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GCPC Alive and Well This Week! |
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Worship Preview | Sunday, March 7, 2021
Third Sunday in Lent
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Sermon: "Metabolizing" by Marcia Mount Shoop
Scripture: John 2:13-22
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We will continue to explore what it means to Make Room in the Wilderness as we journey through Holy Week.
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Saturday, March 27th | Holy Week Drive-thru | Pick up items to enrich your experience of Holy Week including communion elements, palms and more.
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Sunday, March 28th | Palm Sunday | 10:45 am worship on Youtube
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Thursday, April 1st | Maundy Thursday | 6:30 pm on Zoom
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Friday, April 2nd | Good Friday Tenebrae Service | 7:00 pm on Youtube
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Saturday, April 3rd | Holy Saturday | Resources will be available for a personal day of reflection.
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Sunday, April 4th | Easter Sunday | 10:45 am worship on Youtube to celebrate the empty tomb and the promise of resurrection!
Please mark your calendars now for these touch-points during Holy Week. We encourage you to share them with your community near and far.
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One Great Hour of Sharing is the single, largest way that Presbyterians come together every year to work for a better world.
February 17 - April 4, 2021
As Jesus says in Matthew 25, the Church belongs with those in need — whether it is offering relief from natural disasters or the ravages of war; access to food, water and healthcare; or coping with the pandemic. Through our gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing, we are there because we are the Church, together.
Join with Presbyterians worldwide in sharing God’s love with our
neighbors-in-need around the world.
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Keeping the Faith
2021 Stewardship Campaign
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2021 PLEDGE CAMPAIGN PROGRESS |
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WE'RE SO CLOSE!
We've been providing weekly updates on the pledge progress since the start of the 2021 campaign on 10/11/21. It can be easy to glaze over these numbers when seeing them so often (and because let's be honest, unless you're a "numbers person," finance figures just ain't fun), but these are important metrics to watch and tell a story about GCPC's financial health and sustainability.
Hitting pledge goals means that our community is working together to fund the next year of ministry and mission at GCPC... and every single pledge builds the support structure to fund the annual budget in a responsible way. The 246 generous pledges that total the $1,095,261 currently pledged, show just how far we can go when we collaborate!
After another wave of increases from faithful donors last week, we are so close to funding the set 2021 budget for pledges.
We only need $4,915 more to hit the budgeted numbers!
If you haven't pledged yet or want to increase your pledge, simply email Natalie your pledge intention and she'll take it from there.
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WAYS TO PLEDGE FOR 2021:
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Sign into your Realm account online or on the Realm Connect mobile app and enter a pledge under the Giving tab. Detailed instructions with photos are here.
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Email Natalie Weaver your total pledge amount and planned giving frequency (i.e. weekly, monthly) to have her enter it on your behalf.
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Contact the Finance Office at 828-254-3274, ext. 202 or nweaver@gcpcusa.org to request a printed pledge card be mailed to your home address.
Click here to watch a video example of how to pledge in Realm.
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If you are a part of a group, Team, or Circle at GCPC and you want to have a Zoom meeting, let staff know. We will help you get set up on our GCPC Zoom account for group gatherings and meetings. You can schedule your meeting on the calendar with Anna Louise, and any staff member can help you get set up for your meeting if you have questions.
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Spiritual/Pastoral Support |
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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(2/28-3/6): Martha Ensign Johnson
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Prayer List
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
Marcia Zuzel (friend of Kim Hottle and Melissa Shook)
Ryan Lockett (nephew of Denise Lockett)
Jennifer Martin (Yvonne Smith's daughter)
Truly and Eric Mount (Marcia Mount Shoop’s parents)
Phoebe Rauscher (Friend of the Bleckley and Merrill families)
Bertilda Arteta (Marta Alcala-Williams' mother)
Paul Rogers’ Mom (in Arkansas)
Leslie Maddrell (Martha Seddon’s mother)
Connie (Robin Gaiser’s friend)
Stephen (Robin and Gordon Gaiser’s friend)
Sheldon Smith (Beth Robrecht’s brother-in-law)
Addi Hopkins (friend of the Kyremes-Parks family)
The Hopkins family on the death of their daughter Stephanie (friends of the Kyremes-Parks family)
Phil and Pat Cocke (Jerry Bleckley’s friend)
Jennings Palmer and his family (friends of Kathy Jacobs)
Lynne Norris (friend of Mary Lou Nash)
John Hamel (Tim Hamel’s father)
Kit (Robin Gaiser’s friend)
Bob Higgins
Florence and Steve Riedesel
Roslyn Carney
Susan Smialowicz
Laura Ross
Bill Williamson
Queen Mother Maggie Belle Gladden
Woody Catoe
John Mount Shoop
Vann Vogel
Kimo Hyatt
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Lenten Adult Education - Lent of Liberation | Sundays February 21- March 28 | 9:00 AM | via Zoom
Beginning Sunday, Feb. 21 and going through the Sundays of Lent, conveners of the Me and White Supremacy groups will be leading discussions of the daily devotional Lent of Liberation by Cheri Mills.
