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Sermon: "Counting Sand" by Marcia Mount Shoop

Scripture: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

Live Stream Worship Service @ 10:45 AM Sunday

Our livestreamed worship service on January 24, 21 will be a

An invitation to share your Holy Space with us:  We have loved the GCPC@ home photos and thought we can build on that by asking for you to photograph or video a candle lighting in your space. When we are in the sanctuary we light a candle as a symbol of inviting the light of Christ into our space. We now invite you to film a video (horizontally) of your space, with members of your household entering this space and lighting the candle OR a still photo of the candle being lit by your household. Be as creative or simple as you are inspired. We will start adding this to the beginning of our worship service each week. 

Questions/assistance? 

Please contact amykim@gcpcusa.org. 

Please upload your creations HERE!

Stated Clerk and Advocacy Director will discuss Capitol attack | Thursday (TODAY), January 14 | 3:30 PM | Facebook Live

The Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, and Associate Director of Advocacy, the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, will hold a discussion about the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol on Facebook Live Thursday.

The Stewardship Campaign goal is set based on the expenses planned in the 2021 budget draft. This year's goal is $1,200,000 pledged; if we are able to meet this goal, we don't have to hope for unpledged gifts to maybe come in so we can probably do everything we hope in the year. Ultimately, until we have enough income to cover these costs, the budget cannot balance and we cannot approve and implement it for the new year. 

Please keep in mind, your gift is not considered a pledge unless you've let us know you'd like it to be. Pledges do not auto renew, you have to let us know annually your intentions.  

Pledging means that you let the church know your intended giving for the next year's general fund. This helps our Finance Council set a funded, responsible budget for Session to review and approve. Whether you choose to prepay your next year's pledge, give incrementally through the year, or pay in a lump sum at the end of the year, fulfilling your pledge means you are supporting the budget of GCPC, which includes business operations, SERVE grants, support for teams and councils, congregational care, property repairs and maintenance, personnel, and much more. 

Giving unpledged gifts are still appreciated and are used to support the ministry and mission at GCPC, but are not able to be considered as a part of our planning and budgeting process. These are "icing on the cake" and a nice surprise, but not a part of our budget because they're unknown. Our goal is to be able to fund our budget with pledged gifts, creating a more transparent and sustainable financial structure.

Click here to watch a video example of how to pledge in Realm.

If you are a part of a group, Team, or Circle at GCPC and you want to have a Zoom meeting, let staff know. We will help you get set up on our GCPC Zoom account for group gatherings and meetings. You can schedule your meeting on the calendar with Anna Louise, and any staff member can help you get set up for your meeting if you have questions. 

In this time of physical distancing, the deacons of Grace Covenant continue to be available to talk and pray with you by phone or online and to coordinate care. If you have difficulty reaching your assigned deacon or if you do not know who your assigned deacon is, please feel free to reach out to our deacon of the week.

This week(1/10-1/16): Gordon Gaiser email: gordongaiser@yahoo.com

Next week (1/17-1/23): Betsy Rhodes email: betsyrhodes@charter.net

Following a period of declining health, Ginnie Stevens, beloved friend, mom, grandma, sister and aunt, joined the Church Triumphant on January 2, 2021. Due to the pandemic, no formal services are planned at this time. To remember Ginnie and celebrate her passion for life and mission, please visit: Ginnie Stevens, (1942 - 2021) - ForeverMissed.com Online Memorials and share a favorite story and/or picture. Memorial gifts may be to one of two projects (Guatemalan Microloan Project and Malawi Medical and Education Ministry) that Ginnie had been actively involved with through the Presbytery of Western North Carolina.

Our Bible Study and Prayer Group will be focusing on how selected passages from the Gospel of John speak to our spiritual lives and needs today. Our hope is that this group is a time of support, contemplation, and fellowship, where we can feel the movement of the Spirit and ready ourselves for another week. So please, join us as you can. Contact Richard with questions.

Meeting ID: 914 8271 3055

Passcode: 789

Who was the historical Jesus? Is the Bible a reliable source of information about his life? How can Christians with differing understandings of the Bible's reliability discuss these issues responsibly? This winter, we will hold a 6 week class discussing these questions, with the help of Bart Ehrman and Craig Evan's new book Can We Trust the Historical Jesus, along with contributions from liberation theologians.

Facilitators: Janice Kominski and Richard Coble

Meeting ID: 981 0730 3472

Passcode: 789

GCPC Power and Race Team- PART invites us to keep exploring how to be anti-racist, this time with a documentary film about a white Georgia writer, Lillian Smith, an unlikely yet fervent critic of the legal segregation of the 1940s and 1950s.  In his 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. commended his friend Lillian Smith as someone who had “written about our struggle in eloquent, prophetic, and understanding terms.”  Though she was writing seventy years ago, her analyses and challenges to white supremacy culture are profound challenges for today too.  Smith called out not only the violence and damage done to Blacks by the system of white privilege; she also wrote of the psychic trauma to whites.  Miss Lillian denounced the dehumanization involved in all types of oppression:  racial, gender, income, and class.  

