Click
"
View entire message"
at bottom of email
to see the FULL newsletter
|
|
"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls
to arrive at its destination full of hope."
~ Maya Angelou
|
|
Sunday Preview
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
ONE worship service @ 10:45 AM
Congregational Breakfast & Annual Meeting @ 8:15 AM
(No 8:15 am service or education hour)
Homily:
"Division Revision" by Marcia Mount Shoop
Scriptures:
Isaiah 9:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Click
"
View entire message"
at bottom of EMAIL to see the FULL newsletter
|
|
GCPC Congregational Breakfast & Annual Meeting | THIS Sunday, January 26 | 8:15 AM | Atrium & Fellowship Hall
Come and celebrate another great year at Grace Covenant!
This annual gathering is an opportunity to be together and celebrate being part of a healthy faith community.
There will be no 8:15am worship and no adult Sunday school that morning.
Sunday school for children and youth will begin after breakfast. The Men @ GCPC will provide our scrumptious breakfast. If you would like to help with that, please contact Dean Presson,
michael.presson@bcsemail.org
.
|
|
We need Communion Servers!
The Session invites anyone and everyone at GCPC to sign up to serve Communion.
It is a great gift to serve each other this way, and it is a gift in which we can all share!
You can sign up
HERE
or by contacting
Sherrie Meehan
in the church office. Any Session member, Worship Council member, or Staff member is happy to answer any questions you might have.
|
|
REGISTER NOW!
“We Like Sheep!” A Music, Drama, and Arts Camp at GCPC! | Monday - Friday | June 15-19, 2020 | 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM
For Children 4 Yrs. (potty trained) through Rising 6th Graders
This summer we will be hosting a week of music, drama, and arts at Grace Covenant that will culminate in a musical performance called “We Like Sheep!” Jeff Jones, Ednamae Fisher, Josie Moe, and Heather Ferguson, along with the Children’s and Family Ministry Committee invite children to this full week of fun, friends, and fuzzy, four-legged creatures as we sing, act, create and celebrate the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the One who made the flock complete.
The week will culminate with a Friday (June 19) evening performance of the musical, “We Like Sheep!,” an exhibit of art and creative work by the children, and a reception beginning at 6:30 pm.
Cost: $100/child
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: $75/child registered and paid in full by Friday, February 28, 2020.
Registration deadline – April 1, 2020
NOTE: Additional information will be requested after the registration deadline (April 1).
|
|
Showing Us the Way
“We can do this!” Annie Cole says into the microphone, as the GCPC youth group heads back home from our Mission Education trip to Raleigh. Annie, who is our new youth Elder, challenges her peers to be the ones to meet the 2020 stewardship committee’s pledging unit goal of 255 pledges. “They only need 10 more new pledges to meet the goal! We can be the ones to make this happen!” She declares.
The youth hold pledge cards in their hands (many for the very first time). Some begin to fill them out with pens or markers. Some slip dollar bills into the envelopes.
As the bus ride continues, we check in: ”How many pledges do we have?”
“Six!” Annie excitedly shouts. Suddenly, a small hand clenching an envelope shoots up: “Here’s seven!” Another hand, "Eight!” As the bus pulls into the GCPC parking lot, Annie announces, “We have 10! We did it!“ The bus cheers!
The bold and generous actions of our youth this week serve as poignant reminders that Stewardship is about all of us - people young and old doing our part, giving what we can, working together to ensure that GCPC can continue to do the work of building up the kingdom of God together.
Thanks to the youth, we have met our 2020 pledging unit goal. Now, let’s work together to meet our $1.2 million dollar budget goal. Consider pledging or increasing your pledge. We are almost there and our youth are showing us the way.
~ Rev. Samantha Gonzalez-Block
|
|
2019 CONTRIBUTION STATEMENTS
If you’ve opted for paper statements,
your 2019 contribution statement of gifts made 1/1/19 - 12/31/19 are
available this Sunday
at the Welcome Desk. Please pick up your statement by
Sunday, 2/9/20,
to help save on postage.
