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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Pics of the week
• This Week @ GCPC - Calendar and description of events this week @ GCPC
• Important Announcements
• Prayer List
• Upcoming @ GCPC
• GCPC Community Garden News
• Community Working Together - Includes info from Covenant & Ministry Partners
• GCPC Out & About - Info about events in the wider Asheville community
• Stewardship & Sustainability

#GCPCinthesanctuary

#GCPCathomeandabroad

Montreat Picnic, Playground, and Rockhopping

*For the full revised common lectionary, please click here.

In today’s world there is a renewed attack on the LGBTQ+ community as well as on women, ethnicities, and freedoms in general. Emboldened by the contemporary political climate, many states (including our own) have introduced legislation targeting our communities and limiting the rights, dignity, and physical safety of our family across the nation!

We might find ourselves wondering “why must we KEEP PROTESTING?” Sometimes it can be easy to fall into a feeling of hopelessness and even despair not knowing what we can do as individuals or even collectively to make things better.

One thing we can do is SING! And sing we shall…join us for

UPRISING! Not another protest song?!

Friday June 21, 2024 7:30 pm

Saturday, June 22, 2024 4:00 pm

Reception to follow

Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church

789 Merrimon Avenue, Asheville

This show will combine songs of protest and adversity, but also songs of hope and affirmation to help lift up our communities energetically to navigate the road ahead.

We'll be sharing the stage with special guest KAT WILLIAMS and jazz trio,

and look forward to seeing YOU there!

Get your tickets TODAY!

https://ashevillegaymenschorus.org/home/tickets/

Lectionary Bible Study | Wednesdays | 12:00 PM | Meeting Room E202 (Education Wing) and 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/89593021402

Meeting ID: 895 9302 1402 Passcode: 789

Centering Prayer | Wednesdays | 6:00 - 6:30 PM | Sanctuary

Pray with GCPC faith filled congregants on Wednesdays at 6pm in the sanctuary. It is a simple ritual. Light the God Candle and say blessings in your silence. We turn to our inward self and repeat a phrase such as Peace of Christ. If your mind wonders, it is okay. Just return to your phrase. Be gentle with yourself. After 20-30 minutes the candle is blown out and we show or say the Peace of Christ to each other. Rest in the peace as you leave.

If you can not be at GCPC, light a candle and be present to God.

A Service of Witness to the Resurrection and Thanksgiving for the Life of Charlie Clogston

Saturday, June 29 | 1:00 PM | Sanctuary (also on Youtube)

Early Bird Rate for Wisdom in the Woods ($50 off) ends on July 15th!

Last week, GCPC member, Betsy Richards got a trailer from U-Haul and picked up a bunch of stone from Jonathan Ross’s house. She used it to expand the borders of the butterfly garden. Here are some pictures of GCPC Earth Team member, Laura Seddon, and her friend helping to move those rocks into place.

Our next challenge is to get a load of dirt and fill the bed. We could use some strong arms in this project. If you are able to do that sometime soon, please contact Betsy Richards at larkspur0318@gmail.com. She would to line up the people before she orders the dirt. Thank you!

Monday, June 17 marked one year from Laura Ross’ death from breast cancer. Saving the Monarchs was one of her passions.  

From Tuesday evening May 28, through Thursday evening, June 6, I had the great privilege of traveling with a diverse group of faith leaders on a deeply meaningful pilgrimage/travel-study seminar, “Exploring the Legacies and Lessons of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. South.” Organized by staff from the PC (USA) Peacemaking Program and led by the Rev. James Ephraim, and Elders Debra Harton Love and Terri Moon Jones of northern Alabama’s Sheppards and Lapsley Presbytery, the group of about 30 was made up of Black, brown, and white-bodied women and men from a variety of faith traditions (Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal, Baptist) with Latin American, Asian, African, and European roots. Many serve as pastors or elders in churches throughout the U.S. One participant had just graduated from college, and five were students at Princeton Seminary.