The 2019 biographical film “Lillian Smith:  Breaking the Silence” will be available to GCPC on demand via a private link the week of January 9 – 15.  Click HERE to watch.

PART Meeting | Thursday, January 14 (TONIGHT) | 6:00-7:15 PM

Meeting ID: 913 1444 5389

Passcode: 789

Please read the following article on the hope filled plan to move forward.

The GCPC EARTH Team invites you to join a national movement in churches in a pilot program called,Growing Together: Restoring Faith, Creation, Justice. 

GROWING TOGETHER connects the dots between faith, science, and creation care. See dates and topics for each session below. You can also learn more about the Growing Together program and can register HERE, noting GCPC as your church. 

Program details: STARTING TONIGHT!

20s/30s Gathering: "Debriefing our emotions and beyond" | Thursday, January 21 | 6:00 PM | On Zoom

Questions/Zoon link info? Contact Richard.

An Evening with Tema Okun & Rev. Tami Forte-Logan, Thursday February 11, 7:00pm-8:30pm (YouTube)

Circle 1: First Tuesday of each month, 10:00 a.m.

Circle 2:  First Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.

Circle 3: Second Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m.

Circle 4:  First Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m.

Circle 5:  First Monday of each month, 11:00 a.m.

Pre-K - 3rd Grade Sunday Morning Adventure | 10:15 am | Zoom

You'll get an email every Friday with the Zoom link for our Sunday 10:15am check in. Email Anna Louise if you did not receive the link.

Each week, families will receive an email with a unique login for class. If you would like to be on the list, please email Anna Louise.

There will be NO Sunday evening Youth Group this weekend (January 17th), due to the Youth Winter Mission Weekend.

Attention current 8th-11th graders! Because of the pandemic, we are moving Confirmation to Fall 2021, with some special programming in the late Spring and a request to participate in one of the summer conferences (info below).

Our theme for the year is "Faith Voyage." This will be a sacred and exciting time to explore your faith in community. And it is a whole lot of fun!

Register for the 2021 Confirmation class by clicking here. This class is for youth who have completed 8th-11th grade by summer 2021. More information about exact times/dates/etc. is forthcoming, but registration will help us plan accordingly and have materials ready.

The discounted cost is $290 if you register HERE by January 31, 2021 (cost goes up $10 each month). Full and partial scholarships are available. It's going to be an adventure to remember!

The discounted cost is $490 if you register HERE by January 31, 2021 (cost goes up $10 each month). Full and partial scholarships are available. Don't miss out on the fun!

REI registration is OPEN for Phase 1 workshop on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12 - 13, 2021. Click HERE to fill out the registration form.

This webinar, which will be moderated by the RJC’s Community Liaison Rob Thomas, is an opportunity to understand what “defund the police” means as well as the starting point for envisioning a world where we care for each other to meet public health and safety needs. Want to join the RJC and the Elder Vigil Group in learning more together? Sign up HERE to get on the list to attend the webinar January 14th, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

1. Find remote volunteer opportunities, like those with Hands-On Asheville-Buncombe.

2. Organize food and clothing collections and donate them to local nonprofit organizations like our friends at BeLoved Asheville.

3. Support the new East End/ Valley Street neighborhood food pantry.

4. Celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by participating in virtual events put on by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County.

5. And as always, our cleanup supply stations are stocked and ready for you to get your quarantine pod together for a litter cleanup in your neighborhood.

The 2021 programming will be expanded to a week-long list of events, and the speaker for the Prayer Breakfast will be Dr. Oralene Simmons, President, MLK Association. She will be sharing some of the forty-year struggles of not only the Association, but the 400 years of struggles of the Black race in the United States.

Dr. King and Black History Month

Obviously this year will be a little different, but will no doubt be fun. For 2 weeks, Kenilworth will be curating interesting content about artists, film, history, etc. and posting it on the Facebook Event Page for people to explore. We look forward to your participation! Click HERE to see the flyer!

Stewardship & Sustainability GIVE HERE

Year-end giving statements showing all 2020 contributions will be issued mid-January 2021 for tax purposes. Since the building remains closed, these statements will be e-mailed to your primary email address as listed in Realm. 

If you would prefer your statement be printed and mailed to you, please send a request to Natalie or leave a message on Natalie Weaver's voicemail at 828-254-3274. Unless requested otherwise, all year-end contribution statements will be e-mailed.

Remote Giving & Paperless Statements 

Interested in setting up online recurring giving? Follow these simple step-by-step instructions to self-manage eGiving through Realm or return this signed authorization form to have our Finance Office set up on your behalf.

To sign up for paperless statements or if you have any questions, please contact Natalie in our Finance Office at 828-254-3274, ext 202 or nweaver@gcpcusa.org