Covenant Courier. April HOLY WEEK WORSHIP SERVICES COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Transcription

1 April 2017 HOLY WEEK WORSHIP SERVICES P S April 9, 11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary. M T April 13, 6:00 PM Please join us in the Fellowship Hall for a Passover meal (Seder). Watauga Avenue Presbyterian Church has been invited to join us. Please sign up in the Narthex or by calling or ing the church office by April 10. G F April 14, 6:00 PM There will be a Tenebrae Service/Service of Shadows at Watauga Avenue Presbyterian Church beginning at 6:00 PM. (610 E. Watauga Ave., J.C.) We encourage everyone to attend. E S April 16 Sunrise Service at 7:00 AM This will be a brief service. Meet in the Narthex. Traditional Service at 11 AM in the Sanctuary. COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Covenant Courier EASTER LILIES The Worship Committee will be placing lilies in the sanctuary on Easter Sunday, April 16. They will be de-pollen-ed and hypoallergenic for the comfort of our members who have allergies. The lilies will cost $10 each. Order forms are in the bulletins and on the table in the Narthex. The lilies may be gifted to the church for Easter in honor of family or loved ones. Lily donations will be noted with a special insert on Easter Sunday. The deadline to place your order is Sunday, April 2. If you wish to, you may order via to the church office at office@cpcjc.org. AFTER CHURCH LUNCH APRIL 9 The menu for the April 9 After Church Lunch is Salads. ALL kinds of salads. Tossed salad, fruit salad, pasta salad - you name it! Please bring a salad or a dessert to share with your church family. We re looking forward to seeing you around the table! (Clean-Up help is always appreciated!) FAMILY PROMISE OPEN HOUSE Wednesday, April 12, 12:00 PM 1:30 PM 215 W. Watauga Avenue Please come see how Family Promise serves homeless families in our community. We at Covenant support this vital ministry. PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN C F : Tuesday, April 11 at 1:30 PM in the library at the church. Hostess & Lesson 8 Presenter: Jan Paveglio. J C : Tuesday, April 18 at 7:00 PM. Meetings are held at the church in the Vision Seekers classroom (by the Sanctuary). Lessons are reviewed by group discussion. Contact is Betsy Moakler, R T C : Thursday, April 20 at 7:00 PM. Meetings are held at the home of BJ King, 8 Fox Run Lane ( ).

2 THE LUNCH BUNCH IN APRIL The Lunch Bunch will gather on Wed., April 5, at 11:30 AM at Red Meze (formerly called Mediterranean Garden), located at 2203 McKinley Road. Gyros, hummus and other Turkish fare. On Wed., April 19, we will meet at Smokey Bones for BBQ, 1905 N. Roan St. PLEASE contact Victory Cooper several days in advance of each event at to let her know if you plan to attend so that she can make the appropriate number of reservations. LEGAL THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING OLDER SAT. APRIL 8, 2017 What does getting older mean to you? When does it happen? To some it may be hitting 40 or 50 or 60 or some other age event. To others it may be when the gray in our hair overwhelms the darker color. Regardless of our own perceptions, the reality is that getting older and being older sneaks up on most of us. The subtle way it overtakes us is most striking if a significant life event impacts us or a family member or a friend. Then we ask ourselves, what would I do if that happened to me, or to my spouse, or parent, or child? In our teens and twenties, we prepare for our lives and careers with schools, college, maybe graduate or professional or technical training, and probably a lot of on-the-job training. But far too frequently we don t give the same attention to preparing ourselves for being older and dealing with the challenges that come with retirement, frailty, dependence, and death. To help with information about some of those issues, Covenant member Don Hart and his son, Leighton Hart, will present a short program and question-and-answer session on Legal Things to Know About Getting Older on Saturday morning, April 8, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM in the Fellowship Hall. Coffee and doughnuts will precede the program from 9:30 to 10:00. The program is expected to cover information about wills (and intestacy for those who don t have a will), durable powers of attorney, healthcare powers of attorney, living wills, revocable trusts, estate planning, financial planning, and related issues. The program is intended to be an information-sharing opportunity of general interest and application for aging adults and their likely caregivers. Don has been in private law practice for 42 years in Florida and, since 2004, in Johnson City. During that time his practice has concentrated on real estate and transactional matters, and in more recent years on Elder Law, which focuses on the needs and issues of aging, estate planning, and probate of estates. Leighton, a Johnson City resident, is a registered financial advisor. He has worked in the financial industry for over 15 years in several settings, including a brokerage house, institutional private banking departments, and private financial firm. Presently he is the owner of Avenue Planning Group in Johnson City. INVITATION TO A SYMPOSIUM, APRIL 23, 2017 You are invited to the "Awakening the Dreamer - Changing the Dream" Symposium, a dynamic, 4- hour multimedia workshop that uses videos, personal reflection, and group activities to engage citizens as the co-creators of an environmentally-sustainable, socially-just, and spiritually-fulfilling world. Participants confront four key questions to reveal how our modern worldview and economic and political systems are preventing us from creating the world in which we want to live: Where are we? How did we get here? What is possible now? Where do we go from here? April 23, 2017 at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 603 Sunset Drive, Johnson City. Registration begins at 1:00 PM. Symposium starts promptly at 1:30 PM. Optional pot-luck luncheon at 12:30 PM. Learn more and register at: For more information about THIS event, contact Noel Marshall at: NoelBob@LightPartners.org or call Page 2

