FBC Raleigh News • June 23, 2020
SUMMER BOOK CLUBS

As we continue to deepen our collective and individual understanding around racial justice and reconciliation, we are inviting you to the table for our summer book club series. Because we believe these conversations thrive in smaller group settings, there are five different books to choose from. Below, you'll read a brief description of the book, and the leader for each study. Groups may choose to meet via zoom, or they may decide to meet outside in someone's back yard. Sign up by emailing the leader of the group for the book you'd like to read, and participants can then discuss which night works best for the group. Please make sure to sign-up by June 30 . Each person is responsible for ordering their own book , and groups will target to kick off the first or second week of July. As the summer months are upon us, we hope these opportunities to connect around racial justice offers space for difficult yet hopeful conversation. For any further questions, email Leah.
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
Leader: Sarah David

In The Color of Law , Rothstein describes how government policies and laws supported and even required race-based discrimination. It goes on to explore how that discrimination shaped our cities and systematically prevented African Americans from accumulating wealth and passing that wealth on, and how those policies still affect African Americans.
There's a Storm Comin: How the American Church Can Lead Through Times of Racial Crisis by Dr. Harold Dorrell Briscoe Jr.
Leader: Matt Strickland

George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Atatiana Jefferson, Philando Castile...The killings of these unarmed men and women ignited racial firestorms across the country. These shootings cause considerable psychological distress in individuals and racial tension in communities and cities. Drawing from current sociological, psychological, and political research, Dorrell makes the case that the church must take proactive measures to prepare for racialized crises. Churches must prepare for these crises to reduce their severity and impact in their communities and cities. Dorrell recommends strategies drawn from the academic and professional fields of climate change adaptation and natural disaster mitigation. These insights are synthesized with biblical data to create a framework that gives churches practical steps to prepare for and respond to racialized crises that inflict trauma to the social fabric of America.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Leader: Amy Galvan

This 2020 remix is an adaptation of Kendi's National Book Award-winning  Stamped from the Beginning  (2016). Jason Reynolds brings his compelling conversational style to Kendi's well-researched work. Reynolds and Kendi walk readers through the history of racism and antiracism in America, from the early justification of slavery to Black Lives Matter.  This book, written to be accessible and appealing to teen readers, is a book that will challenge youth and adults alike to think critically about our nation's past and the norms of our culture. The style of this book will keep you reading. The content will give us much to discuss.
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Leader: Cara Lynn Vogel

How to be an Antiracist,  by Ibram X. Kendi, serves as a challenge to those who want to learn how to be antiracist. An early premise of this work is that there is only racist (that which or who acts to maintain a hierarchy based on race) and antiracist (that which or who acts to prevent that hierarchy). With this definition, Kendi openly discusses his own racist history and challenges the reader to look deeply into his/her own life.
I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
Leader: Matt Bullard

From a new leading voice in racial justice, Austin Channing Brown gives an eye-opening account of what it's like to grow up black, Christian, and female in white America. In this memoir, readers will journey with Brown as she navigates America's racial divide from childhood, to present day. She writes in detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice with stories that bear witness to the complexity of America's social fabric. Austin takes readers from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations, ultimately showing a way forward for us all.
WEEK AT A GLANCE • JUNE 23-30
All regularly scheduled programming is canceled.
BIBLE VERSES FOR DAILY USE
  • Tuesday, June 23: Psalm 86:11-17; Genesis 25:12-18; Revelation 2:8-11
  • Wednesday, June 24: Psalm 86:11-17; Jeremiah 42:18-22; Matthew 10:5-23
  • Thursday, June 25: Psalm 13; Micah 7:18-20; Galatians 5:2-6
  • Friday, June 26: Psalm 13; 2 Chronicles 20:5-12; Galatians 5:7-12
  • Saturday, June 27: Psalm 13; Genesis 26:23-25; Luke 17:1-4
  • Sunday, June 28: Genesis 22:1-14 and Psalm 13; Jeremiah 28:5-9 and Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42
  • Monday, June 29: Psalm 47; Genesis 22: 15-17; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
DEACON ON CALL • JUNE 21-27
Rhonda Lowe (919-819-8651)
GA TEA

On Saturday morning, GAs and their motheres met in Dawn Wade’s front yard to experience our first ever socially distanced, bring-your-own-everything GA Tea!  Rather than white tablecloths, cucumber sandwiches, and hot tea from fancy tea cups, we plopped down on picnic blankets or lawn chairs to enjoy the best of what our pantries had to offer, along with pink lemonade from Mrs. Nancy’s famous Gurgling Fish pitcher. Central to our time together was honoring our fifth graders with a long-stemmed rose for their outstanding leadership in GAs these past five years. It was not at all like we had imagined it would be back in February, but wow, was it great to see everyone – from a six foot distance, of course!
VIRTUAL CHURCH CONFERENCE

