GIFT Sunday is September 29th
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Join us Sunday, September 29th for a time of hands-on intergenerational learning. All ages are welcome to experience GIFT Sundays- Generations in Faith Together, a new Sunday program by the Christian Education Committee. Beginning with breakfast at 9:45 a.m., we will be learning about who are our neighbors and how we can be a good neighbor. This will be the only Sunday School offering that morning, with all classes meeting together in Davis Hall, and nursery will be provided for infants-2 year-olds. Come learn and grown in faith together!
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Media Bias, Fragmentation, and Religious Faith
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“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Where do you get your news from? Most of us have a few “go to” sources that we deem reliable and that we like and trust. In the house I grew up in, the main sources were the local papers: The Kansas City Times (morning) and The Kansas City Star (evening), a regional AM radio station (810) that featured local and national AP (Associated Press) news stories, along with one of the “big three” evening newscasts; CBS (Walter Cronkite), NBC (Chet Huntley and David Brinkley), or the upstart ABC (Howard K. Smith). Remember them?
But this is the media world we live in now:
"The audience’s attention is fragmented across multiple channels and outlets. People watch television with one eye while they are reading a news story on their tablet computers; they browse the Web at work with the radio playing in the background; and they hop between different social media apps on their smartphones. Even when we talk about social media, the audience is fragmented across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and whatever the next flavor of the month might be":
Click here for an overview.
A major problem with this media fragmentation is that it is often difficult to distinguish between “opinion” and “fact-based” journalism. Many people today (knowingly or unknowingly) are getting most of their information about the world from “opinion” media outlets as opposed to “fact based” news:
Click here to see where your favorite news sources fall on the opinion vs. fact-based chart:
Surprised? Many people are. In fact, several studies have shown that those who get their news from certain news sources (NPR) as opposed to others (Cable News sources) are more informed than others:
read study
The takeaway? To quote from the article:
"Cable news networks, perhaps, aren’t the best place to get your news, nor are fringe online publications. Those of us who are best informed, according to this poll at least, are reading local and national print publications, and listening to a lot of NPR."
As Christians, we have a responsibility to make the effort to discern between “fake” and “fact-based” news. And there are several side benefits to this: you will be less angry, less fearful, and more empowered to take actions in the world that will make a real difference for the common good (as opposed to scapegoating others). It also helps all of us to have more meaningful and thoughtful discussions of the important issues of the day when we are all operating from a common set of facts. It doesn’t mean we will all agree as to how to respond to these facts, but at least we will be able to agree on what the facts are.
Something to consider.
Blessings,
Scott Kenefake
Interim Pastor
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We hope you can join us for our Fall Potluck Luncheon after our 11:00 a.m. service in Davis Hall this Sunday, September 22, 2019. Please bring your side dish or dessert to serve 8-10 people to the kitchen prior to worship. We are looking for volunteers, high school age and older, to receive food prior to worship at 10:30 a.m. or to clean up after lunch. If you are interested email Valerie Thomas:
vstmd@ctc.net. Remember many hands make light work!
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Wednesday Night Fellowship
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Join us on September 25th to listen to Amanda Buck talk about how laughter really is the best medicine. We hope to see you there!
. Our menu for the evening will feature Jayne's famous southern bean pot, collards, fruit, salad and dessert.
Be sure to make a reservation with the church office by Noon on Monday, September 23rd. There is a sign up sheet in the Fellowship House.
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Mark your calendars for Sunday, October 6th, 2 p.m.- 3 p.m.! We will be having a
Blessing of the Animals Service
for
church and community. We will gather with our pet friends (farm friends are also welcome!) on the church lawn in front of the main sanctuary entrance on Union Street (or Davis Hall, if raining). Participants may choose to bring a picture of their pet instead if such a gathering would be frightening or stressful for their pet. We will enter into a brief liturgy extolling God's good creation and sing together,
All Things Bright and Beautiful.
Then, each animal (or picture!) will receive an individual blessing from participating clergy. We will also
remember
beloved pets that have died by name. Finally, we will enjoy some refreshments/fellowship together and learn about the work of the
Concord and Greater Cabarrus Humane Society.
The
Blessing of the Animals
liturgy has ancient roots in the Christian tradition and usually coincides with the
Feast of St. Francis
in early October (see:
Blessing of the Animals - Let All Creation Praise
for more information). Families with children and grandchildren are encourage especially to come! I look forward to seeing you and your neighbors there!
