Weekly Witness

April 30, 2026

Sunday, May 3, 2026

5th Sunday of Easter

Communion

Scripture: John 13: 31-35

Sunday: Livestream; Bulletin

Last Week's Sermon: Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

Interim Pastor: Rev. Frank Yates

Liturgist: Nancy Shambach

Psalmist: Cyndi Pitts

Communion Servers: Crystal Mitchell, Cyndi Pitts, Joan Roschevitz, Dave & Nancy Shambach, Ginger Wall

Greeters: Meredith Beaton and Victoria Flick

Ushers: Betty Jarous, Lyn & Len Kulk, Ginger Wall

Flowers: Given by Karen Beaton, in memory of her son, Andrew Simmons

Early Morning Security: Dave Sternberg

May Sanctuary Stewards: Crystal Mitchell and Karen Williams

Director of Music: Nancy Leffler

Accompanist: Nathan Secrest

To view Sunday morning service, simply click on the word Livestream above. You can always go to the church website;

Main page; scroll down to Next Livestream Service to access

the upcoming Sunday service.

Pastor to People

Dear RRPC Family and Friends,

The first theologian to catch my attention in high school was C.S. Lewis. I read his Narnia Chronicles and sort of got hooked. Then I read many more of the books of this professor at Oxford and later Cambridge. Lewis was a convert to Christ who felt a calling to make a case for the Christian faith to those who might not otherwise consider it. He always had the "outsider" on his mind, the skeptic, the indifferent, even the critic. He faced those kinds of attitudes in the university as a professor of literature. One of his dear friends was J.R. Tolkien who first helped convert him to the faith. 

During my last months with you, I would like to offer an Adult C.E. class on the writings of Lewis. We will begin Sunday, May 3, by looking at his life and his spiritual autobiography entitled Surprised by Joy. You may want to look online for a description of his life and work. What a fascinating human being.

Then, on May 31, we will look at two of his books: The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed. More on those two books later.

So here is a schedule for the other Lewis books we will consider: 

• June 7-The Narnia Chronicles.
• June 21-Mere Christianity.
• July 12-Space Trilogy.
• July 19-Reflections on the Psalms.
• July 26-Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce.
• August 2-The Four Loves.
• August 16-The Weight of Glory. 

So I invite you to explore C.S. Lewis with me this summer. I hope and pray he is as helpful to your mind and spirit as he has been to me.

Happy reading!

Peace,

Frank

FLOWERS OR PLANTS

FOR CHURCH SERVICES

Please remember to sign up to enhance our sanctuary with flowers on Sunday! If you would like to provide flowers or a plant for a particular occasion such as birthday, anniversary, or to honor or remember an important person in your life, there is a signup sheet on the counter in the Narthex.

You bring one or two bunches of flowers or plants on Sunday morning to place on the stands at either pulpit or lectern and then take them home with you to enjoy all week. Or you could give them to a deacon to bless one of our shut-in members.

Thank you for helping us beautify our sanctuary!

May 10th is

Mother's Day and

Youth Sunday

All youth and young adults (including college age) are welcome to join us on Sunday, May 3rd from 5:00-7:00pm in the fellowship hall to plan our service on May 10th. Dinner will be provided. Contact Amanda Ball, 505-269-6902 or Scott Roberts, 310-429-1715

with questions. Hope to see you there!

May Friendship Day

Friday, May 1^st

9:30am

St. Paul Lutheran Church

1100 Indian School, Alb.

Please join us!

If you need a ride, please call the church office: 505-892-6664.

National Day of Prayer 

May 7 | 4:00 - 9:00 PM

Albuquerque Civic Plaza

FREE Event

Your congregation is invited to join churches from around Albuquerque for a powerful National Day of Prayer as we come together to pray for our city, community, and nation. Hosted by Steve Stucker, this evening is all about hope, unity, and faith.

Men's Breakfast

Saturday, May 9th

8:00am

For the Men’s Breakfast in May we will be meeting on Saturday, May 9th (the second Saturday). Speaking will be Leah Gerlach on “Living with Visual Impairment “. Always delicious and a great opportunity to invite neighbors and friends! Please join us!

May's Book:

The Covenant of Water,

by Abraham Verghese

We will be meeting at Cyndie Tidwell's home on Tuesday, May 19th at 12pm. This is a lunch and book meeting. Attendees need to get your food order from Hannah & Nate's in Corrales to Cyndie by Sunday, May 17th. Email: cyndiectidwell@gmail.com.

Her address is: 312 Dixon Rd., Corrales, NM.

Please join us! All are welcome!

This is our last book until September. Enjoy the summer break!

CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF ROUTE 66

IN NEW MEXICO

Hazel Lathrop will be giving her Route 66 presentation:

Tijeras Canyon: 5 Miles of Road and Hundreds of Stories

at the Raymond Sanchez Community Center

9800 4th St NW

Loma Colorado Library

Saturday, May 23^rd at 11am

For more information about the series and the dozen locations for presentations go to:

New Mexico Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series: Home

Birthday Celebration               

& Pentecost Sunday

May 24th

Join us on Sunday, May 24th after worship to celebrate the birthday of the founding of our church and also Pentecost Sunday! We will be wearing fire colors (reds, oranges) for Pentecost. The menu includes pulled pork and pulled turkey sliders, various salads and two huge celebration cakes of chocolate and vanilla. This is a great day to invite neighbors and friends. See the sign up sheet in the narthex to let us know you're coming!

Church Calendar

May 3, 2026 - May 9, 2026

Something New

Last month Pastor Frank introduced the idea of Liturgist stoles to the Worship Committee.

The committee approved the creation of stoles modeled in size after those of the Bell Choir.

Liturgists are invited to wear a stole celebrating the color of the Liturgical season.

We give a huge THANK YOU to Sharon Hovey for sewing these beautiful stoles for us!!

May Birthdays



2 Cliff Gibbons,

2 Velina Chavez 

4 Carol Wagner-Adams

4 Rob Van Sweden

4 Lyn Kulk 

7 Denise Baker

8 Leslie Strommen

15 Erin Carrasco

16 Chris Dyer

19 Rodger Kane

24 Pat Gerlach

25 Tori Van Sweden

29 Ndingsa Fomukong

Our Service

Men & Women

Please keep the following people

in your thoughts & prayers:

Christopher Ryan - US Marine Officer

RJ Van Sweden - US Marines

Tyler Warren - US Marines

Hayden Smith - Army

Cdr. Sarah Dimmick - Navy, serving in Kyiv, Ukraine

Sgt. Kevin Lomeli - Army National Guard in Kenya

Kevin A. Baker - US Air Force in England

If you have family members serving here or overseas, please call Ginny at the church office to add them to our list. Church Office: 505-892-6664.

Prayer Concerns

“And whatever you ask in Prayer, you will receive, if you have Faith.” Matthew 21:22.

Birgitta Gustafson - cancer treatments

Pegge Emory - continued recovery

Pat McCreary - recovery at home

Don Underwood - radiation treatments

Beth Miller - cancer treatments

Sheila Malmo's daughter, Alice

Protection for Everyone against our dreaded allergy season!

For DR Congo, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.

For all victims of gun violence, war, and unrest.

 Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church

1004 24th Street, SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87124

505.892.6664

Office Hours

Monday – Thursday | 9am–3pm

Office email: manager@rrpchurch.org