Community life

How good can we really be at anything if we only give it four or five hours of our time per month? If we are serious about our relationships within the community, they require more of us than an hour a week. The good news is, Holy Covenant has plenty of opportunities for you to grow in fellowship in the coming months. Be it on weekday evenings, weekends, lunch hours, or before or after worship, We hope that you can find another way to connect with your Holy Covenant family soon.

“In the Loop” Lunch
We know, you’re busy, on-the-go, urban professional folk. But you do eat lunch, right? Grab some carry-out, share the time with others, and hear thoughts on topics like how to balance in the holidays and ways to pray through your day. Once per month, Third Tuesdays, 11:45a-1p. For more information, contact Pastor Matthew.

77 W. Washington (Chicago Temple Building)
2012 – October 16, November 20, December 18,
2013 – January 15, February 19, March 19, April 16, May 21

Evening Meetups
We live in one of the most amazing cities in the world, so why not enjoy it together. Evening meetups are casual, come-as-you-are, often no-cost ways to enjoy the culture of our neighborhoods and meet a few new people along the way. For more information, contact Pastor Matthew.

October 23, Time TBD – River North (Chicago International Film Festival) $
November 27, 7p – Lakeview (Karaoke Night at Trader Todd’s) $
January 24, 6p – The Loop (Art Institute of Chicago) Free
February 26, 7p – Logan Square (Logan Hardware) Free
March 26, 6p – Streeterville (Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art) Free
April 23 – TBA
May 28 – TBA

Weekend Fun-For-All
Spend a few Saturdays letting the kid in you and/or the kids that live with you have fun. For more information, contact Pastor Matthew.

October 13 – All-Seasons Apple Orchard, Woodstock, IL $
November 10 – “Duck for President” Lifeline Theatre, Rogers Park $
December 8 – St. Nicholas Day Party @ HC Free
January 12 – Chicago Children’s Museum, Navy Pier $
February 9 – Valentine’s Day Craft Party @ HC Free
March 9 – Garfield Park Conservatory Free
April 13 – Movie Matinee @ HC Free
May 11 – Lincoln Park Zoo Free

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AT HOLY COVENANT
Connections Sunday Brunch
1st Sundays at 11:30a
2012 – October 7, November 4, December 2
2013 – January 6, February 3, March 3, April 7, May 5

Evening Community Potlucks
3rd Sundays at 8p
2012 – October 21, November 18, December 16
2013 – January 20, February 17, March 17, April 21, May 19

Pizza with the Pastors
2nd Thursdays at 7p
2012 – October 11, November 8, December 13
2013 – January 10, February 14, March 14, April 11, May 9

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Sunday, September 9, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson, leading

James 2:1-10, 14-17

Listen to Pastor Matt’s introduction:

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Read Katie Wickman’s testimony about violence in Chicago.

Often, when I go up to Wisconsin to see my family, or even when I’m just talking with them on the phone, I am confronted with concerns about my safety down here in the big city of Chicago – “I’ve heard there’ve been a lot of murders down there lately”, or “Are you home yet?” if my mom figures out I’m still on the El at 8pm on a weeknight. It’s usually followed up with “I’ll stay on the phone with you until you get home.” Or if I’m about to head out for a run by the lake, “Did you remember your pepper spray?”

God love my family and their concern for my well-being – those constant questions help me remember how much they care about me. In response to those questions, I usually end up trying to quell their fears – and especially my grandma’s – with responses like “Well, you know, a city is a city … but, most of those murders are on the south or the west sides of Chicago, and that’s like a WHOLE different world down there.” Or, “that’s not really in my neighborhood.”

