Welcome to Windows on Covenant, your weekly guide to the life of the church.

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Next week, more than 100 children will be on the Covenant campus for Vacation Bible School, learning about how we're all created in Christ and designed for God's purpose! Please keep the kids and many volunteers who will be helping lead this effort in your prayers for a fun, safe and meaningful week of learning, serving, and growing in God's love. Interested in helping? We still need greeters as the campers arrive each day! Contact Dailyn Sailor for more information. 

This Week at Covenant

This Sunday, August 7, participate in our sermon in the Sanctuary or online at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Plus, join Summer Choir! Meet in the Choir Room under the Sanctuary at 10 a.m. on Sunday for rehearsal and preparation for that day’s service. No experience or long-term commitment is required.

Don't forget! Stop by during Fellowship Hour at 10 a.m. in the Welcome Center for snacks and conversations.

The summer series continues as we learn about how Christianity is expressed in different ways. So far, we've been in conversation with people from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we've also heard stories from Covenant members who have learned about how Christianity is practiced in a particular international context. This Sunday we'll hear from pastors Reid Harris and Ruth Russell of Renovatus Church on "Deconstructing Faith." Reid and Ruth will share about their individual faith journeys and what it looks like to find freedom in a faith that makes room for the hard questions. You are invited to engage in this conversation either in person in the Fellowship Hall or on Zoom. 

On August 14, our panel is about Indigenous Christianity with Dr. Brittany Hunt and Jessica Strickland, PharmD, CDE.

First Sunday lunches are back! On August 7, please sit together at the 11 a.m. worship service, and then we’ll enjoy fellowship and delicious food at Ace No. 3. Myers Park at 12:30 p.m. Contact Daisy Torres for more information.

News & Announcements

Registration is now open for the Civil Rights Tour to Alabama and Mississippi. Join us from October 13 to 16 as we visit key sites in the Civil Rights Movement. 

Sign up here.

This fall, Covenant celebrates education with students in our community and around the world. At Covenant, we believe that we are called to do for all God’s children that which we do for our own.

In Charlotte: Supplies are needed to fill 150 backpacks for students at Highland and The Mezzanine. From now thorugh August 28, we'll be collecting supplies in the Welcome Center. Find out what's needed or place an order on the Amazon wish list here.

Once the school year begins, 40 people are needed at Highland to be Heart Math tutors and Read Roar Soar volunteers. Learn more and go ahead and claim your spot here. 

In Kenya: Historically, students living in extreme poverty in Renguti did not have the opportunity to pursue an education past the 8th grade. However, Covenant now partners with Mountain Park Academy, a faith-based secondary boarding school that provides rigorous STEM curriculum offerings and trade school programs. This year, 53 Renguti graduates will be attending Mountain Park Academy, however, all are in need of $500 scholarships to cover their tuition, room, and board. We humbly ask for your help in loving across boundaries and borders, caring for these children just as we do for our very own. Learn more here.

Throughout the month of August, spend time growing in our understanding of how we can work toward a more equitable community by addressing challenges of racism. These leaders have attended the White Privilege Conference and are excited to guide our congregation in small group discussions about books that address how we can move forward in our education and work to end racism. Small groups are welcome to anyone and everyone and conversation will be based on two books “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” (a more introductory level read) or “To All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep” (a more advanced read). Please sign up for a time that best suits your schedule and feel encouraged to invite a friend.

Sign up here. 

Opportunities to Serve

Calling all families! Covenant will be serving dinner at Roof Above on August 30 and needs Texas Hash casseroles and desserts! Texas Hash and desserts can be prepared at home at anytime and stored in a church freezer in Fellowship Hall. This could be an excellent back-to-school project with kids! Want to help? We also need volunteers to serve.

Click here for more information and the Texas Hash recipe.

Be a part of the solution to food waste and food insecurity by spending time with Covenant friends collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest.

Sign up here to indicate your interest in joining this team and to receive updates on dates and times for gleaning opportunities.

Could you assist with children and youth music ensembles in the fall? Contact Heather Potter for more information.

Coming Soon

We are hosting a children's COVID-19 vaccine and booster clinic on August 12 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Welcome Center. For more information, contact Laura Capranica.

Help our friends at Urban Promise get ready for back to school. We will be partnering with the residents at McCreesh Place on August 13 to make school supply bags to support Urban Promises' after-school program. Sign up here. Contact Meagan Barger or Laura George for more information.

All rising and current Middle School Youth and their families are invited to meet director Alyssa Pacheco for donuts and introductions on August 14 from 10:30 to 11 a.m. at the Fellowship Hall patio.

Everyone in their "third quarter" of life -- 50 to 75 years old -- is invited to join friends for fun and fellowship. We'll hold our second social gathering on August 15 at 6 p.m. at Brewers at 4001 Yancey. No registration or RSVP is required. Participants will be invited to make a contribution to the cost of the event. Questions? Contact Katherine Kerr.

Join us in the Covenant Recreation Wing August 15-18 for a camp for kids in Kindergarten through 5th grade. The Children's Eco Camp is dedicated to teaching kids about our environment and how to take care of it with fun projects and guest speakers and some take-home goodies.

All are welcome as we kick off another great year of Young Adult ministry on August 21 from 3 to 5 p.m.! Linger over small bites and drinks as you reconnect with old friends and make new ones. We’ll also have opportunities to sign up to learn more about ways to get involved with service, education, small groups, and more. You won’t want to miss this—especially as we hear from some of our young adults as to what makes this community so special. Reach out to Molly Smerko to learn more.  Sign up here.

Covenant friends are once again invited to Open Table with dinner prepared by Chef Johnny from 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Cost is $9 for adults, $6 for children 2-12, with a family max of $36. Make your dinner reservations now. 

Programming will be available for children, youth, and adults. In September, adult programming will be Distilling the Gospels from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

We will begin our study of The Gospel of John on Wednesday, September 7 at 6:30 p.m. in room 207 in the Fellowship Hall and on Zoom. . Sign up for daily emails. 

Spend the day playing with Covenant friends at our fall retreat at Anne Springs Close Greenway on September 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Join us for hiking, crafts, games, food, and worship.

Reserve your spot today!

Mark your calendar for Convocation Sunday on September 11. Covenant will host Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana is a writer, free-range pastor, speaker, and ministry coach living in the Virginia suburbs of DC. Like many authors, MaryAnn writes the books that she herself longs to read. So as a recovering perfectionist who likes her backup plans to have backup plans, she penned God, Improv, and the Art of Living, about embracing improvisation as a spiritual and life practice. And as a twitchy workaholic seeking to find balance in a 24/7 world, she wrote 2012’s Sabbath in the Suburbs, which turned out to be a Chalice Press bestseller for two years running and a “must read” by Ministry Matters.