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IT IS NOT TOO
LATE! Sign up today.
Annual Church Retreat “Named and Claimed” This year’s
annual church retreat “Named and Claimed” will be held in Montreat the
weekend of September 17—19. REGISTRATION WAS DUE JULY 12, but
there is still space available. Call the church office to sign
up today. The committee is looking for record turn out this year as we get
to know our new pastor, Mark Burnham and his family.
88
ATTENTION 115
Who can guess the meaning of the numbers 88 and 115?
RIGHT!
There are 115 days left until Christmas and 88 days until
the beginning of Advent. So, pull out your pens, pencils, and paper; your
memories, favorite poems, songs, stories, and scriptures having to do with
Advent, Christmas, and/ or Epiphany and get busy crafting a meditation to
share with the FPC family through the Advent-Epiphany Meditation booklet.
You say you submitted one last year? GREAT! You already have the tools and
ideas to do it again this year. You are not sure if you have the talent to
do this? YOU DO! Start now, and get it finished early. Questions? Call
Evelyn Jarrett, 683-6865, or Valorie Vliek, 277-6111.
Creation Care Task Force
A
new Creation Care Task Force is forming at First Church to help reduce our
impact on God’s creation. You are invited to an introductory meeting (with
dessert) on
September 20 at 7:00 pm
at the home of Julie Lehman & Michael Poulos 15 Cisco Rd. Asheville 28805
to discuss activities that we hope to accomplish this year. The Creation
Care Task Force will not have regular meetings and the activities will be
completed through “task groups” of members with similar interests.
Communication will be mostly through e-mail.
Many environmental improvements have already been accomplished at First
Presbyterian, and the Task Force will continue
the great work that has been started. We will be using the new PC(USA)
program,
Earth Care Congregations,
to provide a framework for continuing our efforts to be good stewards of
God’s earth. Many of the activities we will be doing in the areas of
worship, education, facilities and outreach will count toward our
certification as an Earth Care
Congregation.
Men’s Discipleship Studies
This group is for men of all ages who desire fellowship,
discussion of scripture, honest conversation and growth in Christ. Come
join us! For more information call John Webb 210-7126 or e-mail at
jwebb@webbins.com.
MEETINGS: the 1st &
3rd Sundays monthly
5- 7:00pm; Room 112.
Sept. Meetings: 9/5, 9/19
Prayer Shawl Ministry
All men and women
of the church are invited to share this ministry!
9/8, 9/22 from 4– 5:30pm
Marguerite Morgan Room. The group format is open, come for as long as you
can whenever you can.
Men’s Breakfast Conversation Group
All men of our congregation are invited and encouraged to
join us at 8:00am at Posana’s Cafe for breakfast and conversation
Tuesday, September 21st.
RSVP: Larry Fincher (298– 4906) or Bob Cerwin (299-1120)
Sewing Group
will meet in the Sewing Room,
Monday, September 20, 10am.
Contact Helga Barden (253-3292).
Women’s Dinner at the Olive Garden
All women—members
and visitors,
are invited to gather for food and fellowship at The Olive Garden on
Tunnel Road,
Tuesday, September 14 at 7pm.
Please email or call Nancy McNeill the Monday before
by 12 noon
for reservation.
NEW BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY!
Put
away your beach reads and check out the new books in the church library.
You will find them on the carrousel in the Library or on the book cart in
the Wallace Foyer. We have something for everyone. For young children
there is Jerry Pinkney’s award winning
The Lion and the Mouse.
Young people and parents will want to check out
Halos and Avatars, Playing Video Games with God.
Following up on our study of forgiveness is
The Art of Forgiving
and
Wounds Not Healed by Time.
In biography,
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
has
had outstanding reviews. John Haught challenges and enriches the
contemporary discourse between science and religion in
Making Sense of Evolution, Darwin, God, and the Drama of Life.
Other
selections include in fiction
Preachers and Misfits, Prophets and Thieves,
and the latest Frederick Buechner stories, poems and essays,
The Yellow Leaves.
Also
The Great Emergence, How Christianity is Changing and Why,
The Will of God, Answering the Hard Questions Among Others.
If
you are willing to write a review of a book especially meaningful or
interesting please contact Bonnie Welden, Librarian.
Women’s Studies will have our
first gathering for the year at Givens Estates, on September 28, at 6:00
p.m. Sue Bennett will be the hostess for the evening and our program will
be presented by Ellen Dozier. This promises to be an interesting and
inspiring message on the work of the Presbyterian Church in
Guatemala. Ellen was pastor at Grace Covenant Presbyterian and then lived
in Guatemala for a number of years. She will have stories, reflections
and insights into the workings of our church in that country.
All women of the church are welcome to join us,
bring a dish for our pot luck dinner and enjoy an evening of food, fun and
fellowship. There will be a carpool from the lower parking lot of the
church at 5:30 p.m. Please, contact the church receptionist if you would
like to come, so that we can tell Sue how many to expect. If you want to
carpool, we need to know that too.
Massanetta Springs Middle School
Conference 2010
This July, our middle school youth traveled to Massanetta Springs Camp and
Conference Center for four days of exciting activities and opportunities
to grow in their faith. Located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the heart
of the Shenandoah Valley, Massanetta (or ‘Netta, as it is affectionately
known) is truly a special place.
The
theme of this year’s middle school conference was “One-eighty”; this theme
was based on Romans 12:1-2 “Do not be conformed to his world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your minds.” Throughout the conference,
our group learned about ways God might be calling us to make one-eighty
degree changes in our faith and actions. Through games, workshops, small
groups, keynote address, and back-home groups, our middlers grew closer to
God and to one another. Our group also participated in a service project
one evening, as the conference partnered with Stop Hunger Now to package
10,000 meals destined for hungry people around the world.
Although the weather was quite warm this year, the
occasional
dip in the spring-fed swimming pool or trip down the 100-ft “slip-n-slide”
kept us cool. All in all, the trip was a great success: our group
returned home safely with many stories, new friends, a little sleep
deprivation, and a deeper walk with Christ.
Joshua Robinson
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