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Worship Preview | Sunday, April 19, 2026

Third Sunday of Easter

In-person and online service

New Member Breakfast | Sunday, April 19 | 8:30 AM | Fellowship Hall

GCPC is hosting a new member breakfast on Sunday, April 19, at 8:30 am in our Fellowship Hall downstairs. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet church leadership as well as other folks who are getting to know our community.

There will be an opportunity to join the church as members that day but this part is not required to join in on the fun! So if you’re relatively new to GPCP and/or curious about membership come on by!

RSVP to Marcia at marcia@gcpcusa.org if you plan to attend!

Deacon of the Week:

The Deacon of the Week is available to talk, provide support, and coordinate care if needed. You are not alone. You are loved. Please reach out to our deacon of the week if you have any needs or concerns.

This week (4/12-4/18) Roberto Martinez | email: robolisa2@hotmail.com

Next week (4/19-4/25) Bob Giduz | email: Giduzr@gmail.com

Deacon of the Week Prayer

Forgive us for making the world so complex, so challenging to navigate, for getting in our own way so often, and not grounding our lives in faith and love. Please, perhaps with a little sign, turn our hearts towards that today. 



~ Bob Giduz

Click here to read the "Envision the Possibilities" Stewardship Letter

How to Make Your 2026 Pledge

• Scan the QR code for a link to the online Pledge Card
• Click here: https://onrealm.org/gcpcusa/-/form/pledge/envision 
• Email your pledge and giving frequency to giving@gcpcusa.org
• Email Sue Kersbergen (sue@gcpcusa.org) or Denise Ochoa (denise@gcpcusa.org)in the Finance Office at GCPC to help you get set up. 

YOUTUBE LINK: https://youtube.com/live/D1pQblevKjQ

FACEBOOK LINK: https://www.facebook.com/GCPCUSA/live_videos/

Pride Collective Gathering: Hike at the Arboretum | Saturday, April 18 | 9:45 AM (Meet @ Discount Shoes)

Our next Pride Collective gathering will be on Saturday, April 18, when we return to the Arboretum to take in the sights and sounds during a spring hike. We will plan to repeat the same hike we did in the fall, with a chance for everyone to go at a comfortable pace or to relax inside the visitor center or outside while waiting for the hikers to return. We will also have lunch together afterwards.

Let’s plan to meet at 9:45 in the Discount Shoe Store parking lot at 1263 Brevard Road. We will carpool to the Arboretum with drivers who have passes. The cafe at the Arboretum has expanded, but we haven’t eaten there so we can’t report on it. Please share your ideas for where to eat lunch and let us know who has passes. Liz has one and we will be getting one by then.



We are looking forward to the beauty and companionship!

Therese & Leon

New Member Breakfast | Sunday, April 19 | 8:30 AM | Fellowship Hall

GCPC is hosting a new member breakfast on Sunday, April 19, at 8:30 am in our Fellowship Hall downstairs. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet church leadership as well as other folks who are getting to know our community.

There will be an opportunity to join the church as members that day but this part is not required to join in on the fun! So if you’re relatively new to GPCP and/or curious about membership come on by!

RSVP to Marcia at marcia@gcpcusa.org if you plan to attend!

Head Space Hang Out | Sunday, April 19 | 4:00 - 6:00 PM |

Marcia Mount Shoop's house

We will have two meet up spots for you to carpool to Marcia's house. You can meet up at the GCPC Parking Lot (be there by 4pm) or the Ingles Parking Lot in Reynolds on Charlotte Highway (225 Charlotte Hwy Asheville, NC 28803) be there by 4:10pm.

Please RSVP on Group Me if you are planning to attend!

GCPC Choir | Wednesdays | 6:45 PM | Choir Room

The choir is open to all youth and adults who have a love and curiosity for creating music together! No previous experience or training is necessary. You will be welcomed with open arms and supported as you discover or rediscover your singing voice. Childcare is provided for those who have little ones. I hope you will consider adding your wonderful presence and voice to our choir! ~ Ray

Grace Abounds Food Pantry | Thursday, April 23 |

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM | Sanctuary

We believe the pantry embodies the church’s commitment to service and compassion. We try to keep our shelves stocked with canned goods, rice, beans, crackers, granola bars, cereal and other items. We also provide diapers, baby wipes and feminine products. Our pantry is stocked completely with donations. This is where we need your support to keep our pantry open.

Needs for this week:

• boxed cereal
• pasta/pasta sauce
• macaroni and cheese
• fruit cups

Everyone please bring one (or more) this Sunday!

