GOOD NEWS AND WORSHIP UPDATE
Sunday, March 6, 2022 @ 11 am
First Sunday in Lent / Communion
Scripture: Luke 4:1-13
Sermon: "Aunt Marjorie's Electric Banana Peel"
Rev. Sharon Amstutz, Interim Pastor
both in-person and on YouTube (click here)
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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.
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PLEASE NOTE - DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS MARCH 13TH |
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NOTE: Please be sure you are reading the entire newsletter;
some email services only show the first part; if your service says
"message clipped," please click to restore the last portion of the newsletter
to view all of the news. Thanks.
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SPECIAL NEWS AND INFORMATION |
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Watauga Avenue and Covenant Presbyterian Churches are teaming up for worship and Bible Study opportunities during Lent this year. This will be a wonderful experience of shared leadership, shared hospitality, and shared Christian experience. Here are the details:
Worship Services
Maundy Thursday: At Covenant. More information to come.
Good Friday: At Watauga Avenue. More information to come.
Bible Study
As of Ash Wednesday, Covenant’s pastor, Maggie Rust, and I began leading a discussion-based Bible Study each Wednesday using Rachel Held Evans’ book Inspired as our foundation. To make the study accessible to all the study will be held both virtually and in-person each week.
In person: 3:30
In the spirit of true Christian fellowship, Covenant and WAPC will take turns hosting the in-person studies, and Maggie and I will take turns leading them.
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[DATE
March 9
March 16
March 23
March 30
April 6
April 13 (Holy Week)
]
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[LEADER
Maggie
Sharon
Maggie
Sharon
Maggie
Sharon
]
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[LOCATION
WAPC
Covenant
WAPC
Covemant
WAPC
Covenant
]
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On Line: 7:00 p.m. via Zoom |
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KING UNIVERSITY - INSTITUTE OF FAITH & CULTURE |
UPCOMING EVENTS INCLUDE:
please note: There are options to attending these events. Dr. Dotterweich messaged to say that morning events are almost always streamed at (https://webcast.king.edu ), and almost everything will be available afterward on YouTube – if they will like our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/kingfaithandculture), they can get the videos there, too.
Monday, March 28
Malcolm Guite, poet, priest, and musician at the University ofCambridge
9:15 am @ King Memorial Chapel
7 pm @ Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Bristol VA
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HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE COMING WEEK
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Thursday, March 3
10 am Presbyterian Women (PW) meeting
Friday, March 4 - World Day of Prayer
Saturday, March 5
8 am Holston Presbytery meeting @ Waverly Road Presbyterian Church, Kingsport
Sunday, March 6 - First Sunday in Lent
11 am Morning Worship, Interim Pastor, Rev. Sharon Amstutz (via YouTube)
Tuesday, March 8
7 pm Session meeting
Wednesday, March 9
3:30 pm Lenten Bible Study (in person) @ WAPC
4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)
6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal
7 pm Lenten Bible Study (via Zoom)
Sunday, March 13 - Second Sunday in Lent - DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS
11 am Morning Worship, Interim Pastor, Rev. Sharon Amstutz (via YouTube)
Wednesday, March 16
3:30 pm Lenten Bible Study/Conversation (in person) @ Covenant Presbyterian Church
4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)
6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal
7 pm Lenten Bible Study (via Zoom)
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GENERAL FUND: YEAR TO DATE:
2022 Annual Budget - $ 135,000
Budget through March 1st, 2022, Week #9 ($ 23,365)
Receipts $ 41,044.50
Disbursements - $ 22,633.06
Balance $ 18,411.44
Thanks to everyone for your continued support the church with your tithes and offerings during this extraordinary time. You are encouraged to mail your pledge to us or to drop it by the church office during regular business hours. Thanks.
We are still receiving the 5 Cents per Meal offering that is usually taken on Communion Sundays. If you would like to make a contribution to this offering please do so and designate it on your checks.
The ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING special offering will be taken
during the Lenten season. We are asked to join in God's call to share our
bread with the hungry, to aid and shelter people overcoming catastrophe and conflict, and to resource communities working to cast off the bonds
of poverty and oppression.
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MARCH BIRTHDAYS
March 9 - Ginger Helm
March 13 - Phyl Summers
March 21 - Rev. Bob Lowry
MARCH ANNIVERSARIES
March 12 - Terry & Dave Beckman
March 20 - Phil & Marsha Brandt
The Chancel flowers were given
in honor of my daughters' February birthdays, Jenny & Martha,
by Jean Darling.
PLEASE NOTE: THE NEW 2022 FLOWER LIST IS AVAILABLE ON THE BULLETIN BOARD IN THE SIDE ENTRY
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For Members / Regular Attendees
David Robert Hughes (stationed on Korean DMZ); Don Loughry; Camilla & Hunter Lyle; Jack Hansel.
