Souper Bowl Offering

Each year, churches across the world participate in the Souper Bowl Offering on Super Bowl Sunday. All funds raised by a church are sent to local agencies who fight hunger. Due to increased demand on the Ronceverte Food Pantry in this year, our Mission Committee has organized a huge Souper Bowl Offering to benefit the Food Pantry. You can support this cause in several ways.

1) The Mission Committee is hosting a soup luncheon this Sunday following worship in Fellowship Hall. Donations are accepted but not required. All donations will benefit the Ronceverte Food Pantry. Homemade soups include: potato, tortilla, vegetable, chicken, chili, taco, and bean. Grilled cheese sandwiches and cookies from Paulette's Pastries will also be served.

2) Bring canned food to the church and it in the boxes stationed throughout the building. In addition to normal canned items, the Food Pantry needs diapers, baby food, and formula.

Thanks for supporting the needs of your community! See you at the Souper Bowl!

Difficult Dialogues

During last week's Session meeting, a theme emerged: Today's church needs to talk about several difficult issues it faces, but we're a bit confused about how to do so. In response, Stephen agreed to lead two 4-week classes as part of a Difficult Dialogues series. Both will occur during the adult Sunday School Gathering on Sunday mornings from 9:30-10:30am in Fellowship Hall. The first session will begin February 1 and involves the role sexual orientation plays in the church: To what extent should sexual orientation affect one's participation in the church, and on what theological basis? The second session involves evangelism: How can we practically spread the Good News to our neighbors (despite our reservations and nervousness), and what is our theological basis for doing so?

February's Difficult Dialogue comes at a pivotal time for our denomination. In March, the Presbytery of WV will vote on a variety of amendments proposed by the General Assembly (as other Presbyteries across the nation are doing), and at the root of several amendments is a question: To what extent should sexual orientation affect one's participation in the church? This issue divides the church deeply, as people of good faith sit on both sides of the fence (while many more straddle it). Our plan is to dialogue about sexual orientation and the church. In Week 1, we'll agree to some guidelines for a healthy dialogue and familiarize ourselves with the topic by looking at a case study. In Week 2, we'll examine the point of view that non-heterosexual orientations are sinful, including Biblical interpretations which support this position. In Week 3, we'll examine the point of view that all of God's children, including people of various sexual orientations, ought to be included fully in the life of the church, including Biblical interpretations which support this position. In Week 4, we'll engage in another case study where we must pastorally respond to a family in crisis. After four weeks, we may or may not reach conclusions; that's not our aim. Our aim is to faithfully discern God's will for this world by enegaging in dialogue with each other.

The members of the Session will be present for this important dialogue, and we hope you will be too. Stephen will facilitate, making every effort to ensure a safe and fair space for talking and listening to each other's stories.

Morning Worship, 1/25/09

Yesterday we received two new members during worship, Marge Farren and Tom Long. Both are fine folks whom we are fortunate to count as part of our church family! The audio of the service can be played below:

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The sermon is titled, "Come and See."

Special YOUth meeting

Want to give back to those in need?

This Saturday night at 6pm, the Mission Committee is hosting a special YOUth meeting for all children ages 5 (and their parents) and up at the manse. Not only will this give them a chance to see what YOUth will be like when they're old enough to join, but it also provides them and their parents the opportunity to give back to their community. We'll be creating a publicity campaign to raise money and awareness about hunger in Greenbrier County as part of the Souper Bowl Offering on February 1. The YOUth and younger YOUth will make posters and boxes for folks to donate money or canned food, all of which will benefit the Ronceverte Food Pantry.

On February 1, the YOUth and younger YOUth will serve a soup luncheon at the church following worship. All donations received will benefit the Food Pantry.

See you Saturday night at 6pm!

Morning Worship Blast from the Past, 12/30/07

Despite ice yesterday, we gathered for worship! Unfortunately, due to a bad CD the service did not record properly. Just because you can't worship in the same way we did yesterday doesn't mean you can't worship...enjoy this blast from the past: Morning Worship from 12/30/07.

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The sermon is titled, "At Risk Behavior." Enjoy!

ICE in Ronceverte

The River City is frozen! A thin layer of ice is covering all roads and sidewalks. Sunday School this morning is cancelled. Worship will go on as scheduled for those who come. Please take great caution if you do decide to venture out, though, as the roads are slick! The sidewalks at the church have been salted and should be clear by 11am.

Biblical Hebrew Class

ask and you shall receive...

you asked for an introductory class to Biblical Hebrew, and you're receiving one! this coming Tuesday night (Jan 20), we'll begin our Biblical Hebrew Class at Ronceverte Pres. we'll meet from 6-7pm each week for a period of six weeks. this will be a difficult but highly rewarding study for us all. in order to maximize learning, we'll need to make efficient use of our time. please come on time. there will be no preparation required for the first class, but there will be work required prior to each subsequent class.

please let Stephen know what questions you have. see you in the conference room (beside the sanctuary) on Tuesday!

Morning Worship, 1/11/09

Each week, we'll be posting the audio for the previous Sunday's worship service. You can access this week's service, "Don't Give Up...Give Back!" via the player below:

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Just push the play button, and you'll be able to listen to the service on your home computer. (If you have a dial up connection, you'll have to push play and the quickly push pause so that the player can download the service. After a few minutes, you can press play and listen.) Listen when you can't make it to church, when you want to hear a piece of music or the Penny Lane story again, or share the service with a friend.

Enjoy!

Hey YOUth! Sundays at 6pm

Hey YOUth! Come out every Sunday night at 6pm (beside the church at Stephen & Kerry's house) for youth group. You'll get to do great things...like corny poses on fake front porches for a workcamp picture (see left).

We do a little bit of everything...bake cookies for new neighbors (and ourselves)...Bible study using music, movies, and TV shows...play Wii...pray..."check in" with each other to share what's going on in our lives.

Come out and give us a try! Every Sunday night at 6pm. See you there!

Pray for our Community

Greenbrier County received terrible economic news this week. The sawmill in Ronceverte is closing indefinitely once they finish their current orders (due to the housing decline, their products are no longer in demand). The Greenbrier Resort, the county's largest employer, announced a strategic review to be conducted by Goldman Sachs. The review is expected to determine the 229-year-old resort's future. In the meantime, the resort is conducting another round of layoffs.

Southern West Virginia is already one of America's most economically-depressed regions. These developments only deepen the problem.

People in Greenbrier County are hurting. The Ronceverte Food Pantry faces increased requests for food and decreased supplies. As layoffs continue, families suffer. Churches are receiving unprecedented numbers of requests for housing, food, and energy costs.

Please pray for our community. Pray for families who are struggling. Pray for hard-working men and women who are trying to keep their loved ones warm and fed. Pray for children who rely on the school system's meal programs. Pray for seniors who feel more fear than they ever have. Please--pray for God's children near and far.