And unfortunately, those responses have been a pretty close reflection of how I’ve actually thought and felt about our city since I moved down here 8 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a caring individual. I care about my community and my world, and I care about how I treat my brothers and sisters who have less than I have. I’m a big proponent of access to healthcare for everyone, and I’ve done some significant volunteer work over the years. But when it came to issues like gang-related violence, or violence in communities predominately not in my own racial or ethnic group, I’ve been pretty ambivalent. Sure, it was too bad, and something should be done about it, but it had not really been one of MY issues. In my head now I think about the possible reasons for that: maybe the lack of press about what’s going on, maybe my lack of knowledge about the underlying issues, PLEASE GOD don’t let it be that I could somehow believe some people’s lives are less valuable than others, maybe my utter disbelief that I could make any difference at all. I mean, really, what could I do? (more…)

The Word was preached.
We listened, and felt moved.
We gathered the next day, twenty-five strong. Lots of questions and conversation.
We prayed, we discerned, we learned more.
We gathered again. More conversation and searching.
And now, with God’s help, we march.

After our July worship service about gun violence in Chicago, this has been the journey that several of us from Holy Covenant have found ourselves on. Call it the Holy Spirit, call it whatever you want. But it moved us. I don’t know what Jesus would think about our conversations at Theology on Tap and our baby steps in figuring out where we fit into being part of the solution, but I’d like to think that the way we’ve journeyed together so far is at least something like he envisioned. We’re just a rag tag group of disciples, sometimes clueless, sometime divinely inspired, working together to live out our faith.

There are a few ways we’re aiming to take action as a congregation. You’ll be hearing more about those in the coming weeks, but one opportunity we have right now is to participate in a ministry of presence. To that end, Josh Bonifas and I have committed to gathering folks to take part in a couple of peace marches organized by churches in some of the hardest hit communities, Austin and Auburn Gresham. Through Pastor Matthew and Polly’s connection to the Chicago Coalition of Clergy, we, along with other churches across the city, have been invited by these faith communities to participate. We will travel to these neighborhoods to gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ, be present, and show that we care. We do not claim to know the answer or to come to try and “fix” anything. It will be a chance to experience a community and see what needs there might be. It’s also an opportunity for those of us who’ve felt called to respond to have an experience that we can then go tell the rest of HC about.

Josh will be leading a group to attend the Friday 8/24 march in Auburn Gresham. Please email him if you’re interested in Friday’s march.

I will lead a group on Wednesday 8/29 in Austin. Email me if you’re interested.

Details for both marches are below.

We don’t know what exactly to expect with the marches but feel called to go and see what God is already doing with folks who are standing up and saying enough is enough. I hope you’ll consider joining us.

Andrew Schumacher

Friday 8/24 at 6:30pm
St. Sabina Church
1210 W. 78th Pl (Auburn Gresham neighborhood)
Talk to Josh Bonifas

Wednesday 8/29 at 6:30pm
Greater St. John Bible Church
1256 N Waller Avenue (in the Austin community)
Talk to Andrew Schumacher

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One of the hardest things about being active and invested in a community like Holy Covenant UMC is that we are always in flux. Like our neighborhood and the great city that surrounds it, our makeup is never the same from day to day. We are welcoming new people daily. And we are sending them off with our love almost as often. The following is a letter I received last week just before we sent Todd Peacock-Preston off with God’s blessings on the next leg of his journey to Seattle.  I wanted to share it with you (with permission) because, even though it is addressed to me, it isn’t really just for me. These words are yours for the ministry you have done here. I hope they bring you as much joy as they did me. And I hope they serve to reiterate the kind of impact we have in living into our identity as a teaching congregation.

Abundant Blessings,

Pastor Matthew

Dear Matthew,

I am Todd Peacock Preston’s mother.  I have written this ‘thank you’ letter in my mind a million times over the last few years and like many things now find myself with a deadline – for he is leaving Chicago so I am putting pen to paper so to speak.  Todd is our third child and only boy, his sisters are 9 and 7 years older – so at times he has had 3 moms – telling him what to do!  Our family is very close and it seems the older they/we get the closer we are.

