Archive for June, 2009

Performed by Anna Vogelzang at the June 21 Service of Leavetaking for Pastor Trey Hall.

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there are moments that end, and moments that begin
there are times we say goodbye or kiss goodnight
and each one is part of this giant book we are writing
we are all co-creating this great life

& who knows what is planned
but the ground that we are standing on
will bind us all together in the end

and one trick for this walk is just to keep one suitcase packed
so that you can jump up & say, “it’s me”
when you hear that voice calling in the night through your dreamings
then wake up to follow, blind & faithfully

& whichever way you turn
there is love that carves a way for you
and love you freely gave that will return

we are each fearfully, wonderfully made & we dance with restless grace
we are hemmed into the skirts of god’s great creation
we wait in silence & sometimes in pain, we wait with love and patient prayer
and through those awkward, broken spaces we hear grace

& we break bread together to remind us we’re all broken
& we practice peace together keeping arms and ears wide open
& we name our dreams outloud so the holes inside our hearts can be made full
with one another’s endless love

we sail our boats to the farthest limits of the sea & still we’re not alone:
each roaring wave rolls on to tell us we’re still in progress
& each move we make, it is a prayer, and with that power we raise our voices
and sing together, oh so brave & heartily

because i know if there’s a time when my voice is hoarse & broken
you will sing out twice as loud, yes you will carry me to heaven
yes each one of us is a song of praise

i am a song / i am a song / i am a song of praise

© copyright Anna Vogelzang (ASCAP) 2009

More about Anna on her website.

TUESDAY, JUNE 30
Every Tuesday evening at Holy Covenant, Dignity Diner offers a meal to the homeless and hungry of our community. Usually on the fourth Tuesday of every month, Holy Covenant is responsible for providing volunteers to help cook, serve, and clean up after the meal. Holy Covenant is responsible for providing volunteers on Tuesday, June 30. We have a youth group from Maryland visiting the Diner on June 23. If you are able to help this month or on the fourth Tuesday of any month, please contact Steve Bindrich, Dignity Diner Lay Leader. If you cannot come to the Diner on a Tuesday but would like to find out other ways you can get involved, or with any other questions, please contact Kara Teeple, Director of Dignity Diner.

Friends in Holy Covenant,

Thank you, Holy Covenant, for the generous send-off this weekend and for all the cards and gifts. I absolutely love Nancie King Mertz’s beautiful rendering of the central sanctuary window: wherever I end up, it will grace my home forever.  The hymnal signed by y’all will remember you to me when I’m singing or playing. The amazing iPhone: let’s just say that since it was turned on a few hours ago, I’ve felt like I’m in a toyshop. And the party last Friday night: your well wishes and roasts/toasts will be gratefully remembered for a long time, particularly, I must say, the “Wing Beneath My Wings” liturgical dance, which is seared in my mind and which I do hope you’ll reprise next year on Pentecost.

For all these things, and for so much more that I received from you in my five years of ministry at Holy Covenant: thank you, thank you, thank you. May the peace of Christ be with you all.

Pastor Trey Hall

SUNDAY, JUNE 28
Holy Covenant is proud to be a reconciling congregation and welcomes people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and people of every human category. As a sign of our witness to God’s all embracing love, we invite you to march with us in the 40th Annual Chicago Gay Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28 after the 11:15 am service. We will provide hospitality and walk together to Holy Covenant’s float near Diversey and Halsted.

How you can be involved:

1. Help put the float together. On Saturday, June 27 at 11 am, we need a few volunteers to help bring the float down from the balcony and do any necessary touch ups. The real float construction will be Sunday morning once we get the truck.
2. Help put lunches together. We need help putting together lunches for the folks marching in the parade. We will do this on Sunday morning during the second service. So come worship during the first service and assemble lunches at 10:30 am!
3. March! We need marchers to sit on the float and walk the parade route. This is always fun and a huge highlight of many a Holy Covenanter. If you ordered a T-shirt, you can pick it up after the second morning service and pay cash or check (pay to Holy Covenant with Pride Parade in the memo line). If you didn’t order a T-shirt, then wear red or a bright color.

If you have any questions, contact lay leader, David Braden. Celebrate your Pride!

Title: Pancake Breakfast
Location: Cory and Laura Dean Friedrich\’s, 3806 N Leavitt
Description: Cory and Laura Dean Friedrich eat a pancake breakfast in their backyard almost every Saturday of the summer, and they are inviting Holy Covenanters to join them for breakfast on August 1st (yes, there will be pancakes!). They will have two servings – 9:15 or 9:30 for early risers with lots of plans for the day and 10:30 for those who prefer a more leisurely start to the day. Come early for coffee or juice, and stay as long as you like. Cory may even let you help cook pancakes! Breakfast will be served indoors if the weather is uncooperative. The address is 3806 N Leavitt (directions: Lincoln north to Addison, west on Addison to Leavitt, north on Leavitt to red brick two-flat just north of Grace on the west side of the street). RSVP at clfriedrich@sbcglobal.net or 773.832.9549 so they know how much batter to make!
Start Time: 9:15
Date: 2009-08-01
End Time: 12:30

The United Methodist Church
Northern Illinois Conference

ANNOUNCEMENT
POSTED: JUNE 18, 2009

SIGNED BY NORTHERN ILLINOIS CONFERENCE CABINET:
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung
Rev. Ouk-Yean Kim Jueng, Rockford District Superintendent
Rev. James Preston, Chicago Northwestern District Superintendent
Rev. Oscar Carrasco, Elgin District Superintendent
Rev. Larry Hilkemann, DeKalb District Superintendent
Rev. Addison Shields, Chicago Southern District Superintendent
Rev. Diana Facemeyer, Aurora District Superintendent
Rev. Chris Pierson, Director of Connectional Ministries
Rev. Arlene Christopherson, Assistant to the Bishop
Rev. Martin Lee, Director of Congregational Development
and Rev. Robert B. Campbell, Chair of Board of Church and Society

Human Services in a State of Crisis: Your Urgent Action Is Needed!

