Church Calendar | Sermons | Sign-up to Help | Blog | Contact

{View as Webpage}

I woke up at 4:45a and checked my messages. Our older son, Jackson, in the room next door had just texted: “I can’t keep my eyes open. Let’s sleep in until breakfast.” But Bennett, who was staying in the room with us, was already rumbling around getting dressed. I told him about Jackson’s message, and B said, “Yeah… but I talked him into it. You going with us?”

We met outside. Jackson found a map of the trails of High Pastures, the Burnesville, NC retreat center where we were staying. “We can take the red trail up to the blue trail – if we can find the red trail. Or, we can go to the firepit and just follow the orange trail up. It’s shorter, but steeper.”

The day before, our cousin, Philip, who directs High Pastures along with his wife, Becca, had given “Razor” rides to the lookout. That all-terrain vehicle, with a serious climbing gear, was an adventure in itself, up the ridge, to the lookout, east toward Mt. Mitchell, gazing across the valley deep below. The view was spectacular, and it was so steep coming down that it gave your stomachs a little churn. We knew for certain we could find that orange trail, even in the dark, so we struck out. “It’s shorter,” I kept telling myself.

The trail was only about ¾ mile long, but it gained 1,000 feet in elevation. When I was Jackson and Bennett’s age, I probably could have carried on the informal conversation with them, all the way to the top. But I haven’t been their age for about 30 years—so they never stopped talking, and I never stopped gasping. All I could think as they chatted nonchalantly was, “Who took all the oxygen?” and “Are we almost there yet?”

We stopped a dozen times for the old guy. Only once did our new med school graduate ask, “Are you ok?” After the last “just-let-me… catch-my… breath… just-a-minute,” we recognized the lookout point, through the mountain laurel at the left. It was about 5:50a. Official sunrise was 6:12a, so we sat down on a rock. After the fog cleared (in my head, not across the horizon), I joined in the conversation.

The Blue Ridge is always a sight for sore eyes—and this view of the undulating range of blue ridges was as pretty as any I’ve seen. As far as mountains go, they are among the oldest in the country—not rough and jagged like the Rockies because they’ve been around many millions of years longer. The edges have been worn by the wear and tear of inconceivable time. In such settings, we often joke about the discrepancy between the scientific facts and our “young earth” family members who believe God made it exactly this way about 6, 000 years ago.

We joked, and we talked about the amazing feat of evolution and the immensity of the universe and our role in it, and we speculated: Are we alone… are there aliens out there somewhere? We’re probably not alone.

Before the sun winked at us from behind one of the tallest peaks across the expanse, I said to my sons, “You know, what I think about God is very different than what I thought when I was your age, but when I look at all of this… I still think about God. Whatever God is, God is in this.”

In my younger years, we used to talk about “mountain top” experiences, those spiritual moments that left you changed. I’m grateful to God for sons and breathless climbs and spectacular views, so grateful that mountain top experiences aren’t just a thing of the past. - Russ

It’s one of those “pandemic” things that we decided to keep. Back when we could not be together safely, we started opening up our backyard and told everyone “BYOE” (Bring Your Own Everything). Being outside felt safe, but serving food that someone else prepared didn’t. Yet we opened our backyard and told people that if they wanted something to eat to bring it and if they wanted something to drink to bring it. Many people packed a picnic or stopped for takeout, and they arrived with their small cooler in hand. We sat around and just enjoyed being together. It was too good to stop, so join us this Thursday, June 15.

Arrive any time 6p or after and stay until . . . come for a long visit or just drop in . . . catch up with old friends and meet some new ones . . . bring your bathing suit and enjoy the pool and hot tub . . . play some corn hole or spike ball or just sit and relax. Come to the backyard gate and let yourself in. We can’t wait to meet you and greet you. If it rains, we will just bring the party inside and enjoy being really close. Either way it will be a wonderful evening!

Our newest member is Donna Privette, who has been visiting with us for a few months. She came to Park Road at the recommendation of former church members who had moved to Columbia, SC and put in a good word for our church. We are delighted to have Donna, who is pictured here with friends (left-right): Judy Bratton, Donna, Debbie Brown, and Dona Leonard. Welcome!

Several folks have sung in the choir these past Third Sundays. The group gathers for rehearsal at 9:30a and sings for the 11a service. No Wednesday night rehearsal is required. Perhaps you should join us. If you sang in your high school or college glee club, have sung in a church choir before, or just love to sing in the shower, Sunday-Only Choir is for you. Join us this Sunday!

