Archive for October, 2011

Bondye konn bay, men li pa konn separe. (God gives, but doesn’t share.) — Haitian Proverb

The first time I heard this, I was taken aback. Considering the context — and how little of our western lifestyle and comfort has been given to the Haitian over the years — I thought it was an indictment of those (like me) who have much and don’t share. I thought it was a fatalistic answer to the classic “God, why?” question.

But then, after members of a team sent to work on a hospital destroyed by the 2010 earthquake returned, I saw it differently. They told these amazing stories filled with what I can only see as paradox. Life there sucked, but the Haitians loved life. There was no anger. People were not sitting around waiting for the first-world nations to “fix” them. They celebrated what they had, they looked at it all as gift and they shared it with each other. And they even shared it with the team of (relative) economic elites who went there to help them. Bondye konn bay, men li pa konn separe. For the Haitians the team encountered, this proverb was an aim and a way of life. In their understanding of God’s economy, we are all given an important function in creation: distribution. And, if we model our distribution off the way God gives, we can only share indiscriminately and sacrificially.

I was humbled hearing this, “I’ve got a lot to learn,” I thought. “We’ve got a lot to learn.” Bondye konn bay, men li pa konn separe. As far as I’m concerned, there is nothing that better captures what it means for us to be stewards … people entrusted with the gifts of God and responsible for distributing them with mercy and justice.

God has skimped on nothing in this creation. We have been given everything. Everything. Including the action necessary to build community: sharing. When you think of your siblings here at Holy Covenant … be you someone who has moved away, just arrived or anything in between … I hope you will consider what God has entrusted you with, and share just as lavishly.

Remember, you are blessed. Be a blessing to someone else this week!

Pastor Matthew

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My name is Liz Dierbeck, and I give because I’m a member of the Holy Covenant music ministry.

I don’t really remember my first Sunday here, but I do remember feeling instantly at ease in this place, and impressed that a near-majority of each worship service was sung. That was the part I missed the most, when I didn’t belong to any church. Offering up harmonies from within the congregation is very Methodist, to be sure … but for those of you who haven’t tried it, I am here to tell you that being up in front as a member of the choir is pretty incredible. You can feel the Holy Spirit at work up there. Last week’s U2 Eucharist is a prime example: the veil was pretty darn thin.

Not only do we have incredible talent within our own church family, we have an amazing leader in Andrew Collins. You just never know what Andrew will come up with next! He pulls out familiar favorites just as often as he tries out contemporary songs, puts new twists on traditional hymns, and writes Scripture-inspired lyrics set to tunes you hear on the radio. He arranges, records, rehearses and performs — even the soprano line.

If I can’t predict what I’ll be singing the following Sunday, what I *can* count on, is that it will be fun to sing, and perfectly in line with that day’s spirit and message. In order to bring that kind of life to 3 services 52 weeks a year (plus some), we need people like Andrew, Rebecca, and Cassie inspiring and engaging us at every turn. To be able to provide this vital aspect of worship, Holy Covenant needs me to give — not just my time and my talent, but also my means — on a regular basis. I don’t really miss the money anymore, when it is withdrawn from my checking account each month. But I sure would miss singing like John Wesley taught us: “lustily, and with good courage.”

Pass it on to anyone you think might be interested!

Holy Covenant United Methodist Church, a dynamic, progressive congregation full of many young adults and families in the Lakeview neighborhood, is seeking an Evening Worship Leader for our Sunday evening service. The evening worship service at Holy Covenant is acoustic, candlelit, peaceful and restoring–an unplugged atmosphere with plenty of room for contemplation and reflection. The acoustic music in the evening services ranges from hymns to Sufjan Stevens, from old-timey mountain songs to spirituals, from traditional Americana to acapella rounds.

Responsibilities of the Evening Worship Leader include leading worship, choosing and preparing music and liturgy, recruiting volunteers, and planning and leading rehearsals. We are looking for someone with many musical gifts who is willing to work to find musical talent within the congregation and then plan and rehearse with an ever changing group of volunteers.

The Evening Worship Leader position is 12 hours per week. In order to apply, please email us with the following: description of your style, repertoire, and experience, a short resume including 3 references and their contact information, and three-five audio or video links to samples of your music/music leading.

We are also looking for a Ministry Associate.

Dear Holy Covenant,

I hope that choosing this church for my internship wasn’t too selfish a move on my part! Yes, the University of Chicago requires that Master of Divinity students dedicate themselves to a church for a year of service and education, but is there any reason why I shouldn’t have a little fun in the process? Truly, I look forward to working with you, for you, and among you, and I hope to build many new relationships as well as cultivating those that I already have.

