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Sunday Preview
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Pentecost
Sacrament of Baptism
Earth Day Service
ONE worship service @ 10:15 AM (outside)*
(Please bring a blanket or chair to sit on)
NO 8:15 service
Sermon:
"Babel" by Richard Coble
Scriptures:
Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21
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* Rain or Shine we will have church this Sunday!
While we hope to worship outside at 10:15am, we are aware that the forecasters are predicting rain.
On Saturday
, the staff will make the final call about where the service will be held (outside or in the sanctuary). An email blast will be sent out and also posted on social media. See you Sunday!
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PC(USA) Pentecost Special Offering
A gift to the Pentecost Offering helps the church encourage, develop, and support its young people, and also address the needs of at-risk children. 40% of the Pentecost offering can be retained by individual congregations wanting to make an impact in the lives of young people within their own community. The remaining 60% is used to support ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency:
Please write "Pentecost Offering" in the memo line of your check (made payable to GCPC) and put it in the offering plate this Sunday.
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Sign up for Courtyard Fellowship!
Courtyard Fellowship has begun for the summer and we need volunteers to sign up to host and provide refreshments. This is a great opportunity for your church group to share about their ministry/activities or for families to extend hospitality to your church family.
Click
HERE to sign up for one Sunday this summer!
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Summer Bible Study – The Gospel of Mark | Wednesdays in June and July | 11:00 – 11:45 AM | Garden Room
"How could such a painful story of fear, betrayal, sufferings and death also be the 'good news of Jesus Christ' (1:1)" asks one commentator of the Gospel of Mark. Come join us as we seek to answer this question through a deep reading of Mark, the oldest canonical Gospel in the New Testament. Together, we will examine what Mark believed about Jesus, how he understood this "Good News" for the world, and what this book means for our lives today. Come to every meeting or stop by when you can. Contact Richard,
rcoble@gcpcusa.org
, for more details.
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Centering Prayer | Wednesday Nights | 6:30 - 7:00 PM | Sanctuary
Sacred and shared silence is a profound gift of many religious traditions of the world. And Christianity has a rich and ancient tradition of intentional and prayerful silence as a spiritual practice. There are many gifts in these practices that touch every part of who we are as human beings. Centering silence calms the nervous system and positively supports all body systems. It teaches the mind to quiet and to open itself up to mystery and creativity. Centering silence strengthens our connections to each other and to the world around us. Sacred silence teaches us to listen devoutly, humbly, and with trust. It helps us befriend the unknown.
It is beautifully simple and a spiritual skill whose gifts goes deeper and gets more powerful the more one practices it. This practice is open to all and is come as you are able. Questions? Contact
Marcia.
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Last call to sign up for
MONTHLY
pre-printed giving envelopes!
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Our envelope vendor has made monthly envelopes an option.
If you'd like to switch your envelope mailings from
weekly
to
monthly
OR sign up for the first time
, please just email
giving@gcpcusa.org
with the following information:
- Envelope #
- First & Last Name
- Mailing Address
If you are giving automatically online or by bill pay and no longer need envelopes, please let our office know so we can suspend your mailings and save the expense.
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Turn your Father's Day shopping into a force for good.
to Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church.
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Creating Sanctuary Team (CST)
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Creating Sanctuary Team Mtg. | THIS Sunday, June 9 | 11:15 AM | Garden Room
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Power and Race Team (PART)
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The Racial Justice Book Series | Thursday, June 13 | 6:00 PM | Garden Room
For June
, we are reading
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
by Eric Dyson.
“One of the most frank and searing discussions on race ... a deeply serious, urgent book, which should take its place in the tradition of Baldwin's
The Fire Next Time
and King's
Why We Can't Wait
." -
The New York Times Book Review
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Digging Deeper - Native American History | Getting to know our Cherokee Indian neighbors
(These events are family-friendly)
REGISTRATION OPEN NOW!!
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“Unto These Hills”- Outdoor Drama | Monday, July 8 | | 4-10 PM | Cherokee, NC
Carpool or van to Cherokee, NC for an afternoon picnic on the grounds before the play. "Unto These Hills" tells the Cherokees’ rich story from 1780 to the 21st century. You can access the registration form at
http://bit.ly/OutdoorDrama
or there are also some hard copies at the Welcome Desk.
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SAVE THIS DATE:
(Registration form available soon!)
- Saturday, August 10 | Oconaluftee Indian Village | 12-7 PM | Cherokee, NC An afternoon in the Oconaluftee Village, picnic on the grounds and an evening of Cherokee storytelling around a bonfire.
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Part of what
PART
does is to inform Grace Covenant about
racial equity work going on in the larger community.
The following are some events that PART recommends.
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Isaiah Rice Historical Photo Exhibition |
May 24, 2019 - Aug 24 | Eagle Market Place Community Exhibition Space
The Isaiah Rice Photo Collection, which provides a window into Asheville's African American history through vivid images of life in the city's black community from the 1950s through the 1970s, will be on view May 24-Aug. 24 at the new Eagle Market Place Community Exhibition Space,
19 Eagle Street, Asheville
.
