GCPC Weekly News | October 14, 2021
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at bottom of email to see the FULL newsletter
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This week's Stewardshift video! | |
This year, pledging through Realm is even easier! (Watch a tutorial video here.) Simply CLICK HERE to submit your pledge online, all in one form.
If you would also like to set up automatic eGiving from your bank account or credit card, be sure to checkmark Add a scheduled gift for this pledge after the pledge confirmation and follow the prompts.
You will receive an email confirmation of your pledge and a separate confirmation for eGiving, if applicable. Questions or concerns? Please contact Natalie Weaver, Stewardship & Financial Administrator, at nweaver@gcpcusa.org or leave a message at 828.254.3274.
WAYS TO PLEDGE:
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Online pledge card HERE
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Email Nweaver@gcpcusa.org
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Call 828.254.3274 and leave a message for Natalie Weaver
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Request a mailed pledge card from the office
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Pledges & Prepay
Now that 2022 pledges have started to come in, you may wonder if you can prepay that before the end of the year. The answer is "yes," but please be sure to differentiate between the current year (2021 General Fund) and next year (2022 General Fund).
If you are prepaying a 2022 pledge for next year, please be sure to notate that on your gift- simply write "2022 pledge" in the memo line of your check or select 2022 General Fund online.
If you have questions about your 2021 pledge balance or need assistance in submitting a 2022 pledge, please reach out to Natalie Weaver in the Finance Office at nweaver@gcpcusa.org or leave a message at 828.254.3274.
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Deacon and Elder Nominations
The Nominating Committee is seeking recommendations from the congregation for persons to serve as an Elder or Deacon, beginning in February 2022. Please fill this out by October 31st.
The Nominating Committee, relying on the Holy Spirit, will be guided by prayer, their sense of the gifts that are needed to be called into service in this way, and by the guidance of the Book of Order.
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“Elders should be persons of faith, dedication, and good judgment. Their manner of life should be a demonstration of the Christian gospel, both within the church and in the world.” | | |
The office of Deacon...“is one of compassion, witness, and service after the example of Jesus Christ. Persons of spiritual character, honest repute, of exemplary lives, brotherly and sisterly love, sincere compassion, and sound judgment should be chosen for this office.” | | |
How to Check-In for worship on the Realm app
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Worship Preview | Sunday, October 17, 2021 | |
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Sermon:
“Friendshift”
by Marcia Mount Shoop
Scripture:
Hebrews 5:1-10
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*For the full revised common lectionary, please click here. | |
Thursday, October 14 | PART Mtg. | 6:00 pm on Zoom | Friday, October 15 | Padrino Lunch | 12:45 pm on Zoom | Sunday, October 17 | Adult Education Class - Caste | 9:00 am on Zoom | Sunday, October 17 | Kids Zoom Adventure | 10:15 am on Zoom | Sunday, October 17 | Livestream Worship | 10:45 am on Youtube | Sunday, October 17 | Long Range Visioning Team | 12:30 pm on Zoom | Sunday, October 17 | Deacon Mtg. | 12:30 on Zoom | Sunday, October 17 | Middle School Youth Group | 5:30 pm on Zoom | Tuesday, October 19 | CHURCH OFFICE OPEN! | 10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Tuesday, October 19 | Finance Council Mtg. | 5:30 pm on Zoom | Tuesday, October 19 | Serve Meeting:
Resonant Listening | Online at 6:30 pm | Wednesday, Oct. 20 | Bible Study | 10:00 am on Zoom | Wednesday, Oct. 20 | MCI Group | 11:00 am on Zoom | Wednesday, Oct. 20 | Just Funding Mtg. | 6:00 pm on Zoom | | |
PART Meeting | TONIGHT, October 14 | 6:00 PM | via Zoom
We are excited to gather the Power and Race Team tonight at 6p. We will continue to examine ways to deconstruct white supremacy culture within ourselves and our community. We hope to see you there!
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/91314445389
Meeting ID: 913 1444 5389 | Passcode: 789
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Fall Adult Education - Caste | Sundays | October 10 - November 21 | 9:00 AM | via Zoom
A Close and Spiritual Reading of Isabel Wilkerson's Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. We will go through Caste chapter by chapter on Sunday mornings. Leaders from the Racial Justice Book Series will take turns leading the discussion. Whether you were a part of the summer gatherings or not, whether you read the book years ago, or are coming to it for the first time, please join us! Questions? Email Richard Coble.
