Covenant CONNECTIONS:
Summer Reading
Greetings!
I have eight books on my summer reading list. I hope you will read at least a few of them:
SUMMER READING LIST
James, Jonah, Habakkuk, 1 John,
Micah, Esther, Ephesians, Colossians
These are eight of the 66 books in our Bible. They are short and often overlooked.

For the next eight weeks, we're going to focus on one books per week, with the hope that God would teach us and strengthen us and guide our daily living.
If you want a good resource for an overview of each book of the Bible, "Enter the Bible," from Luther Seminary, is a great resource. Click on the logo or search for "enter the Bible" and then click on an individual book to learn more.
I enjoy reading fiction, history, and theology, but I think reading the Bible is most important for us as Christians. So I hope you'll join in. We start with JAMES on Sunday. The "Enter the Bible" info on James is here: Background on JAMES

In case you need more inspiration on reading good books and the Good Book, I asked a few Covenant folks three questions:
  1. What is a favorite book of yours? (fiction, non-fiction, whatever)
  2. What is a favorite verse or book of the Bible?
  3. What are your reasons for reading and reflecting on the Bible? 
A few responses are below. I will share other responses in coming weeks; feel free to send me yours.
  1. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena or Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra.
  2. Romans 12:9-18 - When I was struggling a lot with my beliefs, the church gave everyone these bookmarks with this scripture. I've carried it with me in my laptop bag ever since. Reading this passage over and over is a little part of the journey that led to my eventual baptism.
  3. I learn something about myself when I read and reflect upon the bible. 
--Eric Girard
  1. Mink River by Brian Doyle
  2. "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)
  3. I love the layers of meaning I can uncover in even the most familiar Bible passages. Different parts of the Bible have resonated with me at different points in my life, but I can always find words of wisdom or comfort or challenge to meet me where I am.
--Jenn Sauer
  1. Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah. Unveils some of the origins of privilege, superiority, and feelings of being chosen that have afflicted Christians since Constantine.
  2. "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God." I think of the word as Christ and he has been here since the start.
  3. The Bible is my origin story. Sifting through the myths, dreams, exaggerations, and remembrances is challenging, rewarding and always shaping my faith. 
--Tom Bauer
I hope you get to read some good books this summer. In last week's CONNECTIONS email, I suggested a few books about racism and race relations. See the list here: Red, Black, and White.

And I really do hope you'll make time and space to read some of the wonderful little books of the Bible, so God can keep shaping us and using us.

On the journey, apart-but-together,
Charlie
Internet safety
Unfortunately, on Friday someone was sending out fake emails, pretending to be "Rev Dr Charlie Berthoud," asking for "help." Several people in the congregation have gotten these emails and a few have replied, and they get a follow-up request for $500 of eBay gift cards. If you get this email, please do not reply and definitely do not buy any gift cards. I would not send emails like this. If you know how, please report it as spam/phishing. Always be careful with your emails and be very very very careful about "helping" anyone.
SUNDAY WORSHIP
Join us for apart-but-together video worship on Sunday. Check your email Sunday morning for the link. Or check the Covenant website.
If you want to interact with other people as you worship, you can join with a Facebook Watch Party. Just go to Covenant's Facebook page 9:30 on Sunday morning (note the new time--9:30 not 10:30) to watch the pre-recorded worship as a community. 

Worship this week features

  • Holy Communion. Please have some bread (or crackers) and juice (or water or wine) available to share
  • Sermon by Charlie Berthoud, "Doers of the Word" on James 1:22-27
  • Pianist Ben Welch, Organist Doug McNeel, Guitarist Steve Royalton
  • Sue Melrose, Chelsea Cornelius, and Jeff Fox-Kline offer prayers and liturgy
  • Cindy Lovell has a message for the children
At home worship continues
Earlier in June, the Session voted unanimously to continue at-home worship through the month of June. We will continue to evaluate our options, paying attention to guidelines from Dane County and from the Wisconsin Council of Churches.
LITTLE BOOKS Devotional
If you want to receive the devotional by email every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday CLICK RIGHT HERE AND SIGN UP . The devotional will also be available on our website and also here in the Connections emails.
Coffee Hour and Bible Study!

Sundays 10:30 via Zoom


As much as we miss having coffee and donuts together in Bradfield, we miss even more the opportunity to spend the time talking to each other. Through June and July our Adult Education hour will be a coffee hour where we can check in, say hey, and catch up with our church family. Each week will have a short Bible study led by the week’s preacher, and then we’ll divide up into breakout rooms on Zoom to connect and catch up. Bring your own coffee, and bring your own donuts, but most of all bring your smiling face to spend some time with your family.

Click on the Zoom link above at 10:30 this Sunday. Pastor Charlie will share about why he loves the book of James, and then we can spend some time in smaller groups together.
Join the Journey and Run or Walk with Madison Team World Vision!

This year we are moving our feet in the 2020 Madison Marathon and Half with Team World Vision to help provide life-changing clean water to children and communities in developing countries. But this is not just for runners. Walkers are welcomed and encouraged too. If you have ever wanted to do something about global poverty, say YES! You can do this.

World Vision provides more clean water than any non-governmental organization in the world, providing clean water to one new person every 10 seconds. They work to help communities lift themselves out of poverty for good by addressing issues around clean water, hunger, health, education, economic empowerment, and child protection.

Team World Vision provides everything you need to cross the finish line: training plans, weekly email encouragement, fundraising guides and incentives, and an incredible race weekend experience. The team's training kick-off event is on June 14th. Click here for more information about Madison Team World Vision watch this informational team video or contact Pastor Jeff (jfoxkline@covenantmadison.org).