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-November 2025 Issue

Church Office Hours

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

Friday 8:30 AM-1:00 PM

Go to the ant, you lazybones;

    consider its ways and be wise.

Without having any chief

    or officer or ruler,

it prepares its food in summer

    and gathers its sustenance in harvest.

How long will you lie there, O lazybones?

    When will you rise from your sleep? 

A little sleep, a little slumber,

    a little folding of the hands to rest,

and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

    and want, like an armed warrior.

-Proverbs 6: 6-11

Most of my childhood we went to my grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving.  She was widowed, but her four children and seven grandchildren, her sister and her family, and eventually great-grandchildren would all be in attendance. It could be as few as twenty and as many as thirty people.  

In my early childhood, she made all the food, and it was her tradition to have a “favorite” dish of each person present.  This meant you had three kinds of salads (of the congealed or frozen variety), turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potato casserole, squash casserole, scalloped potatoes, spinach, lima beans, corn, asparagus and pea casserole, green bean casserole, baked cinnamon apples, macaroni and cheese, eggplant, Sister Schubert’s rolls, chocolate cake, coconut cake, prune cake, and homemade boiled custard.  I know this menu by heart because for the past eighteen years since my grandmother died, my mother and her older sister have taken to preparing this meal.

And I can remember on Thanksgiving night, after the local guests had gone home leaving only the out-of-town guests, my grandmother untied her apron, cast her dish rag across the sink, collapsed into the recliner in the den and cried out, “Go to the ant you sluggard!”

She knew her Bible, and she had heeded the wisdom of this Proverb.  You would not count Virginia Patton as one who spent too much time sleeping or resting.

Along with her ambitious Thanksgiving celebration, my grandmother was also known for waking you up early with the words, “Let us be up and doing!” and she despised teenagers or adults taking naps. “We do not sleep in day!” she would exclaim.  There were obligations to be met, chores to do, people to care for, relationships to form.

We live in a time of burnout and exhaustion, endless expectation and lack of sleep. We need reminders to live in the moment, honor the sabbath, care for our bodies and souls. And the book of Proverbs provides for such moments.

But we also do well to honor the scripture that celebrates planning ahead, rising early, executing the tasks of the day, being a person who is motivated without direction or threat of a supervisor. The Proverb tells us that such a focus not only prevents poverty but actually limits envy. When we take responsibility for our life, accomplish our tasks, seek what is good and honorable,, then we don’t spend our time in comparison with others, wanting more than we have. Instead we can be grateful for the life we have, the life that fills our days.

PRAYER:

Holy God,

Move us and motivate us this day

to be about the work we have before us.

May we pursue what is needed

and abandon what is unnecessary.

May planning and execution lead to a flourishing life.

and in our doing, may we come to know

our blessings and abundance.

Amen.

The Rev. Andrew C. Whaley, Head of Staff

Senior Session #3

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

11:00 AM—12:30 PM

Please join us for our next session to find out what's in store for YOU through our Roanoke City Public Libraries and the Roanoke Parks and Recreation Department. But, wait...there's more! Join in a pizza luncheon to visit with one another following the presentations. If you choose to join us for lunch, we will need to hear from you so we can order enough pizza. Please contact Beth Snead at 540-915-3219 or ecsteach@hotmail.com, or Karen McNally at 540-521-5917 mcknak@gmail.com or sign up in the Gathering Area. Hope to see you then!

RCPC Christmas Ornament

Purchase your RCPC Christmas Ornament before or after worship each Sunday! Ornaments are $20 each. These make great gifts or an addition to your own Christmas tree.

Drumstick Dash Supporting the Rescue Mission

Please consider signing up for the 2025 Drumstick Dash! In-Person is November 27th; however, you can always choose to participate virtually if you plan on being out of town. Either way, an awesome t-shirt is included. Please use the discount code (Williams15) to receive a 15% discount on the registration fee. You can also register your pup to walk or run with you! If you’d like to join Leigh-Ann William's team, it is named "Paws For A Cause". Move your feet (and paws) so others can eat!

Register online here

Grandin Village Holiday Children's Parade

Saturday, November 22 at 11:00 AM

Join your RCPC family to take in the annual Grandin Village Holiday Children’s Parade. Pack a chair and join us to watch from the church parking lot, where we’ll be serving up hot apple cider and holiday cheer. In addition to the RCPC Preschool, our handbell choirs will again be participating in the parade.

