The Church of the Covenant   
  

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, 

teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, 

singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 

with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

 

Colossians 3:16 

 
Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Covenant Choir Returns from Summer Hiatus 
10 AM
September 8, 2013

Dr. Campbell's sermon title is When Faith Is Running Over But Time Is Running Out.   
The sermon text is:  And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the day of Christ Jesus.   Philippians 1:6
 
The scripture readings are Isaiah 40:28-31 and Hebrews 12:1-5.

The Lay Worship Leader this Sunday is  Ron Neill.
 
Each Sunday one of our Stephen Ministers remains in Christ Chapel following worship to speak with anyone who needs a listening ear or a prayer.  
 
Music Notes

This Sunday we welcome back the Covenant Choir to our worship service as we formally commence our season of choral music and educational programs. Both choir anthems invoke the anointing of the Holy Spirit to renew our minds and fill us with inspiration for the upcoming season. The introit, Come Holy Spirit Come, is taken from the Sacred Harp (1844), a collection of early American and British hymn tunes sung in the "shape-note" tradition. The offertory anthem is Edward Elgar's beloved "The Spirit of the Lord," taken from his oratorio The Apostles published in 1903.

 

Our service begins with Mendelssohn's festive Sonata No. 3 in A, the first movement of which incorporates the chorale Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir (Out of the depths I call to thee). The postlude J.S. Bach's jubilant setting of the chorale Fantasia super Komm Heiliger Geist, BWV 651 (Come, Holy Ghost).

 
 

2013-2014 Ann Howard Choral Scholar

 

 

We welcome to the choir, soprano Emily Uddenberg, the 2013-2014 Ann Howard Choral Intern. Emily is in her first year of the Bachelor of Music program at CIM, studying with Dean Southern. She has been performing since the age of three, but found the stage as a singer in sixth grade. She has performed in the Illinois All-State chorus, Bach for the Sem chorus, and as a soloist at the Daley Center in Chicago. She also performed with the York Symphony Orchestra as a concerto competition winner. She is so excited to have the opportunity to sing with a church choir again!

 

 

 

Join the Covenant Choir

 

The Covenant Choir incorporates both professional and volunteer singers of all voice types (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). Rehearsals are Thursday nights from 7:30-9:30pm. If you are interested, please speak with Jonathan Moyer following the service or contact him via the church office or email [email protected].

 
In the  Covenant Family

This week we keep in our prayers Jan Dean, Erik Kratky, Murray Gildersleeve, Grace Milligan, Nancy Moyer, Ed Rogel, Christian Steppes, Marty Vinborg,  and other Covenant members and friends who are struggling with illness, convalescing, or are home bound. 

Immediately following worship there will be a celebration in the Reception Room honoring Phyllis Hackett on her birthday.

We give thanks Lord for older friends and family.  They bring wisdom to our lives.   They rejoice in our success and offer compassion in our sorrows.  They engage us with their memories of events that happened at an earlier time.  May our presence in their lives bring them joy.  Amen

  

Bear one another's burdens, 
and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 
Galatians 6:2
 
Covenant Recollections of the March on Washington

Several Covenant members have shared their memories and experiences of the March on Washington. Jean Sacatash was a school teacher in the Cleveland area at the time of the March. She felt a compelling sense of obligation to support the God-given right of freedom for all. She joined the buses from the Covenant parking lot and made her journey to Washington DC and participated in the March. She experienced no fear and rejoiced in the glory of the solidarity which was represented by the March.

Joyce Collins was a newlywed at the time of the March and can remember sitting in home and watching the I had a dream speech and being glued to the screen with interest. Joyce and her late husband were encouraged by the changes that the March brought to their lives.

Shirley Thompson and her sister Caroline remember a time when they grew up in totally segregated schools in Cleveland and looked forward to the changes that integration would bring.

