Dear Friends,

With summer’s arrival come new rhythms and new opportunities including here at FPC.

·        On Sunday, June 5, we will gather for worship at 11 AM in the sanctuary and at 5 PM in Davis Hall. This first Selah service (read about it here) will be informal and intergenerational, a chance to worship and gather in a new way.

·        On June 12, we will hold our next Welcome Class for those considering membership here at FPC.

I am grateful for the gift of trying new things and welcoming new faces here in this place and among these siblings in Christ who welcomed me and my family just under one year ago. I hope you will invite and encourage others to find a welcome here, too.

Grace and peace,

Ellen

Today is the LAST day to register for Vacation Bible School! You don’t want to miss our adventures in Narnia!

Please complete the registration form: VBS-2022.pdf (firstpresconcord.org) and health form: First-Kids-Health-Form-21-22_.pdf (firstpresconcord.org)

And return them to the church office or to First Kids by 9 AM on Thursday, June 2^nd.

Memorial Garden will now be open as follows:

March 15 to September 15 Tuesday thru Sunday 9 AM - 7 PM

September 16 - March 14 Tuesday thru Sunday 9 AM - 5 PM

Closed Mondays

The Girls in God group is collecting dog and cat food and old towels for the Humane Society on Sunday, June 5th.

Please bring your donations of food or old towels and put them in the box that will be available in the Narthex.

Thank you!

We are looking for adult and youth volunteers: FPC 2022: '22 Volunteers - Vacation Bible School (signupgenius.com)

Do you have any of these items that we could borrow for props: artificial Christmas trees (all sizes), Santa costume, bow & arrow, sleigh, dark colored umbrella, red winter scarf, clothing items reminiscent of the 1940’s (plaid skirt, cardigan), medieval costumes, crowns & tiaras, plastic sword & dagger, brown wrapping paper & twine, mannequin, small glass bottle, Santa gift bag?

For questions, please contact René Prager at r.prager@firstpresconcord.org.

The 2021 Joy of Giving Annual Report was mailed to church members two weeks ago. Please contact the church office if you did not receive a copy. Jim Monroe, who coordinated this project, noted, “This annual report is an overview and celebration of the life of our church during the second year of the pandemic. It focuses on programs and activities that show how our pledges, estate gifts, and use of our volunteer time and talents enabled us to do God’s work that touched so many lives within our church and in our community.” 

The Annual Report is an excellent resource to share with those who might be interested in joining the church or participating in one of our programs. Suzanne Russell, our church administrator, can provide extra copies. The Annual Report can also be found under the About tab on the church website.

Over the summer you are invited to read Dear White Peacemakers by pastor and writer Osheta Moore. We will gather this fall to discuss. Osheta draws on the Sermon on the Mount, Spirituals, and personal stories to invite White Christians to come to the table and join in the hard work and holy calling of dismantling racism. (Please consider buying this book from a Black-owned bookstore, such as Shelves Books (shelvesbookstore.com) in Charlotte or Mahogany Books in Washington, DC.) If you have questions, please speak with Scott Verner. 

Thursday Connection will NOT meet this week. We will resume on June 9.