  We began our journey in Birmingham, Alabama, gathering for an initial meal together and getting acquainted as we shared genealogical histories and names from our families of origin. For the next 9 days, we travelled by bus through Alabama and Mississippi, concluding in Memphis, Tennessee. We spent our first day walking through and learning the history of Birmingham’s Kelly Ingram Park and visiting the 16^th Street Baptist Church, as well as the Black neighborhood known as Dynamite Hill, where members of the Ku Klux Klan planted bombs at homes and churches. Then, travelling to Montgomery, we visited the Freedom Riders Museum in the building that had been the segregated Greyhound bus station and toured the Legacy Museum, the Lynching Memorial, and the newly opened Sculpture Garden, all of which have been developed by Bryan Stevenson. Arriving the next morning in Selma, we found ourselves totally engaged in a powerful living history experience, ‘Down by the River’, which, through participatory re-enactment, evokes embodied awareness of the brutal commodification of personhood that characterized enslavement.

  Later that day, we journeyed to rural, impoverished Wilcox County in the Alabama Black Belt where we visited the hamlet of AnneManie, site of a former boarding school founded and funded by the Presbyterian Church (USA) .  The next morning, having returned to Selma to spend the night, we had an opportunity to walk across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge. 

We then travelled to Mississippi, visiting the city of Jackson and touring the recently opened Mississippi Civil Rights Museum there. In downtown Jackson, we drove by the Governor’s mansion, a stately structure resembling the White House, and drove through the Farish Street neighborhood, an historic Black district which has suffered significant neglect. We saw firsthand the dramatic contrast between the poor condition of housing and lack of public services in the city , which is 80 – 95% Black, and the affluence concentrated in the surrounding, predominantly white suburbs. 

We spent a remarkable day in the Mississippi Delta, stopping in Money, Mississippi, at the heavily overgrown, badly deteriorated historic site of Bryant’s Grocery where, in the summer of 1955, Emmett Till was alleged to have whistled at a white female proprietor. We saw the Sunflower plantation barn, where he was tortured and murdered by two white men and heard a moving presentation in the Tallahatchie County courthouse in Sumner where the trial and acquittal took place. We visited Mound Bayou, a town founded by freedmen in 1887, touring the museum there where residents are committed to preserving and telling historical truths. Finally, we travelled to see the memorial to Fannie Lou Hamer in her hometown, the farming community of Ruleville. Our pilgrimage concluded in Memphis, Tennessee, with a memorable visit to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, the site where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

As I reflect on what was, for me, a revelatory and deeply moving trip, I am filled with prayers of gratitude for this inestimably valuable opportunity to visit historic locations and to meet and hear from women and men who, as young adults, engaged in non-violent resistance to secure civil and voting rights that had been denied for generations. Their courage and resilience in the face of threats, intimidation and lethal violence are an inspiration to us all as we continue seeking to dismantle white supremacy in ourselves, the church, and God’s wounded world.                             

2024 Flower Chart

There are many opportunities to sign up for flowers still!

GCPC will place the order each week. After signing up, email Anna Louise (annalouise@gcpcusa.org) your dedication for the bulletin or include it in the comment section in the sign-up.

To pay:

• Please mail your $75 check, payable to GCPC (with "Flowers" in the memo line) to 789 Merrimon Ave., Asheville, NC 28804 

or

• Pay $75 online at https://onrealm.org/gcpcusa/-/form/give/now (select "Worship-Flowers" for the fund type from the drop-down menu)

• GCPC Devotionals



• Email prayer@gcpcusa.org 

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 (6/16-6/22): Susan Meade | email:  rjmsfm@gmail.com

Next week (6/23-6/29): Liz Huesemann | email: lizhuesemann@gmail.com

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

Maria, Esteban, and Erik Goicoechea

Loretta Landis (Mother of Ray Landis)

Beth Newman

Grant Moss (Tiffany Kinnaird’s brother-in-law) 

The Reparations Process in Asheville/Buncombe County (From PART) 

Victoria McNeff (Bill McNeff's cousin)

John Riedesel (Steve Riedesel’s brother)

Gary Churchfield (Susie Churchfield's nephew)

Kristin Jacobs (Kathy Jacobs’ daughter) 

Gail Horvath (Janice Kominski's mom)

Patrick and Kristen Davis (co-worker of Tim Hamel)

