Midweek News July 3, 2024

July 3, 2024

Announcements and Items of Interest

Communion Sunday. July 7, 2024. Worship at 11:00 a.m. Please join us following worship in the fellowship hall to celebrate July birthdays with birthday cake!

The Church Choir meets at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday in the sanctuary for practice before worship. All are welcome to join!

The and Crocheting Group meets in the fellowship hall this Wednesday from 1- 3 p.m. Come and enjoy some great fellowship and make winter hats and scarves for the homeless in our area. You can also bring any craft to work on. Contact Janis Kenyon for more information. (828) 898-3339.

Our Wednesday Bible Study Group is meeting on Wednesday, July 3, at 3 p.m. in the fellowship hall for the second week of Rev. Maggie Lauterer’s 4-week study on John Philip Newell’s book, The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings.

Last Sunday’s God’s Creation worship service was a beautiful celebration with May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center ani-mal ambassadors and staff sharing in the service. We were able to be outside under the canopy of trees on our church grounds as we recognized God’s blessings and our responsibilities in caring for all creation. Thank you to the volunteers who came to set up and take down this past Sunday’s outdoor worship service and also to those who saw a need and just jumped in to help!

CPC Men’s Breakfast Group will meet at Kaye’s Down by the River (formerly Kaye’s Kitchen) this Friday, July 6, at 8:30 a.m.

The next Session meeting is on Tuesday, July 9 at 3:00 p.m. in the fellowship hall.

As part of our Summer Series of Speakers and Music Concerts, on Tuesday, July 16, 7p.m., in the Crossnore Presbyterian Church Sanctuary, 200 Chapel Drive, Bobby Taylor and The Jazz Kings will perform selections from The Great American Songbook. This group of world-class musicians will honor the legacy of composer Hoagy Carmichael, by performing several of his timeless compositions. Also included will be the performance of several other jazz standards! The band, with members hailing from Hilton Head and Rock Hill, SC, to Hickory, Boone, and Elizabethton, TN joined by Crossnore native Maggie Lauterer, vocalist! The concert is free, donations will be accepted.

Do everything in love. ~ Corinthians 16:14

Our July potluck will be our annual picnic at the Pavilion at the Point in Linville Land Harbor on Sunday, July 21. We will gather at 1 p.m. following worship. The church will be providing Hot Dogs, Hamburgers and Buns, Cheese, Condiments, and bags of chips. Please bring your favorite side or dessert. We need 3 volunteers to bring an ice chest with ice and a case of bottled water, please contact Gayle to let her know if you wish to volunteer to bring water. You can reach Gayle. If you are interested in helping on the grill team, please contact John Kehoe.

Thanks to Jane Sowder for hosting a wonderful Women’s Gathering this past Thursday at her home and her beautiful daylily fields

Update on the CPC Roof Replacement and Sanctuary Repairs: Time to do a “Happy Dance.” The Roof Committee received approval from the National Historic Preservation Fund for the color of our roof tile! The roof tile was ordered last week, and we are on our way to beginning construction in the Spring of 2025. Thanks to everyone who has contributed funds, time, expertise, and prayers for this long journey that will continue through next summer. Our roof funds are still earning over 5%. Our construction manager, Mike Gragg, is working on getting bids for all the different construction pieces.

The next Mayland Fellowship Gathering will be held on Sunday, July 14, at Fletcher Presbyterian Church, 1578 Cow Camp Road, Newland, NC. This is CP Roger Wise’s congregation. Dinner at 5:30 p.m. followed by a business meeting. At 7 p.m., Dave Cohn, the Director of Holston Center and Camp will give an update on Holston Center programs and events. Everyone is invited!

Update from WAMY- one of our partners in mission: “Thank you for helping the World Changers Project with your donation of $1,000. We have received all the funding needed to offer 14 home repairs during the week of July 8th. In Service, Allison Jennings, WAMY Director of Development.”

Feeding Avery Families needs volunteers to help distribute food on Wednesdays. Please check out their volunteer page: www.feedingaveryfamilies.org. Volunteers are also needed at Reaching Avery Ministry (Ram’s Rack) next to the Dollar General in Newland. They need help from volunteers to assist in the thrift store. You can show up and they will put you to work! Mon-Fri: 9:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Sat: 9 a.m.- 3 p.m

Midweek News June 26, 2024

June 26, 2024

Announcements and Items of Interest

This Sunday, June 30, is our annual “Celebration of God’s Creation” Worship Service in the church’s upper parking lot. The animal ambassadors, along with the staff from May Wildlife Rehab Center at Lees-McRae College, will be joining us for outdoor worship. You can come at 10:30 a.m. and meet the owls, hawks, eagles, birds, and squirrels before 11 a.m. worship. Please bring a chair and something cool to drink and your donations for Food for People and Pets and Daily Change.

