Weekly Witness

April 9, 2026

Sunday, April 12, 2026

2nd Sunday of Easter

Scripture: John 20: 19-31

Sunday: Livestream; Bulletin

Last Week's Sermon: Run For Your Life

Interim Pastor: Rev. Frank Yates

Liturgist: Karen Beaton

Psalmist: Linda Hood

Greeters: Denise Baker and Birgitta Gustafson

Ushers: Bill Cox, Craig Kelley, Virginia Kelley, Camise Kettner

Early Morning Security: Pat Gerlach

March Sanctuary Stewards: Birgitta Gustafson and Sharon Hovey

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,

Few things are as exciting in a Presbyterian congregation as the arrival of a new pastor. It marks the beginning of a new chapter in a church's life. New ideas, new styles of leadership, new relationships, new mission possibilities, new members! So much is wrapped up in the coming of a new pastor. 

On Sunday, Thom Hinks, on behalf of the PNC, announced that their candidate will come here and preach on Sunday, April 19. The candidate will be able to meet with several groups in the church in the days leading up to that Sunday.

I know you will really enjoy getting to know the candidate. And I hope you will be able to attend April 19. After the service, during the congregational meeting, you will be able to vote on this candidate. (You will also vote on a change in our church's by-laws regarding the pastor's access to financial matters.)

So I am really excited for you all and really excited about this candidate. I am so very grateful for ALL the work the PNC has done to bring us this candidate.

April 19 will be a very exciting day in the life of our beloved community. Please pray for the candidate and our congregation as we approach this very important juncture. God is good. All the time.

Peace,

Frank

Special Congregational Meeting

Sunday, April 19th

The purpose of this special Congregational Meeting is to vote on our PNC's chosen candidate to fill the position of full-time pastor at Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church.

Please join us on Sunday, April 19th to hear the candidate deliver the sermon and meet him/her briefly during fellowship afterwards. Ballots will be given to every member and your vote is very important. Ballots will be counted immediately and the congregation will then vote on a change to the bylaws. Please plan to attend!

Adult Christian

Education Class

Sunday, April 12th

This Sunday, we welcome Tiffany Finch, the Administrator of the Presbytery of Santa Fe. She will give a Minute for Mission and will lead a class on the work of our Presbytery after worship in Classroom A & B. Come and learn how Presbyterians in northern New Mexico work to serve the Kingdom of God!

Action Alert: Humanitarian Crisis in Cuba

U.S. policy is driving a humanitarian crisis in Cuba. Across the island, essential systems, including health care, electricity, water, and food distribution, are being pushed toward collapse. While Cuba faces its own internal challenges, a deliberate U.S. strategy of “maximum pressure” is targeting the island’s fuel supply and building on decades of financial restrictions that have isolated it from the global economy. The resulting shortages of fuel, combined with tightened banking, trade, and travel restrictions, are disrupting the flow of food, medicine, and other necessities. What began as economic pressure has become a life-threatening humanitarian emergency.Nationwide blackouts are now compromising intensive care units and emergency rooms and endangering the refrigeration needed to keep vaccines and medicines safe. The loss of power is also cutting off access to clean water for millions of people, as water systems across the island depend on electricity that has become unreliable. The World Food Program (WFP) warns that these shortages are making it extremely difficult to distribute food, leaving nursing homes, schools, and hospitals struggling to provide enough for those who need it most.

For more than six decades, U.S. policy has centered on an economic embargo meant to isolate Cuba. What began as a political tool has become a system that places the heaviest burden on ordinary Cuban people, not those in power. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has opposed the embargo since 1969, and for decades it has affirmed that broad economic sanctions which harm civilians violate human dignity and disproportionately impact the most vulnerable. It has consistently held that policies which rely on widespread deprivation to achieve political ends are unjust. In February, the PC(USA) joined other denominations in a Call to Stand with the Cuban People.

Congress now has an opportunity to take a different course. The Freedom to Export to Cuba Act (H.R. 7521 and S. 136), introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern and Sen. Ron Wyden, offers a concrete step forward. These bills would begin to lift the U.S. embargo, making it easier for food, medicine, and other basic necessities to reach people, and opening the door to more normal relations between the United States and Cuba. At the same time, a War Powers Resolution (S.J.Res. 124), introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine, would ensure that any move toward military action against Cuba requires explicit approval from Congress and would require an end to unauthorized hostilities.

Contact your Senators and Representative and urge them to support legislation to stand with the Cuban people and prevent unauthorized military action. The people of Cuba should not bear the cost of policies carried out in our name.

April's Book:

Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy

We will be meeting at Nancy Henriksen's home on April 21st at 2pm. Her address is: 507 Cherish Street, Rio Rancho, NM. Feel free to contact her at nanscott4413@msn.com.

Please join us! All are welcome!

May's Book: The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese

For those who would like a head start. This is our last book before the summer break.

The Men’s’ Group will be meeting on Saturday, April 18th at 8:00am. Program to be announced. 

Church Calendar

April 12, 2026 - April 18, 2026

April Birthdays

12 Anwi Fomukong

13 Derek Strommen

14 Nathan Secrest

15 Jane McCreary

16 Lisa Gaeta

18 Ruth Bleich

18 Sue Scott

18 Lucy Sanchez

20 Diale Fomukong

20 Cynthia Dyer

21 Isaac Pitts

24 Katie Kuechmann

25 Ariel Whitesinger

26 Jennifer Hall

28 Tim Morris

29 Ryanne Hughes

29 Jadelyn Van Sweden

Maundy Thursday Service

We had a great gathering of 47 people for our Maundy Thursday service at the start of Holy Week.

Thank you for such a beautiful service!

Pictured here is our Chancel Choir,

directed by Nancy Leffler, accompanied

by Nathan Secrest (not pictured).

Our Service

Men & Women

Please keep the following people

in your thoughts & prayers:

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.

Linda Maddux - surgery recovery

Pat McCreary - Presb. Rust hospital

Don Underwood - radiation treatments

Beth Miller - cancer treatments

Sheila Malmo's daughter, Alice

Protection for Everyone against Flu virus

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