David Keltner has no recollection of the March. He grew up in the separate but equal world that existed in St. Louis in the 1960's. Race was not an issue in the all white suburb in which he lived. Neither was racial animus apparent. But his world was about to change in a very big way. The weekend of the March he started college and stepped outside the world of separate but equal for the first time. While at the University of Illinois, he encountered students and faculty with broader exposure than his limited background. He learned that there were in fact people who disliked others simply because of their relgion, ethnicity or color. The dream speech coupled with the March was the basis for for his search for truth. And for reasons that he has never fully understood, he was drawn to the Presbyterian Church on campus which was very distant from his Southern Baptist roots. Decades later he found himself in Covenant which is the Church with a Conscience.
 
Listen (or more accurately, Keep On Listening).   You enjoyed these links last week so keep on listening.   Those of you who did not listen to the Amen make sure you don't miss it.   This is a full blown piece of music with the Dett Choir and the soloist.   It is not to be missed.

 
 
Listen to the Congregation and the R. Nathaniel Dett Concert Choir sing We Shall Overcome on Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Sunday in 2011.   The power and majesty of this music is overwhelming.   Click HERE.
 
You may watch a video of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Had a Dream Speech by clicking HERE.
 
You may sing along with a praise of Amen that closed the MLK Day Service in 2011 by clicking HERE.

 
 
Christians Bear Witness 
 
Following the senseless gun murders of the children in the Sandy Hook Elementary School, 102 people in Cuyahoga County have been killed by guns.  This week we add to that list  David J. Silvestri, Jeffrey G. Beard, and Derrick Demetrious Hudson.
 
THE FALL TERM OF SUNDAY ADULT FORUMS begins Sunday with the first in a series of forums addressing gun violence in America. Today's speakers are Susan Reis and Judy Eigenfeld, National Committee of Jewish Women, Cleveland, whose presentation Guns: Understanding the Current Debate, examines the origins and contemporary contours of America's gun culture and the current debate over reasonable actions to prevent gun violence. Adult Forums meet in Beckwith Hall at 11:30 am.
 
Tell your Senators what you believe they should do about gun control.

  Email Senator Brown by clicking HERE.
  Email Senator Portman by clicking HERE.
 
Covenant Eats Very Well!   
 
The fall Church picnic last Sunday was a total success.   The food was superb, the company was delightful and the crowd was huge.   Thanks to all who made this event happen.   Isn't Covenant an incredible place?
 
 
 
TUTOR ORIENTATION, NEXT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 10 AM, DINING ROOM

 

You can help The Saturday Tutoring Program continue to flourish in its 24th year.

(1) Become a tutor. Join other Covenant tutors: Ted Adams, Bob Ault, three generations of the Bromelmeier family, the Finkenthal family, Brad Goble, Jim Greene, Jon Kallay, Cheryl Keys, and Louise Steele.

(2) Encourage a friend or co-worker to tutor.

(3) Visit a tutoring session simply to meet, encourage, and thank the students and tutors.

For details, view the video and more connect to the Saturday Tutoring webpage by clicking HERE.  To volunteer, e-mail [email protected] or call (216) 421-0482 x281.  

 

 
Student Ministry Initiatives

Twenty-four students joined Covenant on last Sunday for worship and/or church picnic, comprising 19% of the assembly.  They said "thank you" so many times for all the delicious food and the warm welcome.  Some won prizes at the corn hole toss alongside the patio, and the president of SCC:Student Community@Covenant auditioned for Jonathan and joined the church choir! 

 
Presbyterian Magazine Horizons
Features Covenant's Mural:   Reconciliation, Katherine Chilcote


Horizon's
magazine used our mural as an illustration for an article discussing how we as Christian can share our faith stories to people's of other faiths and at the same time be respectful of other's belief structures.   The article suggests that we listen as well as speak and learn as well as speak.

We should not be afraid to be passionate about speaking as a Christian, but we don't want to share Christ in a way that hurts our relationships with others.   We must not forget that we do not have a monopoly on truth.
 
August and September Church Calendars
church wide
 
Click HERE to see the September church calendar.
 

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In the Heart of University Circle 
 
11205 Euclid Avenue - Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Visit the Covenant website at CovenantWeb.org

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This week's e-news compiled by David Keltner