May 18, 2017
"Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?"
- Isaiah 43:19
  
Sunday May 21
Worship 10:00 am
What is your response when God calls you to something new? When you cannot see the way ahead, or when you can see it but can't figure out how to get from here to there, how does your faith equip you to move forward? How does our awareness of the past enable us to trust God, even with all the fear and anxiety that arises when we confront the unknown? Join us for worship, and stay for a brief annual meeting -- we need your presence and your input as we  discern how God is moving us into the future!

Amy St arr Redwine's sermon is "Where Do We Go from Here?"  Scriptures are Isaiah 43:16-21 and Matthew 28:16-20.  Our Lay Worship Leader is Nancy Smekal

Bulletins are posted at CovenantWeb.org/read/listen, where you can also read or listen to sermons.
There will be Sunday School following the Time for Young Disciples. While all children are more than welcome to remain in the service, we have a nursery for infants through pre-kindergarten age children. Activities packets are available from the ushers.  Contact Mindy Stewart, Director of Family Ministries, at MStewart@CovenantWeb.org for information about these or any programs for youth and families.

Music Notes: Two hymns this Sunday reflect on the dedication of our labor in the service of God and the community, acknowledging the many graduating students in schools throughout our region as well as the ordination and installation of our church officers. The first is the hymn "Take Thou Our Minds, Dear Lord," the text of which was written by the Presbyterian minister William H. Foulkes (1877-1962) who served a brief tenure as pastor of Old Stone Church in Cleveland. His text was inspired directly from a tune composed by his dear friend and hymnographer Calvin Weiss Laufer (1874-1938). The second hymn, "Come, Labor On" is sung by the choir in an anthem setting by John Ferguson, retired professor of organ at St. Olaf College. The text of the hymn was written by the Scottish hymnographer and missionary Jane Laurie Borthwick (1813-1897), who devoted much of her work to the English translation of German hymns. Her most notable translation is the hymn "Be Still My Soul." The British organist Thomas Tertius Noble (1867-1953) wrote the now-popular hymn tune Ora Labora for the hymn text while serving as choirmaster of St. Thomas Church in New York City. 
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In the Covenant Family
prayer flower We keep in our prayers Akeya Clark (Marie Jones' niece), Jennifer Conner, Rich Day (friend of Bill Braun and Cathy Luck), Gretchen Drushel (studying in Seoul, South Korea), Stephanie Johnson, Karen and Les Knowlton, Marilyn and Rolf Kronseng, Ann McDaniel (Pat Owne-Keltner's aunt), Timothy Moyer (Jonathan Moyer's brother), Victoria Ondich (Patty Fowler's mother), and Erika and Norbert Roehl (friends of Arnie and Susan Dahm). We pray for Covenant members and friends who are 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.
 
A memorial service for Mary Jean Rice will be June 10, 2:00 pm, at Heiser Auditorium, Kendal at Oberlin, 600 Kendal Dr., Oberlin, Ohio 44074. Mary Jean passed away peacefully on February 1. 

Congratulations and blessings to all of our graduates! Have a graduate in your family? We'd love to share the news about our youth who are graduating from high school, college or have other milestones in their lives.  Please email Covenant@CovenantWeb.org. If you have a picture, we can also include it.  Thank you!
 
Este Pozza is on vacation May 24-May 29. Willie Howard is on vacation May 25-May 30. Kevin Lowry will be in Israel May 24-June 12 as part of a cross-cultural immersion program, coursework for his Masters of Divinity. 
Covenant's Giving Tree orchestra wouldn't be the same without Rich!

