Join us for a three series time of learning with Rev. Carol Hassell. We will discover the fullness of who God created you to be as we explore the 9 enneagram types, learn about the 3 Centers of Intelligence (head/heart/body), and use the Harmony Triads for a whole person response to God and life!

This class will meet virtually on Thursdays at noon on October 15, 22, and 29.

You will receive a code to the Wagner Enneagram Personality Styles Scale to begin your type exploration with an option for a one on one consultation with Carol before the classes begin. You will also receive a customized enneagram profile packet.

Cost for Class: $10

Cost for optional Consultation: $40

The customized enneagram profile packet is included in the registration fee.

Registration deadline is October 8. You can sign up here!

Please take the WEPSS no later than October 12.

Rev. Carol Hassell is a retired Presbyterian pastor and is currently serving as a spiritual director, enneagram teacher and workshop facilitator. She is certified for Enneagram work and has done training through The Enneagram Spectrum of Styles, The Changeworks, REALIFE Enneagram Circles, and The Enneagram Institute. You can find more information here: www.beenneaware.com

If you have questions, please contact Lynne at lynne.keel@firstpresconcord.org.

What Is It?

The Cabarrus County CROP Hunger Walk is a great opportunity for our church family to work together by donating money and time to end hunger in our community and in the world. This event includes a 1 mile and 3 mile walk. Fun for all ages.

As COVID-19 continues to impact our community, hunger remains a crucial issue and the needs have become even more urgent this year. The Cabarrus County CROP Hunger Walk is committed to continuing the fight against hunger in our community as well as globally. With your help, we will respond to the COVID-19 crisis by supporting the hunger fighting initiatives of our local agency partner (Cooperative Christian Ministry) and Church World Service.

When Is It?

Sunday, October 11th. The walk starts at 1:30 p.m.. This year the CROP Hunger Walk Planning Team is developing an event that is taking all necessary health and safety precautions for our participants. We will be modifying the Walk to be more of a virtual event with walkers continuing their fundraising efforts and committing to participate with appropriate social distancing, such as walking with their families or in small groups in their own neighborhoods, greenway trails or local parks.

How Can I Donate?

To make online donations click here. Once there, Select donate, Click team, and type First Presbyterian Church. You can also donate by mailing or dropping a check by the church office. Checks should be designated to the CROP Hunger Walk. We have been challenged to meet the $500 level goal this year.

How Can I Join In?

Click here to register for the team. You can also join in by walking in the event that day! All are welcome!

Is There Any Other Way I Can Help?

Yes! You can spread the word and encourage your friends and family to support this fun event.

Who Can I Contact with Questions?

Our church's CROP walk coordinator this year is Edy Johnston. Feel free to email her at johnstoniiip@aol.com or call her at 704.796.6230. If you have questions or want to help.

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 first bags 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 begins our new unit, "Brave Women and Men in the Old Testament." New 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

Crisp mornings, beautiful sunsets, pumpkin spice everything....time to reflect!

Join us for the Annual Presbyterian Women's Virtual Spiced Sunday October 18th at 2 p.m. via Zoom.

Concord's own Beth Troutman will present "Living A Purposeful Life".

To attend RSVP by clicking here.

Attendees may pick up their Spiced Sunday Swag in the church drive on Sunday October 11 12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m., or on Sunday, October 18th 12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.

This past Sunday, October 4th, was the Feast of St. Francis in the liturgical churches, and due to the social distancing required by the Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional Blessing of the Animals did not take place in most communities.

One of the best things to happen in global Christianity over the past 60 years has been the rapprochement (since Vatican II) between the Roman Catholic Church and the major branches of Protestantism (both Lutheran and Reformed). On the Protestant side, this has meant a re-discovery of ancient liturgical practices (ways of worshipping dating back to the early church) and a greater appreciation for the 1500 years of Church History that preceded the Reformation—and for dynamic Christian leaders—like St. Francis.

Here, author and editor Robert Ellsberg reflects on Francis’ legacy from a modern perspective:

Jesus left no formal religious rule for his followers. The closest he came was his proclamation of the Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers . . . Francis took to heart [Jesus’] spiritual vision [proclaimed in the Beatitudes] and translated it into a way of life. . . . For many men and women since the time of Francis, his example has offered a distinctive key to the Gospel—or, as Pope Francis might say, “a new way of seeing and interpreting reality.” Among the central features of this key: the vision of a Church that is “poor and for the poor” [what we call “the bias from the bottom”]; a resolve to take seriously Jesus’s example of self-emptying love; the way of mercy and compassion [as Francis lived by solidarity with and service to lepers]; above all, a determination to proclaim the Gospel not only with words but with one’s life . . .

In the Canticle [of the Creatures] Francis celebrates God’s loving presence in all of creation. He looks to nature for guidance on how we are to model our relationships with God, one another, and with the natural world . . . This one [community], this common home, has been created by God and given the vocation to love, serve, and honor the Creator by loving, serving and honoring one another. Humans and the creaturely world have as their vocation the duty to support and complete one another, not to compete against and destroy one another. We are co-responsible with and for one another, especially for the poor and excluded. We are co-responsible for the life of the natural environment, showing gratitude and respecting nature’s proper limits, not pushing the planet to the brink of ecological disaster.

Friends, the call to repentance, conversion, to open our minds, hearts, and lives to a new way of living together on this planet is more urgent now than in any other moment in human history. [As Pope Francis teaches,] conversion requires that we hear “Both the cry of the earth and the cry of the Poor.”

May it be the same with us, in the Reformed family faith, as well.

Blessings,

Scott Kenefake

Interim Pastor

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/).