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Worship Preview | Sunday, June 26, 2022
More Light Sunday
Sanctuary and Youtube
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*For the full revised common lectionary, please click here. | |
| Thursday, June 23 | Racial Justice Book Series | 6:30 pm @ Fellowship Hall | (also on Zoom) | | Saturday, June 25 | Garden Workday
(Team 4) | 9:00 am | GCPC Community Garden | | Saturday, June 25 | J.O.Y. Gathering:
Shindig on the Green | 6:30 pm @ Pack Square | | Sunday, June 26 | Summer Choir | 9:45 am | Choir Room | | Sunday, June 26 | Hybrid Worship
(In-person and online) | 10:45 am @ GCPC
(also on Youtube) | | Sunday, June 26 | Summer Fellowship | 11:45 am | GCPC Courtyard | | Sunday, June 26 | Rising 6th & 7th grader Meet-n-Greet | 1:00 pm @ MOD Pizza | | Tuesday, June 28 | Church Office Open! | 10:00 am - 4:00 pm | | Tuesday, June 28 | Session | 6:00 pm on Zoom | | Wednesday, June 29 | Garden Workday
(Team 1) | 9:00 am | GCPC Community Garden | | Wednesday, June 29 | Rising 8th thru 10th graders: Game Night | 7:00 pm @ GCPC | | |
J.O.Y. is a fellowship group at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, NC for those who are retired, empty nesters, and/or qualifying for senior discounts. Please feel free to join us! | |
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GCPC Summer Choir
Sing because you can! Summer choir begins this Sunday in the Choir Room at 9:45 AM. This opportunity is open to all who want to sing. Join us for the time of fellowship, where we will warm up and learn a simple anthem to share in worship. This is a great time to find out if you enjoy singing in a choir. No experience necessary, children and adults welcome.
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Serve Volunteer Opportunity -
JMPro TV!
Have you ever wondered what GCPC's Covenant Partner "JMPro TV" stands for? It stands for Justice in Media Production TV. Briefly, they provide valuable information to the Latinx community in Western North Carolina via a radio show, social media/videos and printed material.
The printed material part is where YOU can jump in! They would love for people to deliver these flyers to nine (9) places of business in Buncombe County once or twice a month. Depending on how many folks jump in, we can split up the places geographically or ride together to each place, whichever works best.
Email Chris Callaway at christinecallaway4@gmail.com or Alexandra Lusak at alusak44@gmail.com if you'd like more information. Thank you so much for any assistance you can give!
~ Submitted by Chris Callaway, Serve Member
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Sunday Flowers for the Sanctuary!
The 2022 Flower Chart is now available! Please consider signing up to give flowers one Sunday. GCPC will place the order each week. Click on the button below to access the calendar and check which dates are available.
After signing up, email Anna Louise (annalouise@gcpcusa.org) your dedication for the bulletin or include it in the comment section in the sign-up.
Please mail your $75 check, payable to GCPC (with Flowers in the Memo line) to 789 Merrimon Ave., Asheville, NC 28804
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COVENANT PARTNER:
LA MILPA COLLABORATIVE
Colaborativa La Milpa’s cheery yellow building at the corner of Emma Road and N. Louisiana Avenue is like a beehive. Upstairs and down, you hear the hum of busy people strategizing together. Organized primarily by and for Latinx residents of the Emma community, this Covenant Partner of GCPC invites us to dream and act alongside them for a better present and future.
Some of the member organizations of the La Milpa collaborative:
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CIMA (immigrant safety and welfare)
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Consulta Tu Compa/Ask a Friend (referrals, assistance)
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Raíces (Roots)– Emma, Erwin (after-school enrichment, summer camps)
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Food Co-op (traditional foods bought in bulk and sold at cost)
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Poder Emma/Emma Power (promote cooperative ownership of real estate; defend against gentrification)
For a complete list of the members, see https://colaborativalamilpa.org/members/
In addition to direct services to the community, La Milpa “incubates” worker-owned businesses, for example, Power in Numbers Bookkeeping and Cenzontle Language Justice Cooperative interpreting and translation services. Earlier this year a new cooperative business dedicated to protecting and expanding affordable housing in Emma launched: Quetzal Community Real Estate. For now, Quetzal is managing and maintaining 3 mobile home parks in which tenants are invited to own the land under their homes by joining the cooperative. Maintenance crews are recruited from the Emma community. Soon the 2 Emma women training to be real estate agents will join and the business will become a full-service realty. https://www.quetzalcommunityrealestate.com/
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Patty and Gaby with photos of
young dancers from La Milpa’s Raíces program.
