Issue #402

The Weekly AVENUE

OCTOBER 5, 2023

GOOD NEWS AND WORSHIP UPDATE

HERITIAGE SUNDAY / MORNING WORSHIP

Sunday, October 8, 2023 @ 11 am

"Praise The Lord!"

Scripture reading: Psalm 111

Rev. Brandon Davis, Pastor

both in-person and on Facebook or YouTube (click here)

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.

ELDER OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER - Marcia Songer

SPECIAL NEWS AND INFORMATION

SERMON NOTES

As summer draws close, as the Season of Creation comes and pass, it is sometimes hard to get out of the habit of continuing the year as usual. After everything that has happened in the last few years, we might be eager to get back to life as we once knew it. Things that were on hiatus during the height of infection are now being questioned, when will that return? One healthy way to revisit things from the past is to examine why we did those things in the first place. So over the next few weeks, leading up to Advent, we will be looking at why we do what we do. Specifically, we will be looking at the order of our Sunday morning services and seeing why Christians in the past did these things, and why they continue on today. So join us this Sunday as we read through Psalm 111 and hear how and why we continue to call out to the divine right at the beginning of Sunday Moring Worship.

Yours in Christ

Brandon

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS

The Adult Sunday School class has begin reading and discussing John Shelby Spong’s Born of a Woman which challenges the doctrine of the virgin birth, tracing its development in the early Christian church and revealing its legacy in our contemporary attitudes toward women and female sexuality. Please order a copy of the book soon; it is available online from various sources and bookstores.

The class meets in the Poteat Library at 10 am. If you wish to join the class there is always room for one more.

NEW WALK ANNOUNCED

Our upcoming walk will be on the Tweetsie Trail, Wednesday, October 11th at 10 am with lunch afterwards. The following featured walk on the trails of Winged Deer, Park, Wednesday, November 15th at 11 am.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES @ MONTREAT IN OCTOBER

Earth & Soul: reawakening to the sacredness of the earth and every human being – October 18-20 at the Montreat Conference Center. This is immediately followed by Thresholds of Hope – a new, experimental weekend retreat focused on the House Gatherings model developed by John Philip Newell which will be from October 20-22.

Please check the Montreat website for more information and deadlines for registration.

ROLL WATAUGA SQUARE

Every Halloween Watauga Avenue Church “rolls” Watauga Square Apartments. That doesn't mean we roll the building with streams of toilet paper in the traditional Halloween sense. It means we donate paper products and other household needs to be used as prizes for the residents' bingo games. So, when you are shopping this month, if you already have enough paper products for yourself, pick up a pack of four rolls of toilet paper, a roll of paper towels or a box of facial tissue. Other popular gifts suggested are personal care products like shampoo and hand lotion, tooth brushes or tooth paste, cleaning supplies like laundry detergent and bathroom or kitchen cleaners, as well as cat or dog food. Please bring your items and place them in the container in the side entry anytime through Sunday, September 29th. Let’s Roll Watauga Square in a big way. Thanks for your generosity.

TRUNK OR TREAT DATE SET

Saturday, October 21st from 3-5 pm as been set for our annual Trunk or Treat. This year it will be expanded into a mini Fall Festival. There is still some planning to be made. If you have any ideas or want to help, please contact Mike Miyamoto or Susan Turner. Looking forward to lots of fun !!!

FOOD, FOOD AND MORE FOOD

The Lunch Bunch / Meal Schedule for

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER

October 8 @ Red Meze (109 Buffalo Street, dwtn JC)

October 15 @ Southern Craft BBQ (601 Spring Street, dwtn JC)

October 22 @ Rainbow Asian Cuisine (2412 No. Roan Street)

October 29 - Fellowship Potluck Lunch following worship.

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 COMING WEEK

Thursday, October 5, 2023

10 am PW Meeting @ the home of Bea Ellis

Sunday, October 8, 2023

10 am Adult Sunday School reading "Born of a Woman," by John Shelby Spong

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

12:15 pm Personnel Committee meeting in Conference Room

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Red Meze (109 Buffalo Street, dwtn JC)

Monday, October 9, 2023

NO Weekly Bible Study this evening

6 pm ETSU / U-Kirk supper hosted by WAPC (1412 College Heights Road, ETSU / JC)

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

6 pm Session meeting in Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

10 am Green Team walk @ Tweetsie Trail / lunch afterward

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Sunday, October 15, 2023

10 am Adult Sunday School reading "Born of a Woman," by John Shelby Spong

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

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Southern Craft BBQ (901 Spring Street, dwtn JC)

Monday, October 16, 2023

6 pm Weekly Bible Study in Conference Room

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

4 pm Meditation Circle (via Zoom)

6 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal

Saturday, October 21, 2023

10 am - 2 pm The River Craft and Goodies Fair @ 1st Presbyterian Church (dwtn JC)

3 - 5 pm WAPC Fall Festival / Trunk or Treat (church parking lot)

