Keeping Up with Covenant Church News from Covenant Presbyterian Wendell, North Carolina APRIL 2017

Transcription

1 Keeping Up with Covenant Church News from Covenant Presbyterian Wendell, North Carolina APRIL 2017 Church office hours: Mon.-Thurs. from 9:00 2:00 p.m. (919) Celebrating the Past Building the Future Covenant Presbyterian Church 125 S. Selma Rd. Wendell, NC Pastor's Notebook: This year we could call April holy month. Palm Sunday, Holy week with Maundy Thursday, and Easter all fit right in the middle of the month. I hope that you have circled those three dates on your calendar and plan to be with us in worship on those days. On Palm Sunday and Easter, the chancel choir will be performing Pepper Choplin's Come to the Cross and Remember. Pepper lives in Raleigh and has authored a number of cantata's that our choir has performed. On April 2 our choir will join with 200 other voices and a full orchestra to sing the same cantata in Meymandi Hall, Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $10 and available from the church office. It is a great honor to be asked to sing this stunning cantata. By the time you read this we should be back in the education building and all the classes and children's church will be in full swing. Make sure you and your children are attending. Changes in the church: The interim pastor search committee has been chosen by the session. Joe Bowman, Rusty Wagstaff, Alli Buus, Leta Thornton, and Fred Lanzi will serve on that committee; Tammy Strickland has had to move on to full time employment and left our part time work at the end of March. Linda Berry as also begun to transition from working for pay to working for love... The funds for the DCE position were for only three years and that ended at the end of March. Linda had agreed to serve for three years and is finishing that commitment. The session is in the process of examining those two positions and deciding how to fill them. Keep all that in your prayers. Grace & peace, Bruce Berry

2 Worship Elders Carol Rich & Tim VanGelder For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:20) CHOIR CHATTER: April is an extremely busy month for your choir. As you know, we have the privilege of singing in the mass choir at Meymandi Hall on the 2nd at 7:00 p.m. Palm Sunday morning is set for the cantata here with the final song being sung on Easter Sunday. We can finally breathe briefly after Easter Sunday. If you would like to try sitting in on choir to see if you want to join, right after Easter is a great time. The Covenant Concert Series presents the final concert for this season on the 23rd at 7:00. If you've heard them before, you already know that the NC State Chorale is fabulous! Don't miss this performance! See you in church, Wanda Palm Sunday Choir Cantata Come to the Cross and Remember Holy Week Services Monday Friday at 12:15 - service & lunch at Wendell Christian Church, 426 Mattox St. Maundy Thursday Service at 7:00 p.m. Easter Sunrise Service 6:30 a.m. J. Ashley Wall Square Breakfast at the Methodist Church following the service. Easter Worship Service at 11:00 a.m. Christian Education Elders Becky Abate & Paula Perry Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 COFFEE & CONVERSATION: Meets at 10 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. We provide the coffee; you provide the conversation. A great way to relax, share with other parents or grandparents while the kids are in Sunday School. Can you help?? Vacation Bible School will be July 9 th through the 13 th. We will need help with planning, refreshments, teaching, etc. etc. The theme is Heroes of the Bible. Please talk to Leann Dale ( ) or Linda Berry ( ). There will be a planning meeting on April 23 rd immediately following worship. Mark your calendar! We are back in the education building! Thank you to everyone for your patience and a special thank you to the Property Committee for their hard work! Be sure to come check out the new floors! Thank you to everyone who has provided meals for the youth on Sunday Evenings! That includes those who gave money or pizza gift cards! We will continue to meet till the end of May and there are still some spaces on the sign-up sheets. You may drop off a meal or, better yet, stay and eat with them and get to know this great bunch of young people. There will be no Youth meeting on Easter Sunday.

