This week's news from our church | |
Another Postcard from your Pastor | |
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We have returned from a brief but immersive few days in Paris. There we found ourselves at the tail-end of “Fashion Week” in Paris, encountering moments of celebrity and fanatic responses to it. We also found locations such as the Opera House and the Champs-Élysées filled with people, as well as cafés overflowing with conversation and crowds. We saw a luminated, glistening Eiffel Tower by night, giving evidence of why Paris is called the “City of Light.” And though we found many evidences of Christendom in the many churches and the saint-names streets we passed by, we saw less evidence of a living faith as the light in that city.
We returned to London to visit the Tower of London and immerse ourselves in that city’s history. A history that includes church and state interwoven from its inception and through its many centuries up to today. We also revisited England’s history of religion and politics leading to violence and executions, leaving no shortage of martyrs of all stripes of faith. We were reminded, as one guide succinctly stated, of when the “zealous evangelicals sought to establish a conservative theocracy” by civil war.
All of which brings to mind the image of a Notre Dame Cathedral being rebuilt, reminding us that the church of Christ is always and forever under construction and reconstruction; until God’s Reign is fully established on earth.
May we continue our labors on and for Christ’s Church with confidence in the Master Builder, whose patterns we strive to follow.
With audacious hope,
~ Pastor Todd
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Remembering George Scranton
We will remember the life of our friend, George Scranton, at a memorial service tomorrow, Saturday, January 27 at 2:00 pm in our church Sanctuary. There will be a reception following the service.
Peace to his memory.
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THIS SUNDAY
Annual congregational meeting, Sunday, January 28
Plan to stay after the worship service this Sunday for our annual congregational meeting. We'll hear reports from all the council teams as well as upcoming projects and a financial report. Our annual report will be available which tells the stories of the past year. We'll meet in Fellowship Hall and we'll have lunch together prior to the start of the meeting. Childcare will be provided. Join us!
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2023 Annual Report available
There will be printed copies of the church's annual report for 2023 available at the annual meeting on Sunday. If you'd like to read it before then, it can be downloaded here.
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 26
12:00 pm Bible Reading
SATURDAY, JANUARY 27
9:00 am Community Breakfast
2:00 pm Memorial Service for George Scranton
SUNDAY, JANUARY 28
10:00 am Sunday Worship (link to livestream)
11:30 am Congregational Annual Meeting, and lunch for all
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1
12:00 pm Bible Study, Zoom link
Meeting ID: 861 0242 1704 • Passcode: 929248
7:00 pm Choir Rehearsal
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Calendar
A PDF of our church calendar for January can be viewed and/or downloaded here.
If you would like to add a meeting, event, or a time that you want to use a space at church, please let Cinda Madonna know and she will add it to the public calendar.
> Contact Cinda
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MISSIONARY SPOTLIGHT
Please join us in welcoming Rev. James Tang, our beloved missionary to the ECCSSE (Evangelical Covenant Church of South Sudan and Ethiopia), on Sunday, February 11. After worship we will eat brunch together and James will speak about the important work he is doing alongside the denominational leadership there.
James is focused on supporting pastors and their ministries; supporting traumatized youth, widows, and vulnerable and orphaned children; raising funds for a bible school and primary schools and a center to help adults in community development; and working in refugee camps among once warring tribes to promote Christian reconciliation.
In the 1990s, he was a leader among his fellow South Sudanese refugees, in looking for a place to worship. This led the Tang family being welcomed by the Covenant church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. With similar values in singing, reading scripture, and praying together, it became a good fit for them. They enjoyed their worship together and were encouraged by Jerry Rice and Jim Sundholm of the Northwest conference, to affiliate with the Covenant Church. In addition, they decided that they should work with their friends and families back in South Sudan to also seek to affiliate with the Evangelical Covenant Church. They already had a network of evangelists who worked with groups of people in worship and evangelism. James went with Jerry Rice and other Covenant leaders to South Sudan in 1993 to do organizational work and, in 1995, returned to ordain the first several pastors in the newly formed ECCSSE. James became a part-time missionary at that time, going back and forth to support the new denomination. Back in the U.S., he became the pastor of the South Sudanese Congregation in the Covenant church in Fridley, Minnesota (just north of Minneapolis), receiving a minister’s license by the Covenant denomination. In 2006, he resigned his pastorate and became a full-time missionary to the ECCSSE and was ordained in the Covenant in 2007. There are now nearly 400 churches in the ECCSSE. He also has maintained his close association with the several South Sudanese Covenant churches, mostly in the midwest.
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PacNW Covenant Men's Retreat
This year’s annual Men’s Retreat will be March 22-24 at Cascades Camp, a weekend for spiritual renewal and bonding. There will be nightly games along with Puffert’s famous Brisket Friday night and s'mores on Saturday night. The speaker will be Pastor Michael Jordan who serves as lead pastor of La Vina Covenant Church in California. He will lead discussions on Psalm 1 and teach about being deeply rooted in our faith, so that we may be like trees planted by streams of water.