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Don’t miss our Earth Day celebration after our outdoor worship service this Sunday, June 9!! Earth Team will be providing refreshments. SunDance, the company installing our new solar panels, will bring their mobile solar panel display with them. Bring your favorite gadget, plug it in, and watch it go!! Powered 100% from our Sun!!
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Earth Team Hike to Hawksbill | Thursday, June 20 | 8:30 AM | GCPC Parking Lot
We will hike over Snowball Mountain to Hawksbill. Meetup at GCPC at 8:30am and carpool to the trailhead where Dillingham Road intersects with the road to Craggy Picnic Area. The hike goes over Snowball and then along a narrow ridge to Hawksbill. Hawksbill is a rock outcrop that affords a great view down Reems Creek Valley. We will have lunch there and then hike back to the start. Round trip is about 4.5 miles, with elevation change of 700 feet. We should return to GCPC about 2:30pm. Please text Les Stradley at (828) 339-3332 to sign up!
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Monarch Butterfly Garden
You may have noticed the new raised flower bed outside the window by the member name tag tables. That is our new Monarch Butterfly Garden! The tall, mature plants are swamp milkweed, and monarch butterflies rely on them for their very lives. You may already know monarch butterflies, along with bees and certain other pollenating insects, have had a tough decade. Our modern agricultural practices are poisoning them. Along with many others across the continent who love and care for God’s creatures, GCPC has joined the efforts to provide safe and untainted food and for monarchs and their larvae.
Thanks to Earth Team members Laura and Jonathan Ross, Sharon Sasse, and Susan Presson for their efforts and work. We especially thank Rick Philipsen for all of his generous work in procuring the lumber and building the raised bed for us.
Earth Team Request:
We need help with watering our new butterly garden flower bed through the summer heat. If you would like to volunteer for a day of the week, once a month, or for just a few particular days, please call or text Betsy Richards, 770-548-0862, or send an email to
earthteamavl@gmail.com
. Thanks!
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Before We Were Yours
by Lisa Wingate
In this poignant novel, inspired by a true story, two families, generations apart, are forever changed by a heartbreaking injustice.
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge -- until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents -- but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.
Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.
Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals -- in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country -- Lisa Wingate's riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.
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Education Hour (for all ages) will resume on September 15th!
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*Nursery care is available throughout Sunday morning beginning at 8:10 am.
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OTHER EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES...
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2019 Summer Women’s Book Series | Last Monday of the month | 6 PM | Garden Room
Join us for a series of book talks. Open to all women of the church. One copy of each book can be found in the church library. Please pre-read the books to ensure lively discussion.
- June 24 | Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth | Sarah Smarsh
- July 29 | Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire and Other Ways of Meeting God | Lauren Winner
- August 26 | If Oceans were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran | Carla Power
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PRITCHARD PARK Sign-ups | This Sunday, June 9 | 11:15 AM | Narthex
Sign-ups happen again this Sunday in the narthex. “New management” is interested in finding ways to further develop the impact on both GCPC volunteers and people experiencing homelessness who come to Pritchard Park on Sunday morning at 9 am. Rick Noble is seeking input from GCPC veteran volunteers and potential new volunteers as we plan for the next 12 months.
CLICK HERE
to see a brief review
of the GCPC who/what/how/where/when of Pritchard Park. Thank you in advance!
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Room In The Inn (RITI) | July 7-14 | GCPC
Our needs remain the same in the summer as in the winter! We need overnight hosts, drivers, set-up and take-down teams, and folks to prepare delicious meals. Our food team coordinator has developed suggested menus. Interested cooks, call Tish Anderson at 828-670-7515 or email her,
19ppanc40@gmail.com
for further details.
This Sunday we are scheduled to be outside for worship. Remember you can come in the church and sign up or sign up online
HERE.
You can access this link on the church website as well.
Look for any RITI team member to talk with for more details. Those on the RITI team include: Tish Anderson, Sally Booher, Nan Clarke, Beth Kissling, Geneva Neeriemer, Lynne Noble, Susan Presson, Linda Pyeritz, and Beth Philipsen. RITI Team members will be wearing RITI lanyards until all jobs are filled. Sign up SOON!
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Room In The Inn Potluck - Volunteers: Past and Present | Thursday, June 13 | 6:00 PM | Fellowship Hall
You are invited to a RITI Potluck dinner here at Grace Covenant! This gathering is to learn more about the Room In The Inn program. Other Volunteers from Buncombe county’s faith communities will be here also. If you plan to come, please bring a side dish or dessert to share; a meat will be provided. Please call or email Beth Philipsen (828-230-7661 or
onthecove@charter.net
) to RSVP. Thanks! We hope you will consider coming to this event.
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Ministry Partner News and Events...
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Partnership for Pastoral Counseling invites you to...
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WelcomeFEST | Wednesday, June 19 | 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM | Haywood Street Congregation
Seven food trucks will be onsite providing the meal for our community that day. There will also be live music, a fashion show featuring our clothing closet ministry, cooking demos in the garden, and a team of artists working in our sanctuary on creating the larger-than-life Haywood St. Fresco!