Soon we will have another first for FBC Raleigh – a church conference by Zoom! Please mark your calendars for Sunday, June 28, at 5:30pm. It has been a long time since we have been together in conference. We had a successful deacons' meeting last week, with more than 50 participants, so we are feeling confident that we can make this work. We will send the Zoom link out by email and include it in the Rose Window Weekly before the meeting, as well as provide a phone number for those who prefer to participate by phone rather than on the computer. We will also send out the information that normally would be on the tables ahead of time. Several deacons (and their families) are available to help with the technology. If you need assistance, please email Deborah ahead of time and we will get you connected with a deacon. And of course, we ask for some grace and patience as we venture into this new way of doing church business. We look forward to seeing as many of your faces as possible on June 28!
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

This summer, with large group gatherings being a little hard to predict, we’re going to give our best shot at a virtual and intergenerational VBS on July 26-30, 6-8pm , that will be for our church members ages 3-103. You just need a device at home to use for Zoom or Google Meet. 

In the comfort of your home, in slippers and sweats if you’d like, you’ll be able to join in Bible study and your choice of electives as we explore God’s deep love for all of creation, including each of God’s children, and explore how to follow in the way of Jesus as we care for God’s world and one another. Most supplies will be provided unless otherwise noted in the elective descriptions. We’ll have a VBS kit pick-up the week before in the church parking lot.

There are two ways to sign-up:
• Sign up via the  fillable form  (fill out, print, scan, and email it to Lynn)
OR
• Register on our website.
(This is not a public page on our website, but you are welcome to share this URL with friends and neighbors that you know!)

The deadline for sign-up is June 28 . Email Lynn with any questions!

BOOK THE BBQ TRUCK IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Does your neighborhood have a pool or a central parking lot? We would love to bring the 'cue to you! As we prepare for the summer, we're booking neighborhood pop-ups for certain week nights. Email David With for available dates, and invite all your neighbors along for a delicious BBQ dinner!
MORE PICTURES NEEDED

We have really enjoyed seeing your selfies in the past few streamed worship services! We want to continue using your pictures in the postlude, so we’re asking for more of them. If you have pictures of yourself or your family that you’d like to share, please email them to Claire Willmschen . These can be selfies or pictures of your family doing a fun activity before or during quarantine -- whatever you’d like! We just want to remind ourselves of the wonderful congregation we have at FBC.
HECK JONES MISSION OFFERING

June marks the beginning of summer and the collection of our Heck-Jones Mission Offering. Although many of our usual activities have been sidetracked, canceled, or rescheduled; the needs in our community continue and we want to be ready when life goes back to “normal.” Your donations will help in the usual areas, along with a few new ones that are providing much help during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fannie Heck and Sallie Jones would be pleased with the work of these organizations and would be eager to volunteer alongside us wherever they were needed.

(Tentatively scheduled for October 18th)
Habitat for Humanity Build - dates to be determined 
FBC Clothing Ministry

Thank you for the $2,595.00 that has already been received towards this offering. And thank you as well for the $14,788.82 that was received for the CBF Offering. That offering goes directly to the support of our CBF Field Personnel as they strive to be the hands and feet of Jesus. - Nancy Moore Phillips, WMU President 

CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED
TO THE PUBLIC

Although we are well into Phase 2, our church office remains closed to the public for the immediate future. We regret any inconvenience this causes, but we feel like this is another small thing we can do as a church to embrace the requests of community leaders to help limit the spread of COVID-19. We will monitor the answering machine and respond to messages quickly, and we encourage you to contact any of the ministers if you have a pressing need. We have linked each of the ministerial staff member's emails below, so please do not hesitate to reach out with concerns. Chris Chapman , Mary Alice Seals , Trey Davis , Lynn Lingafelt , and Leah Reed .
WAYS TO GIVE

There are several different ways in which you can continue to support the church financially during this time of social distancing. We know many people are facing their own financial challenges right now and have been very generous already, but a number of people have asked how they could support the church while we are unable to gather together physically. Wayne Hager has provided the following answers to this question.

• We continue to receive mail daily. Any gifts mailed to the church will be processed and deposited as soon as possible.
• We will continue to debit bank accounts through auto drafts as we have been instructed by donors.
• If you have set up a recurring donation through one of our electronic options, those donations will continue without interruption unless YOU make a change.
• If you wish to begin electronic giving, please go to this link where each of our options is explained.
• If you are considering a stock gift, please visit this link for instructions. 

If you have any financial or giving-option questions, please email Wayne Hager.
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
Week of June 15, 2020
Current Week Revenue: $14,799.34
Month-to-Date Revenue: $58,809.16
Year-to-Date Revenue: $735,813.02
Month-to-Date Expenses: $53,420.34
Year-to-Date Expenses: $645,194.38
Heck Jones: $ 2,595.00
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 Leah Reed. Email Leah here.