This Lenten devotional invites readers to understand and reflect on the ongoing legacy of slavery in America today. Each of the forty devotions includes the testimony of a person who escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad, a Scripture passage, and a reflection connecting biblical and historical themes to challenge modern readers to the work of liberation in themselves and their communities.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 917 3507 6887 | Passcode: 789
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PART Meeting | Thursday, March 11 | 6:00 PM | Zoom
Next week, we will debrief and unpack the two opportunities last month with Tema Okun and continue to go deeper into the lessons and visualization exercises she shared during the learning lab. PART has also been asked about creating equity norms for council, committee, and team meetings within GCPC. We will begin that conversation and also think of ways to continue to share power and leadership within the Team itself.
All are invited!
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 913 1444 5389 | Passcode: 789
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Enneagram Gathering for GCPC Parents | Wednesday, March 10 | 6:30-8:30 PM | via Zoom
Facilitated by Carol Hovis, all parents are welcome. If you don't know your enneagram type, contact Carol. Email Carol if you would like to participate.
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EARTH Team Meeting | Wednesday, March 10 | 7:00 PM | via Zoom
An invitation to the EARTH Team and anyone interested in envisioning the EARTH Team's direction forward in helping GCPC to best love and care for God's creation. We will meet with Marcia via zoom this Wednesday, March 10 at 7pm. Please join us!
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 824 5172 1084 | Passcode: 789
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The GCPC EARTH Team invites you to join "Growing Together: Restoring Faith, Creation, Justice"
It only takes one hour on each 2nd Thursday of January thru May. Jim Branden and Susan Presson will be facilitating the sessions. "Growing Together" is a national pilot program for people of faith in recognizing our call to work for God's Creation. It is a small commitment of time as we work to reinvigorate the GCPC EARTH Team. With this study we will see what 'next steps' we at Grace Covenant can take to heal Creation.
GROWING TOGETHER connects the dots between faith, science, and creation care. See dates and topics for each session below. You can also learn more about the Growing Together program and can register HERE, noting GCPC as your church.
Program details:
Growing Together: Restoring Faith, Justice, Creation | 7:00 PM
- Mar 11 - Purchasing: Living Simply and Justly
- Apr 8 - Recycling: Soil & Compost
- May 13 - Growing: Pulling it Together
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Sunday Evening Bible Study & Prayer Group | Sundays | 5:00 PM via Zoom
Our Bible Study and Prayer Group will be focusing on how selected passages from the Gospel of John speak to our spiritual lives and needs today. Our hope is that this group is a time of support, contemplation, and fellowship, where we can feel the movement of the Spirit and ready ourselves for another week. So please, join us as you can. Contact Richard with questions.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 914 8271 3055 | Passcode: 789
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Presbyterian Women’s Circles are Zoom meetings.
Please join us.
Circle 1: First Tuesday of each month, 10:00 a.m.
Circle 2: First Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Circle 3: *Third Thursday of each month, 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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Children & Youth Formation |
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Pre-K - 3rd Grade Sunday Morning Adventure | 10:15 am | Zoom
You'll get an email every Friday with the Zoom link for our Sunday 10:15am check in. Email Anna Louise if you did not receive the link.
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4th & 5th Graders CONNECT Class | Sundays | 5:00-5:45pm | Zoom
Each week, families will receive an email with a unique login for class. If you would like to be on the list, please email Anna Louise.
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Youth Group | Sunday, March 7 | 5:00-6:30 PM on Zoom
Paint us a picture! The parables of Jesus are rich stories that use everyday images to describe what the Kingdom of God is like. This week, we'll take a peek into the kingdom together. We'll also get to work on the stories we'll tell for Youth Sunday, in picture, word and song!
Contact Cat Kessler if you have questions or need zoom information.
