Archive for April, 2009

Friends in Holy Covenant,

One of the songs we’ll be singing at this Sunday’s Gospel Music services (9:30 & 11:15a) is Hezekiah Walker’s “I Need You to Survive.” The chorus includes these words:

“I need you, you need me.
We’re all a part of God’s body.
Stand with me, agree with me.
We’re all a part of God’s body.
It is God’s will that every need be supplied.
You are important to me, I need you to survive.”

This is the essence of Christian community: our primary experience of God happens at the intersection of diverse human lives. Obviously this intersection is rarely pure, smooth, or even-keeled, but such is divine/human life as Christians understand it. In fact, the only lyric from above I’d amend is the “agree with me” part. Yes, there are times of deep agreement and discernment and consensus in community, but how we respond in the midst of disagreement and uncertainty is perhaps a more significant sign of the content of our character and the health of our common life.

Join as this Sunday to worship God with amazing Gospel music. And just as important, join us this Saturday from 9a-2:30p for our Congregational Summit, where we’ll be having deep discussion about transition, leadership, our future, with particular topics as diverse as our congregation’s conversation about celebration of marriage for gay and straight folks alike, our Sunday evening service, mission trips, and more. I ask you to make it a commitment to be there if at all possible. Everybody is welcome, whether you’ve been at Holy Covenant for one week or have been a leader for several years. We need each other. Together, we’ll have a good time, we’ll have a meaningful time, maybe even a divine time.

For the Christ who makes us one,

Pastor Trey Hall

As we prepare for a pastoral transition this summer, the Staff-Parish Relations Committee is excited to announce two new staffing decisions. Donelle Sommer, who has been on a one-year contract as Minister of Children and Families, will be continuing in that ministry, expanding our congregation’s life with children and their families. Rebecca Anderson, one of our seminary interns this year, has been hired for an expanded staff position that will include leading the ministries of small groups and our new Sunday evening service. In this time of transition, we are thrilled to welcome back these gifted leaders for the next seasons.

As our current interns (Anne Williamson, Kim Chapman, and Rebecca Anderson) finish their academic years and as Vince Amlin, our current Minister of Small Groups, prepares to graduate and move this summer, we’ll be celebrating and giving thanks for their ministries with us at the morning worship services on Sunday, May 17. Pastor Trey Hall’s last Sunday at Holy Covenant will be Sunday, June 21, when he will preach at both morning services. For more information, contact Brittany Isaac, our SPRC chair.

Congrats, Church, for being named the Chicago Northwestern District Healthy Church of the year! This award celebrates that our congregation’s ministry is making a positive, transformative difference in the city and church. Our lay leaders will receive this award at the District Aldersgate Banquet on Sunday, May 17, 5:30pm at 4950 N. Ashland. We’d love to have 10 folks represent at the banquet. Interested? Email pastortrey@holycovenantumc.org

The Men’s Group, which began during the winter small groups session, is looking to continue meeting and invites any additional men to join with them.  Through laid back fellowship, good conversation, and open sharing, the group will explore topics such as relationships, vocation, faith, and spirituality while building and strengthening the intimate bonds of brothers in Christ.  Some service activity might be worked in, too.  The group will meet at 3806 N. Leavitt on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month 7:30-9:15pm, starting 4/28 (at this point, looking for a commitment to continue thru 6/9).  Men of all ages and backgrounds are welcome!  If interested, contact Brit Holmberg.

Friends in Holy Covenant,

Preparing to preach this past week, I had the great opportunity to delve into 1 John, a little book towards the back of the Bible. I was surprised by the freshness of the language. Written to a community in transition, the book declares the Gospel all over again to a group of people who might’ve been wondering, “What’s next for us? Where will we go from here?” We at Holy Covenant have much to learn from the author’s responses to these questions.

The book reminds the community of who they are: a community marked by God’s forgiveness and by the light of God’s love. I was so encouraged by this treatise on Christian community and the reminder that we are to “love one another in truth and action” (chapter 3, verse 18), something that we at Holy Covenant try to do.

