November 30
 
Join us for Holiday CircleFest at the Church of the Covenant

Worship - 1st Sunday of Advent
Sanctuary, 10:00 am
Communion, Service of Healing & Wholeness, 
Baptism, Children in Worship
 
Final Giving Tree Tag Selection
Reception Room, 11:00 am
Cleveland School of the Arts, Ernest J. Bohn Senior Center, & 
Daniel E. Morgan second graders (all tags adopted).

Coffee & Fellowship 
Dining Room, 11:00 am

Covenant Cache Christmas Bazaar
 Lower Level, 11:00 am-2:00 pm
Do your Christmas shopping early with LOTS of great bargains. 
Find just the right decorations for your home or dorm room!

Brunch for University Students
Connection Center, 11:15 am
Great food and fellowship for university students. No charge.

  Carillon Concerts & Tours
12:00-3:30 pm
Carillon music at 12, 1, 2 & 3 pm. Tower tours at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 & 3:30.
Limit 20/tour: reserve at ucbells.org/circlefest2017 (suggested donation $5).
Visit the "Waffle Shop" noon - 4:00 pm for freshly baked Belgian waffles for sale and
free hot spiced tea. Free McGaffin Carillon coloring book to the first 250 visitors.

Instrumental Prelude to Carol Sing, 3:30 pm

Holiday CircleFest Carol Sing
Sanctuary, 4:00 pm
Bringing together over 150 musicians from Case Western Reserve University
 and the Church of the Covenant along with the Cleveland Guitar Orchestra
for a program of sing-along Christmas carols and other holiday music.

Christmas Cookie Reception to follow.


 
We could use more cookies for our 
Carol Sing Cookie Reception!
Thank you to everyone who signed up to bring cookies Sunday. 
Because of the popularity of this reception, we could still use more cookies.  If you are able to bake or buy cookies but didn't sign up, you can still bring them. Please bring all cookies to the  kitchen off the Reception Room Sunday morning.  
 
Sunday, December 3
1st Sunday of Advent
Worship 10:00 am

Join us for the first Sunday of Advent as we celebrate the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper and consider what it means to worship fully during this season. What do Jesus's life and teachings reveal to us about worship? How might we expand our understanding of worship beyond what happens in a specific time and place each week? Could an expanded definition of worship lead us to transformative encounters with God and neighbor?

This Sunday Amy Starr Redwine's sermon is entitled "Worship Full y."   This week the scriptures are    Isaiah 64:1-9  and  Mark 13:24-37 . Our Lay Worship Leader is Barbara Clint .
 
Bulletins are posted at CovenantWeb.org/read/listen, where you can also read or listen to sermons. Printed  sermons now include the pastoral prayer.  Can you usher, greet, serve communion, provide flowers?  Click here.   
We welcome the Beckwith Handbell Choir to our service this week presenting an evocative arrangement of the Advent hymn, Veni Emmanuel (O Come, O Come Emmanuel). This famous hymn provides the melodic framework for the liturgical music in our communion service (Missa Emmanuel by the American composer Richard Proulx). 
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Children's memory verse for next week, December 12
This week the children will stay in worship. The memory verse for December 12 is "Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created."  - Esther 4:14 
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In the Covenant Family
We pray for Randy Bennett, Patrick Monaghan, and  Don Norris (relatives of Tom and Cheri Keys), Judy Bourne, Andrew Bullen (Melanie Marsh Baum's cousin), Akeya Clark (Marie Jones' niece), Rich Day (friend of Bill Braun & Cathy Luck), Tori Eldridge and family, Marlene Finkenthal (David Finkenthal's mother), Janet Garrett (Mathew Garrett's mother), Eliseo Hairston (Shirley Thompson's grandson deployed to the Pacific), Fritz Haiss, Greg Madison, Elizabeth Mierke, Olitana Rika (physician in Albania), Robert Schneider (First Baptist Church), Tommy Seagraves (Lynda Starr's brother), Tom Skrout (Stephanie Pennza's father), Liam Stewart (Mindy Stewart's nephew), Doug Weiss (Ann Williams' friend), Jeff Williams, and those struggling with illness, convalescing, or are homebound; the patients, family, and staff in our surrounding hospitals; and those who have placed prayer requests in our Carpenter's Box. 
 


