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Worship Preview | Sunday, February 2, 2023
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
In-person and Online Service
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*For the full revised common lectionary, please click here. | |
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This Sunday we will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
Remember that our practice has been to use anything you have at home for your elements. Your bread can be a cracker, bagel or even a donut. Your cup can be a glass of water or anything else you have on hand.
The spirit of our Presbyterian practice of Communion is that the body of Christ is not found in the elements themselves, but in the community gathered together to share this meal of revolutionary love.
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| Sunday, February 5 | Hybrid Worship
(In-person and online) | 9:30 am @ GCPC
(also on Youtube) | | Sunday, February 5 | Fellowship Time | 10:45 am | Narthex | | Sunday, February 5 | Formation for All Ages | 11:00 am
*please see details below | | Monday, February 6 | PW Circle 5 Mtg. | 11:00 am on Zoom | | Monday, February 6 | Volunteer with La Milpa | 1:00 pm | Emma United Methodist | | Tuesday - Thursday | Church Office OPEN | 10:00 am - 4:00 pm | | Tuesday, February 7 | Prayer Group | 10:00 am | Jerusalem Room | | Tuesday, February 7 | VRQ Cook Team | 4:30 or 5:30 pm | Veteran's Restoration Quarters | | Tuesday, February 7 | Worship Council Mtg. | 5:30 pm on Zoom | | Tuesday, February 7 | PW Circle 2 Mtg. | 7:30 pm on Zoom | | Wednesday, February 8 | Bible Study | 12:00 pm | Jerusalem Room (also on Zoom) | | Wednesday, February 8 | Centering Prayer | 6:00 pm | Sanctuary | | Wednesday, February 8 | Choir Rehearsal | 7:00 pm | Sanctuary | | |
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Children's Formation (K-5th Grade) | Sundays | 11:00 AM | Sanctuary
The children will begin in the Sanctuary with prayer, music and storytelling. At 11:25 am they will travel to their "wondering rooms" (second floor of Education Wing) to finish their Godly Play lesson. Pick up is at noon and children are invited to take a snack home.
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Youth Formation (Middle/High School) | Sundays | 11:00 AM | Youth Room
After worship service starting at 11 a.m. Middle and High Schoolers will meet together in the new youth room. We will provide breakfast-like snacks and will be learning about Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints.
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Serve Volunteer Opportunity -
Fight Food Insecurity!
Join us on Monday, February 6, at the MANNA FoodBank mobile market organized by our covenant partner Colaborativa La Milpa. Help put food on the tables of food insecure families in the Emma community of Asheville.
Come for an hour or the whole afternoon. We need more GCPC helping hands and loving hearts.
DATE: Monday, February 6
LOCATION: Emma United Methodist Church, 55 Adams Hill Rd., Asheville
SCHEDULE:
- 1-3 PM Set up tables of dry and canned goods; bag produce.
- 3-5 PM Restock items, assist families as they fill their carts.
Here are the dates for the full year if you would like to put them in your calendar:
- March 6, April 3, May 1, June 5, July 3, August 7, September 4, October 2, November 6, December 4
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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
VRQ—BBQ Cook Team | Tuesday, February 7 | 4:30 PM to cook or 5:30 PM to work the serving line | Veterans Restoration Quarters
On the first Tuesday of each month a team from GCPC gathers at VRQ, 1329 Tunnel Road, to grill hamburgers, prepare and serve supper for the veterans housed there. Volunteers are still masking while they are there.
If you can help please contact Bill Neeriemer, bill.nmer@gmail.com.
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Centering Prayer | Wednesdays | 6:00 - 6:30 PM | Sanctuary
“Centering Prayer is a training in letting go.”
~Thomas Keating
Centering prayer for me is prayer where I rest silently in the presence of God. It is a way of saying, "here I am God."
For those of you who might ask what do I do, here is my ritual.
- I choose a sacred word or phrase as a symbol of my intention to go deeper. Here are some I say while paying attention to my breathing: Peace be with me; Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me. I might read a scripture or a hymn and pick out a word that is meaningful.
- When I notice I am engaging in thoughts, I gently disengage myself and turn to God or return to my sacred words.
- When I am near ending, I breathe in and out 4 times and then say the Lords Prayer.
I invite you to join me on Wednesdays to sit in sacred silence, and feel God closely. Come breathe with me.
In community,
Liz Huesemann
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Bible Study | Wednesdays | 12:00 PM | Jerusalem Room & Zoom
Join the pastoral staff to read and study our sermon texts for Sunday. No preparation needed; just come ready to open scripture and discuss!
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82947867192
Meeting ID: 829 4786 7192 Passcode: 789
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A Letter from Allison Kiehl, GCPC Community Garden Manager. . . | |
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Hello Intrepid GCPC Garden Volunteers!
