Pastor Letter 
Rev. Rob Mark, Pastor
Dear Church,
I again offer this Litany of Lamentation and Rage that we prayed at our mid-week Prayer Service on June 3, in solidarity.
To open Litany, please
click here.
In peace, Rob
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New Building Microsite Launched 
By Brian Bigler for the Building Committee
The Building Committee and CBPP (
Covenant Boston Preservation Project) are excited to announce the launch of our newly designed building section to the church website. After months of work by the Building Committee members, this new microsite is set to help tell the story of our building and congregation on a more detailed and visual level.
As a key building with an important mission in Boston, it is important for us to share information regarding this
magnificent spiritual resource and its history to our members, friends, neighbors and supporters.
With these new pages, we will endeavor to provide the most accurate up-to-date information and share our historical and building knowledge.
Our goal with this new section of the website is to provide our visitors with a way to learn about the details of the building and our commitment to preservation. These pages have detailed information on: Architecture, exterior and sanctuary interior, Preserving the building 1980's to present, Tiffany Sanctuary images and descriptions, Tiffany Window Restoration with images and video overview, and the Congregation History and the forming of Church of the Covenant, plus many more building-related topics.
We believe it is worth the time to browse this content as a reminder or to learn something new. We will be updating content with helpful information, updates on building projects, and fundraising successes. If you have content or images that you believe would enhance these pages, please email us.
You can navigate to the new
microsite on the church website: Our Historic Building / History of the Church and Sanctuary, or by using the URL:
covbospresproj.org. Below is a Site Map.
For any questions, suggestions, feedback or comments, please email us at [email protected]
Note from Lucy Williams, Building Committee Chair: The Building Committee would like to particularly thank Brian Bigler for donating many hours to research and develop this website.
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Climate Jubilee Discussion June 7
By Betty Southwick
Please join the Climate Jubilee Team at 12 noon on Sunday, June 7, after our worship service, for a discussion of the connection between COVID-19 and the climate crisis. In advance of that gathering, we invite you to view and read two background pieces:
Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu and climate activist Bill McKibben discuss how COVID-19, injustice, and climate change are linked--and how this is the moment to advocate for a just and equitable recovery. Watch the 37-minute video here.
Jonathan Safran Foer, best-selling author of We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast, has an article in the Washington Post that we will discuss. It addresses how agribusiness has normalized worker exploitation, and how recent use of the Defense Production Act requires slaughterhouse and meat-packing workers, already in the most dangerous of all occupations, to risk their lives from coronavirus to produce one non-essential food. Read it here, or you can read the article as a Word file
here.
If you have any difficulty accessing these pieces, please contact Betty at [email protected] or Barbara at [email protected]. We look forward to an enriching conversation!
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News from the Remote Pews 
Compiled by Linda Pursley
New Leadership Role
Marnie Warner was elected Chair of the Board of Directors for LGBTQ-RAN,
which is in the process of becoming an independent non-profit. Although this is an exciting time and challenge, LGBTQ-RAN has always operated virtually, so things can move forward. A recent project added short video clips to the website
for use in classes on religious history.
[Note from Linda aka Pews compiler: I took a few minutes to watch several of these videos and they are well worth your time!]
Music Continues
Anita Gram's orchestra, The New Philharmonia of Newton, has been on leave since March. Shown here, Anita enjoys playing Bach until they get back to Music for All. For more about what the musicians have been up to, go to the New Phil's website to see a short video. (Preview: Their concertmaster has been juggling!)
Several fans enjoyed a virtual concert by "Room to Spare," comprised of David Leach on piano and his wife, Julia Connor on violin and fiddle, with voice. Linda Pursley was also happy to "see" and "chat" with fellow attendee, Nathan Leach. The home of Beth Weiman and Mark Leach served as the venue. Visit Room to Spare's Facebook page here.