Our prayers  are with the family of Dolores Acree who died on November 19 in Cleveland. Her memorial service is Saturday, December 2, at 11:00 am in the Covenant Sanctuary.
  

Melanie Marsh Baum   is on vacation through December 4. Jonathan Moyer is performing in Richmond, VA and will be gone November 29 through December 2.
Happy Birthday to those celebrating in December!
Jane Adams
Eleanor Anderson
Bill Braun
Fred Braun
Rachel Bromelmeier
Karen Burt
Zac Cooper
Marilyn Demeter
Collin Denbow
Carl DiRusso III
Max Haiss
Mike Heines
Jessica Hutajulu
Carolyn Jones
Tom Keys
Matthew Klein
Amy Kucharski
Stephanie Lahti
C.J. Langmack
Kevin Laylin
Jerry Lowe
Marie Madison
Conner McCune
Jim Miller
Hannah Pulliam
James Richardson
James Smekal
Shirley Thompson
Joan Tomkins
Jules Tryk
Wananani Tshiamo
Kristine Urban
Marty Vinborg
Margaret Wadsworth
Our apologies if we have missed your birthday! Please call the office, 216.421.0482, to let us know.
Please send prayer requests to Melanie Marsh Baum. Names are generally moved from the bulletin after four weeks unless there is a continuing need. Please let the church know if you or a loved one are in the hospital; HIPAA privacy regulations prevent hospitals from sharing this information.

Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2   
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Opportunities
Cookies for the Ernest J. Bohn Senior Center Luncheon
Our Deacons are asking for cookie donations for the Christmas luncheon they are hosting for participants at Ernest J. Bohn Senior Center on Tuesday December 12. You can sign up in the Church office. Please bring to the church office, labeled "Deacons Christmas Cookies" by Sunday December 10.
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Poinsettia
Poinsettia Orders -  Deadline is NEXT Sunday, December 10
Time to order your poinsettias in memory of or honoring a loved one. These poinsettias decorate our Sanctuary from Sunday, December 17 through Sunday, December 31. 
Order forms are in the office or click here to download a form.While there is not set amount, a contribution of $25 or more would help defray the cost of our poinsettias and greens. Names will be listed in the December 17 and 24 bulletins. Poinsettias may be picked up after service on December 31.
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Two Advent Devotionals
 are available for your Advent reflection
 
Advent Coloring Devotional 
by Sharon Seyfarth Garner $10

Advent Devotional
by Henri Nouwen $8

Both may be purchased in the Church Office.
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Giving Tree Orchestra & Chorus
Sunday, December 10 -  Sign up in the church office.

Calling all instruments. Yes, ALL instruments & voices!!!! Dust off that French horn in your attic and join the Giving Tree Orchestra and Chorus. Open to all ages and experience levels who can read music.
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Final Giving Tree Tag Selection   
Sunday December 3 - Reception Room
This year you may select gift tags for Cleveland School of the Arts students, participants in the Ernest J. Bohn Senior Center, and for 23 second graders at Daniel E. Morgan Elementary School (all tags have been adopted).  
On Sunday, December 10, we will have our Giving Tree Celebration. Please bring your gifts to the Dining Room before our service. 
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A Simple Season
Worship Fully. Spend Less. Give More. Love All.
Wednesday, December 6,  6-7:30 pm in the Dining Room
We will gather together to consider how we can reclaim hope, peace, joy, and love this Advent and Christmas. All ages are invited to share soup and bread and engage in simple and worshipful activities that remind us how God's incarnation changes our lives and the world.  Click here to register.
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Important Cache Dates
Shop the Cache Bazaar 

from 11:00 - 2:00 this Sunday, December 3

  • Because of the remodeling, no donations can be accepted after December 9
  • The Cache will be closed for Christmas break December 15-January 1 
  • Mark your calendar for a half-price sale on January 2 and 4
  • As part of our lower level renovations the Cache will close on January 5 for several weeks
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Applications are being accepted for the Communications Manager, a 30 hour/week exempt position that is responsible for all internal and external church communications. Essential functions of the role include: digital media, production and distribution of weekly e-newsletter and others as necessary, worship support, materials development, external advertising, and photography. To learn more go to  www.universitycircle.org/work/job-listings.
11205 Euclid Avenue  |  Cleveland, OH 44106
Wheelchair accessible

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