The start of the 2023 growing season is just around the corner! I've already done our spring and summer planting plan and ordered all of our spring plants! Please take this brief survey to help me prepare for the year.
Please also be on the lookout for some upcoming volunteer calls as we prepare for the season:
- Around March 1st: Onion planting
- Late Feb. - Mid March: Bed preparation, spreading compost, weeding
- Week of March 20th: Planting spring plants and seeds (weather and soil dependent)
- Mid - Late April: Start of our regular team workdays (Wed. & Sat.)
But mainly, I'd like to thank you for all of your dedication to our garden last year in helping us serve and feed the community! We had many accomplishments last year, including adding 4 new beds to our garden to grow even more food to share. Overall we were able to grow and share over 7,000 pounds of healthy vegetables at GCPC, with an additional ~10,300 pounds of potatoes and cabbage at Jasperwood Farm that was also shared with those in need. That's a total of over 17,000 pounds! Please see this harvest summary for more specific numbers of each crop.
While tracking the numbers is beneficial, most of all this garden provided a lot of fellowship, healing, and connection to nature that we all need. It also allows us to build relationships with other groups in our community, such as our distribution partners. Please see below for more info. on our partners that we share produce with. Thanks again for all of your hard work and community-building! You really keep this operation going!
~ Allison Kiehl
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GCPC Community Garden - Main Distribution Partners
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Loving Food Resources adds our produce to 100 food boxes packed with staples (canned soup and stews, peanut butter,etc.) which is distributed to people with HIV(85%) and home hospice care(15%) Many of these people are struggling with a lack of nurshing food, and a high percentage ar seniors.
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YWCA feeds lunch and snacks to 145 children, ages 5 and under, living in poverty. Every Friday the nutritionist does a program with the little littles introducing a new vegetable. It takes a couple of times for them to try something new before they gobble it up.
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WNC Rescue Mission cooks our produce to feed lunch and dinner daily to 500 individuals. It is also added to food boxes to feed families who are in need of food, particularly fresh produce. On Thanksgiving our greens were served for dinner.
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Youth Transformed for Life (YTL) helped plant and harvest on Wednesdays with some of you. Allison spent time educating them about garden practices. Produce was available to take home. A Board Member, Thomas Priester, also loaded produce into his truck and fed families and seniors in need of food. If anything was left, he found people who needed our fresh produce.
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Important Announcements... | |
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GCPC Sanctuary Renovation
Here is a link to the Session Letter that was shared recently with the congregation. Below you will find Parts 1 & 2 of the Sanctuary Renovation videos.
If you are interested in getting a GCPC pew, please email Cliff at cliff@gcpcusa.org by February 14th to reserve one. Let him know if there is a specific pew request!
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GCPC Sanctuary Renovation - Part 1 | |
GCPC Sanctuary Renovation - Part 2 | |
Update on Winter Safe Shelter, a collaborative effort between GCPC, Grace Episcopal, and Trinity United Methodist | |
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One of the amazing things emerging from the Winter Safe Shelter is the Restored Dreams Project. Watch Joe Rob's story about the creation of The Restored Dreams Project at this link.
Restored dreams is a program designed to bring diverse communities together through the arts.
A re-emergence of this project is birthing at the Winter Safe Shelter. Over the coming weeks, JoeRob is hoping to invite artists with similar stories of displacement to display their art for those that are part of the WSS community, whether they are joining for one of our nightly community meals as volunteers or staff. The hope is to infuse the space with a sense of home and belonging and give artists a voice for their story. We will display their pieces on the website linked above and hope to have prices and more information as the program evolves.
The Winter Safe Shelter is still in need of volunteers between 6:15-9p and 8:30-11p. You can sign up at this link.
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Deacon of the Week:
The deacons of Grace Covenant are available to talk and pray with you by phone or online and to coordinate care. If you have difficulty reaching your assigned deacon or if you do not know who your assigned deacon is, please feel free to reach out to our deacon of the week.
This week (1/29-2/4): Larry Stern | email: LSTERN@mhu.edu
Next week (2/5-2/11): Carolyn Haag | email: cjhaag88@gmail.com
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Prayer requests will stay on the GCPC Prayer List for one month. Please let any staff member know if you (or your loved one) would like to remain on the list for longer.
Iglesia Jerusalem congregation
Trey and Alisha Thompson and 3 kids - Gabi, Arlo, and Eldon (Patty and Brent Thompson's son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren)
Bill Brown (Mary Lou Nash's brother)
Family of Patricia McNeff Ormond (Bill McNeff’s cousin)
Kathey Avery (a member of Just Funding)
Cathy Wooten (William High’s mom)
Meghan and Andrew Gutberlet, & Elliot (Jeff and Susan Curtis' niece)
Jessica Huie (John Huie's daughter)
Mimosa Hines (Robin Mallernee's daughter)
Maria, Esteban, and Erik Goicoehea
Cierra Williams (Marta Alcala's friend)
Susan Smialowicz
Doris Prak
Michelle Chromey and family
Andrea Rosal
Sharon Sasse
Reed Carney
Laura Ross
Margaret Rada
Juanita Schneider
Mary Byers
Gene Callaway
Gloria Moe
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Presbyterian Womenʼs Circles are Zoom meetings. Please join us.