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REGISTER THIS WEEK! Senior High Presbytery Mission Weekend | Friday, March 26 – Saturday, March 27
The Presbytery Youth Council is partnering with Asheville Youth Mission to host this year's senior high mission event as an in-our-own-community experience with a fun virtual gathering and hands-on mission work! We'll get started with a presbytery-wide Zoom on Friday night. On Saturday, we plan to gather as a small, socially distanced group to take part in a meaningful service project — details TBD. Contact Cat with any questions at ckessler@gcpcusa.org.
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SIGN UP FOR CONFIRMATION (Fall 2021): |
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Attention current 8th-11th graders! Because of the pandemic, we are moving Confirmation to Fall 2021, with some special programming in the late Spring and a request to participate in one of the summer conferences (info below).
Our theme for the year is "Faith Voyage." This will be a sacred and exciting time to explore your faith in community. And it is a whole lot of fun!
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SIGN UP FOR SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES! |
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Middle School Massanetta Youth Conference (Week 3: July 8-11):
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Senior High Montreat Youth Conference (Week 5: July 25-31):
This is for youth who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th grade by this summer. The theme for 2021 is "Called to Connect," and we will be renting a house in Montreat together for the week. The schedule includes morning energizers, music, keynote, small groups, recreation, evening worship, and many other fun activities. The discounted cost is $510 if you register HERE by March 31, 2021 (cost goes up $10 each month). Full/partial scholarships are available.
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Community Working Together |
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MICROWAVES NEEDED!!
Is there a microwave – still in good condition but currently unused – languishing in your basement while it awaits a new life? We have a great match for that handy appliance – serving residents at the Red Roof Inn. As you know, a number of Asheville residents have been living at RRI since the pandemic struck last spring. These folks need means for heating meals – and your extra oven is an ideal solution.
To give an oven, please drop it off at GCPC Monday – Thursday, anytime between 9 am and 3 pm - ON A CLEAR DAY, please, as we avoid rain. Leave it at the office door where the two large black mailboxes are located. Please contact Cliff at 828-279-2573 when you arrive with your oven.
Thanks for your support of this project.
~ Submitted by Beth Philipsen and Tish Anderson
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Snack Donations Needed!
The virtual learning center at Land of the Sky could use help with snack donations. All nutritious snacks are welcome (please no applesauce). Snacks can be dropped off at 15 Overbrook Place. Questions? Please contact GCPC member, Mesheala Sundblade at 828-273-4166.
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Buncombe Community Remembrance Project
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Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art presents Spotlight Talk » Author Tommy Orange | Thursday, March 4 | 7 - 8 PM | Online
In a highly engaging “fireside chat,” Tommy Orange delves into his writing process, including the themes of Native American culture and history that inform his works. A thoughtful, measured speaker, he shares his thoughts on craft and his experience as a debut novelist with frankness and humor.
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Tommy Orange is the author of There There, a multi-generational, relentlessly paced story about a side of America few of us have ever seen: the lives of urban Native Americans. One of The New York Times’ top books of 2018 and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, There There shows us violence and recovery, hope and loss, identity and power, dislocation and communion, and the beauty and despair woven into the history of a nation and its people. Orange talks about his craft, the writing process, and Native American history and culture, often in dynamic and frank in-conversation programs.
This program is included as a part of the Northwest Arkansas Community College Spring Arts and Culture festival. You can find more information about the festival here.
Free. Register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335 to join via Zoom webinar. Once registered, you’ll receive a link to join the Zoom meeting in your ticket confirmation email.
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UNC Asheville hosts “Worlds ~ Words” - a multilingual indigenous speaker series
UNC Asheville will host three virtual talks with indigenous activists and writers in March as part of its “Worlds ~ Words” multilingual indigenous speaker series.
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Thursday, March 11 | 12:00 PM - Join for a discussion of Congreso de los Pueblos (The People’s Congress), a political and social movement in Colombia focused on environmental and indigenous rights, among other causes. Participants will learn more about the current human rights situation in Colombia, the U.S. policy role, and how communities are organizing to protect their rights in the context of increasing violence following Colombia’s 2016 peace accords.
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Thursday, March 18 | 12:00 PM - Guatemalan poet Wingston González will present “No Budu Please." González was raised speaking Garífuna among his Afro/Black-indigenous community, and his poetry features Garífuna culture, musical narrative, unorthodox rhythm patterns, and theatrical delivery. In addition to poetry, he has worked in the fields of dance, visual arts, music, and artistic action.
