Archive for June, 2011

Dear brothers and sisters in Holy Covenant,

Have you recovered from Pride yet? From the glorious sun all along the route? From all the heart-felt “whoo-ing”? From the amazing music in worship? From your brunch or party? I hope you experienced the whole weekend as a celebration of the diversity of the family of God and that, heading into this week, you felt loved, because you are!

This Sunday, we will be welcoming Pastor Matthew Johnson, his spouse Emily, and their daughter Libby – at last! Please come, celebrate and sing, and pray for the life of this church as we enter the next chapter in our leadership. Your presence, in this time of transition, really is a gift to Pastor Matthew and his family, and to one another! If you’re in town this week, do join us at 10:30am or 7pm.

And put next Sunday, July 10th, on your calendar. We’re going to have a block party and cookout after the morning service to really welcome our new pastor, and to celebrate the good life that is Chicago in the summer in this beloved community.

With all love for you,

Rebecca
Minister of Spiritual Formation

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Sunday, June 26, 2011
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Rebecca Anderson, preaching

Ephesians 6:10-20

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by Liz Dierbeck

Chris and I have been hosting a weekly “south side” small group at our home, complete with potluck (how very Methodist!). No matter who ended up bringing what, we always seemed to have enough food to go around, and each meal was delicious. After breaking bread together, we put salt in our mouths, and discussed a section of the Bible, ranging from Ephesians to other books attributed to Paul. This past week, I turned our CSA bounty into our portion of the weekly feast: fresh salad from the two types of lettuce we received in our box, topped with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella; and pound cake with strawberry topping (presto: shortcake!).

As I am not a terribly adventurous cook, for dessert I looked at a number of shortcake recipes on Allrecipes.com, my go-to source. The cake, blessedly, was from a boxed mix; I baked it in two 9×9 pans so they’d be flat (rather than a loaf). There seemed to be enough leeway among the recipes that I could trust my eyes and sort of wing it with the sauce. I washed the entire quart of strawberries, lopped off the tops, and sliced them up, even the few pinkish-white ones. I combined these with 1/3 cup of white sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract, then stirred the mix in a saucepan until it was bubbling gently. It looked a little runny, so I added in a few shakes of cornstarch (I’m guessing 2-3 tsp all together) and it thickened up just right. I chilled the mixture, and when it was all ready to serve, I combined the cakes with Cool Whip in the middle (thanks, Ronna!) and poured the mixture over the top.

We didn’t plan out exactly how our small group would go; we didn’t measure our progress in any way other than our growing understanding of each other, and more experience with the New Testament. In the end, it all came out right, even when we made up the “recipe” as we went along.

Dear brothers and sisters in Holy Covenant,

What a joy it was to be in worship with you last Sunday, together as the family of God, even in the midst of transition, singing our hearts out. And more joy: this Sunday is Pride! I’m looking forward to the service, the music, and marching in the parade, bearing witness to the truth that God’s love is for everybody.

Here in the middle of the calendar year, in the midst of living out our mission, we continue to take stock of how we’re doing financially. If you consider this your church home, if you’ve experienced God’s welcome here, please do consider switching to automated online giving from your bank account or debit card (if you don’t already).

Maybe you think, “I don’t give enough to make a difference” or “they know what I give; I’ve given the same amount every Sunday for a year and a half.” Even you can contribute more fully to the ministries of Holy Covenant by letting committees and planners know what to expect for their budgets for the rest of the year. Let’s continue to extend the welcome to others!

See you Sunday for the big celebration. Bring a friend!