I
f you’ve requested paperless statements*,
you should have received an
email from our software on 1/22/20
with a link to view your statement online.
The sender address will appear as Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church,
notifications@onrealmmail.org
. Please check your spam folder if you did not receive an email.
Please check the contribution details and pledge balances for accuracy. If you have questions or concerns about your statement, please contact Natalie Weaver, Stewardship & Financial Administrator, at
nweaver@gcpcusa.org
or 828-254-3274, ext. 202.
*If you would like to sign up for
paperless statement delivery
for future statements, please contact our Finance Office.
|
|
Creating Sanctuary Team (CST)
|
|
Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, April 4, 1968, Robert Kennedy delivered the following eulogy, considered by many to be one of the greatest addresses of the twentieth century
. In this month when we honor Dr. King and in these times fraught with polarized beliefs, we share with you in three parts Kennedy’s eloquent and healing words. Today, we can translate Kennedy’s references to the black people of our nation as references to all people of color.
The second part appears below:
|
|
For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times.
My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: "In our sleep pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness, but love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of injustice towards those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black...
|
|
Power and Race Team (PART)
|
|
Racial Justice Book Series | Thursday, February 13 | 6:00 PM | Jerusalem Room
For February, we will be discussing
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.
The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples.
In
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
, Dunbar-Ortiz adroitly challenges the founding myth of the United States and shows how policy against the Indigenous peoples was colonialist and designed to seize the territories of the original inhabitants, displacing or eliminating them. And as Dunbar-Ortiz reveals, this policy was praised in popular culture, through writers like James Fenimore Cooper and Walt Whitman, and in the highest offices of government and the military. Shockingly, as the genocidal policy reached its zenith under President Andrew Jackson, its ruthlessness was best articulated by US Army general Thomas S. Jesup, who, in 1836, wrote of the Seminoles: "The country can be rid of them only by exterminating them."
|
|
PART Meeting | Thursday, February 13 | 7:00 PM | Choir Room
Everyone is invited to join us for the next PART (Power and Race Team) meeting. We will continue practicing Organizing 101 skills and tools of building a more relational culture at GCPC. This is for anyone interested in meeting with and learning more about fellow GCPC members. What keeps us up at night? How do we take our anger and use it to build power and connections in our congregation and beyond the walls of GCPC.
Also, everyone is invited and encouraged to join us
THIS Su
nday, Jan. 26th, 1:00-2:30pm in the Garden Room @ GCPC,
where we will practice relational meetings, gain more organizing insights and plan for the February PART meeting. For more information, contact
Liz Huesemann
or
Carol Hovis
.
|
|
Public Roadside Cleanup - Bingham Road | Saturday, January 25th |
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM | 175 Bingham Road, 28806
Sponsored by Asheville GreenWorks. Join our Water Quality Coordinator, Laura Anderson, on a public roadside cleanup! This 2hr event will focus around picking up litter along one of Asheville's heavily trashed roads.
Bingham Road is a frequently trafficked and polluted road within the Asheville City Limits. As it rains, water sweeps this man-made debris into drains that lead directly into our streams -- polluting our land and water. Keeping these areas free from litter is important to us as a community, so let's work together to protect the areas we love!
We will meet in the Buncombe County School's parking lot, look for the Asheville GreenWorks truck.
All supplies will be provided, including: gloves, grabbers, yellow safety vests and trash bags. Just bring yourself dressed in warm clothes that can get dirty!
|
|
This Sunday's Education Hour (for all ages)
Winter Term | January 5 – February 23
|
|
Pressure Points | The Theology and Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer | Choir Room
A German theologian who called out 'cheap grace' and dreamed of a 'religionless Christianity,' Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a vital part of the Confessing Church who stood against Adolph Hitler's Third Reich at a time when most German Christian churches acquiesced to Nazism. He was executed in 1945 by the state for his part in a plot to overthrow the fascist regime. In our class together, we will learn from his theology and discuss why his legacy is currently being fought over by Christians with divergent viewpoints today.
