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GCPC goes to the ballpark!

Worship Preview | Sunday, June 28, 2026

In-person and online service

What’s Happening in Worship on July 5, 2026?

On Sunday, July 5, during the weekend on which this country observes the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, worshippers at Grace Covenant are invited to wear or bring something emblematic of their family’s ethnic or national origin. 

During the service, we will have the great joy of welcoming staff of the Equal Plates project with whom the GCPC congregation has been engaged in a community-centered partnership for nearly two years. The service will include a conversation with representatives from Equal Plates, who prepare wonderful midday meals; from some of the volunteers who facilitate and serve the meals; and from representative residents of Asheville Terrace who enjoy the meals, nourishment for both body and soul, a true extension of the communion table.

All congregants - children, youth, and adults – are warmly and cordially invited to gather for this celebratory Independence Weekend communion service as well as for special sweet treats, courtesy of Equal Plates, during a time of hospitality following the service. 

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 (6/28-7/4) Therese Schuele | email: thereseschuele@gmail.com

Next week (7/5-7/11) Roberto Martinez | email: robolisa2@hotmail.com



Deacon of the Week Prayer

As we enjoy and are grateful for the beauty and abundance of the world you have given us, Lord, please keep all you have created safe as temperatures climb and rainfall is scarce. For those who do not accept the harmful consequences that our actions and inaction have caused, please give enlightenment. 



~ Therese Schuele

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. 

Grace Abounds Food Pantry | Thursday, July 9 |

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.

If everyone in the community can bring one item on Sunday we could restock the store!

Needs for next week!:

• dried beans
• condiments
• pasta/pasta sauce
• rice
• corn

GCPC Campfire Collective | Thursday, July 9 |

5:00 PM | Garden Room

We all have stories to tell. Come share your real experiences and stories in the company of other folks of good will. Warm up, cultivate joy, go light or go deep.  Imagine sitting around the campfire together – remembering, sharing, laughing, connecting, opening our hearts and minds, learning, and supporting.

Each gathering will open with a moment of centering and reflecting on a theme or a question. Then each person will be offered time to share an anecdote or a brief story that carries personal meaning to which the group may respond. 

Come as often as you like. Everyone is welcome. Sharing our stories in a semi-structured framework, we will deepen friendships and build community. (And bring a whittling stick if you have one!)



John Huie, James Lamkin, Robin Gaiser and others will facilitate. 

Architecture Site Visits at GCPC and an invitation!

Pride Collective Gathering: Game Night | Saturday, July 11 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM | Fellowship Hall

Let’ s spend time together in fellowship, conversation, and have some fun and games. We will have a couple video game stations, an assortment of box games, and yes we will play bingo! Please bring your favorite snack.

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 Saturday, June 27 Team 2 had six garden volunteers who harvested the following produce that was shared with Bountiful Cities. They also weeded several beds.

On Wednesday, July 1, Team 3 had fifteen garden volunteers who harvested the following produce that was shared with the YWCA. They also planted bean seeds and weeded.

GCPC Writing Collective | Thursday, July 16 | 5:00 PM | Indie Room

If you love to write and welcome a chance to be creative and supportive around writing in community, come to the GCPC Writing Collective on the third Thursday of the month in the Indie Room (Education Wing) at 5 pm. Come as you are and when you can. Bring a journal and something to write with or your laptop and any food you wish to have.

This will be a supportive, generative gathering that centers the way writing makes space for creativity, expression, connection, and healing. The group will be convened by Marcia Mount Shoop, Margaret Belk and others. Feel free to reach out with questions.

The Power and Race Team (PART) will not meet in July. Our next meeting will be August 6th at 6-7:30 on zoom.

Thank you Rev. Dr. Tami Forte Logan for sharing your Doctoral Thesis with us. Also the discussion after the presentation had moments of deep emotional sharing, metabolizing hard things and healing.

At the August Meeting we will continue our discussion and focus on what is next in our work for our church, ourselves, and PART.

GOALS

The Alliance for Beyond Land Acknowledgement formed following the Conference “Beyond Land Acknowledgement: Toward Reparations and Healing,” with these goals: 

• To strengthen relationships with Cherokees and other First Peoples with historical ties to our region.
• To learn how traditional tribal knowledge can be of benefit to everyone.
• To share ideas and resources for building understanding and solidarity with First Peoples of our region and beyond.
• To support efforts for justice, reparations, and healing from our country’s original genocide.
• To help interrupt the continuing oppression of First Peoples.

Questions? Please contact John Huie or Larry Stern who are two GCPC members of ABLA.

"Faith communities can have an important role easing the nation’s housing crisis"

~ by Mark Ferguson

What’s the role for faith communities in helping more of God’s children to secure safe and affordable housing?

That was the central question behind Thursday’s day-long Faith-Based Development Summit hosted by the City of Louisville, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the United Church of Christ Church Building & Loan Fund. The Goodwill Opportunity Center in West Louisville hosted more than 100 attendees, who heard from speakers and panels discussing lessons learned, financing and home repairs — and what churches can do to ease the nation’s housing crisis.

The first speaker at the interdenominational summit was the Rev. Mark Elsdon, a PC(USA) pastor, speaker and author who edited “Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition” and wrote “We Aren’t Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry.” Elsdon, who co-founded Rooted Good and is a principal at Threshold Development Group, has partnered with the PC(USA) on its Good Futures Accelerator Course.

Elsdon posed a provocative question at the outset, one he heard a few years back during a conference in San Antonio: Could we solve the affordable housing crisis with church land?

“Could church real estate improve income disparity and the lack of living-wage jobs?” he asked those in attendance. “I invite us to sit with this question all day today.”

Summer Reading/Activity Ideas for Children/Youth

Click here to see more details.

A Wilder Way: Midwifing the World to Come in an Age of Extinction @ Dreaming Stone

Join us August 19th – 23rd as we chart a wilder path together through storytelling, skill-sharing, hands-on learning, songs, ritual, somatic practices, and homegrown feasts.

This five-day gathering features some of our most beloved and trusted colleagues. They are collaborating on a journey that will help us find our ground and gratitude, expand our connections and our capacities, and offer tools for building the bioregional and liberatory cultures that can sustain and serve our communities and watersheds. It's time to propagate alternatives!

We are making this event accessible, with worktrade and scholarship options, AND partial childcare and youth programming to support young families!!!