3 Mission/Outreach Elders Leta Thornton & Bud Lawler Global Mission Did you ever wish you were a missionary, travelling to distant lands to help others and teach about Jesus? We can still help others and show Christ s love without even getting on a plane. How? Buy a cow, or maybe just part of one. Or how about a piglet or a couple of goats? Your gift helps families to become self-sufficient and shows Christ s love through our actions. Giving Catalogs are on the tables at the entrances to the sanctuary. Give a gift in honor or memory of a loved one. Order forms are inside the catalogs. Envelopes are in the pew racks for the ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING, an annual offering that supports the work of Presbyterian Missions. Your dollars travel to faraway places, doing God s work. You may mail your gift or put it in the offering plate. Acts 20:35) The Back-Pack-Buddies program sends food home in needy students backpacks on every Friday to be sure that they do not go hungry over the weekend. There is a designated bin in the Narthex and lists with suggested items on the bulletin boards. Emphasis for April: peanut butter, soups with meat, canned meats. We take 41 bags to Carver Elementary every three weeks so keep those contributions coming! The Food Pantry is an on-going project supplying bags of groceries to needy families in our area. Emphasis for April: Cereal, Oatmeal, rice of course any non-perishable foods as welcome. We are grateful to Wendell UMC for providing space and volunteers to staff the pantry. If you would like to volunteer at the pantry, let the church office know. OBSERVING LENT & HOLY WEEK The last Lenten Lunch is April 5 th. Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, April 9 th and lunches & devotions are held Monday through Friday at the Christian Church on Mattox St. at 12:15 p.m. Covenant will be providing the lunch on Maundy Thursday (this year it is our turn to host it twice!). Check the sign-up sheets on the bulletin boards to help. Stewardship Elders Hugh Cashion & Barb Sneade Financial report for March 2017 Month Year to date Needed: $18,825 $62,971 Received $19,294 71,405 Difference $ 469 $ 8,433 Heritage Fund: March - $1,065 Year to date - $4,150 Mortgage balance: $1,070,658 Gifts to the Heritage Fund are applied to the principal on the mortgage and may be given in honor or memory of a loved one, to celebrate a special event or "just because." All gifts are appreciated! KEEP BUYING THOSE GIFT CARDS! The rebates to Covenant really add up! They are handy for birthday, baby, and shower gifts. Cards come in many varieties & sizes! The list includes stores all over the country Target, Amazon, Cruise Lines, so take a look, make your list and turn it in to the nice people at the table in the narthex or to the church office. The cards will be in your hands a week later & your check will not be cashed till the cards arrive! You get the full value of your card; the retailers send a rebate to Covenant; EVERYBODY wins! FOOD LION AND LOWES FOODS CARDS ARE AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY IN THE NARTHEX AFTER WORSHIP ON SUNDAY AND IN THE CHURCH OFFICE.

4 Congregational Care Elders Kimberly Stevens & Jeannie Driver First Wednesday Dinner has changed! Actually it has been cancelled in its present form. We have had luncheons through Lent and Holy Week; no other dinners scheduled for April. On May 21 st, we will have our Heritage Sunday covered dish dinner after worship and the church picnic is in June. In September we will begin having monthly dinners following worship so that more of our church family are able to attend. More details later! First Sunday Fellowship Sunday, April 2nd Jim & Marge Hopkins will host First Sunday Fellowship. Stay a few minutes after worship for a snack and to visit with Covenant s church family. Don t forget to make visitors feel welcome. Men s Breakfast No Men s Breakfast in April since it would have been on Easter Sunday. Breakfast will be served at Wendell United Methodist Church following the Easter Sunrise Service and everyone is welcome. Breakfast Fellowship Monday, April 3 & 10 The Clayton group meets at Jones Cafe at 9:30 a.m. on the third & the Zebulon group meets at 9:30 a.m. at McLean's in Zebulon on tenth. EVERYONE is welcome at either or both groups! Prayer Shawl The knitters meet at 5:00 p.m. on the third Sunday of the month and create shawls & throws for comfort in time of need. New members are very welcome. No need to be an expert; experienced knitters are happy to help and share patterns. Yarn and some needles are available. Call Christine Mailliard at for more information or if you know of someone who could use a shawl. Join a special care ministry (Contact Kimberly Stevens at or Jeannie Driver at for more information.) Handy Hands is a group of men available to help with home repairs and chores for those who find it difficult to manage by themselves. They have installed several ramps for our members as well as others with problems with mobility. Need is more important than ability to pay so donations are much appreciated. Martha s Ministry provides meals in time of need. If having a meal delivered would give you a lift, please let the church office know ( ). This may be due to illness, stress, or any other reason. If you are able to help prepare and/or deliver meals, please call Jeannie, Kimberly, or the church office. Something new! We now have an Emergency Phone Number Please use this number if you have an immediate need to speak to the pastor or an elder outside of office hours. PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN ATTENTION ALL DAUGHTERS!! And mothers, grandmothers, aunts, nieces well, you get the idea! You are invited to a MOTHER S DAY BRUNCH on May 6 th at 10:00 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. Not everyone is a mother but all women are daughters!! Please invite your daughters, mothers, grandmothers, nieces, and friends and come celebrate with a relaxing time together. Please sign up on the sheets on the bulletin boards so we know how many will attend. You are also invited to the monthly Presbyterian Women s meeting on Tuesday evening, April 25 th. We will finalize planning for the brunch as well as share in devotions, refreshments, and an interesting study where we are learning about the worship customs of our church. At our meetings, we participate in the LEAST COIN OFFERING. This is an interdenominational and international offering that helps women around the world to participate equally and to see what can be done by little. If you are a wealthy American, you contribute one penny! If you live in India, Africa, Europe or wherever, you contribute the smallest coin because we are equal in God s sight and sisters, no matter what our circumstances. It is humbling to put only a penny in the offering when we are blessed with so much. And it is amazing and empowering to see how those coins add up. The money is used around the world for education, hunger and disaster relief, and many other programs.