Rebecca
Minister of Spiritual Formation

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by Amy Schumacher

My earliest memory of beets was when my aunt and I went to Larriland Farms in Maryland; it was a mere half hour or so from home, but at that age, being in the car for more than 5 minutes felt like an endless odyssey.  We tended to focus on picking berries when we went for our yearly adventure, where we probably headed back to the main barn with an equal amount of strawberries, blueberries, and/or blackberries in our pails and our bellies (to this day, I am uncertain how much the practice of eating in the fields was encouraged or frowned upon . . . so, Larriland, sorry if I unintentionally scammed you as a child).  I would have been content to load up the car with our berries and perhaps a pint of peaches or a few ears of sweet white corn.  But on this one outing, my aunt suggested we pull beets out of the ground.  I went with it because there is something quite satisfying about yanking a vegetable out of the dirt to see how big it was.  So much so, in fact, that my aunt had to stop me since we would certainly never consume as many beets as I had uprooted.

That was my last beet memory until this week.  I’m pretty sure I never even dared to taste the vibrant purple beets as a child, and I certainly avoided them whenever they made an appearance at a salad bar.  Pickled beets?  No, thank you.  But when we got word from Karen, our farmer friend at Big Head Farm and grower of all that arrives in our CSA box, that this week’s shipment would include beets, I knew that my life-long beet avoidance was coming to a swift end.  A quick Google search for beet recipes yielded a promising collection named “Beet Recipes Even a Beet Hater Can Love”.  Not that I’m a beet hater per se, just a beet novice, so it seemed like a safe way to venture into the purple juiced world of beet preparation.

So we made a grated raw beet salad (recipe link below), and did you know?  Beets are sweet!  True story!  I mean, literally sweet, I’m not just trying to rhyme here.  We were even able to use some of our fresh herbs from our CSA box in the citrus-y salad.

As it turns out, you can even eat the beet greens.  We were lucky enough to make a CSA-inspired dinner with Meg, featuring a goat cheesy pasta with sauteed beet greens, which taste rather like spinach in the best possible way.  We also enjoyed a salad with our farm-grown romaine lettuce and CSA radish greens with sliced radishes and an herb dressing with CSA herbs (are you noticing a theme here?).

I may not have been the most adventurous eater in my youth, but the CSA experience so far has been a great opportunity to break out of my comfort zone of vegetables and sample some delicious new recipes.  Though let’s be honest: I’m still pretty excited about the prospect of strawberries making an appearance in my CSA box this weekend.

Want to try your hand at beets?  Have a go here.

How about the greens? You’ll be glad you did.

Dear sisters and brothers in Holy Covenant,

Are you still reeling? What a day we had together on Sunday, celebrating the birthday of the Church and saying goodbye to Pastor Kate. Thank you so much for being there, for your prayers, and your gifts of song, pie, and potluck dishes. You are indeed a beloved community.

As we take stock of our community at this time of transition, and take note of the many things we have to be thankful for and to celebrate, we look, too, to our financial wellbeing, since we’re halfway through the year. As usual, we’re within our budget, meeting our commitments, and practicing pretty good stewardship (I want to leave room for the possibility of doing even better!).

Also as usual, we’re running a pretty tight ship, with little room for the unexpected. It was so heartening to sit with Church Council and hear the leaders of this church tell the Reconciling Committee, “If you need more postcards for the Pride Parade this year, let’s do it. And we’ll find that money!” (Do you remember how early in the parade route we ran out of cards last year?) But even that extra $250 means something for a budget like ours.

I’m telling you this now because summer represents different giving patterns for our congregation, as many of us head off for vacations. But you can continue to support the ministries here even if you’ll be traveling this summer. Signing up for auto payments from your bank account lets you support the ministries here even while you’re in far-flung places.

Maybe, though, you’ve never pledged to Holy Covenant. Perhaps you came to Holy Covenant since November (when many folks pledged to give for the year). Maybe you’ve always given what you could, week to week. Pledging, though, helps the finance committee plan our budget and allows all our ministry committees to anticipate ways to grow. You can read stories about why others here give.

As we always say, too, your presence here is a gift, so I look forward to being in worship with you on Sunday. We’ll hear a little bit more from Ephesians, and have evening-style worship at both services. Come sing while Cassie and Kim play some good ol’ acoustic Americana, have Communion, and practice, once again, being the Family of God.