Facilitators:
Marcia Mount Shoop & Richard Coble
|
|
The Improv | Justice, Money and God: Exploring God’s call for right relationship (justice) by considering our relationship to money | FH
A lot of the Bible talks about money. In fact, money was Jesus’ most talked about topic. Money influences and has power in many of our relationships: our faith, our culture, our church. We will explore God’s call for justice and righteousness and wrestle together with where money fits into it all. In this class we'll be deepening relationships with each other, and hopefully seeing possibilities for new ways of relating to God, to ourselves, to each other, and to money.
Facilitators
:
Keaton Hill, Bonnie Parker and Kate Shem
|
|
Digging In | Sexuality and the New Testament | Jerusalem Room
“If the Gospel is where we find healing from the harm done to us by the messages of the church, then it must also be where we find freedom.”
- Nadia Bolz-Weber
Sexuality and the New Testament is a 7-week, discussion-based series covering a variety of topics focused on sexual ethics in the light of New Testament principles. Our goal is to create a space for learning and honest discussions about sexuality in our contemporary culture that help us wrestle with the shame and confusion many of us harbor. Join us for discussions on purity culture, sexual identity, gender identity, and more.
Facilitators
:
Amber White & Leah Madamba
|
|
Toddlers (ages 2-3) | “God Loves Me”
|
9:15 – 10:15 AM | Toddler Room (1
st
floor)
Preschool/K (ages 4-5) | Godly Play
|
9:15 –10:15 AM | Preschool Room (1
st
floor)
Elementary (grades 1-3) | Godly Play
|
9:15–10:15 AM | Temple Room
(2
nd
floor)
Elementary (grades 4-5) | “CONNECT”
|
9:15–10:15 AM | Indie Room
(2
nd
floor)
Middle School & Senior Highs (grades 6-12)
|
9:00-10:15 AM | Youth Rooms
*Nursery care is available throughout Sunday morning beginning at 8:10 am.
|
|
Worship & Godly Play - Why We Do the Things We Do (4 Sundays of Worship Education)
January 26 | 9:15-10:15 am
During the month of January Sundays, GCPC children (ages 4 yrs-3rd Grade) will gather in the upper-level Godly Play room for a special 4-part series on “Worship - Why We Do the Things We Do.” This will be an important time for children to learn about the movements in worship, their meaning and how we approach them.
This series will also be a time for preparing to lead worship on “Children’s Sunday at GCPC,” Sunday, February 2, 2020.
|
|
Bible Study | Wednesdays | 11:00 AM | Garden Room
Join the pastoral staff to read and study our sermon texts for Sunday. No preparation needed; just come ready to open scripture and discuss!
|
|
Winter Women's Memoir Series | 4th Monday of month | 6:00 PM | Jerusalem Room
Join us for a series of book talks focusing on memoirs written by people of faith. Open to all women of the church. One copy of each book can be found in the church library. Please pre-read the book to ensure lively discussion.
- January 27 | Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen | Facilitator: Susie Wheelis
- February 24 | I Grew Up Little: Finding Hope in a Big God by Patsy Clairmont | Facilitator: Grace Hall
- March 30 | Shameless: A Sexual Reformation by Nadia Bolz-Weber | Facilitator: Amber White
|
|
Room in the Inn (RITI) | February 9 – 16 | GCPC
Room In The Inn returns to GCPC in just 2 weeks!
We are still in need of several things in order to be ready for our guests:
food items, set up and take down help, overnight hosts, and drivers.
We hope the above tasks can be committed to by this Sunday. Our guests are looking for a safe, warm space with delicious food for their meals. Will you consider helping the ladies find these accommodations, which most of us take for granted, with this session of Room In The Inn here at Grace Covenant?
Sign up in the narthex with a RITI team member on paper or you can sign up
HERE online.
THANK YOU.