> Covenant Men's Retreat info
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Adding books to our church library
You are invited to donate books you are done reading to our church library shelves in Fellowship Hall. Our Saturday morning Community Breakfast guests appreciate new books to read.
Thank you!
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STAFF SCHEDULE
Cinda Madonna: Off Monday, office closed.
Allan Waite: Off Thursday
Pastor Todd: Off Friday
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Friday, February 2: Craft Night
Sunday, February 4: "The Kingdom Mosaic: Life Together," Connecting Righteousness
and Justice, (Amos 5) led by Andrea Johnson
Thursday, February 8: Conversation at the Shores
Saturday, February 10: Memorial Service for Karlene Johnson, 2:00 pm
Sunday, February 11: Meet the Missionary: Rev. James Tang
Sunday, February 25: "The Kingdom Mosaic: Life Together," What Does God Require of
Us?, (Micah 6) led by Andrea Johnson
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 28
Greeters: Dawn and Jane Leach
Readers: Sarah & Colin Quackenbush
Children's Message: Arlie Swanson
Sermon: Todd Johnson
Coffee Servers: Jean & Tom Mohrweis
Usher: Cinda Madonna
Livestream: Catelyn Anderson
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THIS SUNDAY'S SCRIPTURE READINGS
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“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
~ Philippians 4:6-7
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THANKSGIVINGS
We pray for our world with thanksgiving
- for those who welcome the presence of Christ into our world in the most unexpected places
- for those people who are advocates for preservation of God's creation, peace, equality, and justice in the world
- for those who protest for justice in their homeland and from afar, especially people from all over the world calling for restraint, even peace, in the Middle East
- for those who care for the sick, the infirmed, and the dying with love and compassion
- for those we support who live the gospel in very different contexts than ours
- for the efforts made by those to care for our neighbors who are housing insecure or food insecure
We pray for our church with thanksgiving
- for the work of our Associate Pastor Search Committee and for their candidate Lauren St. Martin. May God's guidance and blessing be upon the process and its discernment from this moment forward.
- for the gift of being an intergenerational congregation
- for the efforts towards Christian formation in our church and forming every generation in the faith
- for the facilities we steward, and those who care for them
- for the skill and diligence of the workers who are repairing our dome and roof
- for the many visitors who continue to grace our church
- for those to whom we serve breakfast each Saturday morning
- for those who volunteer in our many ministries
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INTERCESSIONS
We intercede on behalf of the world
- for those who, hearing a call to repentance, redirect their lives toward God
- for those who endure constant threats of oppression and violence in their homeland
- for a diminishment of violence, especially gun violence around the world, and for those who grieve the senseless killing of loved ones
- for the many people whose needs are not being met because of reduced giving to humanitarian aid
- for lawmakers who struggle to complete the tasks before them and to do so with civility
- for those who feel alone, forgotten, or a burden: might they see God's unique imprint in themselves
- for those who grieve, both those who have died and those they see slipping away
- for peace in the Holy Land and the broader Middle East. May the innocent be protected from attacks, and may those trapped by war find the essentials to keep them alive.
- for all those around the world who work behind the scenes to broker peace
- for the health of our planet
- for civility in our country in this potentially divisive election year. Might peace, love an unity have the final say.
We intercede on behalf of our church
- for all those in our community who grieve the diminishment of friends and their abilities, who grieve the loss of partners, parents, and dear friends, and who grieve the absence of people they love
- that we might find ways we can be witnesses to God's work in our world that offer people faith, hope, and love in Christ
- for the family of Karlene Johnson, her husband John Spence, their son Alex and his fiancée Anna, as well as Tina Lee and Becka Lee, her step-sisters. We especially hold in our prayers Elena Waite and Eli and Phia who grieve the loss of their sister and aunt.
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for Tam and her ongoing recovery from cancer treatments, Verna who is in therapy hoping to be able to return to her home, and Darryl who adjusts to his lessened abilities. May we be a support and encouragement to them and all who care for them.
- for individuals, couples, and families who find themselves in a difficult season of life
- for discerning where and how God is moving in our church and our world, and how to respond
- for those in need outside our church doors, and resources for our church staff to respond effectively to their needs
- for our denomination and its leaders in churches, conferences, and the national office to have wisdom, compassion, and vision for the days at hand
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Happenings around the Covenant | |
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Evangelical Covenant Church
Weekly update on Covenant news, stories, and resources:
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Pacific Northwest Conference
“The Catch” newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Conference:
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Cascades Camp and Conference Center
> Sixties+ Retreat
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Do you have an announcement to include in a future e-newsletter?
Send it to Sandy Nelson before Wednesday at 12 noon, the week you'd like it to appear.
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