Five years ago, when Todd got into DePaul and moved to Chicago (1000 miles away from home)– our one request was that he become involved in a church.  Pretty quickly he visited Holy Covenant but did not feel it was just right and visited the Downtown UMC.  I am not sure how it happened but within a few months he found his way back to HC – I believe very strongly it was a ‘God thing’.

Ed and I have raised loving, strong, independent, faithful and creative children – but we have known from the get-go that we could not raise them alone.  So in each of their lives there have been very special people that have supported them in ways that Ed and I were just not able to do and for that we thank God.  For Todd, that support came in the shape of a very special church – Holy Covenant – and for that we thank God daily.  Todd went to Chicago a young boy in many ways and is leaving Chicago as a strong, confident and content man – thanks to HC.

You see, Todd needed to see himself separate from us – his nuclear family – yet loved and respected for who he is by his church family.  And he has.  We heard all about Kate’s sermons, Andrew’s music choices, Matt’s asking to meet for coffee, Troy and Walter taking him to lunch, this year’s General Conference and the activities around the Pride month – for years!  When he came home and visited our church – we would have lunch discussions about inclusive theology (our church’s isn’t) and what it means to be a part of something not just accepted.  HC has touched our family in ways that most churches just dream of ‘touching’ people.  When we come to town – we leave after church on Sunday – to worship with Todd.

One of my goals is to see the communion table you asked him to build.  We all have blood, sweat and smiles in that table!  You will never know what that single act of asking him to make that table did to securely ground his faith in God and humanity.  HC has been the complete embodiment of Christ on earth for our family.  And for that we will be eternally grateful to you and each member of the church.

As Todd worships with you and HC for the last time this week before his move, I want you to know how much it has meant to me as Todd’s mom to know that he has had HC’s support – unconditionally – HC has given me comfort – knowing that you were there for him and our family.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I have a feeling our paths will cross again – you have been too important in our lives…keep passing it forward..

With deep sincerity and love –

Ginger Peacock Preston

Sunday night, I sat at my desk long after my family had gone to bed. I sat there well into Monday morning, in fact. This is a pretty normal occurrence. It is usually the time I attempt to make headway in the constant email flood. That was not my purpose this week, however. This week, I joined countless other nerds who watched NASA’s Curiosity rover land safely on Mars after traveling more than 350 million miles.

Not long ago, I had the privilege of working with a handful of NASA people in Houston, Flintridge (CA), and Dayton who were part of this project. As I watched the mission control team in California, I remembered what those people had told me just after Curiosity’s kin – Spirit and Opportunity – landed on Mars back in 2004: “Wait until you see what we have planned next.” Were they ever right. In stuff fit for a Louie C.K. “Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy 2.0″ bit, they got a rocket-powered sky-crane robot to lower a vehicle onto the martian surface.

The moment Curiosity was on the surface and mission control got its first picture back, everyone in the room cheered like they had won a championship. They jumped up and down as if a great war had ended. They embraced each other and cried as if their child had just been inaugurated prime minister. It was impossible not to be inspired by all of it. It reminded me that my NASA friends really meant it when they said “we”.

For me, it was also a chance to catch a glimpse of the goodness that I hope the universal church and our local community will someday live into when we embrace mission and purpose. It is what I pray will happen the day we finally become “we”. Science can teach us a lot about the ability of humanity. And, in a world that seems more and more set on being divided, religion has a lot to learn.

Look at how good and pleasing it is
when families live together as one!
It is like expensive oil poured over the head,
running down onto the beard – Aaron’s beard! -
which extended over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew on Mount Hermon
streaming down onto the mountains of Zion,
because it is there that the Lord has commanded the blessing:
everlasting life. (Psalm 133, CEB)

Peace,
Pastor Matthew

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Sunday, August 5, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson in conversation with Lakeview Action Coalition

Philippians 2:1-11

We’ve spent the summer talking about the foundations of discipleship; the basics of what it means to follow to be a follower of Jesus and a people who live in that three-fold mission of seeking God, loving all people and changing the world. We’ve discussed grace as the beginning of all things; That our ability to return to God is a gift. That our ability to see the world differently is a gift. That we are transformed in this life by love (so that we can be love).

