Worship Service Times

9:00 AM - Chapel

10:00 AM - Sunday School

11:00 AM - Sanctuary & Livestream

Baby & Toddler Nursery is available

Podcast March Herald

“I am the vine; you are the branches…“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 5:5,12

Jesus’ oft quoted line, “I am the vine; you are the branches” is what Jesus tells his disciples after washing their feet. Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that even if they would like to bear fruit, they cannot do it unless they abide in him. The disciples are the branches that grow off the vine that is Christ and the way they are to bear fruit is not by doing whatever they so choose but by loving one another in the same way Jesus’ loves them.  Saturday was a day of being reminded of the fruit we bear when we abide in Jesus and with one another. 

Hunter Moore and I were able to spend our Saturday with the Presbytery of the Peaks for the May Meeting at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg. During this meeting, we got to celebrate two wonderful things. The first being the approval of ordination of Christina Cosby (a classmate of mine from Queens U of Charlotte!), who grew up in Lynchburg and has accepted a position within the PCUSA’s Office for Public Witness. In her work, Christina serves as reminder in our nation’s capital that there are faithful constituents who long for policies that allow for us do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. The second wonderful thing was commissioning Nancy Gray, who many of you might know as the former Hollins president and longtime, Second Pres member, as a missional commissioned pastor to the Roanoke Valley. This formalizes much of the pastoral care Nancy has already provided for so many people and gives room for her to support other churches and congregations as needed. 

These roles feel like total opposites. One in the capital that includes meeting with government officials and one that includes meeting 1:1 with the homebound, the sick, and the lonely. Yet, both roles witness to how we can bear fruit as we abide in Christ. Each in our own place, we bear fruit from this same vine.

That made me think about our own church, how we bear fruit in our part of the vine.  As we make our way through this Generation to Generation sermon series and as next week we will celebrate the confirmation of 11 of our youth, I can’t help but see the fruit, growing on the many branches here at RCPC, from members in every stage of life.  I pray that we don’t take these things for granted, but that we notice them, celebrate them, abide with them.

Good and gracious God, 

We give you thanks for all the ways we see you at work in our midst. At home, at school, at work and in our church. Open our hearts in the days ahead to celebrate your presence among us. Encourage us to find our own ways right where we are to bear fruit in your name. Amen. 

-The Rev. Isabella Fagiani, Associate Pastor

RCPC Bible and Music Camp: July 29 - August 1, 2024

Registration is open!

What a gift to learn and sing about creation! From our earliest years we are all fascinated by the world around us and enjoy learning the names of different animals, imitating their sounds, or drawing pictures. In the Bible we learn how God’s creative work, including us, is very good (Genesis 1-2), how the birds lift their voices and the lions roar (Psalm 104), and how creation sings praise to God even before we do (Revelation 5).

“All Creation Sings!” is our theme for Bible and Music Camp 2024 at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church. During the week we will explore the following themes through story, song, and fun:

• God’s creative activity
• The delight, variety, and goodness of creation
• The example creation sets for us to follow
• The urgent need to take care of the planet

The structure of Bible and Music Camp contains half-day & full-day programming schedules to allow for the participation of a variety of age groups.

• Rising Pre-K: half-day camp experience (9 am - 12 pm) *must be potty trained*
• Rising Kindergarten through 5th grade: full-day camp experience (9 am – 4 pm), bring a sack lunch
• Rising 6th through 8th grade: half-day camp (12:30 pm - 4 pm). Youth campers are also able to volunteer for the morning half-day camp if they wish. For more specific information about the activities, visit rcpres.org/BibleMusicCamp
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Cost (fees cover cost of supplies, snacks, & a t-shirt):

• Rising Pre-K: $25/week
• Rising Kindergarten - 5th Grade: $50/week for 1st child - $35/week for 2nd child - $30/week for 3rd+ child
• Rising 6th - 8th Grade: $25/week - youth campers may also volunteer for the morning half-day camp and the their fee is waived

Capital Campaign & Renovation Project Update

The renovation project highlight video outlines the renovations to our building that have taken place since 2022 . Below is a link to a document about the overall building project and financial picture for the church. Please review all of the materials and consider how God is calling you to respond.

Overall Building Project: http://tinyurl.com/RCPCRenovationSummary

Our Response:

https://forms.gle/UkQzgEWRsC43ukqz7

Job Opportunities - RCPC Preschool

Raleigh Court Presbyterian Preschool is in search of enthusiastic, patient, and kind people to join our team of teachers and assistants for the 2024-25 school year.  Hours are from 8:45 AM -12:15 PM and tuition discounts are available. (2, 3 and 5-day options are available) If you love children and are looking for part-time work, call Betsy Prillaman at (540) 343-5541- ext 109 or email at betsy@rcpres.org.

Hope Over Hate: A Community Conversation

You are united to a special community event showing the movie "Hope Over Hate" followed by a moderated discussion with the co-founders of Serve2Unite, an organization that seeks to address the root causes of hate-motivated violence. The speakers are Pardeep Singh Kaleka, whose father, the leader of a Wisconsin Sikh temple, was one of six people shot and killed by a white supremacist, and Arno Michaelis, who helped found the same white supremacy organization.  Single parenthood, the love for his daughter, and the forgiveness shown by people he once hated all helped Arno turn his life around. He is the author of "My Life After Hate" and co-founder with Pardeep of Serve2Unite.  

