Presbyterian Church USA
United Church of Christ
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Hello Friends, the Mango Tree column somehow was deleted from the Covenant News July issue sent earlier tonight. Here is the full issue with Mango Tree included! |
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Pastor Letter
By Rev. Rob Mark, Lead Pastor
The peace of this season’s blossoms to you, beloved church family. As the spring that seemingly left us earlier than previous years has revealed, and as the extreme national heat waves of these past days has shown – summer is fully upon us. Beyond relief from the heat extremes, I hope and pray in these days of extended daylight that you are seeking and sensing signs of the Spirit’s presence within and around you. And I hope and pray you are getting in some long-delayed hugs, face to face visits, and less anxiety producing activities in this season as infection rates continue to decline*.
Reemergence seems on the lips and minds of many in these days of relaxed mask restrictions and increased vaccination rates* (*thanks be to God!). Every institution from school to farm to library to park is asking “what will it look like and how will we re-emerge post pandemic’s grip?” We at Covenant join that chorus as this question has been on the lips and minds of your staff, committees, Deacons, and Council for the past few months. We’ve been researching and are now installing technology that might assist us in carrying out “hybrid” worship starting this September. We’ve been attending online conferences on church online, hybrid church, and maintaining community while balancing mental wellness and viral health. We’ve been scheming, listening, talking, researching, testing, and implementing. Our staff had a retreat in June focused in part on reemergence in our respective ministries. And we’ve had lots of conversations with you. We welcome more. As things continue to unfurl, please reach out to share your thoughts and ideas. Also, I ask very pointedly, that we all begin to store up some extra bins of patience in our pantries (perhaps in place of all the previously stored extra toilet paper?!) as we prepare for the fall. As we reemerge together, trial and error will be our friend. And extra patience with each other in trying new things and new ways of being the body of Christ will make it all more successful. I say this also noting how extremely patient, forbearing and caring we have been with each other over this past year and a half! And I thank you once again for this.
As we reemerge together faithfully and safely, we are reminded our goal is not to return to the old dispensation but to explore the Spirit’s new horizons. Church and community will look differently. And I am excited for the journey ahead! So, as I take my annual Summer Sabbath July 20-August 17, and we give thanks for Rev. Joshua’s adept pastoral coverage for us during that time, I pray each of you also finds some time to slow down, be still, and know that God is God, as you keep on savoring the reunions with friends and families and congregants this summer. Gifts and blessings abound!
Deep peace of Christ we taste in summer’s locally grown food to you,
Rob
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Update on Renew the Light Campaign to Save Our Tiffany Ornamental Windows
By Lucy Williams, Building Committee
The Building Committee is excited to announce that on June 16, our restored Tiffany 125-year-old Angel and Cornelius window was reinstalled in our sanctuary. It had been removed shortly before we had to leave the sanctuary because of the pandemic, but Serpentino Stained Glass Studio had been working to restore it for the last 1½ years. The restoration was made possible by the Henderson Foundation, the Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund and individual Tiffany donors. We will rededicate it when we are able to gather in the sanctuary.
The installation of the Angel and Cornelius window officially launches the external portion of our “Renew the Light: Save the Tiffany Ornamental Windows for the Next 100 Years” Campaign to fund the restoration of 20 of our ornamental or clerestory windows. We have now received pledges from almost all of our membership, so are now reaching out to the COTC diaspora and foundations.
Even before we have services in the sanctuary, we have opened our doors to visitors through our Open Sanctuary program. The sanctuary is open Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10-3 and we are having up to 100 visitors a day. Please come and see the restored Angel and Cornelius window.
The image above is the Renew the Light Campaign logo. Below are two photos of the installation, and the restored Angel and Cornelius window.
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Restored Angel and Cornelius window |
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Covenant Goes Green-er
By Bill Brown, Building Manager
I am very excited to report that in conjunction with GBIO and Community Purchasing Alliance (CPA), we signed a three-year contract to purchase all green generated electricity from Constellation Energy and at a rate less than it would have cost us through the City of Boston electric purchasing program. This was made possible because of the group purchasing power created by a coalition of 29 non-profits from across the commonwealth CPA worked hard to bring together!
Over the next few months working with CPA, we hope to secure other group contracts at reduced rates and with hopes that they will be placed with Minority or Women owned companies.
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Climate Jubilee Team Updates
Climate Jubilee will offer two Jubilee Jaunts in July. These are our outdoor get-togethers to explore areas in and around Boston.
