Emily Johnson

Emily grew up in Sycamore, IL, and shortly after graduation, met her husband, Pastor Matt. Emily received her Music Education degree from Illinois State. Although this is her first year at St. Luke Parish School in River Forest, this is her twelfth year teaching music. Emily and Matt have a daughter, Libby who is 4 1/2. Emily enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing piano, singing and crafting.

*****

Ginny Dickman-Lopez

Having grown up in Michigan and lived in Hawaii and Sweden I am now happy to call Chicago and Holy Covenant home. I currently reside in Lakeview East, am happily married and work full-time as a business consultant for the Swedish Trade Council downtown. I love business, reading, working out, singing, traveling, sewing, cooking and trying new things. I also love helping out with my family’s all natural local fruit butter business, the Southwestern Michigan Buttery. What keeps me coming back to Holy Covenant is that honest approach to life and faith – we’re not perfect and we don’t pretend to be because God loves us all exactly where we’re at right now.

*****

Rob Dickman-Lopez

I am a 5 year resident of Chicago by way of Los Angeles, Hawaii and New York. I currently live in Lakeview East and am happily married. Some of the things that keep me coming back to Holy Covenant include the warm and loving people, and of course the beautiful music and heartfelt services. I work full-time as a trade analyst for Northern Trust in the South Loop. And if I’m not at home, work or the gym you’ll more than likely find me at a 16 candles concert somewhere in the city.

I was able to listen to theologian Walter Brueggemann speak last week. He was reflecting on the 50 year ministry of John Buchanan, a Presbyterian Pastor, and dear friend to Walter, and to me. Brueggemann organized his thoughts around the theme of what it means to “go to church.”

This event took place just I was beginning my journey here at HCUMC, and questions about what it means to “go to church” were ripe in my mind. Several of you have heard me ask just that question as I seek to get to know you individually, and the Holy Covenant community better. What does it mean to go to church here? What it is you seek when you visit this particular meeting place of the Church? Are you looking for comfort? For challenge? For community? For coffee? For opportunities to serve? For Christian education and formation? For great music? For hope?

More importantly though, I think, is remembering that we are called not to “go to church” but rather to BE the Church. It is God’s project, God’s movement , that is the supreme end of the Church. The Church was thus created to be FOR the community not simply to be IN community. We come to church to encounter the Word, and this takes place in an infinite number of ways. We ARE the Church when we then act on that encounter, participating in the Kingdom of God even now. How is God calling you to BE the Church right now? And how can going to Holy Covenant UMC facilitate your response to that call? What is God’s call for HCUMC right now? I invite your ideas!!! And, I now have email and voice mail! Look forward to hearing from you.

Email Polly
(773)-528-6462 ext. 701

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One of the more formative times in my ministry was when I helped lead youth mission trips during my days out in Boone County. I got to team plan with other adult leaders from across the Midwest – many of whom remain dear friends and colleagues. We were all pastors who served financially strapped congregations, so we never did a “canned” trip programmed by a professional outfit. Instead, we did it all together: coordinating work sites, meals, housing, transportation, worship, daily devotions, leader training, and the obligatory fun day. It was taxing, yet I wouldn’t trade those days for anything. And that wasn’t because of anything really major that happened. It was a rather simple thing that made those trips special.

Because the youth and their adult volunteer leaders were split into groups that worked at many different sites, we’d open our evening time together by hearing stories about their projects and the people they’d met. And after they briefed the others on their day, they were asked the question.

“Where did you encounter Jesus today?”

Each team member was supposed to answer. The first couple of days never yielded much. There were a lot of “dittos” after the poor soul who was pushed forward to speak first. To the ones who struggled at the beginning, I’d challenge them to “change their lens” and take a wider (or closer) look at the people and situations that surrounded them. By the time the week was over, they had changed their perspective, and you couldn’t get some of them to be quiet! These were middle and high schoolers, mind you; mumblers of grand pedigree at best, members of a silent monastic order at worst. But they couldn’t shut up about Jesus whenever they were asked where they encountered him that day. For my youth, this continued well beyond the trips. It was the de facto conversation starter for youth group. And it changed the way they looked at the world and themselves.

I understand the comfort of seeing the world through the lens of our context. It helps us to fit in; to blend and be anonymous. But discipleship requires us to look through the lens of our calling. At every turn, the Spirit gives us an opportunity to witness Jesus and hear him calling us into deeper relationship with our neighbors and God. We just need to be looking — both wide-eyed and squinting — and together we will see.

So, friends, where did you encounter Jesus today? I look forward to asking you in person soon.

Peace,
Pastor Matthew

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Scanning through the headlines today was a bit depressing. I really couldn’t find a bit of good news anywhere in the front sections of the city’s newspapers. I guess that, maybe, people still like it that way. At least that’s what the publishers would say.

I remember attending a conference at a prestigious journalism school many years ago. I was there to learn how to make my university’s student paper better and get some insight from top journalists on what would best serve our readers and advertisers.

When it came time for our consultation with the professionals, they passed around our recent edition, mumbled to themselves, and jotted a few notes in green marker on the pages.

“Are you committed to the tabloid format?” one expert asked, referring to the smaller size of our pages, ala the Chicago Sun-Times.

It was an interesting question. I told them it was the size we’d always been … at least for the past 50 years.

“Be a tabloid then,” the expert concluded.