Even on the verge of a new chapter in our church life, we can deepen our relationships with one another and with God. The next round of small groups is starting soon; there are fundraisers and green cleaning events at church; there are casseroles to be made and delivered. “Loving one another in truth and action” could look like any of these. It could look like inviting a new person to stay for hospitality or helping to move chairs around for the Sunday night service. Take a peek at 1 John if you need some encouragement (or theological proof!) and then keep your eyes peeled. The opportunities to love one another are everywhere.

In the light of our God,

Rebecca Anderson
Seminary Intern

Friends in Holy Covenant,

Happy Easter to you! Christ is Risen, indeed! Alleluia!

What an amazing Holy Week! From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, our sanctuary swelled with nearly 700 folks gathering to worship God. What a joy it was to share in those gatherings with you. My thanks to all who helped prepare-lay and staff leaders and preachers, Scripture readers and greeters, musicians and cooks, communion servers and chair setter-uppers and sanctuary decorators, flower arrangers and baptismal water flingers, children’s leaders and artists of all kinds. It was just awesome. Thanks be to you, and thanks be to God.

As we move into the Easter season (it’s not only a day but seven weeks of celebrating the Resurrection), you’re invited to go deeper into community here. We have a new sermon/worship series starting this coming Sunday (with Anne Williamson and Rebecca Anderson, two of our fabulous interns, preaching for the last time on a Sunday morning); a round of diverse small groups beginning in a few weeks; an all-congregation summit on our ongoing ministry; a Gospel music service and an old-school hymn sing coming up; a Memorial weekend mission trip to help repair flood damage in Iowa; and tons more. Read more below.

One more thing: the last verse of the closing hymn from our Easter morning services…it’s stuck with me and wanted to share it again with you, from the text “Christ is Risen” by John Bell and Graham Maule.

Christ has risen, and forever
lives to challenge and to change
all whose lives are messed or mangled,
all who find religion strange.
Christ is risen, Christ is present,
making us what he has been-
evidence of transformation
in which God is known and seen.

Happy Easter everyone,

Pastor Trey Hall

Small groups are starting in May.  Sign up now or on Sundays at service.

Faith Sharing Groups: Gospel of Mark
Our faith sharing groups are an opportunity to gather in a member’s home and share in conversation, bible study, and prayer with one another. The format is changing this time around, and we will be focusing in on the Gospel of Mark throughout the six weeks, leading into a presentation by professor, theologian, and husband of our own Ronna Case, Ted Jennings, on the gospel in June.

Faith Sharing Group 1
Leader: Katie Cook
Day/Time: Thursdays, May 7- June 11, 7:30-9:15
Host: Allison Chaplain (has one cat)
Location: Waveland and Inner Lakeshore Dr. (near the Red Line Addison Stop)

Faith Sharing Group 2
Leader: Vince Amlin
Day/Time: Tuesdays, May 5-June 9, 7:30-9:15
Host: Renae Holman Murti (has one cat)
Location: Wrightwood between Lincoln and Halsted

Power and the Bible
This group will focus on the ways that power is used and portrayed in the Bible and ask what scripture asks of us as the Church in using our power in the world. It will also offer practical steps that the group and congregation can take to claim power and organize for justice in our neighborhood. The group will be led by our own Kristin Kumph, a community organizer with Interfaith Workers’ Justice and Jennifer Ritter-Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Lakeview Action Coalition. This exciting group will be larger than other groups to accommodate interest and will only meet four weeks.
Leaders: Kristin Kumpf and Jennifer Ritter-Gonzalez
Day/ Time: Mondays, May 4-June 1 from 7:30-9:00 (no group on Memorial Day)
Location: Holy Covenant UMC, 925 Diversey Parkway

