The Banner Newsletter

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THE BANNER

October 14, 2020

A Fond Farewell

This week is a series of “lasts” for me: last Session meeting (Tuesday), last Banner article, last Sermon on the 18^th. It has been a busy and eventful 18 months of Interim ministry for me at FPCC. In reviewing my planning calendars over the past year and half, the thing that stuck out is how busy the church staff and countless volunteers have been in helping to plan and lead the myriad of activities that take place in the life of this church in a typical week. Certainly, the pandemic of the last seven months has altered much of this, but following are some things that have been particularly meaningful to me:

Several weddings, baptisms, and funerals
Weekly worship with your wonderful organ and choir
The Church Street Yard Sale
The Blessing of the Animals
Choral Concert with “Ensemble Nobiles” from Germany
Trumpet Concert
The Church Picnic
The Celtic Evensong Service
Advent and Christmas activities: Hanging of the Greens, Staff Christmas Party, Christmas Tree Lighting Service, Candle-lighting on the Lawn
The Alternative Worship Workshop with Jason Graffis from Covenant PC
The Spiritual Enrichment/Renewal Weekend with Diana Butler Bass
Working with Racial Equity Cabarrus
Youth Sunday
The Ash Wednesday Service in Davis Hall
Learning on the fly how to use Zoom and video for worship, virtual meetings, classes, and Communion
Training and Installing new Church Officers “virtually”

The Pandemic, unfortunately, has meant that some things have not been accomplished, i.e. fostering a theologically informed church-wide discussion on the display of flags in sanctuaries. But there is plenty of time for the church to address this issue at some point in the future if you so choose.

All in all, this review affirmed for me the inherent “resilience” of congregations when faced with difficulty and uncertainty. It also reminded me of the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians which he wrote from jail toward the end of his life:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything” (Phil. 4:4-6).

Note that Paul was a political prisoner when he penned these words to his friends and that he believed he was going to be executed for treason.

Then he said this:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).

Truth, honor, justice, purity, that which pleases, and all that is commendable. It is a surprisingly radical list of hope.

These are helpful guideposts whatever our circumstances in life, but particularly in times of transition and uncertainty.

And so, I bid you all a fond farewell with gratitude for my brief time of service among you. Blessings to you and yours.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Scott M. Kenefake

(Almost former!) Interim Pastor

Presbyterian Women Spice Sunday

Join us! RSVP today!

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".

Please RSVP by end of today, Wednesday, October 14: here or by calling the church office: 704-788-2100.

Registered attendees may pick up their Spiced Sunday Swag in the church drive on October 18th between 12:00 p.m.-12:45 p.m.

Grounds Workday

It is time to spruce up our campus! Please join us this Monday, October 19, at 8:00 a.m. for a morning of trimming, weeding and planting.

Bring your mask, gloves, and gardening tools (trowel, spade, hoe, pruner, clippers). Come enjoy the fresh air and the fellowship.

Building and Grounds Committee

Wade Holland, Jim Holloway and Kathy Pilkington

Outdoor Lighting Request from the Girl Scouts

Do you have any outdoor lighting that you are no longer using? Christmas tree lights, camp lanterns, extension cords, or power strips? Our Girl Scout troops would be happy to put them to good use! We are looking for some supplemental lighting for our evening outdoor meetings. Donated items could be left in the foyer of the Fellowship House, labeled for the Girl Scouts, or please contact Rene Prager (thepragers@yahoo.com) for pick-up.

Spaces remain in our Brownie, Junior, and older Girl troops. This Saturday, October 17th, we will hike in Grayson Highlands with the wild ponies. Our next meeting is Thursday, October 29th, at 6:30pm. We would love to have any second through twelfth grade girls from our church family or community join us! Please contact the church office or Rene Prager for additional information.

Our Girl Scouts recently visited the Peace Pole in Mickey McGee Park in downtown Concord, as they celebrated World Peace Day.

Christian Education

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

First Youth Fellowship

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

Services Update

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/).

Worship is posted at 11.00 a.m.