The Church Choir meets at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday in the sanctuary for practice before worship. All are welcome to join!

The Knitting and Crocheting Group meets in the fellowship hall on Wednesdays from 1- 3 p.m. Come and enjoy some great fellowship and make winter hats and scarves for the homeless in our area. You can also bring any craft to work on. Contact Janis Kenyon for more information. (828) 898-3339.

Our Wednesday Bible Study Group will resume next Wednesday, June 26, at 3 p.m. in the fellowship hall. Rev. Maggie Lauterer will be leading a 4-week study on John Philip Newell’s book, The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings. The walls of Western Christianity are collapsing. In many parts of the West, that collapse can only be described as seismic. There are three main responses or reactions to this collapse. The first is to deny that it is happening. The second is to frantically try to shore up the foundations of the old thing. The third, which I invite us into, is to ask what is trying to be born that requires a radical reorientation of our vision. What is the new thing that is trying to emerge from deep within us and from deep within the collective soul of Christianity?" In the midst of dramatic changes in Western Christianity, internationally respected spiritual leader, peacemaker and scholar John Philip Newell offers the hope of a fresh stirring of the Spirit among us. He invites us to be part of a new holy birth of sacred living. To reserve a book, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The next CPC Women’s Gathering will be held this Thursday, June 27, 4-6 p.m., at Jane Sowder’s home. The daylilies will be in full bloom to stroll through and enjoy! Please bring something salty or sweet to share and your beverage of choice.

Next Summer Series Program: This Tuesday, July 2 , 7 p.m., Church Sanctuary Dr. Jim Goff, a scholar of American religious history at Appalachian State University, will present “Elvis and Religion.” Dr. Goff will discuss Elvis Presley’s complicated and contradictory relationship with his Christian faith. Elvis was raised as a member of the Assemblies of God Church and was enamored by the rhythms and the message of gospel music. His earliest musical heroes were gospel singers, both Black and White. As his musical career took off, Elvis was both influenced and haunted by the decidedly evangelical and Pentecostal strictures of his youth. Despite his hedonistic lifestyle, he never completely abandoned his Christian beliefs. On the day of his untimely death in 1977, Elvis was reading a book titled A Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus and listening to a Christian album by the Stamps Quartet titled “Sweet, Sweet Spirit.”

Update on the CPC Mission Project: UnDue Medical Debt: So far, our donations for the final $4,000 have come to $600. This amazing non-profit called “Undue Medical Debt” helps wipe out medical debt in the United States. In fact, this non-profit has wiped out 12 billion dollars of medical debt for over 70 million people in all 50 states in the past decade. We have an anonymous donor who is giving $10,000 to help pay personal medical debt in Avery, Mitchell, and McDowell Counties.  The Session has approved giving $1,000 which will come from monies already collected in the mission fund. With $11,000, we can wipe out over 2 million dollars of medical debt in the three counties and completely cover the unpaid medical debt in Avery County.  The Session has set the goal at $15,000, which means we only have $4,000 left to raise before the end of 2024. This will wipe out over 3 million dollars of medical debt and may completely cover the unpaid medical debt in all three counties. To qualify for this program, people’s income must be below the poverty line or meet a ratio of their debt to their income.  If you would like to make a donation to UnDue Medical Debt, please make your check out to “Crossnore Presbyterian Church” and designate for UnDue Medical Debt. The church’s mailing address is P.O. Box 386, Crossnore, NC 28616.

Update on the CPC Roof Replacement and Sanctuary Repairs: Time to do a “Happy Dance.” The Roof Committee received approval from the National Historic Preservation Fund for the color of our roof tile! The roof tile will be ordered this week and we are on our way to beginning construction in the Spring of 2025. The photo shows the color of our roof tile. Thanks to everyone who has contributed funds, time, expertise, and prayers for this long journey that will continue through next summer. Our roof funds are still earning over 5%. Our construction manager, Mike Gragg, is working on getting bids for all the different construction pieces.

The next Mayland Fellowship Gathering will be held on Sunday, July 14, at Fletcher Presbyterian Church, 1578 Cow Camp Road, Newland, NC. This is CP Roger Wise’s congregation. Dinner at 5:30 p.m. followed by a business meeting. At 7 p.m., Dave Cohn, the Director of Holston Center and Camp will give an update on Holston Center programs and events. Everyone is invited!

Update from WAMY- one of our non-profit partners in mission: “Thank you for the World Changers Project with your donation of $1,000. We have received all the funding needed to offer 14 home repairs during the week of July 8^th. In Service, Allison Jennings, WAMY Director of Development.”

