THE COVENANT CONNECTION Volume XIX No. 16 June 17, 2015 Covenant United Methodist Church Sister Church Coffee/Chocolate Sale Sunday, June 21st Did you know that the Equal Exchange olive oil we sell is cold pressed at a West Bank cooperative and supports not only the farmers who produce it, but that 100% of our profit goes directly to our sister church scholarship program in El Salvador? Equal Exchange also donates a percentage of all our sales to UMCOR . So we get to enjoy delicious, organic, fair trade coffee, tea, hot cocoa, choco- late, and olive oil, support small farmers in developing countries and provide funds for our sister church in El Salvador all at the same time! Be sure to stock up this month since we won’t have another sale until August. As always, if you won’t be at church but would like to make a purchase, just send us an email and we are happy to de- liver. Thanks for your contin- ued support. [email protected](Bob & Fleeta Holcomb) Fair Trade Sale June 21 Happy Father’s Day The Youth Coffee program would like to honor all Father’s this Sunday, June 21st, with a complimen- tary espresso drink. Please order your favorite cof- fee drink from a barista in the kitchen. Our Youth Coffee program will cease for the summer after June 28 and pick up again at the end of August. We will keep all your coffee punch cards on file during the summer break. Thank you for your purchases that support the youth programs at Covenant. Wandermere Christian Preschool Now Enrolling 3 year-olds For our Fall Tadpole class Our top-notch Preschool program is registering 3 year olds for the 2015-2016 school year. Classes are on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:30-12noon. Students must be age three by Au- gust 31st, and potty trained. If you know of a family looking for a preschool program in north Spokane, please refer them. Our best advertising is word-of-mouth! Angie Canavan, director: 466-9697
Transcript
THE COVENANT CONNECTION Volume XIX No. 16 June 17, 2015
Father’s this Sunday, June 21st, with a complimen-
tary espresso drink. Please order your favorite cof-
fee drink from a barista in the kitchen.
Our Youth Coffee program will cease for the summer after June
28 and pick up again at the end of August. We will keep all your
coffee punch cards on file during the summer break. Thank you
for your purchases that support the youth programs at Covenant.
Wandermere Christian Preschool
Now Enrolling 3 year-olds
For our Fall Tadpole class
Our top-notch Preschool program is registering 3 year olds for
the 2015-2016 school year. Classes are on Tuesday and Thursday
mornings from 9:30-12noon. Students must be age three by Au-
gust 31st, and potty trained. If you know of a family looking for
a preschool program in north Spokane, please refer them.
Our best advertising is word-of-mouth!
Angie Canavan, director: 466-9697
Worship Servants: Thank you for offering your
gifts & service to our morning worship experience. You are
appreciated!
June 21
Reader: Peggy Donovan
Greeters: Dick & Teresa Heezen
Ushers: Judi Morgan & Jill Sparkes
Welcome Table: Jacquie Hilpert-Belzman
June 28
Reader: Kyle Smith
Greeters: Bill & Patti Osebold
Ushers: Ron & Mariel VanNoy
Welcome Table: Jackie Richardson
July 5
Reader: Jayce Keeling
Greeters: Barry & Linda Karalfa
Ushers: Marty & Jayce Keeling
Welcome Table: Patti Osebold
“MARK YOUR CALENDARS”
For the Eighth Annual Covenant United
Methodist
Sister Church Fund Raising
Golf Tournament.
When: Sunday, September 13, 2015
Where: Deer Park Golf Course
Time: Tee times beginning at 11:30 a.m.
A hosted dinner will be held at Mackenzie
River Pizza following the tournament. En-
try forms will be mailed out and also be
available through the church newsletter in
August.
We hope to increase the number of partici-
pants, so please feel free to invite friends
and other family members. This year’s
tournament will again be a mixed four per-
son scramble format, so all skill levels are
welcome and encouraged to participate and
have fun!