Hanging of the Greens: A RCPC Tradition

Come join the fun on Saturday, November 29, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM to help RCPC’s Chancel Guild transform the Sanctuary, Chapel, and Gathering Area for Advent and Christmas. People of all ages are encouraged to participate!

Youth Group Dinner Cooks

Do you like cooking for a crowd? We could use your help cooking a meal for our Youth Group. Click below to see dates open for dinner. 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4AABAB2CA6FC1-58223510-youth#/

Adult Sunday School Classes - November

Full descriptions available online at rcpres.org/adult-education

Exploring Christian Theology—Room 101

Led by Mike Lockaby

Join Mike Lockaby and others as they dig into the past to explore biblical and theological themes. Mike will be sharing more information about this semester's focus and class schedule on Sunday, September 7 in Room 101.

The Seekers—Room 201

November 2—November 23: Spiritual Roots in Archeology

The Seekers will continue their exploration of archeology that began last year ….Stonehenge. Machu Picchu. The Acropolis. The Great Pyramids at Giza. Sites such as these have captivated the world for centuries—even millennia—since their creation. They are works of great beauty whose construction required spectacular feats of engineering, involved the efforts of hundreds of thousands of individuals, and incurred a tremendous financial cost on the civilizations that created them.

But why were these massive sites created? What impulse drove ancient cultures to devote such time and labor into these projects? Why are we so transfixed by their presence today? And what do these and other mysterious sites reveal about our ancestors—and about humanity as a whole?

The answer to these and other eternal questions is the dynamic force of religious belief. Religion, in its many forms, is among the most powerful of all human impulses. The philosophical and intellectual side of religious practice is well studied—but religion also manifests itself physically. From cave art to intricate burial chambers to grand hilltop temples, the material expression of spirituality is less understood but offers equally deep insights into why humans believe in something larger than themselves.

 Parent as a Verb—Room 102

October 5—November 23: The Big Relief: The Urgency of Grace in a Worn-Out World by David Zahl. Join Andrew Whaley for this study this fall. You are invited to buy the book and read a chapter a week, or you can simply show up and participate in the discussion. We hope to see you there!

November Mission Partner Support - Sudanese Refugee Mission

Each month, we designate all cash and coin to one of our local mission partners. For the month of November, we are supporting the Sudanese Refugee Mission. You can place your money in the offering plate or make an online gift here, noting that it is for Mission, and making a note for Sudanese Refugee Mission in the text box. As of November 2 we have collected $572 for the Sudanese Refugee Mission. We’re thankful for your generosity in the month of October as we raised $1,936.75 for House of Bread.

Abukloi - We Can Do It

But they could use our help!

Find out more about the school and their needs: Facebook Instagram

West End Center Homework Helpers

Do you have some afternoon time to help a child complete their homework? West End Center is in need of homework volunteers. The time is 3:30 - 5:30. You can stay for one group or do both. Come for one day a week or more if you can. These children just need a buddy to sit with them to help with the instructions and encourage them. If they complete their assignment, play a game, practice math facts or read a book. For more information call Susan Kessler or West End Center - 540-342-0902.

Earth Care Committee: Plastic Recycling

We have expanded our recycling efforts by connecting with Urban Reblok’d to collect many more types of items. Urban Reblok’d will have a step van in the church parking lot from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM on the following Wednesdays: November 19 & December 17. You are welcome to bring any of the following: styrofoam, any hard plastic (numbered 1 thru 7, and unnumbered), plastic film (that we have already been collecting), E-waste (electronics). Please encourage your friends to also be part of this community project. Do not bring items to the church until the day of the collection.

Prayer Requests

Marvin & Roena Barbre, Dawn Blakeman, Jackie Blakeman, Rachel Cooper (Daughter of Carolyn Wilson), Courtney Cronin, Beverly Day and family (friend of Camilla and Johnsey Cabaniss), Nate Ellison (son of Jay and Polly Ellison), Nancy Farthing, Carolyn Hampton (sister-in-in-law of Mary Hampton), Debra Harris, Cameron & Susie Hutto, Cheryl Gilliland, Barbara Lashley, Susan Lindstrom, Megan Mallare (friend of Kathy Grove), Rusty McCown, Philip Moore (Hunter Moore’s father), Louise Morris, Betty Nance, Amy Starr Redwine, Randy Remington (friend of Betty Remington), Ian Richardson (brother-in-law of Jonathan Crook), Janis Wertz, and all caregivers.

(Prayers request as of Friday, November 14 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