We’ve had conversations around prayer and scripture. We’ve talked about why it is important for all of us, in our seeking to be disciples of Jesus, to devote some part of our lives to being intentional about what we can learn and experience from spiritual practice. We are given permission to find joy and to wrestle with our faith. We are charged with taking the time to let God mold us into the fullness of our creation, and to make us reflect the image of God in which all of us were created.

And now we are beginning to share what this means in life outside of ourselves. Taking time to become more holy as a person is one wing on the plane, but it won’t fly in our faith tradition without the other, which is to become more holy in the way we live as a member of the human family and citizen of the world.

So we will be asking: How does one practice being a disciple? Specifically today: How does one practice being a disciple of of Jesus and be part of a local community? (more…)

Sunday, July 29, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Polly Toner, preaching

Ezekiel 37

This weekend has been declared a Weekend of Peace by the Chicago Clergy Coalition. If you were expecting to hear about stewardship today, never fear, you will, another day! Working for peace IS about stewardship, but Peace in our City is our emphasis today. Before we begin our conversation, I want to acknowledge that the topic of violence- gun violence in particular- is one we come to from various life stories and experiences. Some of you have no doubt been touched deeply by its tragic consequences and know about gun violence in ways far more profound than I do, from all different sides of the issue. Others of of you may have had little to no awareness of the epidemic we are facing in this great city right now. That is okay. That is why we are starting a conversation, to get a dialogue going.

Let Us Pray:
Speak to us, Lord, that we may hear what we need to hear. Guide us that we might live as we ought to live. Amen.

My bones are dried up, my hope has perished. Some mornings, when I read the number of shootings that took place in my own city, this is my first reaction. The problem seems too big sometimes. The issues aren’t simple; recent coverage of the shootings in Aurora, Colorado has increased our dialogue about access to firearms, the banning of assault weapons, access to mental health services and the necessary follow up, public security, internet purchasing…

In our own city of Chicago, there are politics and drugs, finances and gangs, and all these interplay around gun violence in ways it is hard for me to get my head around sometimes. My bones feel dry. My heart is heavy.
But hear the Lord’s Word, says the prophet Ezekiel.

“I will put breath in you,” earlier translations read, “I will put my spirit in you.” Breathe, Arise, Come out of that grave! These dry bones shall live!

And they come to life not because of my power, or your power, but because God gives us life, gives us breath, and God is big enough for the most monstrous of problems. We are not to lose hope, then, even in the face of our current crisis, our current emergency, because God is Lord. God is bigger, even than death.

Often, when reading this story, of the dry bones, we think of life after death. With Christian lenses, we imagine a grand resurrection when we will all break out of our graves, God has conquered death and all humankind shall live ever more.

Other times, this story is used as a metaphor for healing, for new life, life restored after brokenness of some kind or other. (more…)

Stephanie Limesand was born in the great state of North Dakota and raised in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. She works as a nanny for two wonderful children ages 5 and 10. Her degree from UIUC is in acting and she loves doing theatre when life permits. Currently she has started blogging and is finding much joy in writing about relationships and her upcoming nuptials. She recently got engaged to a Scotsman and they are planning a formal and whimsical wedding in Minnesota for next March. Stephanie is very close to her family and credits her Mom for leading by example the ways of a loving and grace-filled life. Stephanie has been affiliated with Congregational Churches, UCC Churches, non-denominational churches, and now a Methodist church. She says it is not about the background of the group but the people that are present in the community. Stephanie is overjoyed to take a more active role in a place that values all of God’s people. In the past Stephanie was an active choir member, she has participated in small groups, and has been on the fundraising and communications committee, but is currently serving on SPRC and finding it to be a great fit. Stephanie and her fiancé, Iain, live in Wicker Park and love to explore this beautiful and vibrant city.