On Saturday, July 17, at 1 PM Evelyn Kimber will meet up at The Peace Abbey Interfaith Center in Sherborn MA with anyone interested in viewing the Gandhi Statue, Peace Memorial Park, Global Pandemic Stone (over which Rev Rob did a blessing ceremony on April 2 as the 2.5 ton stone was pulled past Covenant) and the life-size statue of Emily the Cow. Sign up here. Four signups needed for event to occur. Contact Evelyn with questions.
On Sunday, July 25, starting at 1 PM, Nancy Stockford and Mark Huston will lead a walk in the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, part of Boston's Emerald Necklace. Sign up here, and Nancy will send you directions, meetup location, and parking and public transportation information. Contact Nancy with questions.
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Climate Jubilee Video of the Month |
In this beautifully produced video, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg connects the dots on nature, climate, pandemics, and something we can do that helps. Video (5:17). |
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News from the Remote Pews
Compiled by Linda Pursley
Send in your news for next month!
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Your newsletter may get clipped and not show some sections at the bottom. Click here to View as Webpage. |
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Faith from Far & Away: Thoughts on the Return to Worship at 67 Newbury Street from a Member of Church of the Covenant’s Diaspora
By Christine James, for Generosity Generators
Ever since “Zoom Worship” started in April 2020, Guy and I have been regular (though not perfect) attendees. Sitting on our couch with one laptop showing the bulletin and one displaying the “Hollywood Squares” of our faith community, we have listened to wonderful sermons by Rev. Rob, Rev. Joshua and Rev. Kate, spoken the “Many” parts of the Call to Grounding in God’s Grace out loud for each other and our kitten to hear (and God, of course!), shared Celebrations & Concerns via the Chat function, gone to the COTC website to give our gifts during the Call to Offering, joined in communion with our sometimes weird “elements” (tea and potato chips in one instance!), and I’ve even sent in a few recordings of my voice for Tom to combine with those of other choir members’ so we could sing “together” for the congregation.
As a member of the Generosity Generators (GG) team, I’ve been particularly impressed over these past fourteen months of Zoom Church by how generously Covenant’s staff and dozens of volunteers have given of their time and many talents to keep our faith community going strong despite only rarely—if ever—being together at 67 Newbury Street. We’ve all had to learn new technologies to keep connected during the pandemic. But our pastors, staff, Council, Deacons, and other committee volunteers have had to dig particularly deep into their reserves of resourcefulness to ensure that we have kept connected to one another in the spirit, if not in the flesh. Thanks to the dedication and creativity of Covenant’s leaders during the COVID crisis, it’s been possible for us to gather for worship, committee meetings, Council meetings, Adult CE sessions, Bible study, book group—even potlucks!—all online.
But now, after countless numbers of infections, millions of deaths, and as yet incalculable economic disruption, the modern miracle of COVID vaccines is allowing us to re-emerge into daily life without masks or social distancing.
Hallelujah!
Guy and I are truly thrilled at the prospect of our Church of the Covenant community being able to once more worship in person in the fall. But we are also saddened by the reality that we will not be among the faithful gathered in the pews of our beautiful church sanctuary when in-person worship begins again. Whereas all of us have had to claim temporary membership in the “Covenant Diaspora” for the duration of the pandemic, Guy and I and the many others of us who live far away from Boston are more or less permanent residents there.
While the reopening of our building to worship and all of the other activities of church life from “the before times” is a joyful development, it also begs the question of how to keep us together over time, both those of us who can get to downtown Boston on a Sunday morning and those of us who cannot.
Again, as a member of the GGers, it occurs to me that we will have to keep relying on our faith community’s generosity to find ways to maintain a vital church in Boston while also continuing to engage those who must remain virtual participants because of where they live. Finding ways to do both well will require staff and volunteers to continue to draw on their vast reserves of creativity, flexibility and dedication. It will no doubt also require additional financial resources, not only for the hardware and software we’ll need to keep us connected, but also for the training of staff and volunteers—and possibly for new paid staff with audio-visual expertise—to ensure that we use technology to create one, integrated faith community rather than one that is “real” and another that is “digital”.
This new, hybrid way of being church will also allow ever more people to join our congregation, no matter how physically distant from 67 Newbury Street they may be. Know that your GG team is dedicating a lot of our work in the coming months to finding effective ways to help these COTCers “from away” share their time, talents, and treasure to make our congregation even stronger and more vital. (And, by the way, the GG team is always looking for new recruits, especially now that one of our most creative members, Rev. Tom Reid, is now serving Newton Presbyterian!)
Although we rejoice to be emerging from the pandemic, a deeper joy will be ours as we all commit to discovering together how to be one church, regardless of whether we sit in a pew in the sanctuary on Sunday morning, or on a couch hundreds of miles away. Guy and I are excited to play our part from up here in northeastern Vermont, and we look forward to remaining part of Church of the Covenant in whatever ways we can.