Circle 1: Second Monday of each month, 10:00 a.m.
Circle 2: First Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Circle 3: Second Tuesday of each month (some Zoom and some in-person), 7:00 p.m.
Circle 4: Second Tuesdays of each month, 10:30 a.m.
Circle 5: First Monday of each month, 11:00 a.m.
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Need to set up a church zoom meeting?
Contact Anna Louise and she can get you all set up!
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Community Working Together | |
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Racial Justice Coalition presents...
Last week, the Asheville City Council unanimously voted to approve the Community Reparations Commission’s Stop the Harm recommendation. RJC celebrates this move and welcomes this opportunity to draw attention to how our local government is taking action for racial equity.
The Reparations Commission's first unanimous resolution last year requested a funding commitment from both the City of Asheville and Buncombe County. It took months of community pressure before they vowed to include Reparations funding as an ongoing line item in their budgets. To be honest, RJC expected similar resistance this time around, and are happy to report that no such resistance occurred.
It’s important that we hold local leaders accountable when we perceive them to be in the wrong; it’s just as important that we show appreciation when they take timely and meaningful action, as they have here.
Will you join in reaching out to City officials to express gratitude for how they’ve responded to the Reparations Commission’s Stop the Harm recommendation? Click here for more information and an email template you can adapt and send.
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The Racial Justice Team of First Presbyterian Church of Asheville is partnering with Triedstone Missionary Baptist Church to host a two-week training session for Read 2 Succeed, a local organization dedicated to "closing the race-based opportunity gap through community-powered literacy programming that engages children, families, and community partners."
Those interested in becoming tutors - committing one or more hours to an elementary school student every week for deeply rewarding mentoring - are invited to attend two training sessions on consecutive Saturdays: February 4 and 11, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at Triedstone Missionary Baptist Church in downtown Asheville.
Scan the QR code to register.
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Creation Care Symposium | Tuesday, February 7 | 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM | Montreat
Join Creation Care Alliance for a retreat and symposium designed with creation care professionals, volunteers, lay leaders, and clergy in mind. Our very own Ren Martin, Eco-Justice Connection Program Coordinator, will be presenting in a workshop on "Telling Your Story for Eco-Justice." Participants will learn more about storytelling and how it can help to build power for social change.
Online registration for the 2023 Creation Care Alliance Retreat and Symposium is now closed. To inquire about late registration, please contact Susan Bean at susan@mountaintrue.org.
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Earth Day is Coming. Is Your Church Ready? | Thursday, February 9 | 7:00 PM | Webinar
Earth Day is always on April 22 and this year it falls on a Saturday. That opens a lot of possibilities for how your church can commemorate a secular day in a faith-based manner.
Your church may want to observe Earth Day on Saturday, April 22 or Sunday, April 23 or both! Activities/actions could include a worship service, education for adults and/or children, an outdoor/indoor celebration, a low-carbon meal, dedicating a new tree/solar panels, partnering with other churches for a community observance, etc.
Hear from three churches in our Presbytery (including GCPC) who have held Earth Day observances or are making plans to on Thursday, February 9, 7:00 PM at the Presbytery Earth Care Team's webinar. There will be time for questions and discussion. Attend and be inspired!
Please register in advance https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrfu6qrjsuHt1UePTdQrwUcwR-KHiNNGwH
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Interfaith Initiative -
Social Justice Opportunities
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Buncombe Community Remembrance Project | | |
Tyre Nichols protests at the Ohio State House in Columbus, Ohio on January 29, 2023. Photo by Becker1999 licensed under CC BY 2.0. | |
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Stated Clerk reacts to video of altercation between Memphis police and Tyre Nichols -
J. Herbert Nelson calls on communities and the church to change policing in this country
J. Herbert Nelson, II
Office of the General Assembly - January 30, 2023
Read statement here
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Showing up for the storms of others is ‘the single most pressing lesson plan,’ APCE speaker tells church educators -
John Pavlovitz walks a crowd of more than 600 through how to endure turbulence and how to stir it up
~ by Mike Ferguson
Brought on stage by a powerful version of “I Want My Life to Make a Difference” by G. Phillip Shoultz, III, who provided music for the Association of Partners in Christian Education‘s annual event this week, keynoter John Pavlovitz continued his theme Friday of dealing with the turbulence in our lives. Along with more than 500 people attending in person in Birmingham, Alabama, and another 150 or so online, Pavlovitz is exploring Mark 4:35-41, an account of Jesus’ stilling a storm for terrified disciples accompanying him on a boat.
