What's Happening This Week - October 30

As you have heard, Governor Cooper has recommended to move to Phase 3 in the reopening plan for North Carolina. The plan does not specifically address churches, largely because of the recent court ruling that the state cannot limit congregational gatherings. Centenary has sought to operate within the general guidelines of the Department of Health throughout this process.

In Phase 3, spaces such as church sanctuaries (namely movie theaters and music venues) are allowed to operate at 30% capacity or 100 persons, whichever is fewer. Our Chapel can hold approximately 150 persons. 30% of that would be 50 persons. Our Sanctuary can hold 400 persons, which would make the 100 person capacity lower. While we will not be taking reservations nor turning anyone away, we recommend keeping those numbers in mind as you plan for attendance at worship.

All who attend are asked to text “worship” to (252) 618-1411 in order for us to maintain records in the event of an infection. For anyone attending worship, we ask you to honor the social distance markers in each pew and wear a mask throughout worship. Please greet one another in non-contact ways — the holy nod, to borrow the phrase of St. Paul. Finally, our North Carolina Annual Conference guidelines say, “As singing is among the riskier behaviors because it spreads droplets/aerosols which can carry the virus a significant distance and remain suspended in the air highly increasing the risk of infection, congregations should refrain from group singing.” Please keep that in mind.

Additionally, for persons over 60 years of age, you may want to consider carefully attending any large gathering. We will continue to offer Facebook Live video for all 3 worship services as well as our radio broadcast (97.9 FM) for the 11:00am service.

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Advent-These eight months of Covid-19 have pulled us in so many directions and pushed us away from oneanother. We have worked to keep our connection to one another, and yet, we all can feel distant in these days. In liturgical churches, the prayer at the beginning of worship is known as a “collect.” Pronounced more like the description of a crying baby - colic - than the gathering of coins or stamps, it is intended to be a prayer that draws our thinking together around a single theme. This year, in preparation for Christmas, we are hoping to have a moment of “collect” around the theme of Incarnation. We will have a series of sermons, as well as opportunities for study and small group reflection using Adam Hamilton’s resource Incarnation. I hope you will plan to join us as we “collect” our minds and hearts before the manger.

WEDNESDAY WORSHIP - 12:00 PM ON WEDNESDAYS, IN THE CHAPEL. PLEASE WEAR A MASK AND FOLLOW ALL HEALTH SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.

First Wednesday Drive-Thru Community Meal-Wednesday, November 4. Serving begins at 5:30. Menu: baked ziti, salad, bread, brownies. Prepared by the Chadwick Sunday School Class. Everyone is welcome to pick up a free meal.

Backpack Blessings will have a mini build at Garner on November 5,6 & 7.  Due to COVID , there will only be 108 places available for packing over the three days.  Participants must wear a mask. We will be packing to help our partner school Oaks Road Academy.  Please use the following link to sign up for the day and time you would like to volunteer. You must reserve a place to participate. Click here to sign up.  There will be other packings so if you can’t make this one maybe you can help with the next one.  If you have questions please contact Susan Sawyer. 

9:30 Children’s Church, Starting November 8th!
We are excited to announce that we will be having Children’s Church during the 9:30 service starting on November 8th. If you are able and willing to help occasionally, please let Amber know. amberharr@centenarychurch 

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Centenary Preschool For the children’s safety, the preschool area will be closed to non-preschool traffic between 8:30 AM and 12:30 PM. There are ways to get to rooms without going through the preschool hallways.

If you would like to have communion delivered to you at home by a Stephen Minister on first Sundays, please contact Jan Hood at 252-626-6642 or janhood@hotmail.com

CENTYouth wants to have dinner with YOU! We want to invite the congregation to share in our Sunday evening mealtime by hosting and sharing a meal following one of our regular weekly hangouts. We meet each Sunday at 5:00, and typically eat dinner around 6:20. We are asking church members, Sunday school classes, Circle groups, Bible Studies, couples and friends to come cook, serve and come sit and have conversations with us (socially distanced in the fellowship hall, of course). Our true purpose is to make this a time of sharing and having some enlightening table discussions over dinner. Typically our group has somewhere around 20 folks. The sign up link is here.  We look forward to breaking bread with you soon.

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Church History Committee needs your input! As we are gathering information to add to our church history book, we find there are many groups, classes, and organizations that may want to add their history to the whole project. Though we have many, there are more that we know are part of our church family, and we want all of you in it. Please write a short synopsis of your group and forward it to Mary Carpenter, our archivist, (mpclinko77@gmail.com) or Susan Crawford, our editor/writer (susankanderson@bellsouth.net).  You can leave your entry in the church office to our attention, or email directly to either one of us. Thank you for joining in this great project.
Mary Carpenter
Susan Crawford

GriefShare's "Surviving the Holidays" is being presented Thursday evening November 12th from 6:30 to 8:30pm online using Zoom. It is for those who have lost a loved one and are concerned about the upcoming holidays. ALL ARE WELCOME!!

 You’ll learn:

• How to deal with the many emotions you’ll face during the holidays

• What to do about traditions and other coming changes

• Helpful tips for surviving social events

• How to discover hope for your future

Note: Zoom is easy to access using your computer, tablet or cell phone.

 To preregister, contact Pam or Ron Bonina at dadboni@outlook.com.

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GriefShare – GriefShare is a support group for people who have lost a loved one: spouse, family member, relative, or friend. It is open not only to Centenary members, but our entire community as well…ALL ARE WELCOME!!  You can join us anytime. If you know of someone who is hurting, please invite them. For more information, please contact Pam or Ron Bonina at dadboni@outlook.com.  The Fall Session will start on September 21st, go through December 14th, and be at 6:30 PM on Monday nights.

**This program is now being conducted online, so all you need is a laptop, tablet of cell phone to participate, and it is easy to do. Just click on the link that we will send you and you’re on.

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If you are home and need a meal, the Caring Cooks have prepared meals in the freezer in our kitchen. You are welcome to come down and pick up what you need. If you need meals delivered, please contact Dawn Ferreira at 252-289-5630.

Daily Encouragement messages - We are happy that many of you are finding the Daily Encouragement messages helpful. If you know of a church member or neighbor who does not have email, we urge you to share these messages with them-by printing them and delivering them to that person’s home and leaving it where they can find them or call them and read to them. This will help us all stay connected to each other even when we can’t be together.