I am originally from Memphis, and I moved to Chicago in 2009 after graduating from the University of Virginia. Having grown up in a completely non-religious household, I think I surprised a couple people (read: my parents) when I decided to join a large PC-USA church in Memphis, major in religious studies in college, and become a member of UVA’s Black Voices Gospel Choir. I have been encouraged, challenged, empowered, and humbled by this course of conversion and coming into a relationship with God, and I can’t wait to engage with you about your own experiences in faith.

I am in my third year of a joint degree program (J.D./M.Div.) at the University of Chicago Law and Divinity Schools, and after a year of torts and contracts and cold-calling, I am very happy to be returning to the Divinity School and to the well of Christian theology and fellowship. I imagine that I am preempting many of your questions when I say, “I am not entirely sure what I will do with my joint degree.” I feel increasingly called to work with families on divorce and child custody issues, so I am moving in the general direction of family law. I see a void of pastoral care in that work, and I am interested in whether and how ministry may be incorporated into non-traditional settings.

Thank you for welcoming me and for being who you are — an energetic, loving, multifaceted community, and a church that makes me feel like I am home.

Peace,
Nora

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Sunday, October 9, 2011
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Rebecca Anderson, preaching

John 4:4-29

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Hi, friends! You’ll have to forgive the hodge-podge nature of my narrative this week. There is just so much happening, I don’t know where to begin (or end). We are ramped-up for fall, and there are some amazing things taking place in the life of our congregation. Here’s a sampling:

It’s Here!
There’s Easter. There’s Christmas. There’s U2. As far as the Holy Covenant calendar is concerned, there are no higher holy days in our life than this tremendous troika. While I have never experienced anything quite like it, I am quite excited to be a part of this year’s festivities. For a long time, I have believed that all imagination and creativity are sparked from God’s imagination and creativity. You don’t have to look to hard to see pieces of the divine in much of our pop culture … and I don’t think that is an accident. God’s grace is abundant, and it overflows from us all. Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry pour it into their music in a way that makes the long-argued rift between the sacred and the secular seem quite silly. Jesus shows up in U2′s music, and I hope you – and everybody you can convince – will be there to hear it for yourself this Sunday at 11:15a and 7p. If ever there was a service to invite your neighbors, coworkers and family to that captures the essence of Holy Covenant and what is great about faith in God: this is it.

Service Project for the Night Ministry
Thanks to everyone who has dropped off supplies for our upcoming project to help the Night Ministry. Please keep ‘em coming! We will be happy to take donations up to Friday at 5p. If possible, please drop off items in bulk form … half the fun in doing this project will be working together on Sunday morning. Don’t have the time to go shopping but still want help? You can make a cash donation toward our bulk purchases.

Welcome Nora Kahn!
The newest member of our staff is Seminary Intern Nora Kahn. That name might sound familiar to you, and that is because Nora has been attending Holy Covenant for a while now. We are excited to have her in this new role and I am delighted already by the insight and perspective she has brought to our team. I know many of you have already welcomed her, but please be sure to introduce yourselves (again, possibly) over cake in the gallery after worship Sunday afternoon and evening. Please be sure to wear your nametag to help Nora learn who you are (and me, too actually). Watch this space for a note from her next week.

Still Time to Join Small Groups
Rebecca has done a marvelous job of assembling a wide variety of groups for you to participate in with an amazing cadre of leaders. Please consider becoming a part of a few … I don’t think you will regret it.

There’s even more (still) on the side of this page. Whew. Needless to day, no matter where your week takes you, chances are it will lead to something with Holy Covenant. And thank God for that!

See you soon!

Pastor Matthew

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The following is a letter from Rev. Rebecca Anderson regarding where her call to ministry is leading her in the coming weeks. My spirit is torn. I have greatly appreciated having her as a colleague and have learned much about God from her passion and personality, so I will miss her presence immensely. At the same time, I am very excited for her as she endeavors on this leg of her journey with Jesus. We are a church in the business of forming and sending out world changers, and I know Rebecca will continue that great tradition. I, the Lay Leadership team, and the Staff Parish Relations Committee understand you may have many questions about where Holy Covenant UMC goes from here, so please know you may contact us with any questions or concerns.

Peace,
Pastor Matthew

Lay Leaders
Linda Effinger Quinde
Adam Bogucki
Andrew Schumacher

Staff Parish Relations Committee
Mandy Leifheit
David Braden
Rachel Harvey
Dale Jones
Natalie Taylor

***

Beloved friends,

We will talk much more about this in person in the weeks to come, but so that you might all receive the news at about the same time, and so that you might have time to digest it a bit, I am writing to tell you that at Thanksgiving I’ll be leaving Holy Covenant and moving into my first full-time call to ministry. Sunday, November 20th will be my last day with you.