Faithfully yours,
Christine James
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Under the Mango Tree
By Tim Groves for Nica Companions
Note: This column will be a monthly sharing of stories from our sister church community, Dulce Nombre de Jesus, in northwest Nicaragua.
As with our entire world community, the Covid-19 Pandemic is not over. We recently received news of another community death in Nicaragua's capital city, Managua, in the Church of the Poor there that our relationship is closely linked with.
Eduardo, beloved member of Entre Culturas, our facilitating team in Nicaragua and member of the church in the Catorce neighborhood, has sent sad news from his own family: My Aunt Vilma died today of Covid. She was my mother Carmen's oldest sister and last remaining sibling. She was nearly 90. She contracted the infection in the nursing home where she lived, and died in 5 days.
This passing comes less than a year after my father Rafael became ill and we lost him to the coronavirus. Vilma's burial was immediate, with no wake, most unaccustomed in Nicaragua.
Prayers are asked from Dulce Nombre de Jesus and Church of the Covenant communities.
In addition to receiving news from Dulce Nombre, we regularly communicate directly to them.
Diane Lauber, of our Nica Companions group, has shared with them our awareness of the continuing drought in that region of Nicaragua and our commitment to accompany them as they adjust to this hardship. We continue to supplement their food supply with monthly contributions from Church of the Covenant through our annual budget and through additional contributions. As we hear more from them about their food supply, we will share this information with all of us here at Covenant.
In addition, we continue to exchange photos, videos, and WhatsApp messages. Here are two recent photos from the village:
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Don Alquileo, Papa of
Mariana and Sayda
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Jessica Junieth with husband,
son and dog
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Council Report
By Anne Crane
The June Council meeting was again shorter than usual, as there was little new business to discuss. Pastor Rob reported that the core staff held a successful day long retreat on June 2 and that there will be more creative gatherings this summer. As Open Sanctuary is getting started again, there will be a need for ongoing help in welcoming visitors. Rob will be away from July 19 to August 16.
Barbara Darling noted that the UCC’s biannual national gathering, General Synod, will be meeting virtually from July 11 to 18. The Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr. will lead worship on July 11, and keynote speakers will include Sikh-American activist Valerie Kaur and Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners.
Highlights from the standing committee reports:
- The Building Committee is continuing the National Fund for Sacred Spaces campaign.
- David McKinney will stay on as chair of the Worship Committee even though he and Tom will not be worshipping at Covenant due to Tom's new job as Stated Supply for Newton Presbytery Church.
- “Porches for Eight” gatherings are being organized during the summer by the Membership Development Committee to give people a chance to meet in small groups.
- Mission & Advocacy is responding to recent global disasters by contributing funds to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance in the Congo following the recent volcano; and by donating to UCC disaster relief efforts in Nepal and elsewhere during the current COVID outbreak emergency. We are also contributing to the local Asian American Civic Association as a continuing statement of solidarity during this time of anti-Asian hate crimes.
- As the Committee on Youth and Children’s Education (CYCE) sadly says goodbye to Blake and Kaitlin Fox, the Toles family and Anita in June, there will be no Sunday classes for youth and children this summer, but plans are being made for resumption in the fall.
- The Nicaragua Companions would like to host an Adult Education session with Entre Culturas soon. (The Nica Companions are currently discussing how best to accompany our sister community in Nicaragua, as their first harvest has failed due to a lack of rain.)
In other news reported at the Council meeting, the Climate Jubilee Team has already hosted two Climate Jubilee Jaunts on the Esplanade and in Franklin Park. More jaunts are being planned which may include the Arnold Arboretum, the Blue Hills and/or the Peace Abbey in Sherborn. Casual get-togethers are being planned with families during the summer. The Team is also sending monthly (and sometimes more frequent) links to Covenanters, via Covenant News and This Week at Covenant, containing readings and videos on climate justice.
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July Birthdays
1 Stan Dingwell
3 Tanya James
4 Betty Rots-Wisman
5 Anne Crane, Samuel Jewett
7 Anita Gram
13 Ellice Miller
15 Debbie Howland
17 Faith Perry
27 Tim Groves
If your July birthday does not appear above, please notify the church office so we can include you next year!
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July 2021 Calendar
most up-to-date church calendar.
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About This Issue
July 2021 Covenant News
Editor and Graphics: Evelyn Kimber
Deadline for the August 2021 Covenant News is Monday, July 26. Please email your submissions to Evelyn Kimber at ebkimber@gmail.com.
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67 Newbury St.
Boston, MA 02116
617-266-7480
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