Sunday, October 22, 2023

10 am Adult Sunday School reading "Born of a Woman," by John Shelby Spong

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

12:30 pm Lunch Bunch @ Rainbow Asian Cuisine (2412 No. Roan Street)

FINANCIAL UPDATE

GENERAL FUND: YEAR TO DATE:

[2023 Annual Budget - $ 177,600

Budget through OCTOBER 6, Week #40 ($ 136,616)

Receipts $ 132,381.89

Disbursements -$ 125,035.28

Balance $ 7,346.61

Please remember the 5 Cents per Meal Offering every first Sunday of the Month. The next special PC(USA) offering will

be in December for the Christmas Joy offering

God has blessed the Church with incredible leadership in every time and place, but those leaders often need to be supported by their communities as well. This Offering addresses the support needed by some of our leaders, including supporting leadership development for communities of color, and providing support for Presbyterian church workers in their time of need.

OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS

October 18 - Karen Martin

October 24 - David Hughes

October 27 - Lanny Brashear

October 28 - Fred Burrell

OCTOBER ANNIVERSARIES

October 27 - Stephen & Sue Shanks (45th)

ALSO NOTE: THE 2023 FLOWER LIST IS AVAILABLE ON THE BULLETIN BOARD IN THE SIDE ENTRY FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE IN REQUESTING CHANCEL FLOWERS.

Request Chancel flowers

THOUGHTS & PRAYERS

For Friends and Family

the Hughes family for son-in-law Bryce Bennett, and Debi's foster mother, Janet Vencel in Ohio; Marty Shanks; Sue Sheffield; Messina Lyle; George, Jo & Nikki Rolling; Theresa Lura; Camilla Lyle's brother, Jeff McFee; Marty Shanks' sister, Judy Hall; Jonathan Sharp; Don Loughry; 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

new humanitarian crisis in Azerbaijan with the takeover of the Nagorno-Karabakh/Armenian enclave and the Lachin Corridor; the aftermath of 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Morocco; a cholera outbreak in the Sudan; tropical storm Philippe in Antigua / Barbuda; and the flooding in New York City. 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

Prayer Requests

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

Who are these lovely ladies?

GREEN SPACE NEWS

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has repeatedly called on the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. Thus this May when the EPA issued a set of proposed standards targeting new gas-fired power plants and existing gas- and coal-fired power plants, the UCS was ready to respond. The technical comments from their energy analysts urged the agency to strengthen the standards by requiring deeper emission cuts on a faster timeline and by applying them to many more polluting power plants.

Given the fact that power plants are the nation's second-largest source of heat-trapping emissions, they outlined why and how to increase the rigor of environmental and public health safeguards associated with the rule. They urged UCS supporters to weigh in with their own comments to the EPA and are hopeful the EPA will incorporate their suggestions for the strongest possible standards. (GSN #168)

VIRTUAL CREATION ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK

VALLE DE LAS ANIMAS - LAPAZ, BOLIVIA

Zangano Video (August 2020 | 5:49 min.)

THE VALLE DE LAS ANIMAS, or Valley of the Souls is a densely packed forest of rock formations, each stabbing toward the sky in great clusters. Formed out of mudrock and erosion over hundreds of years, the stunning valley has drawn visitors for thousands of years.

When people first visited this valley, they believed the spires resembled petrified souls, which gave the area its name. Since that time, a steady stream of hikers has visited the valley to marvel at the thousands of rugged peaks, which form deep gorges and many side passages and sub-valleys. Adding to the mystique and beauty of the site is the 15,000-foot Illimani, Bolivia’s highest mountain that towers above the valley in the background.

Valle de las Animas is a peri-urban valley in southeast La Paz. It is roughly 18 miles from the center of the capital city and less than 6 miles from another impressive and popular erosion site, Valle de la Luna (not to be confused with South America’s most famous Moon Valley in Chile).

Aerial photography by Rafael Ochoa Candia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4abocGOxjBg&t=2s

IN THE POTEAT LIBRARY

Please remember the library is open by appointment and 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.

Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas

By Elaine Pagels

(229/PAG)

In Beyond Belief, renowned religion scholar Elaine Pagels continues her groundbreaking examination of the earliest Christian texts, arguing for an ongoing assessment of faith and a questioning of religious orthodoxy.

Spurred on by personal tragedy and new scholarship from an international group of researchers, Pagels returns to her investigation of the “secret” Gospel of Thomas, and breathes new life into writings once thought heretical. As she arrives at an ever-deeper conviction in her own faith, Pagels reveals how faith allows for a diversity of interpretations, and that the “rogue” voices of Christianity encourage and sustain “the recognition of the light within us all.”

REMINDERS

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

Flower List - The 2023 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 $65 each.

e-Avenue deadline - Please submit information to church office (office@wataugapc.org or 926-7942) at any time and for the October issue of the e-AVENUE, no later than Friday, October 20th. This includes team and committee meetings, 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.

WATAUGA AVENUE PC IS ON .. click and see for yourself.

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.)