Both at my home church in Boston and here at Holy Covenant, I had the experience that some of you did too: I felt as though I’d walked into a wide space full of fresh air. I breathed in deeply and learned “God still wants me.” There need to be more churches where this is the case!

Because of this, I’ve known for several years that God’s call on my life is to transform churches; to work with congregations that are ready for and in need of change; to help vivify places that want to remain vital or become more so. I couldn’t yet picture what it would look like, but I came to know that I would work in churches who needed my zeal for

• fostering the community that grows up around the light of God wherever it flares up and
• creating worship opportunities that invite people to move more deeply into their faith and practices in new ways.

Because this is so clear to me, I have accepted a call to be Associate Minister at Glencoe Union Church, a non-denominationally affiliated church on Chicago’s north shore. There’s an experiment underway there to see what kind of life and faith are possible in that place; that experiment is work that I want to put my hands to.

When I accepted the call to be your Minister of Spiritual Formation, both the Staff Parish Relations Committee and I understood that it was a position that would extend through the end of this year. We knew I would be ordained by this point and that, as such, I would begin the process of “search and call.” Since I’m ordained by The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), this is a system different from the United Methodist appointment system. “Search and Call” is a process in which churches and clergy mutually discern a call. I have been casually and unofficially in the process of “search and call” for a long time; it is the process that led me to accept a call to HCUMC last year and it is the process that kept my eyes and ears open for where God would have me go next.

This place has incubated, nourished, and strengthened me. Go back and look as those two things I feel most called to as a pastor: community and worship. Where on earth could’ve been a better place to learn those than Holy Covenant? God called me, the Disciples ordained me, but you made me a pastor. I love this community, though, not for what you’ve done for (or to) me, but for who you are. Your love for one another and for the world, and your yearning toward God light up the corner of Wilton and Diversey. This is one of the ways I’ve come to love that thorny old problematic apostle Paul. When I read about his longing for churches he has known and loved, I’m right there with him:

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ… For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more…[from Philippians 1]

I very much look forward to spending this fall with you – U2 Sunday, Blessing of the Animals, All Saints services, and a 2nd Story evening on Nov 2nd (did you know about this?), evening services, conversations over coffee and at Mayan Palace, and getting small groups rolling. Friends, let us love one another. Let us pray for this church and all of Christ’s Church.

Grace and peace to you,
Rebecca

Rev. Rebecca Anderson
Minister of Spiritual Formation

Tacked to the wall in the tiny office at the little country church I served in Boone County was a yellowing piece of paper which said “You are now entering the mission field.” I always found it curious, because it did not hang over the door leading from the office into the sanctuary, but rather on the back wall; the outside wall next to the window which faced the highway. From behind the frosted glass, you could hear objects of individual autonomy speed by. They were blurs occupied by people who probably didn’t even notice that anybody worshiped there. We tried signs, lights and balloons; I even spent most non-winter mornings before worship on the stoop waiving at every car. But nobody ever stopped.

It didn’t take long for me to realize there was something fundamentally wrong with our friendly and open invitations…our community “outreach” as it were. They said “You’re welcome … to meet us on our ground; where we are comfortable and happy and historically in charge.”

It wasn’t until we left the building and the old stories and all the phrases beginning “I remember when” that we had any real influence on the community around us. It wasn’t until we moved our conversations about faith to the florist shop, and the diner, and the softball games that people began to listen to our stories and seek us out for help or friendship. It was then that we realized, collectively, that somebody had put that mantra-bearing piece of paper on the outside wall with a purpose. To be in mission with God and grow a community of faith, you have to be willing to go through your own walls and maybe even knock them down.

It is interesting to remember all the movement in the story of Jesus that leaves behind what was once important. The shepherds left behind the fields. The magi put aside their books. Eventually the holy family left behind the stable and the manger. Jesus left his home behind; the disciples left their boats behind; a tax collector left his comfort behind. Even the cross and the tomb were abandoned after they had served their purpose.

What grows communities of faith are not the things, but the people; people who genuinely care about their neighbor enough to go where their neighbor is. The things that we call “church” (buildings, programs and institutional rigor) are all secondary to the people – the body of Christ. They are meant to support a people moving toward their neighbors in love. Without people on the move, structures lose their reason, and the body loses its spirit. The Jesus we know is always on the move, and it is never just his arms. When he says follow, I think he means with all of ourselves. And to do that, we’ve got to get off the stoop.

Peace,

Pastor Matthew

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Sunday, October 2, 2011
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson, preaching

Mark 5:1-20

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