Social Distancing in Maine
Charlene James writes, "We--Ed, Charlene, and Tanya James--are currently  ensconced in our cabin in Maine - all 600 square feet of it! We were planning on renting or buying somewhere north of Boston, and in fact, were scheduled to see an apartment on April 1, when the realtor informed us that the folks there were being tested for Covid-19. That brought us up short, and when our son Nate called soon after and strongly urged us to come to Maine, we decided to take his advice. Three days later, we were in our cabin. In the space of six months we have gone from a home of 2,000 square feet to a rental of 1,100 square feet to a cabin of, (in case you missed it,) 600 square feet. It is a wonderful place to be during this time, despite its being a little tight. We plan on looking for new abodes in Massachusetts in the fall. Miss you all: Out of sight but not out of mind or love!
Wedding Celebration!
On May 7, 2020, an ordinary Thursday in this otherwise extraordinary COVID-19 era, at around three o'clock in the afternoon, on the small deck that they'd just finished building together off the south side of the house in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom that he had built over twenty years ago with his three kids, COTCers Guy Herman and Christine James tied the knot!
Christine's beloved 18 year-old god-daughter, Louisa Penrice, who was socially-distantly visiting from Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her mother, Deb Favreau, performed the marriage under the auspices of a one-day marriage officiant authorization from the State of Vermont. Deb performed the duties of matron of honor-cum-wedding photographer while Louisa's sister, Maria, and father, Dan Penrice, witnessed the ceremony via Facetime from Deb's laptop which had been strategically placed on a bench just off the deck. Three roosters, four laying hens, two sheep, two goats, and a chicken-feed-stealing chipmunk rounded out the guest list.
During the ceremony, the couple exchanged (completely unrehearsed) vows and colorful "rings" that the bride had fashioned the evening before from yarn from a long-neglected knitting project. Maria read a poem that Guy had written for the occasion, and played a lovely piece on her cello for the recessional. Deb and Louisa ensured the ceremony was festive by sourcing beautiful flowers, chilled champagne and some lovely gifts from a nearby general store that offered curbside pickup. The snow held off for the afternoon--a lucky stroke as the white stuff kept falling in the NEK until just a few weeks ago!--and the sun shone on the small but otherwise perfect wedding party.
Christine and Guy look forward to the time in the hopefully not-too-distant future that they can share more details of their funny, spontaneous wedding with their Covenant friends in person. In the meantime, they are engaged in lots of homesteading projects, working their jobs remotely, enjoying "Zoom church" each Sunday, and otherwise happily "honeymooning-in-place."
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Under the Mango Tree 
By Mocky Day
Note: This column will be a monthly sharing of stories from our sister church community, Dulce Nombre de Jesus, in northwest Nicaragua.
We have committed to writing community-to-community each month. Normally, our facilitating partners from
Entre Culturas, Eduardo and Luis, visit Dulce Nombre each month, take our letters to share and bring back news from the Community. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Eduardo and Luis have not been traveling from Managua to visit in person, but stay in touch with the Community by phone call. The following is Eduardo's report from his phone call. Memo, of
Entre Culturas, has translated this letter for us.
Dear brothers and sisters from the Church of the Covenant,
We sent our love and best wishes to all of the Covenant Church. We especially want to offer our prayers to Mark and Eva on the death of Mark's mother.
In Dulce Nombre de Jesus things are good. By the time I
[Eduardo] called Ruber he was out at his cornfield scaring the birds away so that they do not scratch the soil and eat the seeds. The rains have been happening in a good frequency.
Today Ruber was going to have surgery to remove lipomas from his back, but supposedly the doctor who was going to treat him is sick.
People are afraid to go to Somotillo because they have heard of Covid-19 cases happening in town. The hospital is empty because people are afraid to go to the hospital. In Somotillo, there have been two confirmed cases. There have been about 12 deaths from other diseases, but the population has the idea that they are due to coronavirus and nobody can convince them that this is not true.
Although the high school has not closed, the kids are not going to classes and they only go to pick up study packets that they have to complete at home. In regards to the elementary school, the one where Mildren works, there are few children attending every morning, but all the kids in fifth and sixth grade are coming to school every morning, since their parents believe that studying from home they learn very little.