5 COMING IN APRIL April 2 ND 7 p.m. Concert at Meymandi Hall Tickets are $10 on sale in the church office. April 8 th (15 th rain date) Easter Egg Hunt April 9 th Palm Sunday Cantata April 13 th 7 p.m. Maundy Thursday Service April 16 th Easter Sunrise Service & Breakfast EASTER SUNDAY WORSHIP AT 11 a.m. April 23 rd 7 p.m. NCSU Chorale Concert. AND IN MAY May 6 th 10 a.m. - Mothers Day Brunch April Birthdays 1 Leann Dale Jeffery JJ Harris 15 Stewart Aull Matthew Carnes 3 Tom Martin Steve Page 4 Shyla Haswell Susan Smithson 18 Eric Woodruff 5 Patty Hart 21 Paula Daniels 6 Billy Cuthrell 22 Dorothy King 23 David Driver 8 Edna Davenport 25 Bob Fleming Jackie Murray 26 Leah Cauley 9 Guili Abate Rusty Wagstaff 27 Zane Wolfgang 10 Tommy Crawford 29 Ashley Davis Juanita Taylor 13 Nicole Bills Brooklyn Woodall April Anniversaries May 21 st HERITAGE SUNDAY 1 Frank and Mindy Jarrett 13 Tim & Angie Sherrill 19 John & Leeanne Stanton 26 Denny & Carol Rich NOTE: If your special day is not listed, (or is incorrectly listed) please let the office know so we can set the record straight.

6 Lectionary for April 2017 Fifth Sunday in Lent April 2 Ezekiel 37:1 14 Psalm 130 Romans 8:6 11 John 11:1 45 Palm/Passion Sunday April 9 Matthew 21:1 11 Psalm 118:1 2, Liturgy of the Passion Isaiah 50:4 9a Psalm 31:9 16 Philippians 2:5 11 Matthew 26:14 27:66 or Matthew 27:11 54 Resurrection of the Lord April 16 Easter Sunday Acts 10:34 43 or Jeremiah 31:1 6 Psalm 118:1 2, Colossians 3:1 4 or Acts 10:34 43 John 20:1 18 or Matthew 28:1 10 Easter Evening Isaiah 25:6 9 Psalm Corinthians 5:6b 8 Luke 24:13 49 Second Sunday of Easter April 23 Acts 2:14a, Psalm 16 1 Peter 1:3 9 John 20:19 31 Third Sunday of Easter April 30 Acts 2:14a, Psalm 116:1 4, Peter 1:17 23 EASTER EGG HUNT APRIL 8 TH at 10:30 a.m. (April 15 th rain date) Covenant Church Grounds Fun and Goodies for toddlers Through elementary ages! ************************************************** Covenant Presbyterian Church Concert Series North Carolina State University Women, Men, & Premier Chorale in concert Sunday, April 23 th at 7:00 p.m. No admission charge - an offering will be taken Don t miss this evening of fine music!

