The Church of the Covenant

The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, 
and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Worship of God  
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
10 AM
August 24, 2014

     

The Rev. Jonyrma Singleton's sermon is entitled Who Do We Think WE Are?.  The scripture lessons are Romans 12:1-8 and Matthew 16:13-20

 

Questions for Reflection: "Who Do We Think WE Are?"   

Jesus  responds  to Peter and the disciples that "Yes" he is the Messiah.  We are followers of Jesus the" Christ"( which means Messiah) right? So who do we think we are in this place and time? And how must we serve and work to bring God's kingdom closer to this turbulent and chaotic world?                                       Jonyrma  

 

The Lay Worship Leader is Jennifer Conner. Children and youth will talk with Tracy Blake during this final SOS: Summer of Stories.

Each Sunday one of our Stephen Ministers remains in Christ Chapel following worship to speak with anyone who would like a listening ear or a prayer. 
 
Midweek Music & Meditation, Wednesdays, 4:30-5 pm, 
is offered for anyone who would find comfort in a time of reflection, music, and prayer. Prayer requests placed in The Carpenter's Box on the Christ Chapel table are included in each Midweek Music and Meditation time of prayer. 

 

See the Reverend Amy Starr Redwine
preaching in the August 17 worship service.   

The sermon is "Stargazing"   

 

You may also read her sermon. 

 

PCUSA Response To the Crisis in Ferguson, Missouri - a Statement and Prayer

"He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Mic. 6:8, NRSV)

In this time of angst and anger, frustration and fear over the shooting death of eighteen-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) calls for calm and prayer as justice is sought and righteousness pursued.

We, along with the rest of the world, mourn the loss of this child of God, and are pained that his future was brought to an abrupt halt.

We, along with the rest of the world, seek answers to why an unarmed human being was shot repeatedly, and question the way in which local law enforcement handled the aftermath.

We, along with the rest of the world, are stunned by the violence that has erupted in Ferguson, and acknowledge that the turmoil is rooted both in Michael Brown's death and in years of disenfranchisement and hopelessness for many in that community.

We, along with the rest of the world, cry out in sadness over the troubled state of race relations in the United States, a situation born out of centuries of unreconciled issues that too often have been translated into distrust, fear, anger, and violence.

Therefore, as people of Christ committed to justice and love, we call for calm in Ferguson as work is done by state and federal officials to seek answers and bring justice. We appeal for an end to the violence, the looting, and the aggressive force, and urge all involved to suspend activities that perpetuate the negative cycle under way.

We also call on our nation as a whole to pray without ceasing for healing in Ferguson, and for real dialogue and action at local, state, and national levels to improve race relations in the U.S. The PC(USA) stands firm on its historic commitments to equality and human rights, and will continue as a denomination to press for fairness and justice for all of God's people.

O God, with heavy hearts we turn to you. Another life taken. Another future robbed. Another young person of color killed. One death that led to injury, violence, and unrest in the days that followed, exposing divisions and systems of injustice. Struggle and confrontation that continues today.

Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

Family, friends, loved ones, and neighbors of Michael Brown unable to mourn in peace because their backyards are filled with tear gas, rubber bullets, violence, and military force. Children unable to attend school. A place where the shadows of night bring uncertainty instead of rest. A place that could be our place, too.

Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

A time where hands in the air not only mean surrender but solidarity. As differences seek to rule the day, we search for another path, a new way to live in community. Change our hearts and transform them from places that see "otherness" to ones that honor your image in each person. Guide us to use our voices to name the racism still thriving in our midst, striving for systems of accountability that maintain justice for all people. Strengthen us for the difficult, but beautiful, work of dismantling racism and building a community where all are welcomed and honored.

Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

There are no excuses. There are no reset buttons. There is just us, your faithful people, seeking ways to bring hope into a time in such desperate need of it. Stir our hearts, free our minds, guide us to follow your way. Help us to push aside our complacency to make room for your Spirit, calling us forward from this place. Make us instruments of your peace.

Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

The Reverend Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly

Ruling Elder Heath K. Rada
Moderator, 221st General Assembly (2014)

The Reverend Larissa Kwong Abazia
Vice Moderator, 221st General Assembly (2014)

Ruling Elder Linda Bryant Valentine
Executive Director, Presbyterian Mission Agency

August 19, 2014 in Louisville, KY
Music Notes
Joseph Schlesinger
Countertenor
We welcome guest soloist and countertenor Joseph Schlesinger to our service this weekend. The organ prelude features a work from the little-known composer Bernardo Storace (fl. 1664) hailing from Messina in the south of Italy. His Ciaccona is an exuberant set of variations over a "ground bass" or repeating harmonic pattern. Soloist Joseph Schlesinger offers to two sacred arias from the 18th century for the anthem and offertory. The aria " Gott hat alles wohlgemacht" (God has done everything well) comes from J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 35 for solo countertenor and obbligato organ written in Leipzig in 1726. "But who may abide the day of his coming" is probably the most famous alto aria in G.F Handel's (1685-1759) oratorio Messiah (1742). The work is structured in contrasting slow and fast sections illustrating the solemnity of impending judgment and the impetuous energy of the refiner's fire.  The service concludes with a "jig" fugue (dancing fugue) by J.S. Bach (1685-1750), which is inconclusively dated to his years as organist at St. Bonficace in Arnstadt.