As some people from Covenant already know, Jessica Juniet's youngest boy, Jasser, had to have his appendix removed. He came out of the operation well but is still at the Chinandega hospital. [He has remained hospitalized for a week at this point.] One night the community gathered in prayer to ask for the child's health. Thank God everything went well.
Public transportation has not stopped working either, although very few people are using it due to the fear that has been generated because of the positive cases happening in Somotillo. People from the community prefer going to Rodeo Grande for shopping instead of going to Somotillo. And if it is necessary to go to Somotillo, they wear masks and gloves and use hand sanitizer.
What has been canceled, to the annoyance of some, is the local baseball league. Ruber does not know the reasons behind this decision, but someone from the neighboring communities made the decision and the games are not taking place.
The community continues to gather to Celebrate the Word, trying to comply with protection measures such as keeping distance between each other and not having physical contact.
Dulce Nombre eagerly awaits news from Covenant. The people from Dulce Nombre would like to know how are you.
In addition to this Community Letter, a number of us who have asked to be part of a both-communities WhatsApp Group have heard additional messages from Mildren, the administrator in the village for this communication. These messages include:
We always pray to God to protect us from the harm of this virus. We are taking all the preventive measures that the government is telling us to follow. We are finding that the cost of the canasta basica [a basic "food basket"] has increased greatly; prices are very high right now. Many people with fewer resources cannot buy products that they need because of these high prices. We are thankful that the rains have come for our first planting. We hope that our first harvest will give us food in two months.
We believe that our God is a God of love, God loves us, and God is a just God. We ask that God keep you in good health.
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Council Report
By Anne Crane
May 12, 2020, Meeting
CLERK'S REPORT
- Council discussed a request made by the Nica Companions to ask the congregation for support of undocumented immigrants during the pandemic. The M&A Committee had voted to support this request. During this pandemic, undocumented immigrants are among those being hardest hit in a number of ways. Because of Covenant's sister relationship with a church community in Nicaragua, two of the three organizations focus on immigrants from Latin America.
- A motion that Council rescind its decision to apply for federal Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) funds and either withdraw the application or return the money was discussed with additional input from the Treasurer. While the motion did not carry, Council acknowledged the inequity in the distribution of PPP funds and recommended that we assess COTC's financial situation at year's end and consider a donation if feasible.
REPORT ON STAFF FROM PASTOR
- Pastor Rob expressed gratitude that the congregation and staff are continuing to find creative ways to celebrate and work together during these altered unsettling times. He acknowledged that while there has been only one known COVID-19 case (fully recovered) in the congregation, some congregants know of others who have been infected and some who have died. He noted that we may have some budget shortfalls in 2020 and that we may need to consider some cuts, especially to the personnel budget.
- As we move forward in the next weeks and months, Rob suggested that delaying a "re-opening" is a form of public witness and that in delaying we are in line with the guidelines set by both of our parent denominations and by the MA Council of Churches and other denominations.
MISSIONAL FOCUS UPDATE: Upcoming Events:
- The Climate Jubilee Team is planning a discussion of the connection between the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis for Sunday, June 7, after worship.
- There has been a proposal and there is some discussion about extending Circle Time, Godly Play, and Youth Class throughout the summer, perhaps offering a vacation Bible School.
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5
Shelly Rambo, Betsy McAlister Groves
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Devin Hansen
24
Ed James
25
Kathy Bull
27
Simone DeVito
30
Alicia Bull
Note: If your June birthday does not appear on this list, please notify Hillary in the church office so we can include you next year!
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June 2020
Calendar 
most up-to-date church calendar.
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About This Issue
June 2020 Covenant News
Editor and Graphics: Evelyn Kimber
Template: Harry Forsdick
Deadline for the July 2020 Covenant News is Wednesday, June 24. Please email your submissions to Evelyn Kimber at
[email protected]
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