GCPC Ringers (Bell Choir) | Thursdays | 6:30 PM | Balcony

Would you like to be part of a Hand Bell Choir? Rehearsals will take place on Thursday evenings in the balcony from 6:30 - 7:45 pm. All high school youth and adults are welcome! All that is needed is curiosity and joy for making music in community. You will be gently supported on your music journey. Please contact Ray at ray@gcpcusa.org if you are interested!

GCPC Blood Drive | Saturday, May 16 | 9 AM - 2 PM | Fellowship Hall

Every year the Deacons host a Red Cross Blood Drive at GCPC. This year's Blood Drive will be on May 16.

Remember that the Power Red slots are to donate two units of red blood cells during one donation. Please view eligibility requirements for this slot before you sign up.

A Deacon will be at a table after worship for the next several weeks to get you signed up to help save lives! Or you can sign yourself up at the link below!

GCPC Community Garden

NEEDS VOLUNTEERS!

The 2026 garden season is just around the corner and we need more volunteers for the garden team. This is a wonderful way to commune in nature with GCPC members and neighbors alike, all while growing food to share with various communities around Asheville. All ages are welcome... come grow with us!

GCPC Nametags

If you are in need of a new nametag,

please email Anna Louise at annalouise@gcpcusa.org.

On Wednesday, April 8, fifteen garden volunteers harvested 57 lbs. of spinach that was shared with Bountiful Cities.They also planted cilantro and parsley and fertilized some beds.

PART (Power and Race Team) will meet May 7 & June 4 on Zoom @ 6PM

Rev Tami Forte will explore with PART her doctoral research on GCPC's essential work of dismantling structural racism in the life of our church, decentering whiteness, and divorcing ourselves from white supremacy. This will be an opportunity to reflect together on how we are moving toward true equitable belonging.

Tami is now on staff at GCPC as the Community Engagement Manager for Helene Recovery. She will supervise, administer, and facilitate community engagement, partnership collaborations, stakeholder discernment, and coordinate disaster case management. This is such good news. Thanks be to God.

Join us on Saturday, April 18th, for an interactive daylong workshop “Re-creating Swannanoa through Just Recovery,” bringing together the Warren Wilson campus community and impacted Swannanoa-area residents & organizations to build meaningful partnerships for post-Helene recovery. Facilitated by the NC Climate Justice Collective, this is a unique opportunity to learn directly from the creators of two powerful frameworks for social transformation: “Just Recovery” and “the 4 Rs”. Participants will apply these frameworks through hands-on activities to understand where we’ve been, where we are and to envision where we want to go together in our process of rebuilding. Rooted in a commitment to equity and inclusion, we will generate an action plan for the coming year to surface recovery needs and challenges, identify realistic ways participants might be able to contribute, and name internal barriers or tensions we must navigate in order to be effective partners.

CoThinkk Annual Mixer | Saturday, April 18 |

 6:00 – 8:00 PM | Downtown Asheville

 RSVP now to save your spot

This isn’t just an event—it’s a space to experience the heart of CoThinkk. You’ll hear from members, learn about the impact we’re building together, and explore how you might plug in—through your time, your talents, and your vision.

Earth Day Share Market | Wednesday, April 22 | 3-5 pm | 90 Montford Ave

Come and enjoy no-cost fruits and veggies LEAF Teaching Artists, FEAST students doing cooking demos and sampling, Radical Gardening activities, Cyanotype making, and more! This is totally Free and open to everyone. Please bring your own bags.

The next local, in-person Racial Equity Institute (REI) Phase I Workshop is taking place for two full days, Friday, May 8, and Saturday, May 9. 

From the REI website: "REI’s two-day workshop is designed to develop the capacity of participants to better understand racism in its institutional and structural forms. Moving away from a focus on personal bigotry and bias, this workshop presents a historical, cultural, and structural analysis of racism. With shared language and a clearer understanding of how institutions and systems are producing unjust and inequitable outcomes, participants should leave the training better equipped to begin to work for change."

We hope you will be able to attend this training. Please register here to reserve your spot. Contact information for organizers to whom you can direct your questions is also available on the registration page.

Asheville Screening of Redemption Time Invites Reflection on Justice, Healing, and Second Chances | Sunday, April 19 | 4 PM | Trinity United Methodist Church

On April 19, 2026, at 4:00 PM, Trinity United Methodist Church will host a special screening event of Redemption Time, a 70-minute performance film featuring poet Jimmy Santiago Baca and Asheville-based jazz violinist Christian Howes — artists whose lives were shaped by incarceration and who now give voice to stories of dignity, struggle, and renewal.

Directed by David Gonzalez, the film blends spoken-word poetry, live jazz, and cinematic storytelling into a powerful experience that traces journeys from trauma and incarceration toward healing, belonging, and personal freedom.