Thursday, May 9, Grandin Theater, 7:00 PM, Doors open at 6:00 PM.

Free but preregistration is required. Register online here

Adult Small Groups

The Small Group lessons are based on the Sunday sermons and scripture. Being part of a Small Group is an experience rich in personal connection and spiritual growth. Small Groups discuss what is shared in worship, therefore the experience of worship is more deeply ingrained in our minds and hearts. As we contemplate it all together the concepts take root and our faith grows!

Monday 10:30 AM-12:00 PM - Andrew Whaley, Room 102

Tuesday 4:00 PM-5:30 PM - David Dixon, Room 201

Tuesday 8:00 PM-9:30 PM - Emilie Biddle, The Parlor

Wednesday 7:00 PM-8:30 PM - Leigh Sackett, Room 102

Thursday 10:30 AM-12:00 PM - Elise Hansard, Room 101

Mission Partner Support 

Each month, we are designating all cash and coin to one of our local mission partners. For the month of May, we are supporting the work of House of Bread. In 2023, House of Bread received $6,000 in support from our church. Your generosity will encourage us to meet that amount in 2024. You can place your money in the offering plate or make an online gift at rcpres.org, noting that it is for Mission and making a note for House of Bread in the text box.

CarePortal

RCPC has joined 32 other churches locally to serve at-risk children through CarePortal. We established CarePortal with a core team late last year and are responding to needs to support children in our community. These are very small acts of kindness, but they make a huge difference in the lives of our neighbors who are struggling with day-to-day survival. If you have ever wanted to help, but thought “how do I know I am helping the right people?”, be assured that all of these needs are first vetted by a sponsoring organization, such as DSS. Then we choose the needs we feel led to support with our tithe, talent, and/or time.

Please prayerfully consider signing up to our RCPC CarePortal Response Team using the link below:

https://system.careportal.org/church/100598/kiosk/sQ2sT5Yw8mFSWOAazABqN7dSd

There is no obligation by signing up. You’ll simply get access to CarePortal and be on our email list to be aware of opportunities to serve when you are able. If you want to learn more or have any questions, please contact Chris DeFalco at chris.a.defalco@gmail.com.

Family Promise—Alexa House

The Family Promise Mission Group invites you to a community-wide Service of Dedication for Alexa House on Sunday, May 12 at 5:00 PM in the sanctuary of Second Presbyterian Church. This service will remember and honor Dan Yardley, Alexa Cannon and Rita Magnus, while focusing on the future use of the house in providing hope and hospitality to families dealing with housing insecurity. If you are interested in serving as an overnight host during one of our Family Promise weeks this will give you a chance to view Alexa House both before and after the worship service.

As a reminder, we are looking for individuals or groups within the church to provide a meal during our week and to stay overnight with the families June 2-9. If you're interested in this, you can contact Vickie Haynie at 540-580-2587

Earth Care - Plastic Recycling

The RCPC Earth Care mission group has begun a project to encourage plastic recycling within our congregation through the company TREX. The company accepts a wider variety recycling of products (see graphic below) than what is accepted by Roanoke City and County. Drop-off locations are listed below. (notice that you can get your extended family to be part of this effort) We will have a chance to win a TREX bench if we can recycle 1000 lbs of plastics during a year beginning May 1. Documentation of that 1000 lbs requires a picture of each contribution that shows the weight of the material and is emailed to earthcare@rcpres.org. A kitchen or luggage scale are convenient items to help with that step. Accumulating several items will help weighing the contributions and reducing the number of pictures submitted. Use clear or transparent outer bags to make it easy for the store to know that the contents are valid. Send your questions to earthcare@rcpres.org or see Fred Hoffman or Abby Pierson.

Virginia Drop Off locations: Food City, Food Lion, Giant, Harris Teeter, Kohl’s, Kroger, Martins, Shop ‘n Save, Safeway, Wegmans, Weis. Full US list here.

We will have a special emphasis on the project later this year to encourage a large congregational participation in the effort.

But for those of you who want to do this on a regular basis:

Food Lion and Kroger have special bins for recycling their bags. You can leave you plastic, that includes a wider variety of plastic, in those same bins. If the bins are fill, then leave your plastic in a transparent bag beside the bin. It should be obvious that your bag is not trash. Also, PLEASE DON’T wait until you have a large trash bag of plastic – we don’t want to make the area look like a trash heap when you leave your recycling.

Remember to weigh your bag of plastic recycling and take a picture to show the weight (see examples below). Send your picture and list the weight in an email to earthcare@rcpres.org

Prayer Requests

Tom Alcoke, Dawn Blakeman, Jackie Blakeman, Brendan Brown (Kathy and Les Brown’s grandson), Beverly Day and family (friend of Camilla and Johnsey Cabaniss), Susan Lindstrom, Megan Mallare (friend of Kathy Grove), Melissa Martin (friend of Lisa Boylan), Billie Murphree (Dawn Long's mother), Dave Owen-O’Quill, Garland Parry, Hugh Wellons, and all caregivers.

(Prayers request as of Friday, May 3. Names in bold indicate an addition to the prayer list this week.)

The Herald - Deadline for Articles: 10th of each month

This Week @ RCPC - Deadline for Articles: Wednesday of each week

Send submissions for The Herald and This Week @ RCPC to Julie Satterwhite 

Video Board in the Gathering Area - Send Information to Carole Banks