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Donations for the Humane Society
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As part of the Blessing and Remembering the Animals event, our congregation will collect donations to benefit our local Humane Society, who was so excited to hear that First Presbyterian wanted to support them! They have provided us a very specific list of their most-needed items. Please do all of the animals a favor and stick to the requested brands of pet food (switching from brand to brand suddenly can be very hard on a dog's tummy)!
The Humane Society's great needs are:
Pedigree Small Breed dry food * Pedigree Puppy dry food * Pedigree canned puppy food * Pedigree canned adult food * c
anned chicken breast * Tidy Cat cat litter (not the feather lite) * Purina Kitten Chow * copier Paper * Tide Liquid Laundry Detergent * Clorox Bleach * paper towels
Items will be collected on October 6, both before the 11:00 a.m. service and during the Blessing event that afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Thank you for your support!
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All Youth (6th-12th Grade) are invited to join us for Youth Fellowship on Sunday Evenings. Please make note of our gathering times. Choir meets from 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. in the Choir Room, then all Youth gather in Davis Hall from 5 p.m. - 6 p.m., with dinner from 6 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. During our time together, Youth will have breakout discussion groups for Middle School and High School. For more detailed news on all youth activities, please sign up for our Youth Newsletter
here!
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Race Together - Uncover - Reflect - Unite
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Free - 4 Part Weekly Series to Discover More about Race in the U.S.
Thursday Evenings 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. September 19th - October 10th, 2019
Location: Community Room @ All Saints Episcopal Church - 346 Country Club Drive, Concord
Email: RaceTogetherSeries@gmail.com
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Session Highlights from the September 10, 2019 Meeting
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The Session has received Presbytery approval to move forward with selection of the Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC). Think about how you might feel called to participate and the names of potential nominees you will suggest when that request is made of the congregation. Once the nominees are determined, a congregational vote will take place to elect the PNC.
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Session members met on August 21 with Bill Wilson, director of the Center for Healthy Churches, seeking insight into what we can do to be a vibrant and healthy 21st century church. We were challenged to ask the question: “What is our mission and how do we align everything with that visional mission?”
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To begin to enhance our communication and social media presence, a Session committee has written a scope of work and is interviewing potential companies to temporarily outsource this work.
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To increase safety for our children, keypads have been added to the doors entering the 2
nd floor of the Will Young Building.
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Look for new directional signage and information monitors to help keep us informed about what is happening in the church and community!
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Stewardship season is right around the corner – keep Sunday, October 27th on your calendar for Dedication Sunday and a celebratory picnic on the lawn!
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The Deacons are hard at work planning Wednesday Night Fellowships, a potluck lunch on September 22, leading our church in assisting with Habitat’s Apostles Build home, supporting the Crop Walk on October 13, and planning a wonderful church retreat in the spring.
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.
To connect with church officers, all Deacons and Elders and their committee assignments are listed on the church website under the “ABOUT” tab, “Staff and Leadership.”
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Girl Scouts for All Ages at First Presbyterian Church!
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We invite ALL girls of our neighborhood, church, and community to join us for Girl Scouts this year!
Brownies:
2nd & 3rd grade girls
AND Juniors:
4th & 5th grade girls should contact Rene Prager (
thepragers@yahoo.com
) with your interest. We plan to have our 2nd-5th graders enjoy 1-2 meetings a month with a focus on community service outreach.
Older Girls:
6th through 12th grade girls are invited to our next activity for Tie-Dye adventures on September 20th. Contact Rene Prager or Kirby Sheridan (
kirbypsheridan@gmail.com
) for meeting location & details.
All troops are open to members and nonmembers of First Presbyterian Church. Interested adults are also invited to contact Rene Prager for ways to get involved in this great organization!
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Photos: Several 2nd-5th graders served dinner at the Night Shelter on Saturday so they could learn a little more about Girl Scouts and how we can help in our community.
Troop 334 prepared and served dinner at the Night Shelter on Friday night. Fresh fruit, cereal, and milk was left behind for breakfast the following day
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College Students - You've Got Mail
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We would like to keep in touch with our college students during the school year! Students (or families), please provide your student's name, school, mailing address, and email address by September 30th. If you have 2 different addresses for mail and packages, please include both. You may call the church office or email the information to Rene Prager at
thepragers@yahoo.com.
