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October 29 is Stewardship Dedication Sunday
Make a Pledge to Support Your Church in 2024
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” – Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Stewardship Dedication Sunday is the day when we pause to celebrate and dedicate our pledges of giving to the church. Thanks to everyone who has already made a pledge to support Westminster in the coming new year!
2023 has been an incredible year for our church! Youth group participation is back to pre-pandemic levels, and our ministry to children and families continues to grow as well. WPC provides monthly financial support to 20+ community and global partner organizations. Over the past year, our church sponsored a refugee family, significantly increased the number of people we serve through Share Your Christmas, held our first MLK Day of Service since the pandemic, participated in the Housing for New Hope homeless count, conducted successful school supply and coat drives, developed a new Earth Care ministry, bagged thousands of pounds of rice and beans for Emanuel Food Pantry, and so much more!
It's up to all of us to keep the momentum going and positive impact growing as we enter 2024. How will we respond to God's generosity to us and to our church? With the generous giving of our time, talent, and treasure, offered with gratitude to the God who sustains us and leads us into hope.
If you haven't yet pledged, we invite you to prayerfully consider how you can support the church by making a pledge of giving. You can pledge right now by downloading a pledge form to complete and bring to church on Sunday, making your pledge through your myWPC account, or emailing Sharon Morgan with your pledge details. Your prompt response will help the church stay on track with its budget process for 2024. Simply put, we can't do it without you!
Thank you for supporting the mission and ministries of Westminster Presbyterian Church!
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@Home Faith Formation: Gratitude Every Day
Pick Up Your Gratitude Calendar on Sunday
Bring faith home with a Gratitude Calendar for the month of November! Use the calendar’s daily prompts to help you think about what you're thankful for. Share your answers with someone else or write them in a journal. Pick up your Gratitude Calendar at church on Sunday!
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Faithful Families "Giving Together at Church"
Sunday, November 5, 9:50 - 10:40am
As Jesus’ disciples, we’re called to be God’s faithful stewards, individually and together. Talking about stewardship may seem countercultural and difficult. Let’s start a conversation together that you can take home and continue in your household setting. Join us in the Parlor next Sunday for coffee, fellowship, and a great discussion –all are welcome!
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SUNDAY: The Gift of the Bible Milestone
Westminster celebrates several milestones in the lives of our children and youth, such as Baptism and Confirmation. These milestones help to give children and youth a deep sense of belonging and connectedness to God and the community of faith. One of these milestones is the gift of an NRSV Bible for our 3rd graders and any older children who have not yet received one. We give Bibles to children at this age because most are able to read and understand more fully the Bible stories that they have heard in Church School, Godly Play, worship, and at home.
This coming Sunday, several WPC children will receive a personalized Bible during a special time with their families in the Fellowship Hall, and some of them will be helping lead the 11:00am worship service. We give thanks to God for this special day in the lives of these families and our church! If you would like to learn more about the faith milestones WPC celebrates, please contact Marietta Wynands.
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Remembering Loved Ones on All Saints’ Sunday, November 5
All Saints’ Sunday is the day when we give thanks to God during worship for the lives of loved ones who have become part of the Communion of the Saints. During worship, we will celebrate All Saints’ Sunday by remembering those whose deaths have appeared on our Prayers & Cares list this year with the tolling of bells and by sharing in the sacrament of Communion. Please make plans to be in worship on this special day.
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Sign up for a Holy Pilgrimage Along the Civil Rights Trail of Alabama
Come and visit the places where faith-filled resistance bore some of its most dramatic victories and white supremacy left some of its deepest scars. Pilgrimage sites will include the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery. The dates are June 17-22, 2024. The estimated cost is $1,500 for six days. Some financial assistance is available.
This trip will be an opportunity to open our hearts and our eyes to a part of history that has shaped us all so profoundly. And in that looking, we will turn toward the healing that we are called to by Christ. Please contact Chris Tuttle or Cherrie Barton Henry to sign up or learn more.
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Coat Drive for Neighborhood Students in Need – Drop-Off Deadline is October 31
The Local Missions Committee is seeking donations for our Coat Drive for Hope Valley Elementary, Githens Middle, and Jordan High Schools. Needed are new or gently used coats and jackets in children sizes 6-16 and adult sizes small - XL, hoodie sweatshirts in any color (black is preferred) in adult sizes small - XL, girls’ leggings, t-shirts, and underwear for boys and girls. Please place donations in the yellow bin in the Mission Center Lobby. Questions? Please contact Nancye Bryan (919-384-2156), Carolyn Davidson (919-614-6223), or Don Hertzog.
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Come Sew for Good or Learn How with Mission Stitches, November 3 and 4, 10:00am-4:00pm
Mission Stitches, Westminster's sewing ministry, will have workdays next week in Room 205. The group will be working on Pillowcases for Duke Children's Hospital and a new project, Boomerang Bags – a project to provide free and equitable access to reusable bags to people who might not otherwise own them (learn more about Bull City Boomerang Bags). Both are good beginner projects and involve straight stitching only. There are also cutting and ironing projects available that do not require any sewing. Mission Stitches is also collecting supplies for the Boomerang Bags: cotton/cotton blend fabric, including sheets and t-shirts sizes youth XL–adult large. Please bring donations to the Mission Stitches bin in the WPC copyroom. For more information, contact Helen Harrison.
