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The first Sunday of Advent is this week, December 3. For worship each Sunday and for the two services on Christmas Eve, we need readers and lighters. We would love to have a mix of readers each week (from different families, ages, or groups such as circles, Sunday school classes, choir, or youth). The liturgies are simple enough for younger readers to join in, as well.
So, form a group, sign up below:
(https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0948acab2dabf49-advent2, and help us worship God as we prepare to welcome the Christ child. Open spots remain on all days!
A copy of each week's script is on a clipboard in the Narthex if you would like to see it.
The Noisy Offering for last Sunday was $482.00!! Thank you to everyone who contributed.
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Bryan grew up in Hickory, NC. He attended Carolina Military Academy, Montreat-Anderson Junior College, and graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in history.
After a career in business, Bryan answered the call to ministry, attending Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte where he received a Master of Divinity. Bryan’s ministry began as a Hospice Chaplain in Cabarrus County, then focused on Transitional/Interim ministry where he served various churches in different presbyteries.
Bryan and Carol have four children, three living in Oregon and one in Colorado, and one grandchild. He is delighted to continue his work as a Parish Associate at First Presbyterian Church, Concord.
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Youth - Schedule for December 3 and 10 | |
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Youth Group is combined on December 3 and 10 – all 6th-12th grade Youth are encouraged to attend activities on BOTH days!
Please use this sign-up to help us prepare for the Christmas pageant & rehearsal and Night Shelter carpools-
2023-2024 Youth: 12/5 and 12/12 YOUTH! (signupgenius.com)
December 3rd:
5:00 - 6:00 PM Pageant Rehearsal in the Sanctuary (use side door that faces the Fellowship house)
6:00 -7:00/7:30 PM – Serving dinner at the Night Shelter! We will gather in Davis Hall.
December 10th:
3:45/4:00 PM – dress rehearsal/final walk through for Pageant in Sanctuary
5:00 PM – Christmas Pageant – families are encouraged to attend. Please bring an unwrapped canned food item for CCM
6:00 - 7:00 PM – Youth Christmas Party in the Fellowship House
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Christmas Pageant - December 10
Please make plans to join us for this year’s Christmas pageant on December 10th.
Our four year-olds are invited to participate as angels. They should gather in the Fellowship House between 4:30 and 4:45 PM to dress and prepare for their role.
All five year olds through 5th graders are encouraged to participate as barn animals. They can arrive in the sanctuary at 4:45 PM and select a costume. They will sit with their family and come forward when indicated in the bulletin.
Our 6th-12th grade Youth will lead us in worship through the retelling of the story of the birth of Jesus.
FPC 22: Christmas Pageant Participants & Volunteers (signupgenius.com)
All are invited to bring an unwrapped canned food donation to bring forward during the offertory. Food items will be delivered to Cooperative Christian Ministries.
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Together…a service of Connections
This Sunday at 4 PM in the Commons, Casey will lead a brief service celebrating the power of being connected. Many of us read Vivek Murthy, M.D., our Surgeon General's book, Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, during our fall Thursday book study. Sunday’s time will share the three kinds of connection Murthy discusses (intimate, relational and collective) through scripture and short reflections. All are welcome, even if you’re unfamiliar with the book. Bring a friend and gather with us at 4:00 p.m. and enjoy a time of being quietly Together as we begin a busy Advent season.
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Annual Christmas Joy Offering Dinner
The Women of First Presbyterian Church invite you to join them on Wednesday, December 6, 2023 in Davis Hall.
Dinner is at 6:00 PM, Punch and Cheese Straws at 5:30 PM if your schedule permits.
Dinner is $15. RSVP by Tuesday, November 28 online here, or call the reservations line at 704-788-2100 #7. *Be sure to indicate if you need childcare, a vegetarian or a vegan dinner*
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Repurpose Your Christmas Trees
As you begin to deck the halls – or as you take down your decorations weeks from now, please be aware that we are accepting artificial Christmas trees of all sizes.
The lights do not need to work, but we would like trees to be green (some artificial trees come in a range of colors). We will store these at the church for props for future Vacation Bible schools and other programs.
Please contact René Prager at r.prager@firstpresconcord.org or 704-788-2100 ext 4 to schedule a drop off. We do not need the trees this holiday season, so there is no rush. We would prefer to repurpose gently used trees that you are planning to discard versus purchasing new ones.
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Urgent Need for Love Feast Volunteers
Every other month, we support our local partner, Esther's Heart, by volunteering on a Saturday in their "Love Feast on the Streets."
