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Highland Presbyterian Church​ seeks to be a diverse and inclusive Christian Community as we embody the love and forgiveness of Jesus by serving the Community and the World, drawing people to Christ.
Highland Happening
October 21, 2021
This past Sunday the session of Highland met to discuss the business and ministry of the church. It was decided that we would keep all covid protocols during this time and continue to keep an eye on numbers in our area and address again at future meetings. We will continue to ask that all meetings inside the church take place with masks, no congregational singing during worship and ask for spacing as well. We do all of this to keep our community safe. 
 
It has also been decided that our worship service will only stream on Facebook and there will not be a Zoom option for virtual worship. There is concern about individual’s screen showing up on Facebook without that person’s knowledge. We would rather be proactive about this than face an embarrassing and avoidable situation.  
 
You can watch our worship service live on Facebook at 10:30 am by going to our church’s Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/HighlandPC
 
You do not need to have a Facebook account to watch the service. Please let Matthew know if you have any questions. 
 
Thanks and blessings, 
 
Rev. Matthew Benz-Whittington
Worship This Sunday
This Sunday, October 24th, we will have our 9:00 am pavilion service and 10:30 am sanctuary service.

This Sunday will be an exciting day! It is Maryville College’s Homecoming Weekend and we will be the Homecoming Church for worship. We hope to see alum from year’s past at the service. Make sure you wear your MC colors this week. We will take a look at a healing story from Mark 10:46-52 where Jesus restores a man’s sight. How often do we look around the world and even while seeing clearly, can miss things right in front of us? I hope you’re able to join us either online or in person this Sunday.
Stewardship Season 2021
Thank you to everyone who has turned in your 2022 pledge. We celebrated our commitment Sunday this past week as we concluded our stewardship season and we will put together our 2022 budget soon. If you have not had a chance to submit your pledge, please mail or email yours to the church office so we can faithfully put together our budget. Thank you for all the ways you give of your time, talents and money to our congregation so that we can continue to give to others.
Maryville College Homecoming Weekend
Maryville College will hold its Homecoming Weekend from October 22-24. We are happy to say that Highland will be the featured homecoming church! We will welcome any MC alum during the service and recognize students of past and present in our congregation. Follow this link to learn more about the events for that weekend.
NAACP and Blount County United: Saturday, October 23
Both NAACP and BCU will hold their monthly meetings this Saturday, October 23 at 11:45 am and 1:00 pm respectively. Both are on Zoom. Find the links to the meetings below. 
 
Topic: NAACP GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Time: Oct 23, 2021 11:45 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
 
Join Zoom Meeting
 
Meeting ID: 859 9139 3057
 
 
Topic: BCU GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Time: Oct 23, 2021 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
 
Join Zoom Meeting
 
Meeting ID: 839 4355 3056
 
Blount County Ecumenical Action Council: Tuesday, October 26 11:30 on Zoom
BCEAC will have discussion and reflection on who they are as an organization. There is a need to examine current purpose, how that purpose might need to change, what needs we can be addressing in the community, and how to be more action oriented, etc. If you would like to attend, email- Virginia Case at bcecumenicalactioncouncil@gmail.com
Surveys for Church
Please find links to two different surveys to help Matthew in planning for the future. 
 
Winter Worship- The first survey is for how and whether to continue the 9am worship service as the weather gets colder and worshipping in the pavilion will no longer be safe Winter Worship Survey. 
 
Church Camping Trip- We are having talks of planning a churchwide camping trip for summer of 2022 at the Elkmont Group Campground in GSMNP. In order to pull this off, we need to reserve campsites soon and pick dates. Please take this survey if you are even slightly interested in something like this. Church Camping Trip Survey. 
 
Highland Quilters
Fridays from 9am-12pm
Do you like to sew (by hand or machine)? Do you like to put different fabrics together? Do you iron? Do you need more opportunities to socialize? If you answered yes to any of these questions, come join Highland Quilters on Friday mornings from 9:00-noon. We meet in the Fellowship Hall. Machines, fabric, threads, scissors, etc. are all there waiting for you! We work together to make quilts for new babies, those who are ill, celebrations, or any need in the community. Many hands make light work! Come join us. All skill levels are welcome. (Men can come, too!)
Matthew 25 Spotlight
Being a Matthew 25 Presbytery means we are constantly working toward creating the beloved community. Each week, in this email, we will share resources or stories of ways of engaging the three challenges of Dismantling Structural Racism, Eradicating Systemic Poverty and Building Congregational Vitality.

Of the three challenges for being a Matthew 25 Congregation, the Building Congregational Vitality is the one that brings questions of what it looks like, how to do it. Check out this article on two churches that found creative ways to engage with each other, their community and their members to increase their congregational vitality.   
Prayers, Concerns and Joys
Please pray for our members, families, and friends.
 
We lift-up prayers for those among our community who are shut in. Be with them as they are separated in body from their loved ones.

Judith Gregory- Judith had to go to the hospital last week for back pain and will need to have surgery soon. Please keep her, her family and all the medical staff taking care of her in your prayers.

Mike Outler- Stacey Nordquist’s Brother-in-Law will begin cancer treatment at MD Anderson in Houston, TX. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Erickson Family- Prayers for the Erickson family who lost two family members in Montana to Covid-19.

We lift-up especially the following prayer concerns:                                           
All in the world who are suffering from Covid-19, especially for patients, the mourning survivors of those who have perished, and the heroic medical professionals who are fighting the battle for us.
 
At Asbury Place:
Bruce Watt
Nancy Davis.
October Birthdays


Molly Bay- Oct. 2

Heather Skiver- Oct. 7

Darrin Devault- Oct. 9
 
Gene Johnson- Oct. 19
 
Rich Schenk- Oct. 25
 
Christie Morris- Oct. 26
 
Sweet Young- Oct. 27
 
If there are any announcements that you would like to include in the Highland Happening, please email communications@highlandpresby.org by noon the Wednesday prior to the Highland Happening going out.
Click the button above to visit our online giving page. It only take a few minutes to set up an account and you can schedule automatic payments to keep up with your pledge.
Download a copy of the church calendar.
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