Donate Here

IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR

Sage meets every Friday at 1 pm. Check here for the church calendar for the link.  Congregational Meeting November 14th - Mark your calendar!  Trans Day of Remembrance - November 20th Age Options large meeting 11/23 at 11 am - Advanced Directives

Loyola LGBTQ+ survey links below  Giving Tuesday is November 30th

YOUR GENEROSITY IS NEEDED! Your generosity is needed, now more than ever! You may give via: PayPal — access it through our website or send your donation on PayPal to donations@holycovenantmcc.org Electronic Check Send an electronic check from your financial institution, or by sending a personal check. Our address is 9145 Grant Ave, Brookfield, IL, 60513. Square There is a button below to give via Square. Or click this link here Please remember that when giving through Square and PayPal they do charge a percentage fee to the church unless it shows an option to help out the church and pay that fee.  See the weekly giving below. Holy Covenant needs at least $4,650 a month to meet its obligations for bills and salary. We are now showing what the percentage of giving is and how we are doing on a monthly basis.

OCTOBER 2021 GIVING Needed Weekly (5 WEEKS) $932 The Difference is -2,615.00 Please consider contributing to Holy Covenant via PayPal, Check, or Square. Our bills are listed below for the month of October. Your generosity helps us pay the bills. Any amount helps us meet our obligations.

Square

PayPal

ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2021 It’s almost that time again—for the Holy Covenant Annual Congregational Business Meeting!  The Board of Holy Covenant has decided that our meeting will be in person at the church on November 14; our congregational forum will be in person on November 7. Both take place right after worship. The reports, proposed 2022 budget, and completed nomination forms will be available on the Holy Covenant website by November 7, 2021 for your reference. They will not be printed out and mailed to you. BOARD MEMBER POSITIONS At this time there are two Board openings. You must be a member of Holy Covenant to apply! Joanie Baird is running again for the Board and there is an open position for a 1-year term. If you feel so moved to join the Board the application is available here to download as a PDF or is available on the church website. Please return the completed application to the Board Clerk, Barbara at chitownbarb@yahoo.com. If you have any questions, please contact Rev. Martha Daniels at her email at revmarthadaniels@gmail.com. You may also contact the other Board members with your questions. Vice-Moderator - Roxann Victory roxann.victory@outlook.com Clerk - Barbara Adams Latsaras - chitownbarb@yahoo.com Joanie Baird - Treasurer - jb14700@yahoo.com

RETURN TO IN-PERSON WORSHIP! NOVEMBER 7, 2021 AT 10:00 AM Holy Covenant’s Board of Directors is eager to resume worshiping together with everyone! We have been reviewing guidelines and statistics every month in preparation. Our goal is to balance the desire and need for in-person worship in Holy Covenant’s building with the desire and need to protect each other, as well as the progress of the repairs and renovations in the building. We are overjoyed to announce that we will resume in-person worship TOMORROW! Please note the following: We will not be singing (although there will be music) We will require masks (we will have some available for those who do not have one) and we will be socially distanced. Temperatures will be checked at the door. Vaccination is encouraged for those who are able. Communion will not be by intinction (dipping) nor will we have a shared cup for now, until health guidelines permit these methods to resume. We will have individual disposable cups and Rev Martha will be placing Communion wafers in each person’s hand (not in mouths). We will continue to live-stream the service. Our building is looking so fresh and beautiful after the renovations, we cannot wait for you to see it and to share worship in person once again! Board of Directors, Holy Covenant MCC

FALL BEHIND NOVEMBER 6TH! Don't forget to change your clocks on November 6th and turn them back one hour at 2:00 am. Do not miss the opening of the church on November 7th!

THE ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH EQUITY SURVEY FOR LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY  The Alliance for Health Equity is a partnership of over 30 hospitals, six local health departments, and nearly 100 community-based organizations all working together on strategies to improve community health.   Every three years, we collectively complete a county-wide community health needs assessment to further understand priority community health needs and additional strategies for addressing those needs. A critical part of this assessment includes the distribution of the 2021 Community Input Survey. This survey allows us to hear from community members to understand any changes in community health status, provides opportunities for communities to give us input on their top health needs, and effective strategies for addressing those needs. Assessment findings will be available in Spring 2022.   We are asking you all for help in survey distribution. Our goal is to have majority of our surveys completed by November 18th. To help with this process, we’ve created a communications package that can be accessed on our website. These materials include example posts for Instagram and Twitter, alongside postcards and flyers that can be printed. Materials also have space next to the Alliance logo for co-branding.   Due to COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions, we are prioritizing online engagement as much as possible for survey collection. However, we understand that paper surveys work better for some communities, in which case partners may print the paper survey format from our website.   Attached below are links to survey materials, and additional information:   AHE Website: https://allhealthequity.org/community-input-survey-distribution-information/ This link will allow you to download the paper survey (available in Spanish as well) and QR code linked to the survey. PDF versions of the communication materials can be found here. The Instagram and Twitter PDFs will need to be saved as images before posting to social media. A link is available on the website to access the image files through Google Drive. Please contact us if you are unable to save the PDFs as images and are unable to access the Google Drive.   Link to online survey: http://tiny.cc/AHECHNASurvey This is the direct link to the online survey.