We still need ten more volunteers to help set up tables, distribute warm food and clean clothes, and answer questions, this Saturday, December 2, from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Central United Methodist Church. This is a great and easy way to get to know and serve warm food and clothing to our neighbors in downtown Concord as the coldest months of the year approach. If you are able to take part, please sign up below:
https://www.signupgenius.co/go/10c0b4fa8ae2ea1fa7-love#/
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2023 Poinsettia Orders
To order a poinsettia in memory or in honor of a loved one,
click here to fill out a form online.
Paper order forms are available in the narthex and lobby of the Fellowship House.
All orders must be received in the church office by this Sunday, December 3.
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Books and Brews
Books and Brews is reading Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol (unabridged version), for November.
We will meeting this Thursday, November 30th at 7:00 PM. The location this month is at Twenty-Six Acres Brewing Company. The address is 7285 West Winds Blvd NW Concord NC 28027
January and February book choices have been decided as well.
For January we will be reading The Wind Knows my Name by Isabel Allende.
February we will be reading The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander Newfoundland by Jim Defede.
Date and locations for January and February will be announced soon.
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The Racial Equity Reads Group will meet in The Commons at 7:00 PM this Monday, December 4. We plan to finish our discussion of “How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family’s Story of Hope and Survival in the American South,” by Esau McCaulley. To prepare, please read chapters 10-12 and the short piece titled “Conclusion: A Funeral.”
Our group is informal, and you are invited to join any time.
The selections we read and discuss are intended to broaden and deepen our understanding of the origins and history of systemic anti-Black racism in America, and its effects on both Black and white people.
The next book we’ll study will be “The Cross and the Lynching Tree,” by James H. Cone. The starting date for that series will be announced soon, but it’s not too early to buy the book. You are encouraged to order the book from a Black-owned bookseller such as Shelves, a mail-order-only bookseller in Charlotte (orders@shelvesbookstore.com), or Mahogany Books in Washington, D.C. (mahoganybooks.com). The book is also available on Amazon.com.
For more information email sverner@yahoo.com.
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Please Join Us for December
Lunch Bunch
Lunch Bunch will be on Wednesday December 13. We will meet in Davis Hall at 11:45 AM for a delicious lunch. After lunch we'll go to Mary Margaret and Bob Underwood's home at 94 Union St. North. There we'll share a few Christmas Carols, accompanied by our talented Carrie Myers. We will then tour the downstairs of the Underwood's historic home, and enjoy coffee and Christmas nibbles.
Carve out some time to enjoy the spirit of the season with us!
Call the church reservation line, 704-788-2100 #7 to make your reservation. Monday, December 11, is the deadline for your lunch reservation.
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Todd Hobbie Sunday School Class | |
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This week, Pastor Casey continued his series around Life Beyond Death. We discussed how John Calvin's articulation of the highly controversial idea of 'predestination' attended to certain anxieties with a word of hope and comfort in Calvin's sixteenth-century Geneva, while unleashing other anxieties in other times and contexts. You can hear that lesson, and Casey's previous lessons on Life Beyond Death across scripture and church history, at the link below. This week, we will turn to talk about what other ideas in culture, art, film, and literature shape our imaginations and expectations around the life to come... and see whether they detract from or add to our anxieties. We'll touch on The Good Place, Disney-Pixar's Soul, and more.
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/your-union-rev
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Tree Lighting Kicks Off the Season | |
Sunday evening we spent time in fellowship decorating our tree outside of the Fellowship House. It was a wonderful evening making ornaments for the birds, lighting the tree, and singing carols together. | |
CCM Monthly Needs
Over the past few weeks we have been blessed with some wonderful food drives! Thanks SO much to all of our community partners who have gathered and delivered the food. Much of what has come in has gone right back out the door. We did set a new monthly record in October at the Crisis Center Food Pantry, serving 980 households. Across the whole food program we had the second biggest month in history. This month at the Crisis Center we will break that monthly record by Monday, and will serve well over 1,000 households by the end of the month.
The great news for those delivering food to the Crisis Center—Country Club Drive is back open!
Currently, the pantry items we are in biggest need of are:
· Canned Chicken
· Other Canned Meats (Hash, Chili, Vienna Sausages, etc.)
· Peanut Butter
· Canned carrots, potatoes and mixed vegetables
· Diced Tomatoes
· Pasta Sauce
· Any kind of canned beans (baked, Chili, Kidney, etc.)
· Macaroni & Cheese
· Pasta (other than spaghetti)
· Rice
· Any Canned Fruit (Mixed, Peaches, Pears, Pineapple, etc.)
· Soup
· Shelf-stable Milk
· Cereal
· Diapers
As always, we especially seek low sodium items, no-added-sugar items, and whole grain items.