Jorge Madamba (Ryan Madamba’s father); Dru Madamba (Ryan's mother); Karla Madamba (Ryan's sister)

Daniel Adams (Marta Alcala’s friend’s dad)

Margaret Rada

Susie Churchfield

Peggy Rada

Maurice and Bonnie Stone

Michelle Chromey and family

Stacey Haddenham

Mary Berg

Kathy Jacobs

Pamela Culp

Pam McGill has created A Caring Bridge site for Pamela Culp. You can follow her progress here: https://caringbridge.org/visit/pamelaculp2

A Service of Witness to the Resurrection and Thanksgiving for the Life of Charlie Clogston will be held at Grace Covenant on Saturday, June 29th at 1:00 pm in the Sanctuary and on our Youtube channel. A reception in the Atrium will follow the service.

The Faith 4 Justice event "Don't Say Race: A Faithful Response to the Assault on Racial Justice" is POSTPONED.

We will inform you of the date when it is rescheduled.

On Saturday, June 15 Team 2 had 8 volunteers who harvested these vegetables that were shared with Western Carolina Rescue Ministries.

They also planted flowers in Bed 6.

On Wednesday, June 19 Team 3 had 14 volunteers who harvested the vegetables listed below and shared them with Bounty and Soul.

They also weeded and watered several beds!

The RJC is excited to share the Every Black Voice campaign details of the Black and African American Visions for Reparative Transformation. This comprehensive document reflects valuable insights, feedback, and contributions from our dedicated community members.

Unmasking the 7 Mountains Mandate: Understanding and Countering Christian Nationalism | Tuesday, June 25 | 7:00 PM | Online

The 7 Mountains Mandate represents a framework of Christian Nationalism that aims to influence seven key spheres of society: Religion, Family, Education, Government, Media, Arts & Entertainment, and Business. This ideology can distort the core principles of both faith and democracy, leading to significant social and political ramifications.



Join us for a thought-provoking webinar featuring Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director of the North Carolina Council of Churches, and Kendal McBroom, Director of Civil and Human Rights at the General Board of Church and Society, The United Methodist Church. This event will help people make connections between the Seven Mandates and policies that are being enacted or proposed for our state and communities. Click here to register.

Explore the New Faith and Democracy Page

The brand-new Faith and Democracy webpage, specially designed to equip you with vital resources and information is available as we approach this election season. This page will act as a comprehensive hub for everything you need to navigate the intersection of faith and civic engagement, providing insightful articles, guides, and tools tailored to help you make informed decisions.

Whether you’re looking to deepen your understanding of key issues, explore how faith influences democratic processes, or find practical ways to get involved, the Faith and Democracy page has you covered. Stay informed, stay engaged, and join in making a meaningful impact this election season. 

SUBMIT YOUR 2024 PLEDGE!

CLICK HERE or scan the QR code to the right to submit your pledge online, all in one form.  If you would like to set up recurring online gifts, please continue to the next step or contact Brett Pinkston in the Finance Office. You will receive an email confirmation of your pledge.

WAYS TO PLEDGE:

• Online pledge card HERE
• Email giving@gcpcusa.org
• Call 828.254.3274 and leave a message for Brett Pinkston
• Fill out a pew pledge card and put in the Sunday offering plate
• Request a mailed pledge card from the office

Questions or concerns? Please contact Brett Pinkston, Stewardship & Financial Administrator, at giving@gcpcusa.org or leave a message at 828.254.3274. 

 The church office is open Monday - Thursday, 9am - 3pm.

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 video doorbell to assist with security. To access the building or office, please enter through the far left glass doors off the courtyard (the one labeled Enter). Ring the doorbell to have the door unlocked. The GCPC office is to the right, down the hall, past the Sanctuary. 

You can also reach our office by phone at 828.254.3274.

Marcia Mount Shoop - x. 203

Luke Harkema - x. 204

Amy Kim Kyremes-Parks - x. 205

Ray Landis - x. 207

Brett Pinkston- x. 202

Anna Louise Murchison- x. 201

Cliff Schlegelmilch- x. 206

• Click for the Online Calendar
• Click to Make a Secure Donation or Give a Gift  

Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church

789 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28804

828.254.3274 

www.gcpcusa.org