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Thursday, March 25 | 12:00 PM - Mexican and indigenous poet and essayist Judith Santopietro will present “Tiawanaku." Santopietro’s work has appeared in publications such as Anuario de Poesía Mexicana 2006 from Fondo de Cultura Económica, Rio Grande Review, La Jornada, and The Brooklyn Rail, and she is the author of Palabras de Agua. She received the National Poetry Award Lázara Meldiú in 2014, and was a finalist in the International Literary Award “Aura Estrada” in 2017.
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PC(USA) offering three virtual anti-racism training sessions in 2021 - Online trainings based on pre-pandemic in-person training, follow a year highlighting systemic racism
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The first Introduction to PC(USA) Anti-Racism Policy Training session will be at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on March 23. It will be led by the Rev. Denise Anderson and Rev. Shanea D. Leonard, who have led anti-racism training sessions in person for more than two years. There will be additional offerings of the training in June and September.
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Pastors call on churches to teach the truth about white supremacy - Washington, D.C. pastors reflect on Jan. 6 insurrection in PC(USA) Washington office webinar
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The Rev. Christian Brooks (counter-clockwise from top left) of the PC(USA) Office of Public Witness moderated a discussion with the Rev. Dr. Laura Cunningham of Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. and Rev. Graylan S. Hagler of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ for the final episode of the webinar series, “Where Do We Go from Here?”
This episode focused on the D.C. churches, where the issues were dumped on their doorsteps anew on Jan. 6 and show no signs of going away, as if they ever had.
“White America’s always surprised at examples and manifestations of racism and racial violence,” Hagler said. “And you got to ask, why is that? Well, that’s because we have not paid attention to the narrative of this country. We fundamentally believe that this country is benevolent, and it is not born out of a benevolent history.”
Previous editions of ‘Where Do We Go from Here?’:
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Gladys Nickleby Nelson, a n African American nurse and the pioneer of polio vaccine clinic logistics around the country, was a member of Doylestown Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania.
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BeLoved Asheville, GCPC Covenant Partner
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Working Wheels, GCPC Ministry Partner
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Brokerage Account Changes | BB&T Now Truist
As of 2/24/21, BB&T Securities brokerage accounts are now owned by Truist Investment Services. Our DTC and brokerage receiving account number have changed as a part of the transition. If you would like the updated information for stock or mutual fund donations, please contact Natalie.
Don't forget, you should always let Natalie know the quantity, type, and fund designation for donations when you request a transfer into our brokerage account- many times the donor information isn't visible on our end and we may have a hard time getting it properly applied to your account without a heads up.
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Remote Giving
Here are a few different ways to stay up-to-date on your giving remotely:
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MAIL gifts to the office at 789 Merrimon Ave, Asheville, NC 28804
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BANK BILL PAY mails checks remotely, one-time or on a recurring schedule - contact your bank to set this up
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ONLINE at https://onrealm.org/gcpcusa/give/now
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TEXT "giveGCPC" and AMOUNT to 73256 (i.e. giveGCPC $100)
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MOBILE through the Connect - Our Church Community app
Interested in setting up online recurring giving? Follow these simple step-by-step instructions to self-manage eGiving through Realm or return this signed authorization form to have our Finance Office set up on your behalf.
If you have any questions, please contact Natalie in our Finance office at nweaver@gcpcusa.org or by leaving a message for Natalie Weaver at 828-254-3274.
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PWNC Annual Spirituality Retreat | "Celtic Spirituality II" | March 12-13 | via Zoom | Deadline: March 5
Experience the prayer, poetry, folklore, and spirituality of the Celtic Christians of old — and how their lyrical, down-to-earth, and hope-filled wisdom still speaks to us today. If you attended our retreat in 2019, you can expect to build on what you learned then. More time will be devoted to putting these spiritual disciplines into practice. The 2019 event is in no way a pre-requisite for this year’s retreat. First time attendees are more than welcome! For all who attend, our time together will explore ways for us to celebrate Celtic wisdom and weave it into our lives here in the 21st century. We will pray together, enjoy the poetry and stories of the Celtic saints, and seek the still, small voice of God. Carl McColman will be the retreat leader.
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HOW TO CONTACT STAFF DURING OFFICE CLOSURE:
Our staff are all still working remotely as the office remains closed due to the pandemic. To leave a voicemail for a staff member to return your call, follow these steps:
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Call the 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 | 828.254.3274
789 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28804
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