There are moments in our lives when God is evident in everything we see and do. Other times, we catch glimpses of light that give us hope and strength to continue on. Yet sometimes, the maintenance of our lives in our own place obscures that light. Sometimes, we need to journey outside of the comfortable and into the foreign. Ever since the beginning of God’s covenant relationship with humanity, sojourning to seek and follow God has been a key part of our faith story.

This November 1-4, you have the opportunity to add your story to that list of sojourners who have ventured out into the world seeking to follow and find another glimpse of the divine. Join the Holy Covenant Missions Team in Homestead, Florida, as we volunteer with Sembrando Flores Compassionate Care Ministries. Sembrando Flores is a grassroots, ecumenical,faith-based, HIV/AIDS and social service organization whose ministry focuses on promoting wellness of the mind, body, and spirit by providing compassionate care and personal advocacy.

Our time with Sembrando Flores will be spent assisting its staff with one of its free community HIV/AIDS testing clinics, facilitating a night of fellowship with teens in the community, and assisting the organization with other tasks as needed to make the facility a place where the community can feel comfortable.

The deadline to register is Saturday, September 1. To register, or for more information about this or any of the exciting things happening with Missions at Holy Covenant, please email the Missions Team.

We hope that you will consider joining us, and we look forward to finding ways to help you encounter God in service to others.

Lisa Rothman, Mat Schramm, Sarah Tidwell, Emlyn Torres, and Nathan Voris
Holy Covenant Missions Team

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Sunday, June 24, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Polly Toner, preaching

Genesis 1
2 Corinthians 6:1-13

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We’ve started this morning with a story from Genesis, one of the stories of creation. It is a bit long, but it seems a fitting text for today, that we begin with the reminder and celebration of the fact that God created everything and everyone, and found that it was good, very good, indeed.

Today is Pride Sunday, a day when people across Chicago, hundreds of thousands of them (last year’s estimate was 750,000), celebrate the diversity of God’s creation. It is lively and fun, sometimes a bit rowdy – and always colorful. As a community of faith we ought to pause and remember this parade is the response to a need. Its origins are in a time when individuals could not publicly celebrate who they are. Pride parades around the nation developed as an outcry for human dignity and civil rights, and they take place because people were willing to stand up, challenge the status quo, and take risks. I will be the first to agree that dignity might not directly follow from some of the behavior that has gone on at these parades in the past – but on the whole, they are a marvelous party in honor of God’s people. Every year I feel overcome by a sense of unity between humans right out on the sidewalk – a celebration of being alive and being whoever it is that we are. In 2012 we are able to enjoy the party because others before us stood up and took action.

Before we continue, in the spirit of our summer discussion series here at Holy Covenant, I want to raise a few questions…

1.) What is ministry?

2.) Is the Pride Parade ministry?

Friday evening was the Medical Resident Graduation for our House Staff at St. Joseph Hospital. After giving the benediction, I was able to listen to story after story of how these new doctors had changed lives in amazing ways, and then about the many personal sacrifices they and their families had made in order to do so. Medical service to the community is chock full of joy, of miraculous interventions and recoveries – but it is not without a cost. It is not without some discomfort for doctors and for patients. In fact it STARTS in a place of neediness. The medical model is based on looking for dysfunction, disease, what does not work right. Most doctors do not spend their days caring for the healthy and strong. Particularly at this faith-based, nonprofit hospital in the center of many urban retirement and nursing homes, these doctors spend much of their day caring for the uninsured, and for the elderly. SJH has an award winning ministry to those living with HIV/AIDS, and a high level neonatal ICU caring for the tiniest and sickest of newborns. Whether these doctors themselves are Christians or not, they ARE participating in the Christian ministry of SJH as they care for the least and the frailest of these, honoring all of God’s very good creation even when, especially when, things aren’t going so well. In order to fix what isn’t right though, health care providers must also be attuned to what IS right. They must also look at a person’s strengths so they can identify the resources that can be used to overcome the illness.

This is not so different from what we do as the Church. (more…)