Click
HERE
for more information.
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Children & Youth Worship Helpers Needed for June
If your child or youth has never participated in worship as an Acolyte or a Pourer at the Baptismal font, we have some wonderful opportunities coming in the month of June. Follow this link for more details, dates, and descriptions:
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GCPC Goes to the Ballpark! | Friday, June 21 | 7 PM | Tourists’ Game
Join us for the ballgame! Grace Covenant has reserved 100 seats. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children (12 and under) and seniors. Please call the church office or email
Sherrie
to reserve your tickets.
Tickets must be purchased by Sunday, June 16
th
.
Make checks payable to GCPC.
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GCPC Softball Team -
"The Prez-Beez"
Everybody come out and have some fun supporting our WINNING church softball team! All games are only an hour long and are played at the ball field behind the Montford Recreation Center.
For the full Prez-Beez schedule, click
HERE
.
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Deacon Helpers Wanted!
The deacons have a list of people in our congregation available to provide meals, rides, and other needs to those who can use them, for example, when members have surgery or suffer a loss. When we identify a need, a sign-up is sent out to our helpers, and they can choose what dates to provide a meal, etc. It would be wonderful if we could expand this list. If you are interested, please contact Richard Coble at
rcoble@gcpcusa.org
.
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Nursery Volunteers Needed
In the past year, for one reason or another, several of our wonderful Grace Covenant members who served as volunteers in our nurseries needed to take a break. In most cases, our substitute volunteers have helped to fill the holes. On occasion, we have needed to bring in extra members of our paid Nursery staff.
As we look toward populating the Nursery Volunteer Schedule for 2019-2020, would you consider volunteering for one of our teams? Being part of a team means that you serve alongside our Nursery Staff for 6 Sundays (out of 52 Sundays) in one of our three nursery rooms (Infants, Toddlers or Preschoolers). The time commitment is 10:15AM-12:00PM September through May and 10:00AM-11:30AM June-August.
Please consider this opportunity to serve Grace Covenant by helping to grow our children. If you have questions, contact Heather Ferguson,
hferguson@gcpcusa.org
.
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Deacon of the Week
Each Sunday morning there will be a deacon available for everything from praying with you to giving you a tour of the building. This deacon will be wearing a purple sash and stationed in the narthex before 10:45 worship and in the front of the sanctuary after worship. He or she is also available during the week if you or someone you love needs assistance from our board of deacons.
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Your feedback is requested:
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We would appreciate your feedback on how to make Youth Group, Sunday School & Confirmation even better! Youth, Parents, Adults: please take a moment to fill out this quick
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Prayer List
[We are happy to pray for anyone who is in need. Concerns will stay on this list for a month unless we hear otherwise. Please keep us updated.]
Iglesia Jerusalem congregation
Pat Cocke (Les Stradley’s friend)
Deborah Strong (Robin Gaiser's cousin)
Nancy and Richard Schaadt (Donna Robertson's sister and brother-in-law)
Louise Seitz (Janet Schifflin's friend)
Jeffrey Ferris (Mary Lou Nash's son)
June Collins (Carolyn Tingle’s mother)
Robin Smith (Beth Robrecht's sister)
Rebecca Wells' brother, Jamey
Natalie C.
Jennifer Moore (Amanda Pressley's daughter)
Dorothy Zuck (Pat Durham's mother)
Richard Stump (Marcia Mount Shoop's friend)
Michelle Elhert (Bill McNeff's friend)
Jennifer Vaughn (Mary Berg's friend)
West Asheville Presbyterian Church
The Family of Lewis Isaac
Hettie Lou Garland
Betty Smith
Margaret Rada
Bob Higgins
James Harwell
Joyce Summerlin
Cory Hartbarger
Mary Ellen Horne
Sherrie McCleary-Small
Penny Ponder
Our sympathy and support are extended to the family of Dot Holladay following her death on Saturday, June 1, 2019. Please keep the family in your prayers.
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Grace Covenant Community Out and About...
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The Opioid Crisis: The Faith Community Responds Clergy Breakfast | Thursday, June 27 | 9:30 - 11:30 AM | First Congregational Church (20 Oak St.)
Are you interested in learning more about the state of our state when it comes to opioids? Are you interested in learning more about ways your congregation can get involved with the Opioid Crisis?
If so please join the NC Council of Churches at one of their Clergy Breakfasts for the Opioid Crisis the Faith Community Responds. At these breakfasts, you will learn about the state of our state, what is harm reduction? what congregations can do to get involved? and what resources are available in your community.
If you have any questions feel free to email elizabeth@ncchurches.org
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Spiritual LGBT: An Interfaith Panel | Thursday, June 27 | 6:00 - 7:30 PM | AB Tech Auditorium
Join us for a discussion of the intersection of spiritual and LGBTQIA+ identities. Presented by Youth OUTright WNC and sponsored by PFLAG, Asheville Jewish Community Center and Open Hearts.
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Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church | 828.254.3274
789 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28804
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