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Recently we visited with Gaby Escobar, director of La Milpa’s Consulta Tu Compa referral service. Gaby’s job is connecting people and resources. When asked about opportunities for GCPC people to get involved on a personal level with La Milpa, she suggested:
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Assist at Manna Food Bank delivery/distribution day. First Mondays (2nd in July), Emma United Methodist Church: Organize foods, 1-3 PM. Distribution 3-5 PM.
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Employ Quetzal Community Real Estate rental home management. Quetzal charges a 10 % fee (less than the usual 11-12%) and plans to use the profit to buy another mobile home park for more affordable workforce housing. Says Kathy Watson, real estate broker for Quetzal, “If you were lucky enough to buy a rental home 10 years ago, here’s how you can give back. Use Quetzal as your rental agent.”
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Contribute to housing needs. Consulta Tu Compa receives many requests for help with bills, especially rent bills and even just finding a place to live. Contributions and leads on available housing are welcomed.
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Contribute to car repair. Consulta Tu Compa has a long list of people needing help with car repair. They have been collaborating with Working Wheels of Asheville. (Thanks to GCPC’s, Jamie Beasley, Executive Director, and Leslie Sharpe, Donation Specialist).
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Hire Raíces children’s folkloric dance troupe for an event https://www.raices-emma-erwin.org/
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Learn about “community development without displacement”. How Emma community is organizing to defend against gentrification. Excellent video at https://www.poderemma.org/
Contact Dean Presson or Lynne Meacham of GCPC Serve Council to learn more about meeting and working alongside the people at La Milpa. Spanish and English spoken here.
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Deacon of the Week:
The deacons of Grace Covenant are 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 (6/19-6/25): Jeane Smith | email: jeane.smith22@gmail.com
Next week (6/26-7/2): Cathy Froehlich | email: oremont2@gmail.com
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Prayer requests will stay on the GCPC Prayer List for one month. Please let any staff member know if you (or your loved one) would like to remain on the list for longer.
Iglesia Jerusalem congregation
Maria and Esteban Goicoechea (La Mariposa and her husband)
Seth Turnbow (Anne Raustol’s twin brother)
Vince and Michele (Gordon Gaiser’s niece and nephew-in-law)
Chip Lambert (GCPC Community member who is hiking the App. Trail)
Shabnam and Sana (Afghan Family partnering with GCPC’s Circle of Welcome)
Deanna Fleenor (Mike Fleenor's sister)
Trey and Alisha Thompson and 3 kids - Gabi 7, Arlo 5, and Eldon 3 (Patty and Brent Thompson's son and daughter-in-law and children)
Gail Buchanan and family (friend of Karen Rohls)
Paula Kelton (Mary Bridges' mother)
Bob Higgins
Susan Smialowicz
Doris Prak
Michelle Chromey and family
Bob Schaefer
Frances Johnson
Don and Gloria Moe
Janet Hovis
Earl Fowler
Karen Rohls
Our sympathy and support are extended to Jane Stoffer and family following the death of her husband, John, on Friday, June 17. Please keep the whole family in your prayers. A Memorial Service for John Stoffer will be held at First Congregational UCC Asheville (20 Oak St) on Saturday, July 30 at 11:00 am with Richard Coble co-officiating.
A Memorial Service for Winnie Martel will be held on Wednesday, June 29 @ 6:00 pm at Enka Baptist Church (1310 Sand Hill Rd, Candler, NC 28715).
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Presbyterian Womenʼs Circles are Zoom meetings. Please join us.
Circle 1: Second Monday of each month, 10:00 a.m.
Circle 2: First Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Circle 3: Varies (Click here to see schedule for 2021-2022), 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.
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Need to set up a church zoom meeting?
Contact Anna Louise and she can get you all set up!
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Last Saturday's Team 2 had 10 volunteers and harvested almost .5 lbs. of basil, 3 lbs. of broccoli, 53 lbs. of cabbage, 5 lbs. of chard, .5 lbs. of cilantro, 23 lbs. of collards, 40 lbs. of cucumbers, 6 lbs. of kale, 45 lbs. of onions, .5 lbs. of parsley, and 21 lbs. of summer squash.
This bountiful harvest was shared with Western Carolina Rescue Ministries.
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Wednesday's Team 3 had 14 volunteers and harvested 1 lb. of basil, almost 1 lbs. of chard, 20 lbs. of collards, 11 lbs. of cucumbers, almost 1 lb. of kale, 19 lbs. of onions, and 35 lbs. of summer squash that was shared with YWCA.
This team also freed the beds of many weeds!
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Planning on giving regularly to GCPC? Let us know by submitting a pledge, which helps us maintain sustainable financials and more accurately budget. Anyone can pledge any amount- every single gift helps support the ministry and mission at GCPC!
