A special message from Pastor Mark Toone Hello my Sweetheart Church: I will never forget the moment when I suddenly qualified for Father’s Day: the birth of Rachel Megan Toone. Well, my “little girl” also happens to be an EPC ordained pastor…and a pretty terrific communicator, if I do say so myself! She is home […]
Clues for a life well-lived
I met someone last week who gave me a clue for how to be more joyful and compassionate. Pascal Bimenyimana visited Chapel Hill from Haiti where he leads our global partner there, World Relief. He is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s, and he has served among the most devastated places in […]
New mercy for the morning
Last weekend we ended our services with a call to come forward for prayer. I was surprised by the number of people who came forward asking our pastoral team to pray for them. It was humbling and encouraging to kneel beside many in this congregation and pray for very real needs. I was surprised that […]
Any anxious thoughts today?
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand […]
Fare-thee-well
One of the hard things about pastoring a church for more than 35 years is that you say a LOT of goodbyes, including those to really treasured members of your staff team. Alas, I have another one of those hard goodbyes that I want to share with you. Shannon Rickert, our Senior Director of Care Ministries, Shannon […]
A prayer for this Mother’s Day
I’m grateful for the tradition I grew up with in the UK of honoring all women on Mother’s Day. Old, young, kids at home, kids grown, never had kids at all. Every year as little kids we would run round the church giving daffodils to every woman in the pews. God’s family comes in all […]
What’s the most valuable thing this world can give you?
Earlier this morning, Saturday, May 6, King Charles III was crowned King of the United Kingdom in a worship service at Westminster Abbey. At a certain point in the service, he was presented with a Bible, by the Moderator of the Church of Scotland. As the Moderator presented the Bible to the King, he said […]
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New life in Christ and his Church
This last week I had a renewed sense of hope. Maybe it’s that when I wake up in the morning, it’s a little bit lighter. Maybe it’s that we finally have some sunny weather. As a native Northwesterner, the rain doesn’t usually bother me…but this year it has been a bit much. I’m loving the […]
Building on Faith
Two of the students on the high school Mexico GO Team will be among those baptized tomorrow! I’ve gotten to know and love them during this year of learning to live on mission. One of our Ensenada projects with our global outreach partner Agua Viva was to build a home addition alongside a foster mom […]
How we’re keeping Chapel Hill safe
Considering the recent tragedy in Nashville, we wanted to reassure you that Chapel Hill Church and Chapel Hill Preschool have been taking significant measures to enhance security since 2017, as directed by the Session. There are too many things to list, but examples include active shooter training for our staff and key volunteers, lock-down systems […]