Currently we have plenty of:
· Tuna
· Spaghetti
Thank you for the continued support from our church and community partners. Our Crisis Center at 246 Country Club Drive NE in Concord serves as the warehouse for most of the food. We will gladly accept all donations at that site from 9:30 am to 1 pm Monday through Friday. Bethel Baptist Helping Hands Food Pantry, located at 1209 1/4 Opal Street in Kannapolis, will gladly accept donations from 9 am to 1 pm on Monday and Thursday. The food pantry located at Westford UMC on Highway 49 and the Kannapolis Food Pantry at West Point Baptist Church can accept donations on Saturday morning from 8:30 am to 11:30 am. The Feeding Our Souls Food Pantry at Bethel Church in Midland, and North Kannapolis Baptist Church Food Pantry will accept donations by calling the church in advance.
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First Presbyterian Lunch Bunch visited Clearwater Arts Center to see the New Ceramics Center.
Arrangements were made by church member, Nancy Bibby who is a talented Potter.
The tour was led by Sarah Gay, Clearwater Coordinator.
This facility is providing space for classes and workshops as well as affordable space for working artists to build their practice and community.
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Lay Liturgists
Sign up here to be a lay liturgist to
read scripture in worship on Sundays.
Nursery
Sign up here to volunteer in the Nursery on Sundays.
Pew Prep
Sign up here to volunteer to help with pew prep on Sundays.
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Ushers
Sign up here to volunteer in the
Sanctuary on Sundays
Sanctuary Flowers
To give the congregation a gift of
sanctuary flowers, please click here
to sign-up for one or more Sundays
during the year.
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Sunday, December 3 , 2023
Rev. Ellen Crawford True
Mark 8:27-29; Jeremiah 33:1-3, 10-18
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Thursday, November 30
9:00 AM First Kids Preschool (Will Young Bldg)
9:20 AM Preschool Committee Meeting (Library Conference Room)
2:00 PM Thursday Connections (Commons)
6:00 PM National Alliance for Mental Illness (Commons)
7:00 PM Book and Brews (26 Acres Brewing)
Friday, December 1
9:00 AM First Kids Preschool (Will Young Bldg)
10:00 AM CCM Meeting (Commons)
Saturday, December 2
8:30 AM Love Feast in the Streets (Central United Methodist)
9:00 AM Choir Rehearsal (Sanctuary)
Sunday, December 3
9:45 AM S & D Class (Fellowship House)
9:45 AM Todd Hobbie Class (Davis Hall)
9:45 AM Journey Class (Journey Classroom)
10:30 AM Sanctuary Choir (Choir Room)
11:00 AM Worship (Sanctuary)
4:00 PM Connected Service (Commons)
5:00 PM Pageant Rehearsal (Sanctuary)
6:30 PM Youth to Night Shelter (Night Shelter)
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Monday, December 4
9:00 AM First Kids Preschool (Will Young Bldg)
6:30 PM Circle 1 (Fellowship House)
7:00 PM Boy Scouts (Will Young room 304)
7:00 PM Racial Equity Reads (Commons)
Tuesday, December 5
9:00 AM First Kids Preschool (Will Young Bldg)
2:00 PM Staff Mtg (FH Sunroom)
4:00 PM Finance Meeting (Zoom)
6:00 PM Cub Scouts (Davis Hall)
6:00 PM Building & Grounds Meeting (Fellowship House Library)
7:00 PM Board of Deacons (Library Conference Room)
7:00 PM Al Anon (Commons)
Wednesday, December 6
9:00 AM First Kids Preschool (Will Young Bldg)
10:30 AM Bible Study (Fellowship House)
5:30 PM Joy Dinner (Davis Hall)
7:30 PM Choir Rehearsal (Choir Room)
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Birthdays
November 30 - Trisha Austin, Adam Conversano, Brian Moore, Ethan Olson, Grace Olson
December 1 - Betty Hill, Meredith Audrey Tignor
December 2- William Shelley, Jane Spainhour
December 4 - Emily Johnson, Jackson Williams
December 5 - Connie Bixler, Collier Leatherman, Doug Phillips
To enjoy a sung Happy Birthday, click here!
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First Presbyterian Church
(704) 788-2100
70 Union Street North
Concord NC 28025
Mailing Address:
PO Box 789 Concord NC 28026-0789
Church Office Hours:
Monday - Thursday, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Closed Friday
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The Commons Prayer Room:
Open to FPC: Tuesday - Sunday
Open to FPC and the public:
Saturday 10 AM - 3 PM
Group times available with prior arrangement
Memorial Garden:
info@firstpresconcord.org
36 Spring Street SW
Concord NC 28025
Garden Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday, 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
March 15 - September 15
Tuesday- Sunday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
September 15 - March 15
Closed Monday
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