The latest news for you

Issue 2023-08

The AVENUE

AUGUST

Welcome

GOOD NEWS AND WORSHIP UPDATE

Sunday, July 30, 2023 @ 11 am

Sermon - "Do You Understand?"

Scripture - Matthew 13:31-33. 44-52

Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor

both in-person and on YouTube or Facebook

WAPC Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgI_BKUlZH70GzG90xIQ1xA

Nancy Fennell - Elder of the Month of July

Dick Lura - Elder of the Month of August

SPECIAL NEWS AND INFORMATION

PARABLES

The Kingdom of Heaven is like… These are the words that Jesus uses repeatedly when telling parables. These short stories that convey details about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like currently, and what it will be like in the time to come. During each of the last two weeks, we have looked at one of the parables given by Jesus. This week, however, we come to a rapid-fire exchange where Jesus tells 5 different parables that go beyond the farming community. Jesus’ parables tell about merchants, fishers, bakers, and so much more. So join us this week as we unpack all of these parables in order that we might see new things about the Kingdom both here and now and in the time not yet!

Yours in Christ,

Brandon

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS

The Adult Sunday School class has selected Philip Yancey's book, "Vanishing Grace: what ever happened to the Good News?" as their next title, which they begin reading and discussing on Sunday, April 30th. You should have plenty of time to secure your personal copy and join them in class. 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.

EVERYONE INVITED TO BABY SHOWER

The Fellowship Team cordially invites everyone to a baby shower for Caitlin Bailey Smith this Sunday, July 30th following Morning Worship. This will be the first child for Daniel and Caitlin and the first grandchild of Sherry and Wayne Bailey. The baby boy is due in August. Caitlin is registered through Registry.com and at Target. Light refreshments will be served. Come and join the fun and celebrate this happy event.

AUGUST WALK SCHEDULED

The following walk will be a return to Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton on Wednesday, August 16th at 10 am. Take highway 321 toward Elizabethton. The park is about 8 miles from the church. Turn left into the park from the highway and follow the road past the fort, on your left, to park by the tennis courts. The entrance to the park is just before you get to Sycamore Shoals Hospital. Lunch afterwards.

MEET THE MOUNTAINS FESTIVAL

The Meet The Mountains Festival will be held in Johnson City at Winged Deer Park on August 18-19. This festival serves as a showcase of Northeast Tennessee’s outdoor recreation assets. And this year, we are having our own Watauga Avenue Presbyterian Church booth at this festival. We want people in the community to become aware of our mission and values towards sustainability, creation care, and love for God’s earth. During this festival, we will be distributing native wildflower seed packets with information about our church and our Green Team. We look forward to a lot of fun!

There are several lists on the bulletin board in the side entrance. Please indicate if you can help with filling seed packets on Sunday, August 6, after worship. There are 8 volunteers on the list thus far; i'm sure others will be welcomed. Please bring a bag lunch.

We are still looking for volunteers to help fill some 3 hour timeslot to man our booth at the Festival on Friday, August 18 and/or Saturday, August 19. The list of who has volunteered thus far is listed below; other people are certainly welcome to join these members and provide valuable assistance or give them a break. Just add your name to the list. Thanks.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 18TH

1 - 3 PM SET-UP

Nancy Fennell / Susan and Megan Turner

4 - 7 PM

Matthew & Karen Clark

7 - 10 PM

still needing volunteers

SATURDAY, AUGUST 19TH

10 AM - 1 PM

Susan and Megan Turner

1 - 4 PM

Matthew & Karen Clark

4 - 7PM

Stephen & Sue Shanks

7 - 10 PM

John Golden / can use another person

10 PM TAKE-DOWN

still needing volunteers

LUNCH BUNCH / FOOD NEWS

The Lunch Bunch Schedule for JULY / AUGUST

July 30 @ Tommy Thai (1726 W. State of Franklin, JC)

August 6 @ Black Olive (202 E. Main Street, dwtn JC)

August 13 @ Hachimi Japanese Cuisine (3101 W. Marker, JC)

August 20 @ Café Lola (1805 No. Roan Street, JC)

August 27 - Vegetarian Lover's Potluck Lunch

(potluck sign-up sheet is on the bulletin board)

THERE IS A SUMMER SCHEDULE OF ALL LUNCH BUNCH LOCATIONS

POSTED ON THE BULLETIN BOARD.

