FBC Raleigh News • June 16, 2020
SADNESS, CELEBRATION, AND TRANSITION

By now, we trust that you’ve seen Mary Alice Seals’ retirement letter. Though we understand her decision and wish her the best in the next phase of life, we share the sadness everyone in our church feels in this moment. Mary Alice has not only led our music ministry for twenty years; she has been a part of our lives. She’s watched children grow into youth and then adults, stood with us in sacred moments of joy and sorrow. We grieve the loss of her ministering presence as much as we’ll miss her musical gifts.

But while we grieve, we also want to celebrate her time here. Rhonda Lowe, Carolyn Dickens, Becky Mercer, Ginger Graves, and Mary Hauser are hard at work planning a farewell celebration. We trust that they will find creative and appropriate ways of honoring Mary Alice’s ministry, despite the challenges of COVID-19. Plans are still in process, but for now, please set aside the afternoon of Sunday, August 30, for a special celebration.

We also want you to know that we are working on plans to sustain our music ministry in a time of transition. The unknowns surrounding COVID-19 and the fact that we are also searching for an organist complicate the process, but we have begun thinking about the role of Interim Music Director and will have more information available about this position soon. In regard to finding our next Minister of Music, our bylaws state that the deacon chair appoints a search committee in consultation with the pastor, personnel chair, and representative from an any appropriate group (in this case, the music ministries council).

While we plan for the future of our music program, we also know that this is a challenging time for Mary Alice. Retirement inevitably brings a mixture of emotions in any time – sadness and joy, anxiety and relief. But COVID-19 has intensified all of these emotions. The pandemic has cancelled or altered many last events, making grief and celebration difficult. So, we pray for Mary Alice, even as we pray for the church, trusting that the God who has shaped so many experiences of grace and wonder over the past two decades will shape this time as well.

Christopher Chapman, Pastor
Jen Foster, Personnel Committee Chair
CHURCH CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
The 2020 dates for Church Conference will be as follows:
August 19 • September 30 • October 28 • November 18 • December 16
WEEK AT A GLANCE • JUNE 16-22
All regularly scheduled programming is canceled.
DEACON ON CALL • JUNE 14-20
Nancy Hunter (919-847-4875)
VIRTUAL CHURCH CONFERENCE

On Sunday, June 28 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 deacon’s 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. We will also send out the information attachments that normally would be on the tables ahead of time. We will provide a phone number for those who want to participate by phone rather than on the computer. Several deacons (and their families) are available to help with the technology. If you would like some assistance, please email Deborah and let her know ahead of time, and we will get you connected with a Deacon. And of course, we will 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 , and it’s for 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 pictures! If you have pictures of yourself or your family that you’d like to share with us, please email them to Claire Willmschen . These can be selfies, pictures of your family doing a fun activity, pictures before 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.