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Worship Preview | Sunday, February 12, 2023
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
In-person and Online Service
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*For the full revised common lectionary, please click here. | |
| Sunday, February 12 | Hybrid Worship
(In-person and online) | 9:30 am @ GCPC
(also on Youtube) | | Sunday, February 12 | Fellowship Time | 10:45 am | Narthex | | Sunday, February 12 | Formation for All Ages | 11:00 am
*please see details below | | Sunday, February 12 | Middle School Youth Lunch | 12:15 pm | Youth Room | | Monday, February 13 | PW Circle 1 Mtg. | 10:00 am | Fellowship Hall | | Tuesday - Thursday | Church Office OPEN | 10:00 am - 4:00 pm | | Tuesday, February 14 | Prayer Group | 10:00 am | Jerusalem Room | | Tuesday, February 14 | PW Circle 4 Mtg. | 10:30 am | Offsite | | Tuesday, February 14 | Property Council Mtg. | 6:00 pm on Zoom
(new zoom link) | | Wednesday, Feb. 15 | Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) Group | 11:00 am | Jerusalem Room (also on Zoom) | | Wednesday, Feb. 15 | Bible Study | 12:00 pm | Jerusalem Room (also on Zoom) | | Wednesday, Feb. 15 | Just Funding Mtg. | 6:00 pm | Youth Room | | Wednesday, Feb. 15 | Centering Prayer | 6:00 pm | Sanctuary | | Wednesday, Feb. 15 | Choir Rehearsal | 7:00 pm | Sanctuary | | Thursday, February 16 | APNC Mtg. | 6:15 pm on Zoom | | Thursday, February 16 | PW Circle 3 Mtg. | 7:00 pm | Offsite | | |
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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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Middle School Youth Lunch | Sunday, February 12 | 12:15 PM | Youth Room
Middle School Youth Group will be this Sunday immediately following worship at 12:15 (Super Bowl Sunday). We will make sandwiches together and have a conversation about LOVE.
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Centering Prayer | Wednesdays | 6:00 - 6:30 PM | Sanctuary
Join us on Wednesdays to sit in sacred silence and feel God closely.
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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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Important Announcements... | |
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Earth Team @ GCPC | Sunday, February 19 | 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Fellowship Hall
Seven of us from GCPC have just returned from the Creation Care Symposium inspired and challenged as we strategize next steps at Grace Covenant.
We will meet Sunday 2/19 after Sunday School in the Fellowship Hall to plan ‘what’s next’ at Grace Covenant as we strive to care for God’s Creation and re-energize the EARTH TEAM. Please join us!
Bring your own bagged lunch or email Kathy Singleton at kathywilsonsingleton@gmail.com to order a lunch from Green Sage as some of us will be doing. Email Susan Presson at 4pressons@gmail.com if you have questions.
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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.
We have 8 pews left!! 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 | |
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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 (2/5-2/11): Carolyn Haag | email: cjhaag88@gmail.com
Next week (2/12-2/18): Pam Baker | email: pam.dunkin56@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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The online and downloadable series, “With Creation: A Native and Indigenous Lenten Devotional,” will feature 12 Native American or Indigenous writers and is intended to fill a need within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). | |
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‘The Western worldview will not sustain our future,’ contributing writer says
~ by Darla Carter
A Lenten devotional from the staff of Unbound: An Interactive Journal of Christian Social Justice will highlight Native American and Indigenous voices and perspectives, from Ash Wednesday to Easter.
“Native and Indigenous voices and perspectives are often ignored or silenced, especially in the context of the church and faith, though their voices and perspectives have always been here,” said the Rev. Lee Catoe, editor of Unbound.
Read more here
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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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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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Community Working Together | |
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Earth Day is Coming. Is Your Church Ready? | TONIGHT! 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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Update on Winter Safe Shelter, a collaborative effort between GCPC, Grace Episcopal, and Trinity United Methodist | |
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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.
We are also looking for some women’s clothing, small/medium 5-6 sizes, undergarments & comfortable clothes for a few of our guests. Check out the most current needed items by clicking here.
Also, if anyone has a queen-size bed frame for our recently housed family, that would be amazing- reach out to one of our Operations Coordinators.
Last, see what is emerging out of the community at WSS. The Restored Dream Project is re-emerging at the Winter Safe Shelter. Click here to learn more from its founder and resident of WSS, JoeRob.
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Racial Justice Coalition Community Call on January 26th | |
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Racial Equity Institute (REI) Upcoming Trainings
The Western North Carolina Racial Equity Collective is a collective of volunteers in counties across the mountains working to create more equitable communities. Together we organize to bring the Racial Equity Institute workshops and trainings to our area and beyond, as well as facilitate community conversations about race, racism and how both are operating in our communities.
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Interfaith Initiative -
Social Justice Opportunities
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Buncombe Community Remembrance Project | | |
Devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have killed at least 3,400 people and injured thousands more. (Photo courtesy of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance) | |
PC(USA) offers assistance for the people of earthquake-ravaged Syria and Turkey -
Long-term relationships with partners make it possible to ‘stand in solidarity’ with those in crisis
~ by Darla Carter
Amid news of a devastating earthquake in Syria and Turkey, the Presbyterian Mission Agency has reached out to offer assistance to partners in the area, where thousands have died, and is asking Presbyterians to pray for those impacted by the quake and its aftershocks.
Through a coordinated response by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and World Mission, PMA has contacted multiple long-term partners of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) including the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon; the Middle East Council of Churches; the Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue; and the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches.
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Fathi Mohamed Ali sits with two of her children outside of their makeshift shelter. (Photo courtesy of Kaalmo Relief and Development) | |
PC(USA) partner in Somalia: Conflict and climate change push millions close to famine -
Somalis abandon their homes in search of food, water and aid as drought deepens
~ by Yusuf Abdirahman,
Kaalmo Relief and Development
A devastating drought has displaced one million Somalis since January 2021, and more people are expected to flee as communities face the prospect of famine in 2023. First, the rains failed, then Al-Shabab, an armed group that controls large swathes of south-central Somalia, started to impose hefty taxes on local farmers like Fathi Mohamed Ali.
With the river dry, no food for the children and no money to pay the tax, the 45-year-old mother of seven fled her home in Lower Shabelle where she and her husband had once grown fruits and vegetables. “Some people were killed [by Al-Shabab] and others arrested, including my own mother,” she said. “We had to escape for our lives, I could not even bring all my children. I left four of them with their grandmother. I just took the youngest three kids with me.”
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Stewardship & Sustainability | |
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IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO SUBMIT YOUR 2023 PLEDGE!
Submitting your pledge is quick and easy! Simply CLICK HERE or scan the Qr code to the right to submit your pledge online, all in one form. You will receive an email confirmation of your pledge.
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. 16, 2-4 p.m. – Celebrating Black Asheville at Harvest House Community Center - Learn about important moments in local Black history from guest speakers who lived through the journey followed by a group discussion led by Ms. Sarah Hart, a Stephens-Lee High School alum. Please call (828) 350-2061 for more info.
(Stay tuned next week for more upcoming events)
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Click here for a Primer for Christian Nationalism Discussion | |
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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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