IF ANYONE HAS SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER DINING VENUES, PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE TO ADD THEM TO OUR LUNCH ROTATION. THANKS.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE MONTH (noted when online)

Sunday, July 30, 2023

10 am Adult Sunday School - reading "Vanishing Grace" by Philip Yancey

11 am Morning Worship, Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor (in-person YouTube / Facebook)

12:15 pm Baby Shower for Caitlin Bailey Smith (everyone invited)

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Tommy Thai (1736 W. State of Franklin)

Monday, July 31, 2023

6 pm Summer Bible Study (in Conference Room)

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

5 pm Worship Team meeting (in Sanctuary)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Saturday, August 5, 2023

10 am Holston Presbytery @ First Presbyterian Church, Morristown TN

Sunday, August 6, 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)

12:15 pm Filling seed packets for Meet the Mountains booth (bring a bag lunch)

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Black Olive (202 E. Main Street, dwtn JC)

Monday, August 7, 2023

6 pm Summer Bible Study (in Conference Room)

Tuesday, August 8, 2023

6 pm Session meeting

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Sunday, August 13, 2023

10 am Adult Sunday School - reading "Vanishing Grace" by Philip Yancey

11 am Morning Worship, Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor (in-person YouTube / Facebook)

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Hachimi Japanese Cuisine (3101 W. Market, JC)

Monday, August 14, 2023

6 pm Summer Bible Study (in Conference Room)

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

10 am Walk / stroll @ Sycamore Shoals State Park, Elizabethton (lunch following)

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Friday, August 18, 2023

1 pm - 3 pm set-up WAPC booth @ Meet The Mountains Festival, Winged Deer Park

4 - 10 pm manning WAPC booth @ Meet the Mountains Festival, Winged Deer Park

Saturday, August 19, 2023

10 am - 10 pm manning WAPC booth @ Meet the Mountains Festival, Winged Deer Park

Sunday, August 20, 2023

10 am Adult Sunday School - reading "Vanishing Grace" by Philip Yancey

11 am Morning Worship, Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor (in-person YouTube / Facebook)

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Café Lola (1805 No. Roan Street, JC)

Monday, August 21, 2023

6 pm Summer Bible Study (in Conference Room)

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Sunday, August 27, 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)

12:15 pm Vegetarian Lover's Potluck Lunch (new category includes spicy / savory dishes)

Monday, August 28, 2023

6 pm Summer Bible Study (in Conference Room)

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

10 am PW 5th Tuesday Workday

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Visit our calendar

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

-- Matthew 6:21

SESSION NOTES

July Elder of the Month - Nancy Fennell

August Elder of the Month - Dick Lura

Next Session meeting - Tuesday, August 8 @ 6 pm

UPDATE FROM PERSONNEL COMMITTEE

Since January, the WAPC Personnel Committee has been involved in a review and updating of the job descriptions for the church staff. This was a productive process which engaged each staff member in thoughtful consideration of their contributions to the mission and work of our church. All job descriptions now share a standard format, and roles and responsibilities were clarified as need.

During this review, it was determined that the job title “Office Manager” did not adequately reflect the work associated with the role. That title, for Stephen Patrick, was changed to Communications Coordinator and is effective immediately. Please join us in congratulating Stephen on his new title.

The updated job descriptions were approved by the Session at its July meeting and are available in the church office for anyone who wishes to review them.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

[2023 Annual Budget - $ 177,600

Budget through July 28, Week #30 ($102,462)

Receipts $ 103,918.49

Disbursements -$ 91,821.72

Balance $ 12,096.77

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.

Please remember the 5 Cents per Meal Offering this week

and every first Sunday of the Month. The next special PC(USA) offering will

be in September for the Peace & Global Witness offering.

HOLSTON PRESBYTERY NEWS

Holston Presbytery meetings 2023

Most meetings begin at 10 am; Camp meeting begins a 1 pm.

Saturday, August 5, 2023 @ First Presbyterian, Morristown

Tuesday, November 7, 2023 @ TBD

Rev. Diana Moore, Transitional Stated Clerk

Rev. Karen Russell, Transitional Executive Presbyter

vacant, Transitional Treasurer/ Financial Manager

info@holstonpresbytery.org

423-247-6178

JULY / AUGUST BIRTHDAYS

July 29 - Tom Shanks

July 31 - Tommy Causey

August 1 - Janis Miyamoto

August 2 - Emily Caponero

August 3 - Sherry Bailey & Marty Shanks

August 10 - Matthew Clark

August 20 - John Hancock

August 21 - Dick Lura

AUGUST ANNIVERSARIES

August 6 - David & Jennifer Wood (40th)

THE 2023 FLOWER LIST IS AVAILABLE ON THE BULLETIN BOARD IN THE SIDE ENTRY

Request Chancel Flowers

THOUGHTS & PRAYERS

For Friends and Loved Ones

Theresa Lura; Sue Shanks' friend Gladys Wizzen; Camilla Lyle's brother, Jeff McFee; Sue Sheffield’s sister-in-law, Pauline Frye; Marty Shanks' sister, Judy Hall; Jonathan Sharp; Michelle Browning's brother, Patrick; Don Loughry; George, Jo & Nikki Rolling; Rev. Maggie Lauterer; Sarah Suptin; Kelly Hodges; Heather Hughes; Edna Campbell.

