Worship Service Times

9:00 AM - Chapel

10:00 AM - Sunday School

11:00 AM - Sanctuary & Livestream

Baby & Toddler Nursery is available during both services

Podcast Raleigh Court Herald May Issue

Church Office Hours

Monday-Thursday 8:30 AM-4:30 PM

Friday 8:30 AM-1:00 PM

Online Directory

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. - Proverbs 16:3

At Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, our main objective in children’s ministry is simple and profound: that children know and experience the love of Christ. And yet, always in the back of my mind is this quiet awareness - children grow, their lives expand, their worlds fill with activities, pressures, friendships, expectations and temptations!! Their hearts and minds become crowded places. And in our very human frailty, it is easy for God to slowly drift into the background.

But what if…

What if church is not just another place they go, but a place where they are known?

What if it is a space where they are deeply loved and fully accepted?

What if it feels like home… like family?

Then maybe - just maybe - God does not fade into the background. Maybe God continues to take up space in their hearts, their minds, and their time ...throughout their childhood, through the turbulence of adolescence, and into the fullness of adult life.

This year in God Alive, our theme has been One Big Story - the story of God, and the truth that we are a part of that story. At our God Alive Camp Bethel Retreat, when we asked the children where they felt God in their story there at Camp Bethel, their answers were striking in their simplicity. They spoke about each other and the chaperones. They spoke about the way people of their church family show up for them not just there at Camp Bethel but all the time. They spoke about feeling like they belong.

I heard that same thread again, just a day later, at Senior Send-Off, as our graduating seniors reflected on what youth group has meant to them. Again and again, they named the people, the relationships, the presence, the acceptance, the love. And that’s when this verse comes alive - “Commit your work to the Lord…”

This work, this shaping of spaces where young people are known and loved is not the work of one person. It is not mine. It is not Dillon’s, or Isabella’s, or Andrew’s. It is not contained in a single program or moment.

It is the quiet, faithful work of shepherds and youth advisors, teachers, leaders, and parents, deacons and elders, volunteers, retreat chaperones, and members who show up again and again for one another. It is seen in conversations in the gathering area, laughter on retreats, hands held in prayer, sitting with those who are sick, walking with grieving friends, and in meals shared across generations. And then it is not even about OUR GREAT WORK – it is that somehow - within all of that togetherness and showing up for each other - God establishes something lasting!

It is God’s work!

If you are employed at RCPC, you get the rare privilege of seeing and hearing about this work every single day. It is a gift I find myself thanking God for often - the chance to witness the love of Jesus made visible through this community.

And the truth is, it hardly feels like “work” at all, for it is LOVE. The love of Christ given to us, and then shared so beautifully by all of you.

Thank you for all the ways you do this. The ways we see, and the ways we don’t see. Your commitment to the Lord is shaping lives, forming faith, and telling God’s story in ways that will echo far beyond what we can measure.

And that… is work the Lord has surely established. Amen

-Leigh Sackett, Director of Christian Education

Women of the Church, Join Us for a Baby Shower Celebrating Isabella!

Saturday, May 16th at 10:30 am in the RCPC Fellowship Hall

In place of gifts, contributions to the baby fund can be made via cash, checks, or online giving with a note "PW baby fund."

Savvy Seniors

Tuesday, May 19 at 10:00 AM

Historian Nelson Harris will visit the Savvy Seniors on Tuesday, May 19 at 10:00 AM for a presentation on “The Roanoke Valley in the 1950s.” Join us after for a luncheon featuring Honey Baked Ham sandwiches and bring along a side or dessert to share. Please sign up for this event online at the link below or in the Gathering Area by Sunday, May 17.

Fellowship Hour Volunteers

The Fellowship Committee would welcome help from anyone who would like to help with Summer Fellowship Hours. You can help with set up (preparing coffee and water), providing snacks (baking/cooking or buying), or clean up (cleaning out coffee pots, water pitchers, and putting away supplies). If you're interested in helping, please contact Kathy Sebolt at 540-520-2538.

Montreat Youth Conference Dinner & Snack Support 

We're so grateful for the congregation's willingness to support our 17 youth and 4 adults headed to MYC June 14-20. We all stay in a house together and prepare 3 meals a day, as well as gather together for backhome group at the end of the day and midnight snacks. When you send food, it helps the group focus on time together and participate in the conference rather than spending all the time in the kitchen! If you're interested in helping with a meal or a snack, please contact Emily Jarrett (dodsonjarrett@yahoo.com, 662-610-2705) . 

Food needs to be labeled as for MYC and dropped off to the RCPC Kitchen by 6/5 

Dinner Help Needed: 

• Lasagna (can be stouffers), frozen garlic bread - looking for 1 more person to partner with Kirk Martin 
• Breakfast for Dinner - looking for 1 more person to partner with Tyler Person 

Snacks & Sweets: Homemade baked goods are strongly desired to provide dessert after every lunch and dinner and during the back home group late at night. You could also send along a frozen log of cookie dough or a frozen cake.

Fellowship Outing -

Salem Ridge Yaks Game

Friday, June 12 at 6:35 PM

Our 2026 RCPC baseball outing - our first game with the now re-branded Salem Ridge Yaks, facing the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, will be Friday, June 12 at 6:35 PM at Salem Memorial Ballpark. Our seats will be in section 305. And a heads up to young people - it's also "Mythical Magic Night' at the ballpark, where dragons roam the earth, and there are post-game fireworks! You can register at the link below, or on the sheet posted in the gathering area through Wednesday, June 11. Tickets are $11 each - please turn your money into the church office, or you can get it to Jeff Bossert. Anyone with questions can contact Jeff at jbossert71@outlook.com

Legacy Sunday - May 17

Join us on Sunday, May 17, for Legacy Sunday. During the 11:00 AM worship service, we will look back over the year at the RCPC Endowment’s mission of helping the world outside our walls and keeping our walls up. Representatives from the non-profits that have received gifts from the Endowment will be present during worship. Following worship, light refreshments will be available in the Fellowship Hall, and representatives from the non-profits will be available to answer questions and share more about their organizations. River Birch, the group managing our funds will be here to answer your questions.

