The Back to School Blessing is this Sunday, August 23rd! If you are a student of any age, teacher, or a family with students, whether at home or at school, know that we are praying for you! There will be a special blessing in our virtual worship at 10:00 a.m., and then a drive thru time following worship from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the front of the church to pick up your blessing tag and a popsicle! We hope you will join us as we pray for our students, teachers, and schools!

You can now use your smart phone to text a donation to FPC. Here's how:

The Session meets monthly on the 2^nd Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Minutes are open and available by request after they are approved at the following month’s Session meeting.

First Kids is excited to be reopening! The school still needs 4 classroom teachers. If you would like to be part of this wonderful school, please contact our director, Maureen O’Bryan, 704-788-2812, or frstkids@yahoo.org.

Are you a media savvy individual? Do you consider yourself creative? Do you love technology and all that can be done through it and with it? Well, If this sounds like you, then please let us know. We want to talk to you! Email or call CE moderator Hunter Morrison:

huntermorrison@gmail.com 704-807-8799

Deacons Mary Garrison and Don Seitz delivered 86 backpacks to Robin Ellis, School Counselor at W. M. Irvin Elementary last week. The schools goal was to provide 650 backpacks for the students. Each student in grades 2 through 5 have been given a laptop computer. When normal school resumes, the students will be asked to take their computers between home and school each day. These backpacks will protect this important resource for our children.

The past six months have been hard and I sense a good deal of "Covid-Fatigue" among many. But as summer winds down and the new school year begins there are plans to return to some semblance of "normal." The following is what is "in the works" for *Fall:

*Rally Day is Sunday, September 13th, and we tentatively plan to start "live-streaming" the worship service from the sanctuary at 11 a.m. going forward (without parishioners present for the time being). Note that this will require the purchase and installation of some additional electronic equipment for the sanctuary and is subject to that work being done in a timely manner, as well as the training of volunteers in how to use it. Small groups may also be permitted to start meeting outside on the church campus for study and fellowship with appropriate safety protocols in place (masking, hand sanitizer, and distancing).

*Moderators of Session Committees (Worship & Music, Christian Education, and Buildings & Grounds)--with the advice of medical professionals--are putting together and implementing a comprehensive "safety plan" for when it is deemed safe to gather together indoors.

*The pastoral staff (Scott & Lynne) are resuming regular office hours (Scott on the 19th and Lynne sometime after she returns from vacation later in the month). Masking will be required for staff and visitors in Fellowship House. Rachel will continue to work from home.

A "deep cleaning" of the Fellowship House is scheduled for Saturday, August 21st

We appreciate your ongoing support and understanding during this difficult time. The work of the church continues even as we are socially distanced. Stay safe and get your flu shot!

Blessings,

Scott Kenefake

Interim Pastor

*Several of these things have not yet been approved by the Session and are subject to change.

The Worship and Music Committee continues to discuss our members’ questions about reopening for services and about alternative services. Working in concert with the Reopening Committee and our ministers, the committee members have considered a variety of options and continue to evaluate the pros and cons of these options.

We are aware of many members’ desire to worship together other than through virtual means. We are also aware of other members’ concerns about safe conditions.

While we can address these issues, we may not be able to please everyone as we depend on the advice of health experts as well as our own Reopening Committee. In addition, the committee has the task of handling the logistics of any changes in our current worship schedule and will keep members advised of changes.

We are hoping to have Live Streaming soon, even if we are not able to return to the pews. 

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.

Our first book was “So You Want to Talk about Race” by Ijeoma Olou. We had a great group of 20-25 people each Sunday afternoon engaging in eye-opening and respectful dialogue. We will continue the discussion with our new book selection "White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity" by Robert P. Jones. If you missed out on the last book, now is a great time to join!

Discussion begins Sunday September 13th at 4pm 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.

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/).