7 Volunteer Schedule for April/May 2017 Date Lay Reader Audio Greeters Ushers April 2 Tammy Billy Cuthrell Jim & Marge Steve Buus, Strickland Hopkins Bud Lawler. April 9 David Meyers Tim Harris Olive Martin & Tommy Crawford, Leeanne Stanton Gary Hardee, Mike Smithson, Tim VanGelder April 16 Lisa Bailey Joshua Stevens Brian & Paula Don Agee, Daniels Doug Petrey Leeanne Stanton, Pete Dunlow April 23 Joe Bowman Amy Stevens Tom & Stella Phil & Annette Kirk Martin Bob Morgan, Al Cates April 30 Marc Johnson Rachael Stevens Becky Morgan & Mark & Becky Abate Judy McCurdy Ed & Barb Sneade May 7 Deb Park Billy Cuthrell Pam Hardee & Steve Buus, Carol Rich Bud Lawler Ron & Dane Oldham May 14 Hulon Perry Kevin Dale John & Judy Shotts Tommy Crawford, Gary Hardee, Mike Smithson Tim VanGelder May 21 Tammy Tim Harris Brian & Paula Don Agee, Strickland Daniels Doug Petrey Leeanne Stanton Pete Dunlow May 28 Carol Rich Joshua Stevens Tom & Stella Martin Philip & Annette Kirk Bob Morgan, Al Cates Children s Ministry Volunteer Schedule for April/May 2017 Date Children s Sermon Nursery Volunteer Acolyte. April 2 Mary Selke Ruth Crawford Kayley McClure April 9 Kimberly Stevens Stella Martin Shaunna Moody April 16 Bob Fleming Carrie Petrosky Gracelin Hart April 23 Jennifer Carnes Rae Dunn Molly Smithson/Megan Buus April 30 Tom Martin Robin Harris Emma Cuthrell/Emma Buus May 7 May 14 May 21 May 28 Don Mailliard Mary Selke Kimberly Stevens Bob Fleming Nursery Worker: The nursery will be staffed from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each Sunday morning by Miss Lindsay Pearson. Nursery Volunteers: The nursery volunteer is asked to bring a light snack and juice (no popcorn please). If you are unable to serve on your scheduled Sunday, please call anyone from the nursery volunteer list. If you have trouble finding a substitute, please contact the coordinator Robin Harris at robinrfharris@gmail.com or

8 April 2017 Every Sunday 9:30 a.m. Adult Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Sunday School for Children & Youth 10:00 a.m. Coffee & Conversation Joyful Noise Choir following worship 11:00 p.m. Worship 5:30 p.m. Youth Groups Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 12:15 p.m. 1 st Sunday Fellowship 7:00 p.m. Choir Concert at Meymandi Hall :00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. 12:15 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 10:30 a.m. Private Women s Lenten Lunch Finance Easter Egg Meeting Bible Study 7:30 p.m. Com. Hunt 9:30 a.m. Choir Breakfast Practice Fellowship 8:00 p.m. Clayton A.A. 7:00 p.m. Wendell Council of Churches PALM SUNDAY 9:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. Maundy Good Friday 10:30 a.m. 5:30 p.m. Private Mtg. Women s 12:15 p.m. Thursday 12:15 p.m. Easter Egg Mission/Outreach 9:30 a.m. Bible Study Holy Week Holy Week Hunt 6:00 p.m. Breakfast 12:15 p.m. Lunch 12:15 p.m. Lunch (Rain Date) Property Com. Fellowship - Holy Week 7:30 p.m. Holy Week Zebulon Lunch Choir 7:00 p.m. Lunch 12:15 p.m. Practice Session 7:00 p.m. Holy Week 8:00 p.m. Maundy Lunch A.A. Thursday 6:30 p.m. Service Perennial Garden Club EASTER SUNDAY 6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service at the Square followed by breakfast at UMC. NO Men s Breakfast NO Youth Group NEWSLETTER ITEMS DUE 12:15 p.m. VBS Meeting 7:00 p.m. NCSU CHORALE CONCERT 30 Pennies for Hunger 12:15 p.m. Congregational Care Committee :00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. Private Women s Meeting Bible Study 7:30 p.m. Choir Practice 8:00 p.m. A.A :00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Private Women s Choir Grief Meeting Bible Study Practice Support 6:00 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. Christian Private Mtg. A.A. Ed. Com. 7:00 p.m. Presbyterian Women