwear and socks (Must be new)—(All sizes)

Women’s Clothing:
  • Women’s sweatpants—all sizes needed
  • Women’s underwear and socks (must be new); all sizes needed
  • Women’s hoodies/casual outerwear (all sizes needed, particularly plus sizes); gloves
  • Women’s casual shoes (athletic-type) /slippers (with backs)—Sizes 9 and up

Other Clothing Related Needs:
  • Umbrellas
  • Rainwear such as ponchos (unisex, preferred)

If items have been previously worn, they must be clean, odor-free, stain-free and not in need of repair.
Your contributions really help and are greatly appreciated! 
(Place items near the Food Cart in the narthex hallway.)
VOLUNTEERS are also needed!
Contact Beverley Hooker for more information!

CONTACT INFORMATION
Pastoral Care is supplied by Pastoral Care Intern Rev. Elizabeth Dick 314.330.0506
       or email elizabethdick2@gmail.com
and our Transitional Pastor
Rev. Mary Newberg Gale 913.481.7427
       or email mngale@balmoralpc.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. 
POLICIES for WORSHIP & BUILDING USE
  • Wearing a mask in the church building is optional.
  • Social distancing is still encouraged.
  • Individuals exhibiting symptoms of illness are asked to not enter the building.
  • Unvaccinated individuals are asked to wear a mask, including members of community organizations that use the building.
  • Should a surge in Covid-19 infections prompt the Shelby County Health Department to recommend indoor mask-wearing and social distancing, the task force will convene to decide how to react.
  • Members who test positive for Covid-19 are asked to notify Rev. Elizabeth Dick, who will notify the congregation so members can decide how to respond.
  • To keep the SEED children as safe as possible, the procedures controlling the old end of the building will remain unchanged, except when there is a need for someone to pass through the SEED area.
  • Individuals may bring only water into the sanctuary; food and drink is permitted elsewhere.
  • Passing plates to collect the offering is permitted.
  • The SEED children and staff are allowed to use the new hallway to access the playground and the main bathrooms.
  • The drinking fountains are no longer off limits.
  • The kitchen is no longer off limits.
  • Collections for the Food Cart may resume.
Small Group Meetings in Classrooms A & B must be scheduled with Barry Dotson, barry.dotson@yahoo.com or signed text/cell: 901. 277.1596
THIS ISN'T ENTIRELY OVER YET, HOWEVER!
PLEASE, FOR THE SAFETY OF YOURSELF and ALL THOSE YOU LOVE AND CARE FOR:
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.
To contact the Chair of the BPC COVID-19 Task Force:
Scott Hill - signed text: 901.277.9794
email: sphill1946@gmail.com (NOTE his new email!)
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 advice.
  • 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. Mary Gale, 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 be submitted via email to Rev. Mary Gale (mngale@balmoralpc.com) and/or Rev. Elizabeth Dick (elizabethdick2@gmail.com) with a copy to Kathy Singleton at ksingle2@bellsouth.net.
JUNE 2022
online church 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 2021-2022 calendar is available to you.