In case you missed the Banner announcement last week, here is a recap:

The Personnel Committee is pleased and excited to introduce Rush Otey who will serve as our Temporary Supply Minister until our new Senior Pastor is called. Rush will serve as Head of Staff starting November 4th. His first sermon from our sanctuary will be on Sunday, November 8th. He will be in the church office on Tuesday and Wednesday (most weeks) and will teach and preach on Sundays, both remotely and in person when we return to the sanctuary.

Rush recently retired from Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church where he served 18 years as the Senior Minister (2002-2020). Rush’s experience includes:

· Ordained in 1973 at Davidson College

· Post Graduate fellowship at Duke Divinity School

· 1973-1980 College Chaplain at Davidson College

· 1980-1982 Director, Uniting Campus Ministry, LSU in Baton Rouge

· 1982-1993 St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Tucker, Georgia (~900 members)

· 1993-2002 First Presbyterian Church, Pensacola, Florida (~1,000 members)

· 2002-2020 Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church, Charlotte (500 confirmed members and more than 200 children)

Rush’s wife Deborah is a retired teacher and psychologist, and they have two adult children, Andrew who lives in Washington, DC and Emily who lives in Raleigh.

Please join us in welcoming Rush.

In faithful response to the biblical commands to love our neighbor, in light of the current events of our country, and as part of our commitment to be a Matthew 25 congregation, we seek to continue hosting intentional space for dialogue, understanding, and action for anti-racism and justice work.

We will be reading "White Fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism" by Robin DiAngelo. Discussion begins Sunday November 8th at 4 p.m. via Zoom. If you would like to sign up to join this group, please let Lynne Keel know by emailing her at lynne.keel@firstpresconcord.org. We encourage you to order your book ASAP (through a black-owned bookstore, if possible) as there are book shortages and shipping delays associated with the current pandemic as well as increased interest in discussing racial equity. We hope you will join us for this critical conversation.

It’s on the way! Within a few days you will receive a letter outlining the financial health of our church which will kickoff the 2021 Joy of Giving Stewardship Season. Enclosed will be a pledge card and envelope. You may also pledge online here. We look forward to your prayerful participation. Your gifts will support the many wonderful programs of the church that are being created by volunteers who continue to share their time and talents with our church family. In addition, your generosity will enable us to touch the lives of so many through our mission outreach gifts.

As we continue to adapt to the technological needs of this time, we need your help to get our Youtube channel to be a successful page. By subscribing to our Youtube page, we will be given a dedicated link that will make us easier to find in searches and will help with our digital presence. We need 100 subscribers to be given a dedicated link. Please, if you are able, go to our Youtube page and subscribe to our channel. Thank you for your help and for tuning in with us!

Greetings to all our faithful food donation partners!

Our current big needs are:

             Canned Green Beans

             Canned Corn

             Baked Beans (Pork & Beans)

             Other canned beans except for Pinto (black, kidney, chili, etc.)

             Any dried beans

             Rice

             Pasta Sauce

             Canned pasta w/ meat (spaghetti w/ meatballs, ravioli, etc.)

As always, we especially seek low sodium items, no-added-sugar items, and whole grain items.

Right now, we have plenty of the following:

            Canned chicken and tuna

            Canned sweet potatoes

            Mixed Vegetables

            Canned Pinto Beans

            Canned fruit

            Spaghetti noodles

            Peanut Butter

            Cereal

            Toilet Paper

Thank you for the continued support from our church partners. Our Crisis Center at 246 Country Club Drive NE in Concord serves as the warehouse for most of the food. We will gladly accept all donations at that site from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. Bethel Baptist Helping Hands Food Pantry, located at 1209 1/4 Opal Street in Kannapolis, will gladly accept donations from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday and Thursday. The food pantry located at Westford UMC on Highway 49 and the Kannapolis Food Pantry at West Point Baptist Church can accept donations on Saturday morning from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The Feeding Our Souls Food Pantry at Bethel UMC in Midland, North Kannapolis Baptist Church Food Pantry and the New Life Baptist Food Pantry will accept donations by calling the church in advance.

Monday, November 2nd, 6:30 p.m.: Circle 1 via Zoom

Sunday, November 8th, 3 p.m.: Circle 5, Davis Hall* (and via Zoom)

Monday, November 9th, 11 a.m.: Circle 4 via Zoom

Tuesday, November 10th, 1:30 p.m.: Circle 3, Church Courtyard*

Please watch for an e-mail / church mailing for details on each meeting. You may also contact Rene Prager: thepragers@yahoo.com or the church reservation line to be included on the RSVP list for a specific meeting. The recorded version of Lesson 2 should be available by mid November.

Be sure to check out our Virtual Sunday School Classroom with our new Growing in God's Love curriculum. For Pre-K through 5th grade children, this includes a monthly supply kit to take home and use with the virtual classroom each week.

The kits are available in the lobby area of the Fellowship House. Be sure to grab your kit to be ready to go for the lesson this Sunday. You can access the virtual classroom by clicking here or by going to the First Presbyterian Church website! The content will change weekly as we hear a new story each Sunday.

This Sunday continues our unit, "Brave Women and Men in the Old Testament." Kits can be picked up in the church office or reach out to a member of the Christian Education Committee!

Also, please help us as make our kits. Fill out this short questionnaire to help us best prepare for you and be good stewards of our resources! https://forms.gle/gVDJVUxn5X7vfw488

If you are a family that has a Youth in grades 6th through 12th, be sure to sign up to receive the First Youth Fellowship newsletter. That is the best way to see all the ways youth can get connected and deepen their faith through service, community, and fun! Sign-up here to receive the Youth Newsletter for detailed information about all youth happenings. **If you didn't receive the Youth Newsletter last week, please be sure to check your spam or junk folder.

All youth families, please fill out the following short questionnaire to help Rachel best prepare and anticipate the needs for our various youth gatherings. Questionnaire found here: https://forms.gle/Z63UdUmwV43xojgG6

Our pastoral staff continues to preach and teach through various means of technology. Please join us for all of our worship opportunities on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/firstpresconcordnc/),

YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfpzVUz-ZgaCJuogIMor8Iw) or our Sermon Archives (https://firstpresconcord.org/worship/sermon-archives/).