Christianity and Creativity
This group will explore the relationship between creativity and faith. Conversation will be spurred by the website soulpancake.com, which says, “We want to engage the user to ‘Chew on Life’s Big Questions.’ Where do you go on the Interwebs if you want an irreverent, fun, and profound take on God and Art and the Soul and Faith and Beauty? Fox.com? Maybe. But maybe also here at SoulPancake.com.” This group will offer chances to both talk and create.
Leader: Matt Kuzma
Day/ Time: Thursdays, May 7- June 11, 7-8:30
Location: Hidden Shamrock, 2723 N. Halsted

Spirituality of Finance
This group, inspired by our recent workshop of the same name, will focus on the intersections between money and faith. It will also give participants a chance to speak openly and honestly about finances and seek support from one another. The content of the group will be led by the interests of the members.
Leader: Doris Manning
Day/ Time: Wednesdays, May 13-June 17, 7-8:45
Location: Starbucks at Sheffield and Diversey

Nia Small Group
Nia is a blend of yoga, dance, and martial arts which promotes health in body and mind. Our own Emily Moore is a trained leader and will share the techniques with beginners and experts alike as we continue to explore the spirituality of exercise and body.
Leader: Emily Moore
Day/Time: Wednesdays, May 6- June 10, 7:30-9:15
Location: Holy Covenant UMC, 925 Diversey Parkway

Friends in Holy Covenant,

We’re in the final preparations of setting the feast of worship over this Holy Week. We hope you’ll gather for with us for as many steps on the journey as you can – see below for the service schedule and the new sermon series beginning after Easter.

Several invitations to help celebrate this weekend:

INVITE A FRIEND.
Easter’s a great time to bring a guest to church. You can even grab brunch afterward to sweeten the deal.  Visit our Facebook page to send an invitation to one or several friends. Fact: people come when they’re invited.

HELP GREET.
We generally have overflow crowds on Easter Sunday, lots of people here for the first time who don’t know our building. You can welcome them, help them find a seat, direct folks to the coffee pot, bathrooms, etc. Email Jen Banas.

SERVE DESSERT.
The Hospitality Team is preparing an extravagant dessert buffet between services. Help set up, serve, prepare. Email Paul Palmateer.

JOIN THE EASTER CHOIR.
One rehearsal only, on Thursday, April 9, 8:30-10pm (after the Holy Thursday service)
Whether you sing regularly with the choir or just want to add your voice for this day, join us for the Easter choir, which will sing at both morning services, 9:30 and 11:15,  on Easter Sunday, April 12 (you are welcome to sing at just one of them).  For more information, email Andrew Collins.

JOIN THE CONGREGATION.
Easter’s traditionally a time of welcoming new people into the community.  Two people will be joining this week! If you’ve been waiting to join in community, now may be the time.  Email Pastor Trey Hall: pastortrey@holycovenantumc.org

Grace and peace,

Pastor Trey Hall

The Green Team and the Trustees invite you to help give the church a good spring clean on Saturday, April 25, 9:00a-12noon. We need lots of help as we prepare the garden for summer and organize and deep clean inside – all with environmentally friendly cleaning agents. A variety of tasks will be available. Please bring your own gloves, tools, and rags, as we are not purchasing sponges or paper towels this year to clean with to cut down on waste. As part of our spring cleaning day, we’ll be collecting household items for refugees who have recently resettled in Chicago. Please visit our website for the specifics as to what is needed. Bring your donations to the church Saturday (during the cleaning) or Sunday. Thank you!

In order to avoid the major holidays (Easter, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day weekend, Pride weekend), the Holy Covenant Women’s Group will meet on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of April, May and June (instead of our usual 2nd and 4th Sundays). This means our next gathering is Sunday, April 19th, from 5:15-6:45pm at Starbucks, Diversey and Sheffield, just before the evening service. No sign-up is required, and it’s a great way to meet people in a smaller, casual setting.  Please join us!  Confused? Take a look at the Holy Covenant Calendar. Questions? Contact Linda.