Sermon Series for

May 31- August 30:

The Judges: Challenging Leadership in Chaotic Times

Israel lives in a season of communal transition. No more are they nomads wandering in the wilderness. They have entered the Promised Land, but Judges tells us this new life is far from peaceful. We are still many years from the later stability created by David and his kingship. Judges is the in-between times, the season of transition from one generation to another and from a tenuous desert life to a settled generational existence. 

This summer we will journey with the Judges through this season of intrigue, turmoil, acts of heroism, decisions of great hubris, and see how these stories speak to our lives in times of uncertainty, instability, and transition.

May 31     Competing Narratives Chapter 1

June 7      Ehud 3:12-30                Southpaw

June 14    Deborah 4:1-24              A Woman’s Touch

June 21    Gideon 6:1-27               Demolition Man

June 28    Gideon 6:26-40             Morning Dew

July 5       Gideon 8:22-28; 33-35  Tyranny and Idolatry

July 12      Abimelech 9:1-6            Playing Dress Up

July 19      Samson 13 1-14; 24-25 What to Expect When You’re Expecting

July 26      Samson 14:1-20           Petulant

August 2   Samson 15:1-8             Turning Tail

August 9   Samson 16:4-22           Pillow Talk

August 16 Samson 16:23-31         Ego’s End

August 23 Micah 17:1-13               Shelia-ism

August 30 Ending 21:25                In Our Own Eyes

Mark Your Calender!

To kick off our summer series, we will be joined by the Rev. Dr. Isabelle Hamley of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom for an online lecture and Q&A. Dr. Hamley is the head of religious life for the university and the author of the recent theological commentary God of Justice and Mercy. She will help us to see an overview of this book and its contemporary resonance in our world today. Wednesday, June 3; Lunch in the Fellowship Hall at Noon and Lecture at 1:00 at RCPC and via Zoom Link in the This Week @ RCPC email. For those who cannot attend in person or online, a recording of the lecture will be posted afterward.

Mission Partner Support

Each month, we designate all cash and coin to one of our local mission partners. For the month of May, we are supporting House of Bread. You can place your money in the offering plate or make an online gift, noting that it is for Mission and making a note for House of Bread in the text box.

Pump-a-Pint Blood Drive

Tuesday, June 2

1:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Sign-ups are available on the Red Cross website at REDCROSSBLOOD.ORG. You are welcome to schedule your appointment, or you can contact Lillian Alexander at 540-632-8921 or alexanderlj@yahoo.com, and she'll be happy to get you scheduled. The sign-up sheet will also be available in the Gathering Area before and after Sunday worship services starting May 17. The Pump-a-Pint Mission Group would love to have you join the ranks of faithful donors here at RCPC. Come for the snacks and fellowship, leave knowing you have saved three lives!

Family Promise Volunteers

Thank you to Robynn and Mo Onyett, Lyndsey Onyett, Vickie Haynie, Darlene Kennedy, Josh Goad, Donna St. Clair, Joyce Early, and Kirk Martin for providing dinners and being overnight hosts. Our next set of dates will be September 8-10 and October 13-15.

Seed & Plant Share Sponsored by the RCPC Earth Care Committee

Sunday, May 17

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Have perennials that need dividing? Extra seed packets? Use only part of a seed packet? Bought a 6-pack of plants and only need 4? Have extra gardening tools? Bring any extras to share! You don't need to bring something to take something.

Hunger Mission Team Volunteers

The portion of the Hunger Mission team that serves Lincoln Terrace Elementary could use your help on Thursday mornings through the end of May. Our greatest need is for help with loading food from the food closet onto tables for packing in the gathering area. While there is one designated slot for Cart Loader on Sign-Up Genius each week, the Cart Loader works with another volunteer to load food and prepare for packing. Cart loading begins at 9:00 AM and packing begins at 10:00 AM. You can sign up to help by using the link below or contact Paula Derbyshire at (540) 309-8816. 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0949AAAC28A7F94-57911905-lincoln#/

Prayer Requests

Marvin & Roena Barbre, Dawn Blakeman, Beverly Day & family (friend of Camilla & Johnsey Cabaniss), Nate Ellison (son of Jay & Polly Ellison), Nancy Farthing, Carolyn Hampton (Mary Hampton’s sister-in-law), Debra Harris, Mary Hopkins (great-aunt of Tyler Person), Cameron & Susie Hutto, Susan Lindstrom, Megan Mallare (friend of Kathy Grove), Louise Morris, Betty Nance, Connie Pearlman, Amy Starr Redwine, Shirley Scruggs (sister of Susan Davis), Campbell Tims (granddaughter of Kay Tims), and all caregivers.

Our sincere thoughts and prayers are with Sharon Stinnette and her family following the passing of Fred Davis on Monday, May 4.

(Prayers request as of Friday, May 8. Names in bold indicate an addition to the prayer list this week.)

WEEKLY SCHEDULE FOR GROUPS

• RCPC Preschool: Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM
• Centering Prayer at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church: Monday, 10:00 AM
• Scouts-Troop 2 B: Monday, 7:00 PM
• AA-Primary Purpose: Tuesday & Thursday, 10:30 AM
• Tai Chi: Tuesday & Thursday, 5:30 PM
• Hip Sober Chicks: Thursday, 6:30 PM
• Opera Roanoke Chorus: Thursday, 7:00 PM
• Al-Anon: Friday, 11:45 AM

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