The Week Ahead and Beyond

This Sunday is the Fifth Sunday After Pentecost. Jan McGilliard will lead our worship while Linda is at General Assembly. Her sermon will be on “My Way, the By-Way, the Spirit Way." The Younger Church Percussion Band will be providing the offering of music. After worship, we will enjoy lemonade, perhaps on the lawn.

Jan is an Elder at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, and has served as a commissioned pastor for the past 22 years. For the past 40 years Jan has served at all levels of the PCUSA in older adult ministries, most recently developing a certification program for older adult ministry that is taught at the Center for Lifelong Learning at Columbia Theological Seminary.  She is married to Mike (retired from Dairy Science at VT), and they have two adult children and three grandchildren. They have called Blacksburg home for the past 53 years.   

Linda will be participating at General Assembly from June 22 until July 3. On Sunday, July 5, Lucian will lead the worship service. The church office will be closed on Monday, July 6, for the 4th of July holiday.

Interfaith Food Pantry and Giving Day

For 24 hours from 12:00 pm Wednesday, June 23, until 12:00 pm Thursday, the New River Valley is observing its annual Giving Day, coordinated by the Community Foundation of the New River Valley. This year, there are 138 non-profit organizations participating in the event. While donations collected through the whole month of June are counted in the tally, the 24-hour push for giving features prizes and grants to organizations that meet specific goals.

The Blacksburg Interfaith Food Pantry is one of the participants in Giving Day. Northside supports the food pantry with a regular donation from the mission budget. It covers the cost of milk that is provided to visitors to the pantry. We have a team of volunteers who work at the pantry. Individual donations from members to our food barrel are given to the Food Pantry.

For its Giving Day project, the food pantry is collecting funds to support the Summer Food Program that provides children in Blacksburg and McCoy with bags of food throughout June, July, and August. Every summer, children in our community lose access to the school breakfasts and lunches they depend on during the academic year. For families already struggling to make ends meet, the summer months create even greater food insecurity and difficult choices about how to provide healthy meals for their children.

This year, through the Giving Day campaign, the pantry is raising funds to do more than provide food—they want to provide healthier food. Your support will help them add fresh fruits and vegetables to these summer food bags, giving children access to nutritious foods that many families cannot regularly afford.

The goal is to raise $5,000. The initial goal of $3,000 to provide fresh fruit and vegetables has been reached; the additional donations will allow the pantry to provide more fruit for all of our customers, specifically oranges and pears. If you wish to donate directly, or let family and friends know about this program, go to the donation page during the 24-hour Giving Day window or at any time until the end of the month.

General Assembly Information

The 227th General Assembly meets from June 22 to July 2, a meeting that is held every two years to shape the theology, governance, and mission priorities of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Linda is serving on the Theological Education and Ordination Committee. She will be out of the office and unavailable for the first week, which is all-day zoom meetings of the committee. She will then travel to Milwaukee for the second week in-person meetings.

Pray for:

     Energy for the long days

     Patience with the technology, travel and one another

     Discernment and Wisdom as they listen for and follow where the Spirit leads

If you want to follow along or learn more, here are some resources:

227th General Assembly Overview

The Presbyterian Outlook's 227th GA Guide

PCUSA GA Homepage

Linda also emailed a guide to the congregation list. She will also be posting on Substack.

Summer Music

We will have special music every Sunday except July 5 while the choir takes a break. See Marya to sign up for that last date.

Date           Musician(s)
June 28       The Younger Church Percussion Band
July 5          open
July 12        Liz Warriner
July 19        Robin Begnoche and Marya Katz
July 26        Simple Gifts
August 2      Thomas DeBusk and Mark Freeman
August 9      Emily Davis and Marya Katz
August 16    open
August 23    Marshall and Alex Chaney
August 30    Ann Marie Conner (maybe with Chime Choir) 

June Has Two Celebrations to Be Aware Of

Monday Night Supper

The meal this week was chicken fajita casserole, salad, fruit cup, and cookies. We served 55 meals. Helpers included Marge and George, Alex Aning, Ann Marie and Maria, and Bruce and Heidi.

Volunteers to help prepare and pack meals are always welcome and needed.

Homebound Members

For those wishing to keep in touch with our homebound members, here are some addresses:

Pastoral Care

"Offer prayers and petitions in the Spirit all the time." – Eph. 6.18

Please be in prayer for:

Please let the church office know if names should be added to or removed from the list.