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How to Make Your 2027 Pledge

• Scan the QR code for a link to the online Pledge Card
• Click here: https://onrealm.org/gcpcusa/AddPledge/2027generalfund 
• Email your pledge and giving frequency to giving@gcpcusa.org
• Email Oana Lansman (oana@gcpcusa.org) or Sue Kersbergen (sue@gcpcusa.org) in the Finance Office at GCPC to help you get set up. 

#GCPCinthesanctuary

#FinanceFishBowl

Truth telling prompt from Sunday, October 18

Matthew 22: 15-22 - What interrupts your capacity to respond from your Self energy when someone is trying to entrap you? 

Worship Preview | Sunday, October 25, 2026

In-person and online 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 (10/18-10/24) Demontá Blunt | email: demontablunt@gmail.com

Next week (10/25-10/31) Patty Thompson | email: pattyellisthompson@gmail.com

Parents' Night Out! | Friday, October 23 | 5:30 - 8:30 PM | Fellowship Hall

Kids 0-5th grade are invited to spend time with volunteers and staff on a Friday evening while parents connect. This event is free!.

ALL KIDS SHOULD PACK A SACK DINNER. We will provide drinks and dessert.

Contact Chelsea with questions.

Join us on Wednesday Nights for a delicious meal in community and opportunities for all ages to learn and grow together. Below you can register for the meal, but please feel free to come even if you haven't registered.

GCPC Choir Practice | Wednesdays | 7:15 PM | Choir Room

All youth and adults are welcome and invited! Just come with a curiosity and love for making music in community. No previous singing experience is needed.

I hope you will consider adding your presence and voice to our Choir!

If you're not sure, come and give it a try!

Blessings,

Ray

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

Would you like to ring as part of the GCPC Hand Bell Choir? Rehearsals take place on Thursday evenings in the church balcony from 6:30 - 7:30 pm. All youth and adults are welcome! No previous experience is necessary - Just curiosity and a love for making music in community. Please contact Ray at ray@gcpcusa.org if you are interested!

Finance Fish Bowl | Friday, October 30 | 6:30 PM | Fellowship Hall

As we enter into a new year of building our future together, all of us have something to offer. Please consider how you can contribute your time and talents to the work of the church. Join us for a conversation with the congregation about stewardship, fundraising, and what our hopes are for our shared vision together. 

One other opportunity will be available:

• Sunday, November 8 at 6:30 pm online

Invitation to read “The Color of Law”

As a next step in the readying process of our campus vision, we invite you to read with us “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” by Richard Rothstein. The Campus Vision team plans to read this important book on the history of racial discrimination in housing policy as we think about what it means to build deeply affordable housing on our campus. All are welcome to attend!

Mark your calendar - we will host a brown bag lunch after church on Sunday, November 15 for a discussion of the book!

PART (Power & Race Team) Meeting | Thursday, November 5 | 6:00 PM | Zoom

We will take some time to share our thoughts, emotions and somatic experiences regarding the panel discussion, “ Collective Liberation in a 21st Century Whitelash.” Our beloved Pastors and Panelists, Marcia and Tami will guide us through the following questions:

What does mutual liberation really mean? And why should we care? What does it mean to work towards mutual liberation together?

Hope to see you there! We need each other in this work of eliminating white supremacy in ourselves, our church and communities. PART is generative, collaborative, transformational, and open space.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/91314445389

Meeting ID: 913 1444 5389

Passcode: 789

Grace Abounds Food Pantry | Thursday, November 12 |

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 the upcoming pantry:

• cereal
• pasta
• cranberry sauce
• canned sweet potatoes

On Your 2026 Ballot. . .

The Constitutional Amendments are NOT your friends! 

Vote AGAINST all three.

This year, there are three NC Constitutional amendments on the ballot for voters to consider. Generally, one should weigh any Constitutional amendment carefully. Amendments stay for a long time, are easier to add than to remove, and cannot be tinkered with as times and situations change as regular laws can be. Amending the Constitution is serious business! That said, another serious problem facing voters considering these 2926 amendments is that the very brief descriptions of #2 and #3 on your ballot are very misleading in terms of what they really do. 