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Available Now: Subscriptions for Organic Veggie CSA Boxes Delivered to WPC
Fresh, tasty, healthful vegetables grow just a few miles north of WPC at Huanong Eco-Organic Farm. Owner/farmer Changhe Zhou created this delivery CSA program just for Westminster family and friends! A box of freshly picked treats from the farm will be delivered in the late fall to the Fellowship Hall Terrace on Sundays at 8:30am for those who choose to subscribe to this CSA. Share sizes are $35 per week (8 veggie varieties) or $45 per week (11 veggie varieties). Sharing your CSA subscription is also an option. Visit Huanong Farm's website to place your order and receive payment information. Pre-payment is required. Don't miss this healthy opportunity! This CSA program is one of our Earth Care Team‘s creative efforts as WPC becomes a designated PC(USA) Earth Care Congregation. Please contact Diana Monroe with any questions.
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Sunday at Westminster, October 29
Stewardship Dedication Sunday & Reformation Sunday
1 Kings 12:1-17, 20, 25-30a; Mark 10:42-45
8:15am Nursery opens for infants and toddlers
8:30am Worship
9:45am Church School for All Ages
Gift of the Bible Milestone
"Dreadful, Faithful Questions” Elective
10:00am Chancel Choir Rehearsal
11:00am Worship
Godly Play (4 yrs - 1st grade)
Watch 11:00am worship on YouTube
Link to online attendance pad
View or download the worship-at-home bulletin
1:00pm Confirmation Class
5:30pm Youth Group
2023-2024 Youth Group calendar of events
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Westminster Weekly Quick Links
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Spread Some Joy! Donate a Stocking to Families Moving Forward
The Local Missions Committee invites you to donate a Christmas stocking to give to a child served by Families Moving Forward. You can pick up a stocking after worship services on November 5, 12, and 19 to fill with small toys, games, and candy. Bring your stocking(s) to church on November 26 for Christ the King Sunday, and participate in a special dedication of them at worship (you can drop stockings off in the Mission Center lobby if you’re not available on November 26). Thank you for supporting this ministry for children in our community! Please contact Rachel Chang with any questions.
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Support the BSA Troop 451 Scholarship Fund with a Holiday Wreath
BSA Troop 451 for boys, sponsored by WPC, is selling 24" holiday wreaths to raise money for their Scholarship Fund. Significant increases in BSA fees coupled with successful recruiting have increased demands for scholarships. To ensure scouting in Troop 451 is available to everyone, they must increase their ability to offer scholarships. The wreaths are $35 each, come fresh from the NC mountains, and include a red bow.
Place your order online by November 9. Pre-payment can be made with cash, check made out to Troop 451, credit card via Cheddar-up , or Venmo to Helen-Harrison-17. Wreaths will be available for pick up from the WPC garage on Sunday, November 19, 9:30am–12:30pm or Tuesday, November 21, 7:30–9:00pm or delivered by special arrangement. Contact Helen Harrison for more information.
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Education, Support, and Fellowship for Parents of Young Adults, Tuesday, November 14, 7:00pm, at WPC & Gizmo Brew Works
Do you have a child who is grown-ish? And maybe also flown-ish? Parenting young adult children can be tricky, but the good news is you don't have to do it alone. If you are parenting a young adult (typically 18-25 years old), come hang out with other families in the same, often rocky, boat. We will welcome the Rev. Jackie Rodriquez, Duke's Presbyterian Campus Minister, who will discuss the developmental issues for young adults in this stage of life, how their development may be different from their parents at the same age, and how parents can best support and encourage without helicoptering or overstepping boundaries. We'll spend some time together on the WPC campus and then move to Gizmo Brew Works (3109 Shannon Road #201, Durham) for beverages and time to catch up and support each other in this new stage of parenting. If you have questions, please contact Jennifer Feiler or Mary Todd Peters. Bring a friend – We look forward to seeing you there!
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Aperture: The Refugee Experience with World Relief Durham Director Adam Clark
November 15, 7:00pm, Room 105/Zoom
Today, over 80 million people around the globe have been forced or made the painful choice to leave their homes. Threatened by extreme poverty, violence, and oppression, they leave behind everything familiar to seek a life free from fear. Thousands of these refugees, asylees, and other immigrants in vulnerable situations come to the US every year, seeking a place to rebuild their lives. Our November Aperture will focus on learning about refugee resettlement through the good work of World Relief and the Good Neighbor Ministry. World Relief Durham's Director, Adam Clark, will join us to discuss the partnerships between World Relief, local churches, and hundreds of individual volunteers to assist newly arrived families in the United States. In addition, we will hear from some of Westminster's own volunteers who will share their experiences in "loving our newest neighbors as ourselves."
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