JULY MISSION PROJECT

Caring Connections Ministry is a mentoring program dedicated to supporting women in the greater Raleigh area who may be grappling with feelings of isolation and being overwhelmed due to various challenges such as poverty, substance misuse recovery, re-entry after justice involvement, or underemployment. Their primary goal is to empower women by providing them with the necessary tools and skills for self-sufficiency through personalized mentoring relationships that offer unwavering support, inspiration, and guidance. Each participant is matched with a dedicated mentor who serves as a source of encouragement, accountability, and direction, aiding them in the journey towards independence and hope for their future.

For our July mission project, we will be collecting child- and youth-sized underwear for the children of the women in this program. If you would rather give money, we'll also be collecting donations to purchase sports bras for the daughters of participants. Please place all new, packaged underwear in the Lewis Lobby drawers. Cash or checks may be sent directly to church designating "July mission project," in the memo line. For more information about Caring Connections, please visit their website.



FELLOWSHIP FUND UPDATE

In December of 2023, we started an official partnership with Edenton Street UMC and First Presbyterian Church, providing financial assistance for our neighbors in need. Through this partnership, individuals submit an application through our website and it goes to all three churches. Ministers from each of the three congregations sit down each week and go over the applications, and each congregation agrees to help a certain number of people. We split up the names and each church uses its individual budget to help whomever they can that particular week. The three churches work from a combined database, and we only help an individual family once a year. Our church has made the commitment to pay full bills for families to lessen the inevitable burden of the family having to go around to multiple sources collecting the remaining amount.

Since January 2024, our church has been able to provide rental and utility assistance for 37 families amounting to $64,435! Because of faithful giving to the Fellowship Fund, you have made this possible. The vast majority of these families were facing evictions, and your gifts have kept them in their homes, and off the streets. During these past six months, we have seen a dramatic increase in applications, resulting in more need and less funding. To conserve what funding we have left, we have chosen to take a summer break on contributing to the weekly effort of helping families. First Presbyterian and Edenton Street UMC have continued, and we hope to resume in early August depending on our funding.

The overwhelming need in our city can sometimes feel insurmountable. There are many days where this work feels, as Mother Teresa says, "like a drop in the ocean." But I'm reminded over and over again through talking with individual families, about the desperate need for this work. To these 37 families, your gifts have changed their world.

We collect donations for the Mike Morris Fellowship Fund on the first Sunday of each month, however you may give to this offering any time! We are deeply grateful for the faithful monthly gifts that have allowed us the privilege of walking with these families during some of their darkest days. For questions about the Fellowship Fund, please email Leah.



TRIVIA NIGHT

Join in on a night of quizzical fun and fellowship for FBC’s Trivia Night! We will fill the fellowship hall, eat together potluck-style and compete in a night of trivia. Sign up here to bring a dish. This will be a great night full of good food, laughter, and chances to show off your pools of peculiar knowledge! This event will be enjoyable for all ages; however, childcare will be available for pre-k kids. Please contact Lynn Lingafelt if you would be interested in taking advantage of childcare for the night. See you in the fellowship hall Sunday, July 14, from 5:30-7:30pm!



JULY MUSICAL OPPORTUNITIES

Here are a couple of music making opportunities in July!

• Open rehearsal & fellowship – TONIGHT, July 10, 7pm. You are invited to rehearse simpler anthems to sing with the choir on upcoming Sunday mornings in this lively rehearsal. Refreshments to follow.

• Intergenerational choir – Sunday, July 14, 10:30am. This choir is open to all youth and adults who would like to join us in leading worship. The rehearsal is before worship from 10:30-10:50am. For questions, email Warren.



OFFICE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

After we began using our new phone system, for a brief time, all calls to the church office went directly to the answering service which gave a list of options. It is a reality we encounter almost everywhere in this technologically driven age but one most of us have come to despise. Most of the time, we would rather talk to a human being (preferably one who speaks our language with our accent).

This is true almost everywhere, but it is even more true in the church. Incarnation is about God taking on human flesh, not cyber parts. Thus, the church is about human connection, not simply information exchange. So, we have returned to having a human being answering the phone. To continue this practice, however, we need your help.

We need more volunteers to work in the office performing receptionist functions, answering the phone and responding to people who buzz at the door. This is a longstanding volunteer role at FBC Raleigh, a fairly straightforward yet critical role because these volunteers are the first contact many people have with our church, the first sign of who we are. We are in constant need of new people in this role, but even more so now due to the volume of calls. Volunteers not only greet people who call or stop by the church in a warm and gracious manner, they free church staff to do other important work. And they become a vital part of the ministry team, inevitably closer to the staff and church family.

If you have an interest in volunteering or perhaps questions about the role, please contact Jennie Herrick by email, call the office at 919-832-4485, or stop by the office. We deeply appreciate your consideration of this important role. - Christopher C.F. Chapman



JUNE MEMORIAL AND HONORIFIC GIFTS

Capital Repair and Replacement Fund    

In memory of 

Doris Baldwin

Lou Gardner Kline

Church Maintenance Endowment Fund

In memory of Max Baldwin

Clothing Ministry:

In memory of Janice Osborne

Everette Miller Friendship Class

In memory of

Lou Gardner Kline

Janice Osborne

Mary Alice Ipock

Funeral Committee

In memory of Janice Osborne

General Fund

In memory of Lou Gardner Kline

Global Mission Fund

In memory of Kay Cone

Mike Morris Fellowship Fund

In memory of

Kay Cone

Max Baldwin