Congratulations to Richard Drushel, winner of the Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at Case Western Reserve University!
As noted in  CWRU's The Daily e-newsletter, "Richard Drushel, senior instructor and executive officer in the Department of Biology, considers teaching an opportunity to repay staff and faculty who helped him as an undergraduate and graduate student at Case Western Reserve University. 'I'm a lifer at this university,' said Drushel, who arrived as a first-year student in 1980 and never left. 'All that I am, I learned here.' What he's learned and put into practice earned Drushel a 2017 CarlF. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Drushel will be recognized along with other award winners during commencement ceremonies May 21."  Read more here.
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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Meet our Newest Members
In March we were blessed with five new members who joined the Covenant community. We asked each to tell us a bit about themselves.  
Carolyn Jones
Carolyn, a returning Cleveland native, is an alumna of Notre Dame College where she enjoyed singing alto, and Cleveland State University, where she earned her MBA while she helped rear the Lindsay family in Cleveland Heights. She moved to moved to Charlotte, NC, where she met her late husband, Dick Jones, of Warwick RI. She shares that he found several Presbyterian churches in his travels around the country as a sales manager. Carolyn transferred  her membership from Sea Island  Presbyterian  Church on Lady's Island, South Carolina.  As a recent widow, Carolyn finds comfort in choral work and in church fellowship and tradition. 
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Opportunities
Dale Goode Art Exhibit in Covenant's East Gallery
Dale Goode, a Cleveland native and Covenant member, has deep connections to his community and the regional art world. A painter, sculptor, and muralist, he has shown his work widely in the Northeastern Ohio area over several decades. You can enjoy his work in the East Gallery (above Christ Chapel) where it is displayed. 

The Saturday Tutoring Program Steering Committee is seeking participants.
The Saturday Tutoring Program was founded and is under the loving and dedicated management of Linda Wilson, who will be retiring from her position after the 2018 spring semester. Talk with John Marsh or call the Church Office at 216.421.0482 to participate.
Some current Crèche kids with "graduates."
A Great Chance to Meet our Youngest Disciples! Help out in the Crèche.
We are looking for volunteers eighteen or older to be the second adult in the Crèche on Sunday mornings from 9:30 am-12:30 pm, or until the last child is picked up. Children include infants through pre-kindergarten age. For safety reasons, the Covenant requires two adults to be present for all activities involving youth and children. Join Christy Cameron-Hollyfield, our Crèche Coordinator, and get to know our youngest children. Contact Christy at CCHollyfield@CovenantWeb.org , Melanie Marsh Baum at MBaum@CovenantWeb.org , or call the church office at 216.421.0482. Volunteer ing in the Crèche meets service hour requirements.

God Before Guns Annual March and Rally
National Wear Orange for Gun Violence Prevention Day
Friday, June 2, 2017
Protect Our Kids from Gun Violence
4:00 pm   March across Hope Memorial (Carnegie)Bridge
5:00 pm   Rally at Market Square Park
Go to GodBeforeGuns.org for more information.

God Before Guns is a program of Covenant University and Community Ministries (CUCM) and a Covenant mission partner.

FRONT PARKING LOT CLOSED ALL DAY SATURDAY, MAY 27
The front parking lot is being coated on Saturday, May 27. There will be no parking in the front lot until Sunday morning, May 28.

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Music at Covenant
TUESDAY NOON ORGAN RECITALS
TUESDAYS THROUGH JUNE 27 | 12:00 NOON

Gerwin Hoekstra, Oberlin Conservatory of Music and organist at First Church (UCC) in Oberlin, will be playing this Tuesday, May 23.

Tuesday Noon Organ Recitals featuring organists from throughout greater Cleveland and beyond on both of Covenant's two magnificent pipe organs. Jonathan Moyer will be playing this Tuesday, May 2. Bring a lunch! Bring a friend!   Free and open to the public. Free parking in the Covenant parking lot.
FRIDAY LUNCHTIME CARILLON CONCERTS | FRIDAYS TROUGH JUNE 16 12:15 PM |  TOWER TOURS FOLLOWING THE CONCERTS

Friday Lunchtime Carillon Concerts  performed by Covenant and University Circle Carillonneur George Leggiero and guests on the 15,000 lb McGaffin Carillon of 47 bronze bells. Bring a lawn chair; picnic on the church lawn or CWRU campus. Free parking. Go to ucbells.org for details.
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11205 Euclid Avenue  |  Cleveland, OH 44106
Wheelchair accessible

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