Your RITI Team:
Tish Anderson, Sally Booher, Beth Kissling, Geneva Neeriemer, Lynne Noble, Susan Presson, Linda Pyeritz, Linda Stransky, and Beth Philipsen.
|
|
Ministry Partner News and Events...
|
|
Be A Game Changer: CoThinkk Mixer 2020 | Saturday, February 22 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM | Eagle Market Community Space (
19 Eagle Street
)
Celebrate 2019 milestones, learn about the 2020 vision ahead, hear how you can get involved as partners and members as we all work to extend our collective time, talent, and treasure over the coming year to address some of the most challenging social issues facing our communities today. Click
HERE
for more information or to register for the event (by Feb. 15th).
Watch their Founder Tracey Greene-Washington in her TEDx Talk:
|
|
Intergenerational Contra & Square Dancing Fun! | Dinner & Dancing | Sunday, January 26 | 5 - 7 PM | Fellowship Hall
Come enjoy dinner and hear about our GCPC youth group trip to Raleigh, followed by an evening of dancing for all ages! We will have a teacher/caller and a student band from Warren Wilson College! Get ready for an evening of learning, sharing, fun and fellowship! RSVP at
http://bit.ly/GCPCContra
.
|
|
Men @ GCPC Gathering | Thursday, January 30 | 8:00 AM | HomeGrown (371 Merrimon Ave.)
Join us for fellowship and discussion of Isaac Villegas's article "All Earth Is Grieving" from the Christian Century. Click
HERE
to read the article. Contact Richard,
rcoble@gcpcusa.org
with questions.
|
|
Centering Prayer | Wednesday Nights | 6:30 - 7:00 PM | Sanctuary
Christianity has a rich and ancient tradition of intentional and prayerful silence as a spiritual practice. Sacred silence teaches us to listen devoutly, humbly, and with trust. It is beautifully simple and a spiritual skill whose gifts goes deeper and gets more powerful the more one practices it. This practice is open to all and is come as you are able. Questions? Contact Marcia at
mmshoop@gcpcusa.org
.
|
|
Deacon of the Week
Each Sunday morning there will be a deacon available for everything from praying with you to giving you a tour of the building. This deacon will be wearing a purple sash and stationed in the narthex before 10:45 worship and in the front of the sanctuary after worship. He or she is also available during the week if you or someone you love needs assistance from our board of deacons.
|
|
Senior Highs: Last call for Midnight Manna! | Saturday, January 25 | 8:50 PM -Midnight | Meet/pick up at Manna Food Bank (
627 Swannanoa Rd.)
Senior Highs, if you have signed up for Midnight Manna, look for an email from Samantha later this week with details. If you haven't signed up but want to attend, please email Samantha at
sgblock@gcpcusa.org
ASAP! Please plan to arrive to Manna at 8:50pm, so that we can check in on-time all together.
|
|
GCPC Congregational Breakfast & Annual Meeting | Sunday, January 26 | 8:15 AM | Atrium & Fellowship Hall
Join our church family in celebrating another great year at Grace Covenant! This annual gathering is an opportunity to be together and celebrate being part of a healthy and intergenerational faith community.
There will be no 8:15am worship and no adult or youth Sunday school that morning.
This will be an interactive morning for all ages and youth choir singers are invited to go to the sanctuary at 10:00 am to help Colt teach the children a song.
The Men @ GCPC will provide our scrumptious breakfast. If you would like to help with that, please contact Dean Presson,
michael.presson@bcsemail.org
.
|
|
Youth Group: Sharing Raleigh Experiences & Intergenerational Contra Night! | Sunday, January 26 | 5 - 7 PM | Fellowship Hall
Youth will be sharing their experiences from the Raleigh Mission Education Trip. Following the youth presentation, we will enjoy intergenerational contra dancing, accompanied by a teacher/caller and a student band from Warren Wilson College! Families are welcome to attend, and dinner will be provided.
Remember this is a mandatory event for youth attending the Raleigh trip.