With love,

Rebecca
Minister of Spiritual Formation

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Sermon, June 12, 2011, Pentecost Sunday
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Kate Hurst Floyd

Acts 2:1-20

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What does this mean?

What does this mean? A 12 year old boy asks his mom, as he eagerly walks to the Pentecost celebration. For weeks he’s been dreaming of the fried olives he’ll eat and having hummus for days; though he won’t admit it to his friends, he still longs to see the annual puppet show featuring his favorite superhero, Moses. Each year he anticipates the festival, but he’s finally old enough to wonder about why exactly they celebrate each year in Jerusalem. What does this mean, mom?

So on their way there, speaking Aramaic, she tells him about the harvest festival, when Jews from all over the world come together to eat, sing, worship and celebrate that God gave Moses the law at Mt. Sinai, 50 days after the Exodus from Egypt and freedom from slavery.

They’re joined by a couple who’s been married for 53 years, dreaming for months about the sweet red wine they’ll taste, their 53rd Pentecost together. They’re grown children and grandchildren surround them, chatting in Arabic, excited to be together.

Around the corner is a young couple, holding hands, whispering in Greek, dreaming of the bread they’ll break together this day.

This festival is like summer in Chicago…the people are out! Ready to soak up the sun. They can barely move for the crowds of people. The signs at the various booths are in fifteen different languages, so that all those who gather know the prices for wheat and cucumber and yogurt. They’re in the same place, speaking over and under and around one another, a virtual symphony of languages in Jerusalem. (more…)

Dear Holy Covenant Family,

My very first Sunday, two years ago, we sang “Welcome Table” at the evening service; this Sunday, June 12, my last, we’ll sing it again. As I pack boxes this week, wrap- up e-mails, and prepare for worship, I find myself singing this song over and over. Words seem inadequate to express the joy and gratitude I have for our time together; it’s been sheer blessing. So as I reflect and prepare to say goodbye, it’s only natural that the feelings surrounding me are of God’s abundant welcome.

For you, Holy Covenant, have taught me what it means to embody the unconditional part of God’s love. You’ve changed me; more importantly, you’ve widened my perception of God’s grace. You generously welcomed me to your table and witness each and every day what it means to gather together as the body of Christ, fired up to share this love with God’s wide world. I had never heard “Welcome Table” before I came here, and now it’s a part of me because you are a part of me and always will be. When we sing together about that glorious day when we’ll all feast at God’s heavenly banquet, I’m mindful of the ways Holy Covenant lives out the kingdom here and now:

We’re gonna eat at the welcome table…
Boldly gathering around God’s communion table, weekly and monthly; courageously answering the invitation to come, feast, be forgiven. Serving each other the bread and the wine; becoming the body of Christ and inviting others in. Setting a place.

We’re goin’ down to the river of Jordan…
Baptizing infants and adults; remembering our own baptisms as God’s beloved. Living out this good news by caring for one another in time of crisis, illness, or grief; praying for your brothers and sisters; being the family of God for one another. Setting a place.

We’re gonna feast on milk and honey…
Feasting on chili and pie, Mayan Palace chips and salsa, Einstein’s bagels and schmears; feeding others through Dignity Diner, The Night Ministry, and the Casserole Committee; cooking and eating mindfully, through food small groups and CSA shares, connecting to God’s creation. Setting a place.

God’s gonna set this world on fire…
Marching in the Pride Parade; Celebrating twenty years of being Reconciling; praying and working for justice for all God’s people. Setting a place.

We’re gonna sing in the heavenly choir…
Passionately worshipping each week; sharing your gifts through song, reading, greeting, serving; welcoming people to worship God. Setting a place.

I’m so grateful you’ve set a place for me these last two years and for the privilege to witness what God is doing through Holy Covenant. I will carry you’re welcome with me throughout my ministry and be inspired to share God’s love in boundless ways; thank you, thank you, thank you. I will miss you more than I can say, and so I keep singing.