If you’ve not been able to join us for our First Wednesday (each month) program, we’d love for you to make an effort. We’re having wonderful attendance. The meals are always terrific. The table fellowship is even better. We spend a little time around the tables and with a bit of music and message, a short vespers service that makes the night a wonderful opportunity to spend with church friends, and to gain a renewal for the rest of the week. Dinner is at 5:30p. The program is from 6-6:50p (ending just in time for choir practice). Our next gathering will be on Wednesday, July 5!

Once again, PRBC is proud to host summer Camps for Arts+. They will conduct six weeks of youth camps, starting on June 26th. Each one-week camp will focus on different skills, including various levels of ukulele, strings, general music, and art. Instruction will take place in the Youth Building, and each week will culminate with a recital in the Chapel. We will share camp photos with you in summer editions of the newsletter.

Milford Chapel, our church’s second-oldest building, has served us well for over 69 years. This space has been getting some much-needed remediation attention as funds have allowed, and we invite you to take a look at some of the “visible” results. Last week, new carpet was installed in the chapel, stairwells, and balcony. The bathrooms also have new vinyl tile floors. To round out the bathrooms’ long-overdue restoration, new countertops, sinks, and toilets are being installed. The next phase will include reupholstering the 100 chapel chairs. While the overall project is still underway, you are welcome to drop by when you’re on campus and take a look.

The last Book-A-Palooza of the school year was held at Marie G Davis K-8 IB School last week. Although absenteeism was much higher than normal, we were able to allow about 250 kids to select up to 5 books, which added up to 1,250 books. With the average cost per book at $2.76, Park Road spent around $3,400. For the year, we gave out around 3,700 books at a cost of about $10,230. (This includes $1,500 from Myers Park UMC last fall and a $1,000 grant from Bojangles.)

Thank yous go to the approximately 20 or so volunteers who gave of their time to make the event happen: transporting book boxes, unpacking them, displaying them, assisting students in making their choices, and packing up the books. Also many thanks to Park Road for supporting this part of our Missions budget in the AMP. It is truly exhilarating to see the kids’ excitement about choosing 5 books of their own. Several 6th graders actually jumped up and down in excitement. One child brought the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books he had gotten earlier so that he would make sure he didn’t get duplicates.

Volunteers included: Hugh Ashcraft, Sarah Ashcraft, Carson Beckham, Judy Bratton, Carolyn Bush, Anna Gantt, Lynn Hankins (MPUMC), Matt Leach, Laura Leach, Betsy Marik, Anjali Markey (Augustine Literacy friend), Dianne Mason, Lisa Mason, Karen Mayer, Susan Melson, Ann Miles, George Miles, Netta Moseley, Kate Polaski, Anne Robinette, Dave Robinette, Austin Seagrave, and Missy Solomon.

Now that school is out a few of our junior needlers assisted with pillowcase dresses while others worked on prayer shawls and various other projects that are always ongoing for our sewing ministry. If you know of anyone that would like to receive a prayer shawl, contact the church office, and we can get one for you. We have a supply on hand right now. These shawls have meant so much to people who are going through various joys and sorrows.

CDC Doughnuts with Dad

The CDC have Donuts with Dad on Friday, June 16, 2023 from 9-11a in the Community Center.

PRBCDC Meck Pre-K Graduation

The PRBCDC family says Congratulations to the graduates. You did it 😊! The world is yours for the taking. Kindergarten, here they come. We will miss these 5 year olds, but we are excited for them to begin the next chapter of their lives.

We list an individual each week that we call our “Friends at Home” with their contact information.

Drop a card or give a call to check-in. Even if you do not know someone personally, a contact from someone from their church is always an encouragement.

Coming Up at Park Road

Sunday Worship

Facebook Live and In-Person

11a

First Wednesdays

Dinner and Vespers

(Community Center)

5:30p Dinner / 6p Vespers

First and Third Tuesdays

Coffee and Kibitz Bible Study

(Community Center - Room C503)

10a

Tuesday and Thursdays

Flexercise

(Community Center)

9a

Park Road Baptist Church 

 3900 Park Road | Charlotte NC | 28209

Tel (704) 523-5717 

Fax (704) 523-8481

info@parkroadbaptist.org 

 www.parkroadbaptist.org