Please RSVP at:
http://bit.ly/GCPCContra
.
|
|
Children's Service & Souper Bowl of Caring | February 2 | 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Next Sunday the youth will be helping the children prepare to lead worship that morning. The youth choir will also be singing. We will be collecting funds for the Souper Bowl of Caring, and after church will walk together to get a pizza lunch. Please bring $10 for lunch and, if possible, bring a big soup bowl to use to collect donations! Please pick up at the church at 2 p.m. There will not be any evening youth group on Feb. 2.
|
|
TIME TO SIGN UP FOR TWO SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES:
|
|
Senior High Montreat Youth Conference (Week 5: July 26-Aug. 1):
|
|
Middle School Massanetta Youth Conference (Week 3: July 9-12):
|
|
Prayer List
[We are happy to pray for anyone who is in need. Concerns will stay on this list for a month unless we hear otherwise. Please keep us updated.]
Iglesia Jerusalem congregation
Pat Cocke (Les Stradley’s friend)
Deborah Strong (Robin Gaiser's cousin)
Nancy Schaadt (Donna Robertson's sister)
Jeffrey Ferris (Mary Lou Nash's son)
Rebecca Wells' brother, Jamey
Jeff Combs (Bill McNeff's friend)
West Asheville Presbyterian Church
Marcia Zuzel (friend of Kim Hottle and Melissa Shook)
Virginia Bibee (Jamie Bibee Lloyd's mother)
Suzy Carter (David Carter's wife and Yvonne Smith's friend)
Arlene Hill (Jay Hill's aunt)
John Kominski (Russell Kominski's dad)
Family of Frank Palmeri (father-in-law of Laura Palmeri who is Jim and Martha Branden's daughter)
Eveline Damiano (Lisette de Groot's daughter)
Hettie Lou Garland
Betty Smith
Margaret Rada
Bob Higgins
James Harwell
Joyce Summerlin
Cory Hartbarger
Florence Riedesel
Elizabeth Fisher
Doris Prak
Roslyn Carney
Nell Payne
Amanda Pressley
Allen Johnson
Sarah Frye
Click
HERE to follow the link to Sarah Frye's Caring Bridge page.
|
|
Grace Covenant Community Out and About...
|
|
2020 Enneagram Weekday Gatherings resume
Mondays, 6-8pm
Fridays, 10am-12noon
In the A-Frame @ GCPC
|
|
Christians for a United Community (CUC) Book Discussion Group
Book
: "Between The World And Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Dates
: starts Sunday February 2nd, 2020 and meets every other Sunday through April 5th
Time:
2:00-3:30 PM
|
|
Laura Boosinger & Josh Goforth Concert | Thursday, February 20 | 7:00 PM | GCPC
Acclaimed Appalachian old-time musician Laura Boosinger and outstanding fiddler, guitar-picker and mandolin player Josh Goforth will perform a musical history of the mountains. Based in Asheville, Laura has won glowing reviews wherever she appears. Whether she's singing, playing the clawhammer banjo, the autoharp or guitar, Laura is blessed with an "essence of the mountains" spirit that'll take you back to the days when folks used to huddle around the radio.
Josh is a talented multi-instrumentalist and recording artist who grew up steeped in the old-time Appalachian music traditions of Madison County.
Together, Laura and Josh are two names that fans of Appalachian music already know and love — and the duo's performance, brought to you by the Asheville Symphony Guild, is designed to complement
the Asheville Symphony's Feb. 22 concert
, which features Aaron Copland’s famous Appalachian Spring.
*This performance is open to all. Free-will donations will be gladly accepted.
|
|
PWNC Annual Spirituality Retreat:
"Celtic Spirituality II" | March 13-14, 2020 | Bonclarken Conference Center (Flat Rock, NC)
Experience the prayer, poetry, folklore, and spirituality of the Celtic Christians of old - and how their down-to-earth, lyrical, and hope-filled wisdom still speaks to us today. First-time attendees are more than welcome!
Click
here
for more information and/or to register!
|
|
Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church | 828.254.3274
789 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28804
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