On May 31st, the Illinois General Assembly passed a budget that will have devastating effects on children, families, the poor and church agencies that provide essential services. If new revenue sources are not identified by July 1st, major cuts to human services and education programs will go into effect.

This budget will go into effect on July 1 unless we act to change the current course. Budgets are moral documents. Please contact your legislators today-and every day-until they pass a fair budget!

The United Methodist Church’s Social Principles call for justice:

“We support the basic rights of all persons to equal access to housing, education, communication, employment, medical care, legal redress for grievances and physical protection.”

These rights should extend to children, young people, the aging and persons with disabilities.

Our Social Principles further state:

“To begin to alleviate poverty, we support such policies as: adequate income maintenance, quality education, decent housing, job training, meaningful employment opportunities, adequate medical and hospital care.”

Please consider contacting Governor Patrick Quinn or your representative in the Illinois legislature this week and urge them to fully fund social services in Illinois.

To find the name and contact information of your legislator, click here or call 888-Vote-Smart (888-868-3762) and voice your convictions on behalf of children, families, the disabled, elderly, students and veterans in Illinois.

Please call your legislators with the following messages:

Don’t balance the budget on the backs of families and children. It’s not the way toward economic recovery.

Don’t pass a budget with 50% cuts to vital programs such as child care, Preschool For All and children’s mental health.

Do pass a budget that fully funds the vital services needed by low-income families and children. Do the right thing by passing a fair budget.

The Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church comprises more than 400 churches and 100,000 members from across the state. For more information about the conference, please visit http://www.umcnic.org

Let us know if you’re interested in a Beach Cleanup Day in Chicago, and when you’ll be out-of-town this summer. We’d like to accomodate as many vacationers as possible and schedule the day around people’s plans! We’ll be supplying garbage bags, gloves, and sandwiches/drinks, as well as sand toys for the kids. If you could bring a beach-friendly side dish or dessert, we’ll be all set to conquer the litter and save the earth ! We’ll let you all know the day, as well as a “rain day” in case the weather doesn’t cooperate. Contact Jenn Alan with your summer plans.

Kick-off Meeting, Tuesday, June 23, 7pm
Katie Cook has offered to lead the way in planning this event, but is having a kick-off meeting Tuesday, June 23, 7:00pm for anyone who would like to lend a hand. If you’ve planned an event like this before, have some ideas, or would just like to get to know others at the church through planning, please stop by for this brainstorming session. If planning is not your thing, we just ask for your prayers for the fundraiser group as we embark on this project. If you plan to attend please email Katie.

Friends in Holy Covenant,

About five years ago this week, I wrote my first reflection for the Holy Covenant church newsletter, which then was printed monthly on paper. I remember quoting extensively from the Indigo Girls: “I don’t know where it all begins, And I don’t know where it all will end, We’re better off for all that we let in.” If you’ve had to listen to my sermons over the past five years, you know that they show up as often as Wesley in my theology!

As I sit here this morning, drinking my last cup of coffee at this breakfast table in the parsonage, surrounded by boxes and waiting for the movers to arrive in less than an hour, I find myself desperately in search of adequate words to say all the things I would like to say to y’all in my last reflection for the weekly e-newsletter. I survey the last half-decade and the memories wash over me, and all I can manage to say (this morning, at least: more to come in Sunday’s sermon!) is that I’m so glad we let each other in. I believe that, amidst the joys and failures of life together, we’re better off for it.

Advice? Hopes for you? Yes, the same that I seek and hope for, from a page from another favorite writer/preacher/theologian that I lean on all the time, Frederick Buechner, from his book Secrets in the Dark:

“People come and go. The scene shifts. Time runs by, runs out. Maybe it is all utterly meaningless. Maybe it is all unutterably meaningful. If you want to known which, pay attention: The unexpected sound of your name on somebody’s lips. The good dream. The odd coincidence. … Pay attention. As a summation of all that I have had to say as a writer, I would settle for that. And as a talisman or motto for that journey in search of a homeland, which is what faith is, I would settle for that too.”

As we continue that journey of faith, I will be praying for you, and I covet your prayers, too.

Thank you for everything,
Pastor Trey Hall

Every Tuesday evening at Holy Covenant, Dignity Diner offers a meal to the homeless and hungry of our community. Usually on the fourth Tuesday of every month, Holy Covenant is responsible for providing volunteers to help cook, serve, and clean up after the meal. Holy Covenant is responsible for providing volunteers on Tuesday, June 30. If you are able to help this month or on the fourth Tuesday of any month, please contact Steve Bindrich, Dignity Diner Lay Leader. If you cannot come to the Diner on a Tuesday but would like to find out other ways you can get involved, or with any other questions, please contact Kara Teeple, Director of Dignity Diner.