This Sunday marks a new program year as well as a new adventure with scripture as we begin following the Narrative Lectionary. As you may know a lectionary is a way of moving through scripture in an orderly fashion. The Narrative Lectionary is a four-year cycle of readings that begins each fall with Genesis: “On the Sundays from September through May each year the texts follow the sweep of the biblical story, from Creation through the early Christian church.” (For more on the NL, follow this link: https://www.workingpreacher.org/narrative-faq).

For the first seven Sundays this fall, we are offering a worship series entitled, “Re-Member.” As the writers at Worship Well write:

Reading the Bible is a kind of remembering, of being remembered. The readings selected for the Narrative Lectionary this fall invite all sorts of remembering. On God’s part. On the part of God’s chosen people and those they imagined would some day encounter their stories. The Bible’s memory – its acts of remembering and injunctions against forgetting – pull us into an ancient vortex of celebration and shame, of joy and sorrow, guilt and grace, of liberation and slavery. These old, old stories invite us to recall and regard and reassemble them and ourselves in new ways.

As we move through the story of God and God’s people, we will cover a lot of ground in a hurry. Each week, you will find daily Bridge Texts listed in the bulletin and in the Banner that connect one Sunday to the next. In that spirit, ahead of this Sunday, I invite you to look back over Genesis 1 and 2, to remember the ways the Bible speaks of God’s work of creation.

I am so excited to share this journey with you. I hope you’ll make plans to join us Sunday and to invite neighbors and friends to join us, too!

Grace and peace,

Ellen

This summer we have had a wonderful time of intergenerational and informal worship and fellowship at our Selah services on Sunday evenings. As we look ahead, we want to reflect together on how this experiment has served as an aid to faith for us as individuals and as a community. Please complete this brief survey (https://forms.gle/QivVFcFDsuNRpuRG6) and let us know your thoughts. We’re hoping to hear from those who attended as well as those who did not.

We are excited about RALLY DAY! What is Rally Day?  It is the kick-off for our new year of programming!

Be sure to join us this Sunday, September 11^th at 10 AM on the lawn of the Fellowship House. (Davis Hall in case of rain)

Come hungry and enjoy breakfast. There will be time for you to peruse the informational tables to learn about many of the ways you can be involved at First Presbyterian Church.

Elementary, middle, and high school students can meet some of their Sunday School teachers, and adults can learn about the three different adult Sunday School classes.

You will find information on many ways to serve within our congregation and in the larger community, as well as opportunity for fellowship and bible study.

Here's to an exciting and healthy year ahead!

Go out in joy, be led back in peace. (Isaiah 55:12)

2022-2023 BackPack Program

Coltrane Webb Elementary School

Congregational Mission

Items needed by September 12, 2022:

10 canisters of oatmeal (quick cook)

10 plastic jars of peanut butter (16 oz)

10 plastic jars of jelly (20 oz)

 6 large box of raisins (15 oz)

 8 pkgs of rice (1 lb.)

16 cans of ravioli (15 0z)

 7 boxes of cookies (standard size, any flavor)

40 cans of Vienna Sausages (4.6 oz)

 6 cans of fruit cocktail (15 oz)

16 cans of green beans (14.5 oz)

 8 packs of cheese crackers (6 crackers to one pack)

10 boxes of saltines (4 sleeves to a box)

 5 cans of diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)

10 pkgs soft taco shells (10-12 per pkg)

**Most of these items are available in Food Lion Brand.**

We are excited to resume Pew Prep this Sunday! After the first reading, children will be invited forward to sit in the first pew, in front of the pulpit. After the Children’s Message, our Kindergarten, 1^st, and 2^nd grade students will exit the sanctuary together with their Pew Prep leaders. Older children will return to sit with their families.

Pew Prep will focus on preparing our early elementary school children for worship. Weekly lessons will cover topics including: the Lord’s Prayer, order of worship, and the meaning of different parts of worship. Our Pew Prep students will return to the sanctuary during the Doxology and sit with their respective families for the remainder of worship.

Pew Prep will be held in the Children’s Chapel on the 2^nd floor of the Education Building. If you are interested in serving as the Pew Prep leader or a 2^nd adult, please use this link to sign-up: Pew Prep: Pew Prep - Volunteers (signupgenius.com)

Come learn the lost art of duckpin bowling! All 6^th-12^th grade Youth are invited and encouraged to attend.