UMW Report The United Methodist Women of Covenant UMC are currently on summer break, but will start meeting monthly again in September. Our first event will be hosting the District Meeting of the UMW on Saturday, Sept. 12, held at our church. There will be opportunities for many to serve on this day, more information will fol-low later this summer. We have been able to financially support many programs and projects in our church & community such as; scholarships & gifts for our high school graduates. We supported, Sarah Merchant with her seminary ex-penses. Two new coffee makers and 24 tablecloths were purchased for the church. We are working to up-date the Eagle Scout plague to include all Eagle Scouts names. Cookies and a $100 donation were furnished for the women veterans’ retreat. We sponsored two ladies to attend the “I remember Mama” luncheon given by the Volunteers of American in honor of Mother’s Day. A record number of socks were collected and given to Cup of Cool Water this winter. The UMW painted the hall-way between the kitchen and gym and financially sup-ported our Neighbor Fest event, the Stepping Forward Campaign, Tree of Sharing and the Bubble Wrap Mat Ministry for the homeless. We continue to serve the church by hosting memorial services and weddings at the church. We thank you for the church’s support of the Fall Flea Market fundraiser as well as the Holiday Craft Sale. Your help is always appreciated.
In our Prayers
Angelika’s sister Sabine, Doris Dyer, Sara Ferris and family after her moth-er’s passing. Nancy Foo and family
following the loss of her brother. Rhonda Greco, Winifred Jacobson,
Jack Lee, George Newell, Harlan Peer, Judy Reed’s mom, Barb Thornbrugh, Jim Thrapp,
the Yarbrough’s granddaughter, Abby.
“Transitions in Attendance” Hello Friends, I came across a very interesting article titled, “10 Rea-sons Even Committed Church Attenders Are Attending Less Often,” and it was naming a trend that virtually all churches are experiencing. What is interesting to me is this is a list of possible reasons why people who love the church aren’t attending as much. And as I of-fer this list for your consideration, please don’t hear it as a guilt trip! I think it is important to simply name what is going on in our world. I can give you the link to (or a hard copy of) the article if you wish, but here are the trends that the author, Carey Nieuwhof names: 1. Greater affluence - Money gives people options (technology, travel, activities for kids, etc.) but it brings up good questions about ministry to and with the poor. 2. Higher focus on kids’ activities - Many sports happen on weekends, and “affluent” parents are choosing sports over church. It’s as simple as that. 3. More travel - Despite a wobbly economy, travel is on the rise, both for business and pleasure. 4. Blended and single parent families - In a shared custody family, perfect attendance for a child or teen might be 26 Sundays a year. 5. Online Options - Anyone who attends our church has free access to any online ministry of any church. Online church is here to stay, whether we participate or not.
6. The cultural disappearance of guilt - Churches that rely on guilt as a motivator to get people to church need a new strategy. 7. Self-directed spirituality - In an age where we have access to everything, more and more people are self-directing their spirituality… for better or for worse. 8. Failure to see a direct benefit - People make time for what they value most. 9. Valuing attendance over engagement - Churches that value attendance over engagement see declining attendance. 10. A massive culture shift - All of these trends wit-ness to something deeper. Our culture is shifting. Seismically. Churches that fail to recognize this will not be able to change rapidly enough to respond to the shifts that are happening. Change is unkind to the unprepared, so I think we ought to prepare. What would you add to this list? What do you see? I would love to hear your thoughts and engage in con-versation. After saying all of this, please hear this: I love being your pastor, I love this community of faith and I am committed to helping us fully live out our purpose in the world, even if that means radical change…which it likely does.
Prayerfully,
Gregg
Pastor Gregg
Book Review Group
The Book Review Group will not meet in July or August. We will re-sume our regular monthly schedule in September. Happy Summer Reading! We meet on the second Tuesday of each month at 9:30am. We welcome new people to join us for discussion and fellowship. Con-tact Jeannie Peer, 466-4623, for more information.
Thank you to all of the servants at Covenant and the Brentwood LDS ward that assisted us when Family Promise was with us May 31-June 7! You provided over 250 hours to help make the two fam-ilies feel welcome and comfortable despite the flickering lights and leaking roof.
Covenant UMC
Thank you so much for letting us use your church for
our many meetings and activities.
Pack 218 Cub Scouts
(The church would also thank the Cub Scout boys of
Pack 218, and their families for their hard work, weed-
ing and sweeping up the parking lot curbs. Your ser-
vice is appreciated!)
Thank you to our team of hardworking church yard
angels. There have been so many of you that rolled
up your sleeves and helped to maintain the church
courtyard. Weeding, trimming, planting, and spread-
ing bark. The flowers & plants are beautiful and ad-
