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Covenant's book group will meet by Zoom on Sunday, April 25, at 5 PM to discuss the book Dear White Christians by Jennifer Harvey. As always, you are welcome whether or not you have read any of the book and whether or not you have ever attended a Covenant book discussion. For more information contact Barbara at barbarakdarling@yahoo.com

Rev. Rob Mark has the honor of giving the invocation for the Earth Day Boston 2021 free virtual event on Thursday, April 22, 7-8 PM. Tune in here! He is also recording a brief sharing to be aired during the National Earth Day event.

The 50^th anniversary of Earth Day last year revitalized the date as a day of action and events to heal and protect the environment and raise the alarm for the climate crisis. National Earth Day and Earth Day Boston were established to bring people together in this effort that impacts every living thing. Covenant is actively engaged as a Partner in both national and local organizing teams.

Covenant will celebrate Earth Month on Sunday, April 18, with a youth-led Earth Day service, and by virtually sharing an after-service Plant-Based Meal and Discussion on how food choices impact the environment and climate change. Covenant’s longtime vegans will be on hand for an "Ask Anything Q & A" about making a shift towards living more plant-based.

Check out Resources on the Hows and Whys of moving towards plant-based, and explore mouth-watering Recipes, too!

Earth Day National’s “Let’s Fight Climate Change with Diet Change” campaign is packed with useful info at Make Your Next Meal Plant-Based.

When I researched the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis for Black History Month, I learned way more about him than I had time to share during the Moment for Education on February 28. In honor of Earth Day month, here is more background about that racial justice and environmental justice warrior!

Ben Chavis was a civil rights activist since age 13, when he worked on integrating the library in his home town of Oxford, North Carolina, by attempting to check out books there. Even though they ultimately denied him the right to check out books, he succeeded in procuring a library card, the first African American person to do so. As a first-year college student at St. Augustine College, Chavis worked for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as a youth organizer.

After college, Ben Chavis served as regional program director for the UCC’s Commission for Racial Justice (CRJ)—and he later became its Executive Director. In that capacity he and nine others—the Wilmington Ten—were sent to prison unjustly as a result of racial unrest. He served almost a decade in prison; the Wilmington Ten were considered by many to be political prisoners and in 1977 attendees at the UCC’s General Synod marched to the White House to demand their release. It was not until 2013 that North Carolina’s governor pardoned the Wilmington Ten.

Rev. Dr. Chavis later received the M.Div. and D.Min. degrees from Duke University and Howard University respectively. He was a leader in the 1980s protests against the landfill in Warren County, NC—the county with the highest percentage of black residents in the state—receiving PCB-contaminated soil (PCBs being a toxic chemical already banned by Congress)! Dr. Chavis and the UCC’s CRJ published a landmark study in 1987 called “Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States,” which demonstrated that race was the most important factor in the location of hazardous wastes nationwide.

Dr. Chavis was the first to use the term “environmental racism.” Both that term and that important study are still a part of the environmental justice discourse, because sadly environmental racism is still a prominent aspect of the racial injustice we see today, and to this day the #1 indicator of where a toxic facility will be placed is race.

Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis will be preaching at the UCC’s (virtual) General Synod, July 11-18, 2021! For more information, check out these websites:

On Saturday night, March 2, 2013, there was a snowstorm in New Hampshire. Early Sunday morning, Barbara drove down to Boston to worship at Covenant. After leading worship at my church, I drove south on Interstate 93 to Massachusetts. 

On Sunday, March 14, we at Covenant in our Sunday worship service had the opportunity to hear the voices and to see the faces of our sisters and brothers in Dulce Nombre share in our Reflection on the Scripture Luke, 10:25-29, "Who is my neighbor?" We at Covenant, at the Zoom Worship heard the scripture read once and responded with individual words and phrases that we identified as important. Then five Covenant members of Nicaragua Companions shared our own reflections on this scripture to accompany those of seven members of the Dulce Nombre congregation. This sharing was the most direct way we, as two communities joined North and South, were able to be present in worship together. 

In the coming days, we will share the Covenant words and phrases and reflections directly with Dulce Nombre. There are translations of each community to make it possible for us to understand each voice, both in Spanish and English. Thanks to the Entre Culturas team of Eduardo, Luis, Memo and Amanda and to the work of the Nicaragua Companions, Rev. Rob and Tom Handel, we are all excited to share the experience of common worship in both communities. Such worship is one attempt by us all to engage with the question of our scripture, "Who is my Neighbor?"

If some of us at Covenant were not able to participate live in this worship service, please view the YouTube recording for March 14 on Covenant's website. In addition to hearing and seeing the Nicaragua voices and faces, we are able to see the church in the village and hear the sounds of the life going on around the church, including the natural sounds of animals and sights of trees and flowers. We are now more present to each other.

Members of the Building Committee are hard at work on the goal of getting 100% of the COTC membership to match the National Fund for Sacred Places Grant for the purpose of repairing the clerestory windows in the sanctuary.

The Committee on Youth and Children’s Education (CYCE) needs more teachers for this age group. Sadly, Blake and Kaitlyn will be leaving at the end of this Sunday School year, and we will be adding a class in the fall.

Speaking of children, the baptism of William Toles will be postponed until June for an outdoor option, should the way be clear. Council was sad to learn that the Toles family will be moving back to Texas in late June. Council met with Ellice Miller and Joe Waters, who requested the sacrament of baptism for their daughter Hannah Miller Waters, born April 23, 2020.  Council approved a motion that Hannah be baptized on May 2, 2021, should the way be clear.

Pastor Rob reported that the staff continues to work hard and is doing well under the circumstances. Congregational vitality and attendance at worship services and other gatherings are high, and the Deacons are providing excellent support in the realm of pastoral care. Rob proposed that Covenant partner with Rev. Virginia Coakley, a member of the Presbytery of Boston and founder of Oasis Spiritual Direction, in her work. Council approved a motion to provide Rev. Coakley with some office space free of charge for the remainder of 2021.

Your newsletter may be clipped and missing some sections at the bottom. Click here to view the full newsletter as a web page.

1      Jack Winn

6      Ryan Surette

8       Jessica Ciottoni

11     Kate Hall

13     Melissa King

15     Kathryn Barry, Marnie Warner

21     Jack Ammerman, Joan Lanigan

27     Caitlin Vest

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Editor and Graphics: Evelyn Kimber 

Deadline for the May 2021 Covenant News is Saturday, April 24. Please email your submissions to Evelyn Kimber at ebkimber@gmail.com.