Reading Schedule
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10/17: Part 2, p. 39-96 - Carol Hovis leading
- 10/24: Part 3, p. 99-164
- 10/31: Part 4, p. 167-260
- 11/7: Part 5, p. 263-308
- 11/14: Part 6, p. 311-357
- 11/21: Part 7, p. 361-388
| GCPC Kids Zoom Adventure | Sundays | 10:15 AM | via Zoom |
You will receive an email on Friday with the zoom information.
Email Cat Kessler (ckessler@gcpcsua.org) if you would like to be added to the list.
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Lectionary Bible Study | Wednesday, October 20 | 10:00 AM | via Zoom
Join the pastoral staff to read and study our sermon texts for Sunday. No preparation needed; just come ready to open scripture and discuss!
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20s/30s/Beyond: Cookout and Pumpkin Carving | Thursday, October 21 | 6:30 PM | Alex Hollifield and Ben Kees' House
If you are a young adult-ish, get ready for an evening of outdoor pumpkin carving! Before the weather gets too cold, we are excited to mask up for a spooky socially distanced event to remember! We will provide pumpkins, s'more stuff and some pumpkin carving supplies. Please bring extra supplies and blanket/towel/small table and/or chair for yourselves. Don't forget your mask and any special dinner snacks you might enjoy!
Let's enjoy the opportunity to catch up and carve together!
Questions? Contact Richard Coble: rcoble@gcpcusa.org
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Deacon of the Week:
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 (10/10-10/16): Cathy Byers | email: byersabc@gmail.com
Next week (10/17-10/23): Jeane Smith | email: jeane.smith22@gmail.com
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Prayer requests will stay on the GCPC Prayer List for one month. Please let any staff know if you (or your loved one) would like to remain on the list for longer.
Iglesia Jerusalem congregation
Marge and Warren Weidner (Jane Stoffer’s sister and brother in law)
Jami Schaefer (friend of Sarah Van Gunten’s life long friend, Sherry)
Debi Miller (friend of Marcia Mount Shoop)
Joan Haag (Carolyn Haag’s mother)
Jeff (Tricia Hynes’ son)
Dick Gibson (Jeff Gibson’s dad)
Davis (son of Linda Upchurch)
Maria and Esteban Goicoechea (La Mariposa and her husband)
Winnie Martel (Prayers for Winnie and Susie Churchfield)
Bob Higgins
Florence and Steve Riedesel
Susan Smialowicz
Laura Ross
Bill Williamson
Queen Mother Maggie Belle Gladden
Elizabeth Fisher
Doris Prak
The Seddon Family
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Wedding of Keith Prince and Rick Pollard
Saturday, October 23 | 1:00 PM | via livestream
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Keith and Rick regret not having an open invitation to their wedding for the GCPC church family due to COVID protocols around limited seating in the sanctuary. However, they would like to invite you to join via YouTube for their wedding on October 23rd at 1 pm. | | | |
GCPC Kids & Families: Pizza & Pumpkins | Sunday, October 24 | 3:30 - 5:30 PM | GCPC Lawn
Join us on the church lawn for pumpkin carving followed by pizza. Bring your own Pumpkin(s) and we will have everything else you need.
Masks will be required for all in-person events.
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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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While work in the garden – harvesting, planting, testing, and pest control -- continues, gardeners and distribution partners met in the garden Sunday afternoon to celebrate. | |
It's never too late to sign up to volunteer in the garden. Please contact Betsy Wilson at betsywilson1111@gmail.com if you are interested. | |
Community Working Together | |
The Center for Participatory Change (CPC) is hiring a Co- Executive Director to be part of our community-based, movement building organization.
CPC is a 501c3 non-profit based in Asheville, NC. CPC ‘s vision is collective liberation, la liberación del pueblo. Our mission is to ignite collective power, transform systems of oppression and heal in community.
CPC’s work is rooted in racial equity, popular education, and language justice. Our work at the core combines these strategies:
- Create intersectional spaces for healing;
- Build skills and structural analysis to lead and sustain movements for collective liberation; and
- Support and lead collective action.
CPC is taking the time to shift and adapt from the unprecedented time we have and are still living in. We are looking for someone who thrives in innovation, creativity, who is adaptive and open to change. The Co-Executive Director will participate in the strategic direction of CPC and our vision of collective liberation.
Click here to see the full job description
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Earth Team ACTION ALERT
Please join people all over the World to contact our legislators and UN COP26 in Glosgow and ask them to make bold commitments for the EARTH.
Click here for actions you can take.
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Calvary Presbyterian Church Celebrates 130 Years!
