An Afternoon on the Farm Was SOOOOOO Fun!

Twenty-four children and adults visited the Aldridge Farm on Tuskeegee, (Graham County) on Sunday afternoon, October 29th.  The event was hosted by James and Lori Aldrige, Jeff and Barbara Aldridge, and Cheryl and Steve Beck.  After a delicious cookout featuring beef from the Aldridge Cattle Company, families went on a scavenger hunt around the farm, identifying hay rings, curry combs, saddles, etc.  The children took turns riding horses around the horse arena, went on a hayride around the farm, fed cattle and donkeys, and played lots of ball on the lawn.  It was a lot of fun!  

Thank you to Barry Allen for driving the bus and  Gary Frye for working on the smaller van while we were gone.  A big "THANK YOU" to Cheryl's brothers and their families for making this event possible.  

Hurray for Our Nursery Workers of the Week!

Thank you to Judy Seago and Cheryl Beck for working in the nursery during Sunday School. 
A big thank you for Beth Moore for substituting during worship. We are so thankful for each of you!

On November 5, Nancy McConnell will be in charge of the nursery. Thank you for your good work, Nancy!

There is still room on the schedule to serve “the least of these”
on Sunday mornings.  It is a blessing to see their smiles and enthusiasm as you spend
time with our infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. 
Please contact Cheryl Beck (cabeck@ncsu.edu) if you would like to help.

Prayer Challenge for Parents

Thank you to all the parents of children and youth who participated in our 31 Day Prayer Challenge for our children. Each day parents received a specific area and verse of Scripture to use in praying for their children "head to toe." We hope the Challenge was a blessing and that parents will continue to pray for specific areas of their children's lives.

Dawnings Continues TONIGHT, November 1

The third of our of four congregational meetings will be TONIGHT, November 1 beginning at 6:00 PM in the Mission and Fellowship Center. A blessing for our potluck meal together will be at 5:30 PM. 

Childcare will be provided for children up through the fifth grade in our nursery. Youth are encouraged to be a part of our congregational meeting in the MFC alongside adults. 

Dawnings is a narrative-based approach for personal and congregational visioning and discernment. Our four congregational meetings this fall will help us determine together who God is calling us to be and what God is calling us to do. Our entire church's participation in this process is critical to our determining what our future will look like. 

"This is what God says,

  the God who builds a road right through the ocean,

  who carves a path through pounding waves,

The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—

  they lie down and then can’t get up;

  they’re snuffed out like so many candles:

“Forget about what’s happened;

  don’t keep going over old history.

Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.

  It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?" Isaiah 43:16-19

Brian Foreman, the Coordinator of Congregational Ministries for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, comments that "These last two lines of scripture are both encouragement and command. The former encourages us to remember that God is still in control. The latter reminds us of our responsibility to notice and join God in doing something brand new."

"Dawnings is a congregational resource that helps you accomplish both of these things. By leaning into a spiritual discernment process through listening and responding to stories, your congregation will open itself to its place in God's sacred story for the community."

"Congregational postures of prayer and curiosity cultivate a sense of calling, not just for the congregation, before individuals as well. What better way to "be alert, be present," and to be a part of the "something brand new" God is doing!"