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The Visitation Team
will meet September 22 right after the Potluck Luncheon at approximately 1 p.m. in the Library Conference room in the Education building. The purpose will be to reorganize to make sure we are visiting and contacting all of our home bound and shut-in members. If you have previously been on the team, if you have just recently agreed to visit, or if you have an interest in visiting, please try to attend. The committee wants to insure we are in touch with our members on a regular basis. An updated list of those to visit will be provided.
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Ushering Opportunities Available!
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A message from Mary Garrison and Brooks Fulton:
The Deacons are looking for volunteers from the congregation to help with ushering duties this year.
We especially want to encourage families (or groups of 2-4 people) to participate. This is a great opportunity for the youth to be more involved in the church service and mission. Our own children have really enjoyed participating in this project with us. Please consider volunteering your time. We are happy to go over the logistics of ushering with you. We know it can seem daunting, but if our kids can do it so can you!
For questions or to volunteer email Mary:
marygar803@gmail.com or call her cell 980-521-7605. Thank you for your consideration.
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Sunday, September 29th wear your sensible shoes and dress comfortably for worship for we are putting you to work! Immediately following the service, those who are able, (and so inclined) are invited to help move the 65 Church St. Market sale items into Davis Hall. We need to have the items in place by Monday morning to have a full week to organize and tag the merchandise as it is a time intensive job. Please stay to make a trip or two or 10! It will be so appreciated and a way to take part in our mission effort to support our Bayonnais partner in Haiti.
You have just one more Tuesday, September 24th, to drop off items to room 306 in the WY building, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. Next week a flyer will go out to all members to forward to prospective shoppers. Copies will also be available in the narthex and office lobby.
If you have larger/furniture items, please bring them directly to Davis Hall Monday - Thursday September 30 - October 2.
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Lay Liturgists
Sign up
here to be a lay liturgist to
read scripture in worship on Sundays.
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Sanctuary Flowers
To give the congregation a gift of
to sign-up for one or more Sundays
during the year
.
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Youth Newsletter
Sign up here to receive the Youth Newsletter for detailed information
about all events related to youth who are in 6th-12th grade.
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Wednesday Night Fellowship
September 18th
6:00 p.m., Davis Hall
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Sunday, September 22, 2019
Rev. Dr. Scott Kenefake preaching
Luke 16:1-13
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Thursday, September 19
9:00 a.m. First Kids Preschool
Friday, September 20
9:00 a.m. First Kids Preschool
9:30 a.m. Adult Literacy Tutoring
Sunday, September 22
9:45 a.m. Sunday School
10:30 a.m. Sanctuary Choir
11:00 a.m. Worship
12:00 p.m. Fall Pot Luck Luncheon
3:00 p.m. Children's Choir
4:00 p.m. Daisy Troop 3631
4:00 p.m. Youth Choir
5:00 p.m. Youth Fellowship
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Monday, September 23
9:00 a.m. First Kids Preschool
11:30 a.m. AA
Tuesday, September 24
9:00 a.m. First Kids Preschool
10:00 a.m. Adult Literacy Tutoring
1:00 p.m. Church Street Market Drop Off
6:00 p.m. Cub Scouts
7:00 p.m. Boy Scouts Troop 3
Wednesday, September 25
7:30 a.m. Men's Bible Study
9:00 a.m. First Kids Preschool
6:00 p.m. Fellowship Supper
7:30 p.m. Sanctuary Choir
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Birthdays
September 20
- Bethany Beaver
September 21 -
Grant Conversano, Danny Meendering
September 22
- Beth Younce
September 23
- Layne Cuthbertson, Kevin Garrison, Lina Gibson, Betsy Liles, Mary Margaret Underwood
September 24
- James Hedgpeth, Rebecca Iglehart, Mac Shelley
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Interim Senior Pastor
Associate Pastor
for Care and Mission
Associate Pastor
for Christian Formation
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Director of Music and Organist
Choirmaster
Church Administrator
Financial Secretary
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Heath Ritchie
Maintenance Superintendent
Director of First Kids
Church Hostess
Wedding Director
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First Presbyterian Church
70 Union Street North
Concord NC 28025
Mailing Address:
PO Box 789 Concord NC 28026-0789
Church Office Hours:
Monday - Thursday, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Closed Friday
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The Commons Prayer Room Summer Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday/Thursday/Friday - Open for Scheduled Groups
Wednesday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sunday mornings for FPC
Memorial Garden:
(980) 621-0719
36 Spring Street SW
Concord NC 28025
Garden Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Closed Monday
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