Calendar
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1
Cancer Support Group | Sunday, August 1, 10 a.m. | Zoom link on CCB
Gather for prayer, education and sharing our lives. The group meets monthly over Zoom on the first Sunday of the month at 10 a.m. This is for all cancer survivors, caregivers, and loved ones. Contact: Karen Allen.
Announcements
Blacknall’s Sunday Worship Updates
In response to CDC guidance issued on July 27, we have reverted back to the policy in effect prior to July 25. Masking is required for ages two and up at both services. Please view Blacknall’s COVID policy and Sanctuary Worship FAQ for details on COVID safety precautions.
Interim Pastor Search
Blacknall is actively seeking an interim pastor to work with the Session, staff, Transition Team (congregation, and other stakeholders through the transition process and to develop a mission study. View Blacknall’s MIF for more details and share the word with qualified candidates. Interested candidates should forward their PIF or resume to: interimpastorsearch@blacknall.org. Contact Stephanie Wheatley, Pastoral Transition Team chair, with questions.
Summer Nursery Volunteers | Sign up
We are inviting fully vaccinated adults and teens in our congregation to partner with the Nursery Ministry in providing childcare during our Sunday 8:30 am worship service.
The Music Corner | News and updates about musical life at Blacknall.
New Album from Wen Reagan - Pre-Order Now
Wen Reagan, our director of music and worship, has launched a kickstarter campaign to fund the production of his new album, Come Pilgrim Rest, through pre-orders. If you enjoy our worship music on Sunday mornings and you’d like to support Wen’s music, consider pre-ordering the album here.
Check out our new Blacknall Spotify playlist!
We now have a Spotify playlist for music we’re singing on Sunday mornings at Blacknall. Check it out if you want to listen to the new songs we’re singing or learn more about that song you loved singing on Sunday!
Devotional Resource - Compline: Evening Liturgies for Anxious Souls
Last year our worship and music director Wen Reagan designed and produced an evening prayer service as a podcast for the Center for Worship and the Arts at Samford University. Designed to be listened to on headphones for ten minutes as you wind down for bed, Compline: Evening Liturgies for Anxious Souls sets the tradition of evening prayer (Compline) in a calming and contemplative soundscape. Wen produced several seasons of the podcast so that it covers the entire liturgical year. Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or the podcast website.
Community
Reality Ministries Community Worship | Tuesday, August 3, 7-8 p.m. Outdoors in the parking lot of the Reality Center (916 Lamond Ave., Durham). A family-friendly hour of worship led by Reality friends of all abilities. All are welcome at this joyful evening of praise!
The Center for Christianity and Scholarship is hiring! CCS’ Events and Communications Manager advances CCS’s mission by planning event logistics and driving marketing efforts to maximize the impact of the various CCS events throughout the year. Full job description and application details here.
Prayer
Ministry Partners
Campus & National— We pray for Matt Mahla, working on Duke’s campus with RUF (Reformed University Fellowship). Matt shares with us: “Thank you for your prayers for RUF at Duke! As we approach the Fall, we anticipate the busy but exciting season of meeting and connecting with many new students. Would you pray that RUF would be a welcoming gospel community both to Christian students seeking Christian fellowship and to others who might be interested in exploring questions of faith? Please pray, too, for our returning students who are still experiencing the impact of last year’s COVID year at Duke. Anxiety, depression and loneliness were common experiences for many, and we pray and hope that RUF will be a place in which students can meet the calming, comforting and constant presence of Jesus. Finally, please pray for the Mahla family. We recently moved to a new house and our 5 year-old son is starting kindergarten this Fall. Exciting but new transitions! Thank you!”
International—We pray for Blacknall global worker Stacy Rinehart, who founded MentorLink Leadership Institute in January 2000, based upon the servanthood model set forth by Christ in Mark 10: "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.” Specific prayer requests: (1) wisdom in editing the Leader’s Covenant video this month; (2) the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who view it; (3) thanksgiving for the way that ZOOM has transformed many international partners’ approach to ministry; (4) thanksgiving for the way co-partner Roli in the Philippines has been able to expand his ministry — recently 340 Filipino pastors around the world participated in his webinar.
Durham— We pray for Housing for New Hope and their housing ministry in Durham. Pray for Mary Grimm, Blacknall’s former Communications Director, in her new role at HFNH as Marketing and Communications Specialist. Please pray for Housing for New Hope’s ability to place clients in short-term or long-term housing. There is an intense shortage of affordable housing units in Durham and many of their clients are having to wait for a place to open up before they can stop living outside. Specific prayers around this issue would be that more partnerships with affordable housing landlords could be established and that more properties/units would become available as affordable and livable for their clients.
Griefs
We pray for Ken & Peggy Kernodle on the death of Ken’s brother, Alfred on July 11.
We pray for those who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus.
Joys
We celebrate with the Hoover family on the wedding of May Hoover and Pearson Hart this Friday, August 6.
We celebrate with Pamela and Madison Perry on the birth of their 6th child Warren Walker Perry on July 21.
Concerns
We pray for Grace Van Tongeren, one of our Middle Schoolers, who is having surgery this Tuesday. She broke her arm last December and it has not healed properly.
We pray for Kyle Gibbs as he moves to Boston to begin a post-doc at Tufts Univ.
We pray for Daniella and Kevin Goldfarb as they move to Milwaukee where Daniella will be starting a PhD at Marquette.
We pray for Phyllis Immanuel recovering from surgery last week.
World
We pray for wisdom for our leaders as COVID-19 spikes again in our nation and in our community. We pray that we would all make decisions that prioritize the safety and well-being of one another. We pray for truth and grace to guide our life together.
Life Together
We pray for our congregation to volunteer to care for and disciple our children by volunteering for the Nursery, for Children’s Sunday School, and to be leaders of our Middle School and High School youth groups.
We pray for search committees for a new Director of Communication (chair, Lucy Cate) and a Choir Director (chair, Wen Reagan).
We pray for our Transition Team as they begin to interview candidates for the Interim Pastor position.
We pray for a deepening heart for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with our neighbors. We pray for creativity, imagination, and love for our neighbors as we seek to make Jesus known.