3 ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2017 WATER: Overflowing Generosity One Great Hour of Sharing has become a long-standing ecumenical effort encompassing 29 participating denominations. Started in 1949 as an hour-long radio appeal to raise funds needed for relief and reconstruction for communities after disasters, it has become the most-participated-in offering in the PC(USA). Covenant Presbyterian Church participates in this special offering, given on Easter Sunday as a host of other churches do likewise. This year s theme Overflowing Generosity emphasizes ways in which our gifts through the One Great Hour of Sharing to the Presbyterian Mission Agency can help communities in several parts of the world at home and overseas cope with inadequacies of that most basic of needs access to clean water. Offering identifiable cost levels to donors to identify the use to which their gifts can be put, communities like our congregation, by giving as individuals or by partnering with friends or by Sunday School classes or other groups, can pick a goal to give toward. In Ghana, a gift of $1,500 or a shared gift of $50 can pay for a hand-dug well with hydraulic pumps in the Hohoe Municipality. $500 will pay for a sand dam across a seasonal riverbed, allowing it to retain water flow during droughts. $75 will pay for a rainwater catchment system to capture rainfall from roofs for use as irrigation and washing. $50 will provide a family in Flint, Michigan with water filters to clean city water of lead and other contaminants and keep 300 empty bottles out of local landfills. $20 will provide up to 10 jerry cans which can be used as clean and spill-proof containers in parts of the world where water must be fetched for daily use. We are an Earth Care Congregation and this year s offering theme provides us a unique opportunity to embrace our commitments to care for the earth and its resources, to extend our compassion for others and their needs for water for living, and to combine as a congregation to support the giving opportunity represented by this special offering. Whether individually or partnering up with a pew-mate, a few Sunday School classmates, or a church committee pick a giving target and make a gift of clean water this spring season. For more information, contact a member of the Mission and Outreach Committee. Please plan to make a contribution to our One Great Hour of Sharing part of your Easter celebration. UPDATE FROM BOB & KRISTI RICE MARCH 28, 2017 Dear Pastor Paul, Jerry and Sally, and all members at Covenant Pres., Warm greetings to you! We have big news to share --we have accepted a call to serve in South Sudan! We are excited and nervous about this new venture, and need your prayers for this transition. To learn more about how this came about and what our roles will be, you can: Read our newsletter at Watch a 14 minute video of us sharing the update this last Sunday at We leave in just two weeks, so are busy with preparations and packing. We really appreciate your prayers during this challenging period of transition and adjustment. We love to hear from you! If you ever have any questions or want to share any thoughts with us, please just let us know. We pray for God to meet you in a fresh way in this season of Lent and Easter. We celebrate the hope we have in our Risen Savior, and pray that all may know the hope and life that Jesus wants for us. In Christ, Bob and Kristi 2017 Page 3