Calvary Presbyterian Church in Asheville celebrates its 130th anniversary the entire month of October, and they are inviting the community of Asheville to these events. They'll have a series of programs on Sundays. You can find the schedule of events here.
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What is Advocacy? | Wednesday, November 3 | 6:00 - 7:30 PM | Online
This advocacy training seminar will be shaped around the Matthew 25 Initiative and answer questions like, "What is advocacy?", "What are the various forms of advocacy with examples?", and "What does advocacy mean in a church contact?"
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'LGBTQIA+ leaders in PC(USA) reflect on coming out, history and the church' -
We asked several church leaders to reflect on National Coming Out Day, LGBTQIA+ History Month
~ by Rich Copley
With LGBTQIA+ History Month and National Coming Out Day Oct. 11, October has a lot of significance in the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a place in that history, as one of the few denominations and churches that welcomes people in the LGBTQIA+ community. Along with ordaining ministers of word and sacrament, ruling elders and deacons, the denomination also recognizes same sex marriages and permits ministers of word and sacrament to perform them. But even with affirming church policy, people in the queer community still face challenges in the PC(USA), which has a long history of exclusion, and full inclusion remains elusive.
With these celebrations upon us, Presbyterian News Service asked a few church leaders who are in the LGBTQIA+ community questions on this month’s observances and the church.
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‘Author of ‘White Fragility’ and ‘Nice Racism’ shatters comfort zone’ -
Robin DiAngelo ‘dives deep’ at National Council of Churches gathering
~ by Darla Carter
"New York Times bestselling author Robin DiAngelo, who coined the phrase “white fragility,” gave a provocative presentation on systemic racism, white culture and white dominance during a two-day gathering of the National Council of Churches (NCC) this week.
DiAngelo, author of “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” (Beacon Press), began her talk by acknowledging that she is a white woman with a white frame of reference, a white worldview, and white experiences — and why that’s relevant.
'Unlike I was taught to see it, it’s not just an objective, neutral or even innocent social position,' she said. 'It is deeply infused with meaning.'
Later in the presentation, which was aimed at white people, she said, 'We’ve all been taught by white people, who’ve been taught by white people, who’ve been taught by white people, who’ve been taught by white people, using curriculum written for, by, about and centering white people but presented as objective and neutral,' and anything else as biased, she said. '… I want you to feel the weight of that whiteness. It means something. It shapes us. It is ongoing work for us to uncover how it shapes us.'”
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"Hymns from the heart of the Black church" -
‘Delicate, heavy history’ informs the ‘pain’ heard in the swells, seen in the embodiment of those singing
~ by Paul Seebeck
"Whenever the Rev. Carlton Johnson talks about hymns from the heart of the Black church, he feels a responsibility to carry on the tradition of his ancestors. For their hymns are, as W.E.B. Du Bois observed, “the most original and beautiful expression of human life and longing born on American soil.”
Johnson learned from his late father, hymn leader Deacon David Johnson, the importance of maintaining the tradition of singing lined hymns in the Black church.
Johnson began the conversation on his article “Stretching Out: Hymn Interpretation in the Black Church,” with what he called “some delicate and heavy history.” In the late 1400s in Ghana, the Elmina Castle was originally built as a trading post and a house for missionaries. Johnson said there was a church in the castle compound that held Christian etchings, including a cross. In nearby adjacent buildings were enslaved and imprisoned African American people, where young boys and girls and older men and women were abused. Before or after the abuse, abusers would go to worship in the church.
“Such irony that both occurred in the same place,” Johnson said. “Keep in mind when we’re doing discipleship that today’s young people now know these two things were going on simultaneously in the compound.”"
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John Philip Newell presents Spiritual Exile & Seeds of Promise | Saturday, November 20 | 1:00 PM | Online | Cost: $25
In his widely acclaimed series Spiritual Exile & Seeds of Promise, John Philip Newell explores the yearnings that have led countless numbers of people into an experience of exile from the religious traditions of their inheritance, whether in literally leaving church or in looking well beyond its bounds for vision and nourishment.
‘Listening to the Inner Child’, the fifth episode in the series, will explore our longing for interconnectedness. This is a yearning that honors the way of the child again, whose instinct from birth is for relationship. The diaspora of today is disillusioned with religion’s path of separateness, prompting as it has done the divisions that lead also to hatred and violence. A vital characteristic of today’s vast spiritual quest is the search for interrelationship in all realms of life as the way of wellbeing.
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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 - Wednesday. 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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