They then went on to give us the formula for turning our student paper into the New York Post. Big graphics. Even bigger headlines. Tease your content. Twist your topic. Push people inside. (more…)

Sunday, December 25, 2011
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson, preaching

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Sunday, January 8, 2011
Holy Covenant UMC
Nora Kahn, preaching

Genesis 1:1-5

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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson, preaching

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

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When I was in high school, I worked at a hardware store doing all kinds of things. I stocked shelves, operated the register, answered phones and cut keys. And sometimes I helped people – that is, when they let me. In those days (before the big box chains popped up in the cornfields) the hardware store was the haven of the “I can do it myself” person. In fact, our distributor – Hardware Wholesalers, Inc. – called many of their stores “Do It” centers. Of course, those who didn’t want my help had their reasons. Namely, that I was too young. What right or experience did I have to offer them help? They didn’t need me. Or so they thought. On countless occasions, after two-or-three return trips, they would begrudgingly accept my assistance in finding the fitting they needed, the nails that wouldn’t split the trim, the screws that would hold in the cinder block, and the right tools for the job. Yet, it was always with great distress that they said “thank you.” It was as if they had lost something of themselves.

Looking back on those days now, I have come to understand that they weren’t just embarrassed – they were grieving. They were grieving the dying myth of the rugged individual. They were grieving the assumed truth that they could be whatever they wanted (and do it themselves). It has failed them. It was a lie. The self-help section at the book store might as well be lumped in with the fantasy titles, because that kind of thinking is not of this world.

It is a vulnerable position to be in … once you realize that you (and everybody else) are in need of help. And, if you think I’m exaggerating, consider your reaction the next time the power goes out, or the store is out of what you need, or your car breaks, or (God forbid) there is a fire or a health problem. We all need help, and we could need it at any moment.

The Christian faith is full of examples of how being “helpless” isn’t a bad thing; in fact, it is a God thing. Being helpless and needing a helper is part of a new paradigm for living (or the paradigm that was true all along) that claims we need each other. We are complete when we are together. Being weak or exposed is a good thing when you are part of a community where there is trust and mutual love. Being vulnerable enough to ask for assistance and humble enough to receive it is a tangible way that God’s presence is known.

So, what if that is what it means to be saved? What is salvation is found in our crying out and answering each other in love? That’s how it started at Christmas, and maybe that’s how it can restart in us and our world.

Peace,

Pastor Matthew

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I write this from a desk that has now become a makeshift music studio. I am surrounded by blinking lights, knobs and switches. Wires snake around each other on the way to their destinations. I have spent the past few days getting lost in the signals they send. This is not the first time this has happened, but it is the first time in a long time. And I am remembering why I enjoy it so much.

I have recorded snippets of this and that for the past 20 years. Much of it is nothing more than musical doodling; there is very little of it that I’d be comfortable sharing with anyone. This has always been the tension for me. I have often felt like I have to justify exercising my creativity and imagination. I feel like it has to be meaningful to someone else to be worth the time; profitable for myself or those for whom I work. If if has no meaning or purpose beyond me, it seems like a waste of time. (I know, very Protestant of me.)

This year, I am going to work on being OK with wasting time in this way. Because, if I “waste” time doing what I love and what makes my heart glow with joy, it is at least a holy waste of time. If it brings me joy, it originated from the source of joy. If it makes me live, it originates from the source of life. I don’t need to justify living as God made me.

Do what you love, friends. Do what gives you meaning. Do what makes you resonate with the song of your heart. It isn’t a waste. It is God in you.

I resolve to discover and be who I am in 2012, and to love you enough to walk with you as you do the same. Let me know how I can do that for you!

Until then, the headphones are going back on. (Wait, what? Did you say something?)

Pastor Matthew

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The Staff Parish Relations Committee is excited to announce that we have hired an Evening Worship Leader and a Ministry Associate. Steve Thorngate will be our Evening Worship Leader starting the week of January 2. Rev. Polly Toner will be our Ministry Associate starting the week of January 9. Please help us welcome them into the Holy Covenant Community.

Evening Worship Leader – Steve Thorngate
Steve grew up in an evangelical church, where he cut his musical teeth playing in praise bands. He studied classical music at Wheaton College and has since worked in several churches that have welcomed his passion for music that a) is stylistically eclectic and b) encourages everyone present to sing. Steve loves many kinds of music but has a particular interest in traditional country gospel.

By day Steve works in nonprofit journalism. He’s currently an editor at the Christian Century magazine; before this he interned at Sojourners and the Utne Reader and edited publications for a social policy advocacy organization. Steve is also the music director at Christ Lutheran in Albany Park, a job he’ll continue alongside his work at Holy Covenant.

He and his wife, Nadia Stefko, live in Hyde Park, where Nadia is a student at the University of Chicago Divinity School. They like to cook, preserve food, geek out about beer, play Scrabble, and lavish embarrassing amounts of attention on their cat.

Ministry Associate – Rev. Polly Toner
Polly has been a resident of Lakeview/Lincoln Park since 1997 where she currently lives with her Beagle, Bella. She has also lived in Idaho, Massachusetts, Southern California, and briefly in both Wisconsin and Salt Lake City. She completed her undergraduate work and Occupational Therapy school at the University of Southern California.

She attended Divinity School at the University of Chicago with some extra work at McCormick Theological Seminary, and is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, Polly has been involved with Protestant churches since junior high when she persuaded her family to give the Presbyterian church in San Diego a try. Both Fourth Presbyterian and Lakeview Presbyterian churches in Chicago have been formative during her journey into ordained ministry.

Polly enjoys her work with older adults and youth in physical rehabilitation, mental health and school settings, and in faith communities. She continues to work at St. Joseph Hospital where she has been on staff for 15 years. She looks forward to getting to know the Holy Covenant community, learning and growing along side everyone, and participating in God’s work in the world here.

Those who look at her eclectic music collection, books or inbox may struggle to put her into a category. She is passionate about people, inclusion and health care; loves the outdoors, travel and dogs; and is happiest when she makes time to exercise regularly.

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