The Congregational Fellowship Committee needs volunteers to host Coffee Hour after worship on the first and second Sundays of the month this summer. If you would like to help, you can choose a date or two or serve once a month. Please contact Gayle Culbreath at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Feeding Avery Families really needs volunteers to help distribute food on Wednesdays. Please check out their volunteer page: www. feedingaveryfamilies.org. Volunteers are also needed at Reaching Avery Ministry (Ram’s Rack) next to the Dollar General in Newland. They need help from volunteers to assist in the thrift store. You can show up and they will put you to work! Mon-Fri: 9:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Sat: 9 a.m.- 3 p.m.

Midweek News June 19, 2024

June 19, 2024

Announcements and Items of Interest

Sunday, June 23, 2024. Worship at 11:00 a.m. We collect Food for People and Pets and Daily Change, on the last Sunday of the month, so remember to bring your donations this week if you didn’t bring them last week (I was a week ahead in my reminder for last week)

The Church Choir meets at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday in the sanctuary for practice before worship. All are welcome to join!

The CPC Finance Committee wants the congregation to be aware that we need $18,000 each month to keep our church operating. The last couple of months we have been in the red. Our June Mission Project is strengthening our General Fund. If you can give a little extra this month, it would be a great blessing. You can still designate your offering if you want your contribution to go to a specific ministry or mission.

The Knitting and Crocheting Group meets in the fellowship hall on Wednesdays from 1- 3 p.m. Come and enjoy some great fellowship and make winter hats and scarves for the homeless in our area. You can also bring any craft to work on. Contact Janis Kenyon for more information.

Our Wednesday Bible Study Group will resume next Wednesday, June 26, at 3 p.m. in the fellowship hall. Rev. Maggie Lauterer will be leading a 4-week study on John Philip Newell’s book, The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings. The walls of Western Christianity are collapsing. In many parts of the West, that collapse can only be described as seismic. There are three main responses or reactions to this collapse. The first is to deny that it is happening. The second is to frantically try to shore up the foundations of the old thing. The third, which I invite us into, is to ask what is trying to be born that requires a radical reorientation of our vision. What is the new thing that is trying to emerge from deep within us and from deep within the collective soul of Christianity?" In the midst of dramatic changes in Western Christianity, internationally respected spiritual leader, peacemaker, and scholar John Philip Newell offers the hope of a fresh stirring of the Spirit among us. He invites us to be part of a new holy birth of sacred living. To reserve a book, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The next CPC Women’s Gathering will be held on Thursday, June 27, 4-6 p.m., at Jane Sowder’s home. Call the church office for the address. The daylilies will be in full bloom to stroll through and enjoy! Please bring something salty or sweet to share and your beverage of choice.

The Congregational Fellowship Committee needs volunteers to host Coffee Hour after worship on the first and second Sundays of the month this summer. If you would like to help, you can choose a date or two or serve once a month. Please contact Gayle Culbreath.

The second in our 2024 Summer Series of Speakers and Music Concerts will be on Tuesday, July 2, at 7 p.m., in the CPC Church Sanctuary Dr. Jim Goff, a scholar of American religious history at Appalachian State University, will present “Elvis and Religion.” Dr. Goff will discuss Elvis Presley’s complicated and contradictory relationship with his Christian faith. Elvis was raised as a member of the Assemblies of God Church and was enamored by the rhythms and the message of gospel music. His earliest musical heroes were gospel singers, both Black and White. As his musical career took off, Elvis was both influenced and haunted by the decidedly evangelical and Pentecostal strictures of his youth. Despite his hedonistic lifestyle, he never completely abandoned his Christian beliefs. On the day of his untimely death in 1977, Elvis was reading a book titled A Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus and listening to a Christian album by the Stamps Quartet titled “Sweet, Sweet Spirit.”

Feeding Avery Families really needs volunteers to help distribute food on Wednesdays. Please check out their volunteer page: www. feedingaveryfamilies.org. Volunteers are also needed at Reaching Avery Ministry (Ram’s Rack) next to the Dollar General in Newland. They need help from volunteers to assist in the thrift store. You can show up and they will put you to work! Mon-Fri: 9:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Sat: 9 a.m.- 3 p.m.

Midweek News June 12, 2024

June 12, 2024

Announcements and Items of Interest

Sunday, June 16, 2024. Worship at 11:00 a.m. We will collect Food for People and Pets and Daily Change, so remember to gather your donations this week and bring them to church on Sunday.

Our June Potluck will be held this Sunday, June 16, after worship in the fellowship hall. The theme is “Under the Tuscan Sun.” So, bring out your best Italian recipes-- a main dish, veggie, or dessert to share!