How appropriate that we come together on Sunday to feast for a Pentecost potluck. Gathering with the spirit of those souls who have been feasting in this place since 1894; practicing setting a place for all those who will continue to walk in our doors. Please join us as we break bread, sing our hearts out, and continue to set God’s table. Pie baking begins at 8:30am in the basement, worship at 10:30am, potluck lunch to follow.

See you on Sunday, and think about who you can bring with you.

Grace and Peace,

Kate

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Sermon, June 5, 2011
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Kate Hurst Floyd

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

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At my former church, where I served as an associate minister, we ate many, many meals together. It was a large church, so there were often several meals eaten together throughout the week—Wednesday lunch and dinner were offered weekly by the kitchen staff, we had staff gatherings and parties with senior adults, youth, once a month Sunday lunches, and more…we ate together a lot.

Different people prayed before our meals, laity and clergy, giving thanks to God for the people around the table, for the food and those who prepared it, praying a blessing on our time together and that our bodies and souls would be nourished. Standard grace protocol. But when the senior minister prayed, he always added this line at the end: And God, may our speech around the table be edifying and to your glory, so that what we say gives praise to you. Amen.

The first time I heard it I said a big “gulp” instead of “amen”. It’s one thing to give thanks to God for our food, it’s quite another for our whole meal time together to be reflective of God’s desire for our speech with one another. Especially because I was sitting next to a clergy colleague, and we were both hoping to gossip about another staff colleague who was giving us a really hard time. This simple prayer made me look inward and analyze what I really wanted to get out of our meal together. So we laughed nervously and had edifying speech during the meal, but I’ll confess to you that later that afternoon we conferred in her office and shared speech that wasn’t really glorifying anybody. (more…)

by Megan Whitney

Summer is finally here! Yesterday marked our first CSA drop-off weekend at Holy Covenant, and for months I’ve been anticipating the moment I’d get my first box of freshly picked organic veggies. I met Karen, our friendly farmer who runs Big Head Farm in South Haven, Michigan, and happily hauled away a box of these goodies:

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
French Breakfast Radishes
China Rose Winter Radishes
Lemon Balm

For those of you unfamiliar with the term “CSA,” it stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The concept is brilliant: you buy a share of crops on a local farm, and each week you get a box of whatever is fresh that week. More info on CSA’s here:

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

I packed my veggies into the Tacoma this morning and brought them out to my family in the suburbs, ready to blow their minds with my delicious culinary creations. I grew up in a food-obsessed family of cooks, so I knew they would appreciate the meal I had dreamt up with the help of my cookbooks in the morning.

My sister, Libby, and I made the Radish Top Soup recipe that Karen suggested using for the Winter Radishes. I must admit, we all were a bit skeptical of this recipe, but my excitement to cook with radish greens for the first time won over. I’m so glad I tried it, as it was a huge hit, and we felt very fancy having a soup course. The flavor was actually quite similar to a cream of broccoli soup. We also were surprised by the Lemon Balm, an herb in the mint family that smells and tastes delightfully lemony. Ben, my four year old nephew, and I threw it into a salad of Big Head lettuce, carrots, other soft herbs, and a Honey-Lemon dressing that we made. Like many four year olds, Ben is a very picky eater, so I was shocked when he voluntarily plopped a piece of lettuce into his mouth. He rarely tries new foods beyond pbj’s, pizza, and crunchy salty things. Sure, he said, “this tastes like tires,” but at least he tried a green vegetable! (Trust me, it was good). I saw first-hand that when you get kiddos involved with cooking, they are more willing to try new foods. Next stop, brussel sprouts.

One of my goals in joining HC’s CSA was to become more creative in the kitchen, and to focus even more on fresh and in-season ingredients in my cooking. I definitely was successful in accomplishing that today. I also love the fact that I feel more connected to the earth and the 27 others at church who are doing this… and this is just the beginning (our shares last through October)! I met “my” farmer, I know that the farm workers are treated fairly, and I’m confident that there are no icky pesticides on my food. Karen’s emails to her CSA supporters make me feel like I’m a country girl on the farm, checking out my spring onions and beet greens and getting excited for what’s to come.