“The question for today is, can comfort only truly come through the turbulence?” Pavlovitz asked. “Is the shaking the path through which we become the peacemakers? Can we give thanks for terrible things?”
The injuries we suffer “define the kind of people we become, the work we do and the mark we leave,” Pavlovitz said.
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Clockwise from top left are the Rev. Lee Catoe, the Rev. Denise Anderson, Rabbi Alana Suskin and Hamza Khan. (Screenshot) | |
The PC(USA)’s ‘Just Talk Live’ takes on a tough topic during the second episode of a new season -
Webinar explores how to become an ally dismantling antisemitism and Islamophobia
Tuesday’s episode of “Just Talk Live” delivered lessons on how to dismantle antisemitism and Islamophobia. Chief among them: Building relationships.
“The best way to be an ally is to show up and be a friend first,” said Hamza Khan, one of two guests featured on the livestreamed show, available here.
Joining him in conversation was Rabbi Alana Suskin. They are co-founders of the Pomegranate Initiative, a nonprofit organization working to combat Islamophobia and antisemitism in the U.S., including in their home state of Maryland.
Suskin is a friend of the Rev. Denise Anderson, the Presbyterian Mission Agency Director of Compassion, Peace and Justice, who co-hosted the episode with the Rev. Lee Catoe, the editor of Unbound: An Interactive Journal of Christian Social Justice.
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Stewardship & Sustainability | |
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We are sorry that the livestream for the Annual Meeting was not working last week. It was a good time had by all reflecting on the work that GCPC has done over the last year.
Our good news to report is that we did hit our million dollar pledge goal!!
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READY TO SUBMIT YOUR 2023 PLEDGE?
Submitting your pledge is quick and easy! (Watch a tutorial video here.) Simply CLICK HERE or scan the Qr code to the right to submit your pledge online, all in one form.
If you would also like to set up automatic eGiving from your bank account or credit card, be sure to checkmark Add a scheduled gift for this pledge after the pledge confirmation and follow the prompts. These are two separate steps and forms - setting up a pledge does not renew eGiving automatically and eGiving without a pledge doesn't count towards our Stewardship and budget goals.
You will receive an email confirmation of your pledge and a separate confirmation for eGiving, if applicable. Questions or concerns? Please contact Natalie Weaver, Stewardship & Financial Administrator, at giving@gcpcusa.org or leave a message at 828.254.3274.
Keep in mind, anyone can pledge any amount - every single penny helps support the ministry and mission at GCPC!
WAYS TO PLEDGE:
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Online pledge card HERE
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Email giving@gcpcusa.org
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Call 828.254.3274 and leave a message for Natalie Weaver
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Fill out a pew pledge card and put in the Sunday offering plate
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Request a mailed pledge card from the office
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Asheville Parks & Recreation celebrates Black culture with special events in February | |
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Throughout the year, Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) and its partners share unique stories, rich culture, and opportunities for all community members to reflect on Black history, heritage, and hope. Programming staff are hosting events at community centers in February to celebrate Black History and Legacy Month.
“February is a time to recognize, celebrate, and highlight the struggles, successes, and contributions of Black Americans,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “Through art, food, movies, and more, the community is invited to pay tribute to the legacy of achievement in the context of Asheville’s and the nation’s pasts and shine a light on inspirational moments happening in the present that will define our futures. Everyone is invited to celebrate and thoughtfully reflect at one or more of these opportunities.”
Black History and Legacy Month Highlights
All events are free, but advance registration is recommended as space may be limited. In addition to these special events, many community centers will display youth projects emphasizing Black historical figures and literary heroes throughout the month.
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Feb. 4, 5-8 p.m. – Black History Month Celebration at Burton Street Community Center - Join Burton Street friends and neighbors for food, drinks, and a viewing of Becoming, Nadira Hallgreen’s documentary following Michelle Obama’s travels and work through her book tour for her memoir of the same name. Please call (828) 254-1943 for more info.
(Stay tuned next week for more upcoming events)
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The church office is open Tuesday - Thursday, 10am - 4pm.
We recommend calling ahead or emailing to set up an appointment if you are wanting to meet with a specific staff member. Please note, many staff are off or work remotely on Monday and the office is not open on Friday.
Coming to visit? We have a new video doorbell to assist with security. To access the building or office, please enter through the far left glass doors off the courtyard (labeled Enter). Ring the doorbell to have the door unlocked. The GCPC office is down the hall to the right, just past the Sanctuary.
You can also reach our office by phone at 828.254.3274. Follow the prompts for the staff directory to dial by name or press 0 for the main office.
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Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church
789 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28804
828.254.3274
www.gcpcusa.org
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