For Friends
The family of Olga Pastushenko in Ukraine; Stephen Patrick's friends, Eileen Queener and Susan Jennings; Karen Martin's sister, Donna McSpadden; Linda Solly; Sue Sheffield's nephew, Jeremiah Collins; Sue Shank's friend, Judy Klein; Sharon Amstutz's brother, Paul Hagood; Theresa Lura's cousin, Randy Carter; Sarah Suptin; church neighbor, Dorothy Harvey; Chris Stansell's parents, Rev. Donald & Velma Stansell.
Special Prayers for Clinical and Medical Health Care Workers
The continued COVID pandemic concerns with cases still on the rise with the delta, lambda and mu variant strains, along with the new omicron virus with the highest number of overall cases in the United States, India and Brazil; COVID cases are now on the rise in numerous European countries.
Prayer for Ukraine
God,
We sigh. We sigh because words cannot express our anguish, our hurt, our despair, knowing that siblings in Ukraine are fleeing their homes for their lives, that the cities and towns that hold memories and culture and history may be destroyed.
Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And so we sigh. Let us breathe together.
<take a deep breath>
May our sighs remind us
that we all share the same air;
that what impacts one of us impacts all of us;
that life is precious to God and war is never necessary.
May our sighs be a prayer
for every Ukrainian who worries about surviving today;
for those who will not survive this invasion;
for those who will survive and be forever changed by the trauma of war;
for those Russian soldiers who question their orders and refuse to use their weapons.
May our sighs be a prayer
for nuclear deproliferation;
for an end to the sin of imperialism and colonization.
May our sighs be a prayer for truth, peace, and solidarity to guide each of us;
May our sighs be a prayer for Ukraine and the whole world.
May our sighs fill our bodies with air
to breathe through grief and fear and
fill us with courage and connection,
so that we are ready to act in solidarity with Ukraine,
for an end to this war
and all war.
Written by: Rev. Emily Brewer, Executive Director of Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
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This was our choir about 1984. A wonderful group of singers and musicians all.
(clockwise around the piano) Nancy Johnson, Bea Ellis, Kay Jones, Karen Foote, Robin Prater, Tom Shanks, Willie Snodderly, Nancy Hoover (director), Anna Marie Shanks (pianist). (in back) Roger Helm, Jim Foote, Stephen Patrick, and Chuck Taylor.
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This spring Florida lawmakers passed the Wildlife Corridor Act, increasing protection for the state's wide-ranging mammals and the land and waterways they depend on. A milestone in conservationists' decades-long quest to safeguard species such as the endangered Florida panther, the legislation recognizes the impact of development on Florida's natural lands and the need to link individually protected sections to create an unbroken corridor through which animals can roam.
"This is a great first step," says Greg Knecht, deputy director for The Nature Conservancy in Florida. "The panther represents an entire suite of Florida animals—including black bears—that need a large landscape to be successful." The panther has been a priority for activists since the 1970s, when its numbers dipped to around 20. However, conservation efforts are starting to pay off. Today the big cat's population is estimated at 200.
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VIRTUAL CREATION ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK |
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77svoboda (May 2012 | 12:10 min.)
0:00 Orchestra of folk instruments. Lviv - A voice of Jesus is calling
1:02 National orchestra of folk instruments of Ukraine, conducted by V. Gutsal
5:34 National orchestra of folk instruments of Ukraine - Lyrical dance (komp.S.Hulak-Artemovsky)
7:24 Jaroslav Dzhus - Ukrainian melody
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IN THE POTEAT LIBRARY
NOTE: The library is open by appointment. Please remember that 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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The Little Book of Prayers
By David Schiller, ed.
(291.4)
The perfect gift for seekers, the curious, and the spiritually hungry, The Little Book of Prayers now has a stunning new cover and a more prayer book–like format.
Gathered from holy books and prayer books, from songs and spirituals, spoken traditions and poets, it is an unexpectedly approachable collection of common and uncommon prayers from around the world. The entries, one per page or spread, are chosen for their depth of feeling, beauty of expression, spiritual intensity, and sense of the universal. The book is organized into broad categories of praise, entreaty, contemplation, mourning, and grace; and two indexes―one by authorship, and the other by topic―make it immediately accessible.
There are familiar prayers, like the Lord’s Prayer and 23rd Psalm, which, placed in new context, shine with a renewed beauty and wisdom. You’ll find prayers unfamiliar to many in the West, such as the “Opener” from the Koran or the four vows of the Boddhisattva, chanted every evening in Zen monasteries around the world. And the surprising―from the “Prayer of the Unknown Confederate Soldier” to the blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins to the poetry of Rumi.
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Congregational Concerns / Prayer Requests - Please contact the church office or Sherry Bailey with information.
Flower List - The 2022 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 $30 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 April issue of the e-AVENUE, no later than Friday, March 18th. This includes team and committee meetings, news, planned events and other newsworthy items.
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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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.) |
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