Session will meet this Thursday, Jun 13, 3 p.m., in the fellowship hall.

Last week during our Sunday worship service, we welcomed our new member: Skip Carlson: I was born and raised in Annapolis, MD. My new bride and I moved to southeast Florida in 1963. After working for RCA for three years and being laid off along with 1,300 other employees, I started a wholesale seafood business. After 41 years of hard work and devotion, I sold my business. I have resided in Avery County on and off for 11 years. Raised Catholic, I eventually joined the Lutheran Church and have found my new church home at Crossnore Presbyterian.

The Church Choir meets at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday in the sanctuary for practice before worship. All are welcome to join!

The CPC Finance Committee wants the congregation to be aware that we need $18,000 each month to keep our church operating. The last couple of months we have been in the red. Our June Mission Project is strengthening our General Fund. If you can give a little extra this month, it would be a great blessing. You can still designate your offering if you want your contribution to go to a specific ministry or mission.

The Knitting and Crocheting Group meets in the fellowship hall on Wednesdays from 1- 3 p.m. Come and enjoy some great fellowship and make winter hats and scarves for the homeless in our area. You can also bring any craft to work on. Contact Janis Kenyon for more information.

Tuesday, June 18, 7:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary. The first event in the CPC Summer Series of Speakers and Music Concerts will begin as Dr. Karl Campbell, Professor of History, Appalachian State University, presents “The Roaring 20s in North Carolina.” The 1920s are remembered as a time of contrasts. New inventions such as the automobile, airplane, radio, and motion pictures--and new ideas from scholars like Freud, Marx, and Darwin--stimulated a generation of modern scholars, writers, artists, and even flappers. But the 1920s also marked a period of growing conservatism. Many Americans fought to defend traditional values through the anti-evolution movement, the rise of fundamentalism, prohibition, and the rebirth of the K.K.K. Dr. Karl Campbell will discuss the roaring twenties in North Carolina by analyzing three specific events: the politics of Governor Cam Morrison, changes in courtship practices (dating), and the fight over teaching Darwinism.

The next CPC Women’s Gathering will be held on Thursday, June 27, 4-6 p.m., at Jane Sowder’s home. The daylilies will be in full bloom to stroll through and enjoy! Please bring something salty or sweet to share and your beverage of choice.

Our Wednesday Bible Study Group will resume on Wednesday, June 26, at 3 p.m. in the fellowship hall. Rev. Maggie Lauterer will be leading a 4-week study on John Philip Newell’s book, The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings. Newell writes: "The walls of Western Christianity are collapsing. In many parts of the West, that collapse can only be described as seismic. There are three main responses or reactions to this collapse. The first is to deny that it is happening. The second is to frantically try to shore up the foundations of the old thing. The third, which I invite us into, is to ask what is trying to be born that requires a radical reorientation of our vision. What is the new thing that is trying to emerge from deep within us and from deep within the collective soul of Christianity?" In the midst of dramatic changes in Western Christianity, internationally respected spiritual leader, peacemaker and scholar John Philip Newell offers the hope of a fresh stirring of the Spirit among us. He invites us to be part of a new holy birth of sacred living. To reserve a book, contact Pastor Kathy.

An update on the Crossnore Presbyterian Church Roof Project from the CPC Roof Committee: We have met our goal of raising $600,000! The money is now invested and is earning over 5% interest. Thanks to everyone who contributed to make all this possible! The National Trust for Historic Preservation is currently working with our Roof Committee to select the color of the roof tile. This process has been long and complicated. We think we’ve finally found the right Ludowici tile color and hope to place the order this month. Because our church is listed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings, the color must be approved. It will take 30 weeks for the tiles to be manufactured and shipped. Mike Gragg, our construction manager, will get the bids in by August for all the specialty work on the sanctuary repairs and the roof replacement. The actual construction and repairs will begin in the Spring of 2025. We have so much to be thankful for as we continue to be Christ’s Body in ministry and mission and prepare for this critical capital project.

Feeding Avery Families invites everyone to come to celebrate and honor Dick Larson for his work with Feeding Avery Families at 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, June 19. at the pantry - 189 Old Vale Road, Newland, NC 28657! Unbeknownst to him, we will present a sign naming the pantry for him, so mum’s the word. We want to gather to show him with smiles and applause how much we appreciate his gifts and energies for this cause that mitigates hunger in our community. Parking is limited, so consider carpooling, if possible.

The Congregational Fellowship Committee needs volunteers to host Coffee Hour after worship on the first and second Sundays of the month this summer. If you would like to help, you can choose a date or two or serve once a month. Please get in touch with Gayle Culbreath.