Education Opportunities and Resources Through MCC

SSOL Classes Check out all the great classes and resources still available at Sacred Space Online Learning (SSOL) including MCC-specific classes. Yes, we no longer have the OFLD (Office of Formation and Leadership Development) but SSOL classes are still available. SSOL Classes

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP PORTAL Holy Covenant has started to use an online software program called SignUp Genius to create volunteer opportunities and for future worship. With this online software, you will be able to sign-up to help with a variety of different events being held at the church. By signing up you will receive reminders for what you have signed up to help with and can keep track of other volunteer opportunities that may arise. When you see a volunteer opportunity for a sign-up like grass cutting, garage sale, etc. there will be a link that will take you to the sign-up sheet. Please fill it out as needed. If you have any questions, please contact Rev. Martha or Barbara Adams Latsaras at socialmedia@holycovenantmcc.org. Sign-up Sheets Snow Blowing

SUNDAY IN-PERSON SERVICE REV. MARTHA DANIELS!

SUNDAY WORSHIP IN-PERSON & LIVE ON FACEBOOK 10:00 AM CST Our worship celebration is every Sunday at 10 am CST. If you would like to join us but can't be in person, you may go to our Facebook page at Holy Covenant Facebook Page and click on the Live button to watch the service. Sunday Reading: Isaiah 25: 1, 4, 6 - 10 Romans 15: 7 - 13 Matthew 27: 50 - 56 Sermon Title: "For All The Saints" Have a candle ready to light, cookie or bread, and a glass of your favorite libation for communion if you are watching online. You can also find previous sermons on our YouTube Channel here. Rev. Martha is available by email, phone, Facebook Messenger, and text for any pastoral needs you may have revmarthadaniels@gmail.com 

SAGE AND OTHER INFORMATION SAGE, a social support group for LGBTQ seniors, continues to meet via ZOOM at 1 pm. The senior center in Bellwood needed some repairs, so we are still meeting via Zoom for now. Click here to join the meeting

PINTS WITH THE PASTOR November 11th at 6:00 pm

Come have dinner and conversations at a new place in Brookfield called Pub 78 and chat with Rev. Martha and your friends from Holy Covenant about whatever is on your mind! Join us for a no-host dinner or just drinks, for conversation and socializing. Hoping to see you there! Time: 6 pm, Thursday, November 11th. Pub 78 3733 Grand Ave Brookfield, IL 60513

MEDITATION IN PERSON ON NOVEMBER 2ND!

Meditation has returned! The next meditation is on Tuesday, NOVEMBER 2ND, 7 pm at the church. Mary Ann will be leading the meditation in Fellowship Hall. This event is free and open to all women. Please be prompt at 7 pm so there are no distractions. We will be following CDC/Illinois guidelines. Please bring your mask even if you are vaccinated. If you are not feeling well, please stay home. We ask that you use hand sanitizer as you enter the building You must be vaccinated or have a negative COVID test. Some more information about meditation: An RSVP is now required via call-in, text, or email verification to guarantee coverage for any handouts or other materials. Meditation gatherings are gratuitously offered, a basket will be present for any gracious “Love Offerings” will be provided to cover any costs for the group. The group is open to Women Only and bringing a friend, or two is always welcomed. Because this is a group format in the support of our community, it is healing for each individual to make a personal commitment to participate in exchanges accordingly to one's ability to share, grow and heal as well as the benefit to the group as a whole. Meditation begins promptly after 7 P.M., doors will be locked at 7:01 to prevent interruptions, maintaining group safety, and upholding everyone’s privacy, however, doors will be opened for “socializing” 15-45 minutes or more prior to 7 P.M. to accommodate community social time, as long as RSVP’s are made to accommodate the needs of the group. Depending on the size of the group, the facilitator's presentation, and the material of the evening, session length averages 90 - 120 minutes, 8:30 - 9:00 P.M., but can, in few and rare cases, extend up to 10 P.M.  Personal/Private meditation sessions are available for individuals or small groups, as well as other Holistic Healing. Discussion of facilitators' scheduling and fees available upon request. If you have any questions, please email Mary Ann Latsaras at only1amar@yahoo.com.

NEXT BOARD MEETING November 18, 2021 The next in-person Board meeting will be on November 18th. You can find the September Board minutes on our website and the October Agenda before our meeting on our website here. You can find a PDF of the past Board Meetings Agenda and Minutes here

WE ARE AN AMAZON CHARITY! You can make an impact while you shop on Amazon. Simply shop here at Holy Covenant Amazon Smile Link and Amazon Smile will donate to Holy Covenant Church - M C C, at no cost to you.

NEED POWER OF ATTORNEY OR WILL? Contact the Center for Disability & Elder Law Click this link to see the information and links.

PLEASE DONATE TO HOLY COVENANT Click on PayPal or Square to Donate!

Prayers for Lynda C. for health issues and upcoming Dr. visits.1 Prayers for High Desert Hospice & the turmoil from being bought by a large corporation.1 Prayers for Barb & Mary Ann's beloved pet Gracie that the new chemo treatments work.1 Prayers for Clarence C. as he recovers from a heart attack2 Continued prayers for healing for Betsy's foot and leg.3 Healing for Kimberly; peace for Cathy.3 Prayers for Eric for a very important personal matter.1 Prayers for Nick and David for financial and home issues.1 Prayers for the family of Carl Ek as they mourn his passing.3 That God will provide for those who are hungry, unemployed, and homeless, or in financial difficulties.   All those affected by HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, COVID-19, and other life-threatening illnesses.   All communities of faith

LINKS AND OTHER INFORMATION

SUICIDE HOTLINES If you or someone you know is in an emergency call 911 for help. NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Health National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Missed a sermon? Click here to catch up and watch on the Holy Covenant YouTube channel!

Every day brings something new—and God is with us always!