• Amendment #1—ID with mail-in ballot—is already law. Another voter suppression effort that discriminates against lower income, rural, older, people without easy access to photocopying

• Amendment #2--Caps state income tax, but not much for ordinary families. Who really benefits are very high wealth corporations and some rich families. 

• Amendment #3—Limits property taxes assessed by local governments—but not yours and mine, unless you are Duke Energy or some other large corporation. The limits are for the TOTAL amount of property taxes a county can collect in any year, not our individual property taxes. 

Impact of all this? Amendments #2 and #3 tie the hands of our local officials to meet changing and locally situational needs. The tax amendments will result in less money locally for our schools, emergency services, parks, and other services provided by the local government. And the only way to make up the shortfall will be increasing local sales taxes and raising fees for service. These taxes are overwhelmingly paid by lower and middle income people. They are regressive taxes.

Tell family and friends to vote AGAINST the tax amendments on the ballot. Be in the know when you go to Vote!

Organizations recommending voting AGAINST all three amendments: League of Women Voters, Common Cause, Carolina Forward, NC Democratic Party. A good resource for analysis is the NC Budget and Tax Center, www.ncbudget.org. 
Questions? Contact Dana Cozad decozad5@aol.com.

P.S. The two Bond initiatives are different than the Amendments. They provide for funding for local environmental and affordable housing projects.

~ Dana Cozad

2026 Faith Build House:

Habitat for Humanity is seeking volunteers to help with the next Faith Build home. GCPC has consistently provided volunteers to Habitat for the Faith Build projects and we are asking for your help again. The work will begin in October and we are scheduling workers through the end of the year. Our typical build day for GCPC is Wednesday but I can sign folks up for any day they want.

For this first phase of the build we will be focused on framing and carpentry skills. Experience is not necessary. Please let me know if you want to volunteer. The more the merrier. Lee Carol Giduz is now scheduling volunteers for Wednesdays in October and November. If interested she can be texted at 828-493-3959 or emailed at lcgiduz@gmail.com.

Click here to see the information for the homeowner who will purchase this Faith build home.

Sign up now!! Spaces are still available!

Racial Equity Institute (REI) Two Day Phase 1 Training | Friday, November 6 & Saturday, November 7 | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Location: TBA

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.

Participants are asked to attend the entire training on Friday November 6th and Saturday November 7th 2026 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm both days. Participants are asked to provide their own lunch. In addition, some light snacks and coffee/tea will be available throughout the workshop.

Wednesday, November 4 | 12:00–1:30 PM | YWCA of Asheville

(185 S. French Broad Ave.)

The YWCA of Asheville’s Racial Justice Department warmly invites you to join us for a Joy & Justice Book Club Lunch & Learn and Community Talkback featuring Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.

Together, we’ll create space for meaningful conversation, reflection, and community connection as we explore the history of racism, the importance of antiracism, and how we can each contribute to building a more just and equitable world.

Join us for an engaging discussion where community members can share perspectives, deepen their understanding, and learn alongside one another in a welcoming and inclusive environment. A meal prepared by the YWCA’s Nutrition Department will be provided to all attendees.

At our November 11th Share Market we will have some special guests! Mary Brady from NC Agricultural Extension Master Gardeners will be sharing info., seeds, and supplies to build your own container garden and Melissa Borrell will have a special art project for attendees. Birds, Bees and Butterflies! Come make pollinators with flapping wings for your garden or potted plants. All materials are provided. All ages and no experience needed.

Adama Dembele & Friends | Friday, November 20 | 7:00 PM | Dreaming Stone Arts & Ecology Center - Rutherfordton

Enjoy the hypnotic polyrhythms of West African Music. Adama is a master djembefola and 33rd-generation musician from the Ivory Coast. He has toured internationally and currently teaches in Asheville.

Learn more and get your tickets here!

Based on the popular board game, this comedy begins at a dinner party hosted by Mr. Boddy, where he admits to blackmailing his visitors. What happens next is a madcap evening full of murder, mystery and mayhem where everyone is a suspect.

Join us at Asheville High Theatre November 12, 13th or 14th at 7 p.m. in the AHS Arts Theatre. This show will certainly sell out. 

GCPC Nametags

If you are in need of a new nametag,

please email Anna Louise at annalouise@gcpcusa.org.