Bring a friend! We are asking all to RSVP with attendance plans and to bring an appetizer, dessert, or other dish to share.

2022-2023 Youth: Sept 11 Youth Kick-off (signupgenius.com)

Youth should meet at the bowling alley at 5:30 PM. Pick-up is at 7 PM.

We look forward to a great year in Youth Group!

Please mark your calendars for September 18^th Youth Group:

4:30-5:30 is 6^th-8^th grade youth

5:30-6 combined dinner AND Parent meeting

6-7 – high school youth

We are planning and preparing for our next Confirmation class. All 8^th grade students, as well as any high school students who have not completed Confirmation, are invited and encouraged to participate in the new Confirmation class, which will begin in January 2023.

We will have an important meeting for students and parents immediately following worship on Sunday, October 2^nd. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend!

Please RSVP here: 2022-2023 Youth: Confirmation Meeting (signupgenius.com)

Sunday was the start of our second of three annual weeks to provide dinner for the Salvation Army Center of Hope. Our Youth cooked chili - regular and vegetarian, along with cornbread, brownies, and prepared a colorful salad. Other groups and individuals within the congregation and FPC community are taking turns providing meals the remainder of this week. Thank you to the Presbyterian Women for organizing this opportunity! 

It was special to gather with so many women of the church on Wednesday evening, August 31, at the PW Kickoff Dinner. Thank you to all who helped make this event happen and thank you to Pastor Ellen for giving us an overview of our Bible study for the year.

I also want to give many thanks to all the women who contributed supplies for students and teachers at Wolf Meadow Elementary School. Staff at Wolf Meadow were so excited to receive so many supplies on Friday. Thanks to Harriett Phillips for helping me pack and deliver the donations.

Kirby Sheridan

We’ve been hard at work preparing the Commons for a grand reopening on September 25th following the worship service. There are many new stations, new content and a new layout to explore. A colorful children’s corner is sure to bring some smiles. Join us after the 11 am service to see first hand how this space, with the Lord present, can encourage your spirit, fill your heart and give you hope.

Lunch Bunch

Next Wednesday, September 14

11:45 AM in Davis Hall

Come, enjoy table fellowship with longtime friends and meet new friends

the 2^nd Wednesday of each month.

A donation of $9 for lunch is appreciated.

Sign up here, before Monday, September 12 at Noon.

You may also sign up on the sheet in the back of the Sanctuary or

by calling the church office, 704-788-2100.

A Celebration of Life in Music and Scripture for Mitzi Malone

Saturday, September 17 at 10:00 a.m.

First Presbyterian Sanctuary

Mitzi Malone was the church organist at First Presbyterian for 30 years. At the time of her death this summer, the family gathered for a Service of Witness to the Resurrection.

Now we gather to give thanks to God for her life and her service to this congregation with music provided by the choir and our organist, Jacquie.

All are welcome. The family requests that masks be worn.

 Thursdays at 2:00 p.m., Journey Classroom in the Education Building. We are exploring  The Difficult Words of Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine. Books are available in the Fellowship House for those who want one. This is a video-based series so no reading is required. This week’s passage: Luke 14:25-33.

For mothers with children in the home. Meet at Southern Strain on September 22 at 7:00 PM. for conversation. Questions: Contact Amanda Williamson.

 Sunday, September 11 at 3:00 PM in the Library Conference Room. We are reading  Dear White Peacemakers by Osheta Moore. Please read the forward through the first chapter before Sunday’s gathering if possible. Questions: Scott Verner. 

Sign up and mark your calendars, the annual CROP Walk is Sunday, October 9th in Kannapolis with registration beginning at 1 PM and the walk starting at 2 PM. This fun event supports the mission of fighting hunger and poverty both globally and locally through contributions to Church World Service and Cooperative Christian Ministry. Please use the link below to join our FPC Concord team as a participant or a donor! You may choose to join us for the walk at Kimball Memorial Lutheran Church in Kannapolis or to walk around your neighborhood if that works better for you. 

https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2022/team/fpc-concord

Online donations are preferred using the link above, but you may also bring cash or check donations on the day of the walk. Checks should be made out to "CWS/CROP." Please reach out to Tripp Carpenter gsctripp@hotmail.com with any questions.