4 2017 ALL-CHURCH RETREAT: AUGUST 25 27! Great News! We have enough signups to secure Holston Camp s Guenther Lodge! Thank you all for your early registrations! We are extending signups for another month, and will see how many Cottages we can fill. Come along with us and enjoy Nature, Worship, Fellowship and Recreation with your church Family. August 25-27, Friday 6:30 PM Sunday 9:30 AM, home in time for church. Carpools. Golf Cart Transportation. Private bathrooms given by seniority. Questions? Call Julie at or see Tina in the office. OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE: If you are an elder in the church, please consider signing up to help serve communion. The 2017 Communion Servers signup sheet is posted on the bulletin board in the Narthex (Helen Davis is the contact person). The 2017 Usher Schedule is also posted on the bulletin board (Jim Starr is the contact person). You don t have to be an elder to serve in this way! We ve had an awesome response so far with folks signing up to bring After Church Fellowship snacks thank you! There are still some blank spots on the signup sheet moving ahead, so please continue to sign up or sign up again! The Congregational Life Committee is providing lemonade and coffee every week, and we ll have snacks only on the days folks sign up, so grab a friend and sign up to provide some very SIMPLE snacks. The signup sheet can be found in the Narthex. Please step forward and sign up to provide snacks for this important time of fellowship with your church family and the visitors among us. GOOD SAM OFFERING Our next Good Samaritan Offering will be received on Sunday, April 23. This month they need: dish soap, laundry detergent, and shampoo. Thank you for your continuing generosity! ITEMS NEEDED FOR THE RIVER The River is in need of individually wrapped snacks and fresh fruit. The ladies appreciate it and we thank you for your continued support of this important local ministry! COVENANT S UPCOMING SUPPORT WEEKS FOR FAMILY PROMISE: April July 2-8 October 1-7 Do you need a wheelchair, walker or cane for a short time? The church has some which may be borrowed. Check with Tina in the church office to see if one is available. If such an item is needed at church, you'll find one wheelchair in the hallway outside the Sanctuary, and additional items in the unlocked room at the end of the hallway where the communion supplies are kept Page 4

5 THANK YOU, COVENANT Dear Pastor Paul & Covenant Friends, Your many kind expressions of sympathy have given me comfort and strength during Mike s illness and passing. Mike was my only brother and it has been difficult for me and my family. I am thankful that I could be his caregiver because it gave us time together to share a lifetime of memories. I feel blessed to belong to this caring and loving Church. With my sincere thanks, Nancy K. Carter ~ ~ ~ Covenant Church, Thank you for all of the cards, prayers and best wishes. We know why God led us to Covenant Church. So many of you we haven t met thanks to all of you. Love & Prayers to all, Jack & Helen Fletcher E C T : Jack Fletcher March 2, 2017 Jack Fletcher Dave & Sharon Benner Bud & B.J. King Harry & Janet Powell Gary & Anne Smith Harold Wilkinson Alan & Donna Bridwell Mike Query (Nancy K. Carter s brother) G C Bob Hyers (Bill s brother) Loraine Gaither Reid (Barbara Quisenberry s sister) FEBRUARY TREASURER S REPORT Income to General Fund February Actual $22, vs. Budgeted $20, Expenses from General Fund February Actual $19, vs. Budgeted $20, Year to Date Income General Fund Actual $59, vs. Budgeted $41, Year to Date Expenses from General Fund Actual $43, vs. Budgeted $41, The 5-Cents a Meal Offering for February was $ FEBRUARY SESSION HIGHLIGHTS...BY MARY O KEEFFE Saturday, April 8 at 9:30 Don and Leighton Hart will present a program outlining end-of-life preparations that can assist loved ones. They will talk about things like powers of attorney, wills, etc. We are in need of a volunteer to coordinate our work with Family Promise. We assist a host church 3 times a year. So this would involve planning for only 3 weeks throughout the year. Please see David Miller if you are interested in this worthy ministry. Christian Education Committee is planning for next year and looking to line up teachers. If interested, contact Anne Smith. The property committee is looking for volunteers to assist with upkeep of the grounds. Contact Chris Sutter if you can help out. A Seder will be held on Maundy Thursday, April 13 th. News from the Presbytery meeting: The Presbytery will be sponsoring a home for Habitat for Humanity. This summer, Holston Camp will offer confirmation classes during 2 camp sessions one week in June and one week in July Page 5

6 COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 603 Sunset Drive, Johnson City, TN Phone: , Fax: Find us on Facebook: Covenant Presbyterian Church (Johnson City, TN.) Church Office Hours: Monday: 1:00p 4:00p Tues. Thurs.: 8:30a 4:00p Closed on Friday. MISSION STATEMENT: Covenant Presbyterian Church exists to glorify and enjoy God. We live knowing that God calls us to be a place of love, support, hope and acceptance regardless of earthly labels; Jesus Christ commissions us to make disciples and passionately share our gifts with the world through prayer, teaching, and service; the Holy Spirit allows us to determine and carry out Christ s will for our lives and the life of our church, and empowers us to seek out and respond to the needs of our local and global community.