Prayers for others

Continue to pray for the people in Ukraine as they continue their fight against the Russian Invasion. For the people Sudan as they are caught between an armed conflict between rival factions of the military government of Sudan and continues to be an ongoing humanitarian crisis, as well as the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Prayers of the victims of flooding in Nova Scotia and Kentucky; tornadoes in North Carolina; heavy rainfall / landslides in Columbia; Typhoon Talim in China and Northern Vietnam; and wildfires in Greece and Algeria; and other ongoing disasters. Prayers are needed for the refugee crisis and European migration issues in Greece. 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

Submit Prayer Requests

A Blast from the Past

Who is this happy couple ??

JONESBOROUGH WALK

Nice sunny day for a walk in Jonesborough yesterday along the Persimmon Ridge Trail although a bit hot. But it looks cooler in the shade.

NOTEWORTHY GREEN SPACE NEWS

In 2018 members of the A'i Cofán Indigenous group in the Ecuadorian Amazon filed a lawsuit against the government to revoke more than 50 mining concessions that could pollute the community's main source of water. In January 2023, after years of collaboration, Ecuador's government—in partnership with The Nature Conservancy—established a nearly 250,000-acre water protection area that will protect the Aguarico River and more. The Aguarico, Chingual, and Cofanes water-protection area spans a range of ecosystems from tropical rainforests to high altitude páramos and evergreen mountain forests. Like all water-protection areas, it is designed to conserve water sources that are key for human consumption, food sovereignty, and sustainable development in local communities.

Approximately 3,000 people live inside the water-protection area, and the catchments provide water to an additional 80,000 people downstream. The newly secured territory also connects four other protected areas in Ecuador, creating a biological corridor that will safeguard more than 1,000 plant and animal species, including iconic and endangered Andean bears and Andean tapirs. (GSN#158)

VIRTUAL CREATION ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK

LAS MEDULAS, LEON, SPAIN

La Mirada del Zangano (November 2016 | 3:20 min)

ROMAN GOLD MINE OF LAS MEDULAS - WORLD HERITAGE SITE

La Mirada del Zangano (September 2016 | 3:35 min)

Las Médulas (Spanish pronunciation: [las ˈmeðulas]) is a historic gold-mining site near the town of Ponferrada in the comarca of El Bierzo (province of León, Castile and León, Spain). It was the most important gold mine, as well as the largest open-pit gold mine in the entire Roman Empire.^[1] Las Médulas Cultural Landscape is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Advanced aerial surveys conducted in 2014 using LIDAR have confirmed the wide extent of the Roman-era works.^[2]

The spectacular landscape of Las Médulas resulted from the ruina montium (wrecking of the mountains), a Roman mining technique described by Pliny the Elder in 77 AD.^[3]^[4] The technique employed was a type of hydraulic mining which involved undermining a mountain with large quantities of water. The water was supplied by interbasin transfer. At least seven long aqueducts tapped the streams of the La Cabrera district (where the rainfall in the mountains is relatively high) at a range of altitudes. The same aqueducts were used to wash the extensive alluvial gold deposits.^[5]

What became the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis was conquered in 25 BC by the emperor Augustus. Before the Roman conquest, the indigenous inhabitants obtained gold from alluvial deposits. Large-scale production did not begin until the second half of the 1st century AD.^[6]

Film 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia7Ro9Q7B9M

Film 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0nMcLCMR6I

IN THE POTEAT LIBRARY

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT,

CHECK OUT THE POTEAT LIBRARY

NOTE: 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. The white book cart inside the library has new titles. There is also an orange book cart in the Heritage Room that has books free for the taking. Come and browse.

The Light and the Glory

By Peter Marshall and David Manuel

(209/MAR)

Did Columbus believe that God called him west to undiscovered lands? Does American democracy owe its inception to the handful of Pilgrims that settled at Plymouth? If, indeed, there was a specific, divine call upon this nation, is it still valid today?

The Light and the Glory answers these questions and many more for history buffs. As readers look at their nation's history from God's point of view, they will begin to have an idea of how much we owe to a very few--and how much is still at stake.

Now revised and expanded for the first time in more than thirty years,The Light and the Glory is poised to show new readers just how special their country is.

REMINDERS

Congregational Concerns / Prayer Requests - Please contact the church office or Sherry Bailey.

Flower List - Sign up to sponsor flowers for our weekly worship services in honor or in memory of loved ones. Arrangements are $65 each.

Liturgists - On Hiatus - 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) for the September 2023 issue of the e-AVENUE no later than August 18th. This includes team and committee reports, 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.

Visit our website

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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