WAYS TO PLEDGE:
Questions, concerns, or need help setting up eGiving? Contact Natalie Weaver, Stewardship & Financial Administrator at 828.254.3274, natalie@gcpcusa.org, or stop by the office Tuesdays 10am - 4pm.
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Community Working Together | |
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Climate Change as Spiritual Practice: A Deeper Exploration | Monday, June 27 | 3:00 - 5:00 PM (EDT) | Online | *Free
Join Joanna Macy, author of Active Hope and Jonathan Gustin, founder of Purpose Guides Institute, and special guests, David Schenck and Larry Churchill.
This gathering on June 27th is a follow-up to the gathering we recently had with Joanna Macy on June 14th. When you register today you will also receive the link to the video recording of the first meeting with Joanna.
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Racist Roots Film and Discussion | Tuesday, June 28 | 2:00 PM | Online
Racist Roots is a project of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation (CDPL) that places our state's modern death penalty in the context of 400 years of history and exposes its deep entanglement with white supremacy. The film includes engaging interviews, graphics, and historical analysis that directly links the racial terror of lynching to today's death penalty in our state. Join the NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty for a viewing and discussion. Click here to register.
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Sacred Conversation: Older Adults- Fraud and Scams | Friday, June 24 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Online
Join us for a Sacred Conversation to learn how to recognize common forms of scams and fraud targeted toward older adults and how to protect yourself and those in your faith communities. Our speaker for this event is David Kirkman, former enforcement attorney with the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Division and author of Elder Fraud Wars. Click here to register.
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Co-Moderators of the General Assembly Ruth Santana-Grace (left) and Shavon Starling-Louis (right). (Image by Rich Copley) | |
Santana-Grace and Starling-Louis elected Co-Moderators of the 225th General Assembly -
Employing the theme ‘unbound we thrive,’ the pair pledges to spend the next two years as ambassadors of hope
~ by Mike Ferguson
By a tally of 203-151 Saturday night, commissioners to the 225th General Assembly elected the Rev. Ruth Santana-Grace and the Rev. Shavon Starling-Louis as Co-Moderators. Together they’ll serve a two-year term, the fourth straight team of Co-Moderators to win election.
Santana-Grace, 69, is executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. Starling-Louis, 39, is pastor of Memorial Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Their theme since agreeing earlier this spring to stand together has been “unbound we thrive,” Starling-Louis said, promising as Co-Moderators they will “celebrate the places that thrive and places where we are called to do the work, places where we come together around the theology of the table.”
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The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), leads a Juneteenth Worship service as part of the 225th General Assembly June 19, 2022, at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Rich Copley) | |
Isaiah and the call to 'do more' -
Stated Clerk Nelson preaches at Juneteenth worship service
~ by Fred Tangeman
During today’s Juneteenth worship service inside the chapel of the Presbyterian Center, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly preached from the Book of Isaiah, connecting the life of the prophet to the experiences of many Presbyterians in the past two years.
The service was livestreamed on the worship page of the GA225 website. Download the full Juneteenth worship bulletin here.
Throughout his sermon, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II exhorted Presbyterians “to do more,” risking comfort and traditions —including their sense of what it is to be Presbyterian — to work toward liberation and justice for those most in need.
He began by recognizing the Juneteenth holiday, giving thanks that “there is repentance not just in Texas [site of the first Juneteenth commemorations celebrating the freeing of enslaved people after the Civil War], but across the USA.”
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Fall Craft Week | September 25-30, 2022 | Montreat
Fall Craft Week is our quest here at Montreat Conference Center to celebrate the profound idea of “craft” in a world where technology dominates and where people mainly use their hands to operate smart phones and computers.
Work with your hands, your voice, and your craft to create beautiful handmade works of art as you make time for renewal in a community of artists. Come gain proficiency in an art form of your choice, and enjoy the community of other artists during a fall week in the mountains. This is a great opportunity for individuals or groups. Bring your church, community, family, or come alone. We can help you figure out all the details!
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HOW TO CONTACT STAFF:
The church office is open weekly for walk-ins on Tuesdays, 10am - 4pm. Our staff can also be reached by email or voicemail Monday - Friday. To leave a voicemail for a staff member to return your call, follow these steps:
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Call the main office at 828-254-3274.
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Listen through the office closure notice, which will then take you to a staff directory.
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Enter the first 3 letters of either the staff member's first or last name on your phone keypad (i.e. to reach Natalie Weaver, you'd enter 628 for NAT or 932 for WEA).
- You'll be directed to the staff member's individual voicemail, where you can leave a message to be returned as soon as possible.
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If you just want to leave a message for the general voicemail box, press 0.
You can also reach our staff by email- please see our website for each staff member's individual email address.
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Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church
789 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28804
828.254.3274
www.gcpcusa.org
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