Joseph Schlesinger, countertenor, began his musical education playing principal trumpet in the Augustana College Symphony where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Finance and Asian Studies. After receiving his Masters in Music from DePaul University, Mr. Schlesinger received a Netherlands-America/Fulbright Fellowship to study Baroque Music at the Royal Conservatory, The Hague. Mr. Schlesinger's Baroque repertoire includes J.S.Bach's Magnificat, Weihnachts Oratorium, B-minor  Mass, St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, and other cantatas and oratorio composed by Telemann, Sch�tz, Zelenka, Handel, and John Adams. On the operatic stage Mr. Schlesinger sang roles ranging from Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky to Judith Weir's A Night at the Chinese Opera. In contemporary music Mr. Schlesinger debuted various Dutch contemporary operas, notably Snow White by Micha Hamel, in which he was poisoned and buried on stage. Upon returning to the United States, Mr. Schlesinger is delighted to have joined Cleveland's Contrapunctus and Apollo's Fire, Chicago's Music of the Baroque, Seattle Pro Musica, and the Madison Bach Musicians.
__________________________________________________
The McGaffin Carillon

George Leggiero, Carilloneur

 

Preludium in d (for carillon),  Jef Denyn

Two Intermezzi for Carillon, Jurriaan Andriessen

Serenade for Carillon, Ronald Barnes

Intrada

Sicilienne

 The tower is open to visitors following the service.  

The entrance is on the second floor opposite the Herrick Room. 

Music Recordings from Jazz Worship Last Week

Feel free to move a little.  Lots of people did last week.


In the Covenant Family 
This week we keep in our prayers Mary Brown, Bea Carpenter, Shroon Hanook's father, Jerry Lowe, Ruth Dahm De Vries, Stephanie Smith, Marjorie Wadsworth and other Covenant members and friends who are struggling with illness, convalescing, or are home bound. 


Jim Mate's invocation for the recent Membership Committee Meeting:

Lord Jesus,
We are the salt of the earth,
We are the light of the world,
Because we hold in our hearts as truth
That all spiritual knowledge comes from You.
Be with us now, remain with us always, that our light will remain till You come.    Amen
   

Bear one another's burdens, 

       and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  Galatians 6:2 

Beginning to Say Farewell and Well Done

   

At their last meeting, the Adult Christian Education and Black History Committee presented a certificate of appreciation to Laury. Pictured with Laury are Hugh Burtner, Vice-Chairperson, and Carol Roe, Chairperson. 

 

Certificate of Appreciation 
This certificate is presented to
The Reverend Laury W. Larson

From Adult Christian Education and Black History Committee
in grateful appreciation for:

Outstanding organizational skills,
Consistent follow-up,
Stimulating Questioning, and
Most important
Assuring the theological basis is always before us.
    

Don't Miss Days of Celebration

 

Sunday, August 31 - Rev. Larson's last service of worship at Covenant

 

Sunday, September 14 - Retirement Picnic 11am-1:30pm  

Please RSVP by Friday, September 5
Call 216.421.0482, email [email protected],
or sign up in the church office or just send a reply to this email.

University Circle Bible Study returning to Tuesdays on September 2,  12 pm

 

Interested in studying the scriptures for the upcoming Sunday? Join others for this small group Bible study in the library at 12 pm. The Rev. Laury W. Larson will conclude his time with this group on Wednesday, August 27.  Bible Study will return to Tuesdays on September 2 with the Reverend Amy Starr Redwine facilitating.

Cache Open  Sunday, August 31



 

On Sunday, August 31, a small group of CWRU students studying sustainability will be taking a walking tour of University Circle. One of their stops will be our own Cache Resale Shop, a great example of sustainability through reuse, recycling, and repurposing! The students will arrive at about 11am to observe and hear about what we do and how we do it.  The Cache will be open until about noon-so please come down after worship to meet the students and purchase your own treasures.  

  

 
Christians Bear Witness
Since a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, killing 26 people, 20 of them children, 255 people in Cuyahoga Countyhave been killed by guns. The deaths of four more souls are added this week: Marcelles A. Brown, Arturio Young, John W. Delar, and Dean Takashi Ochi. 

 

The Reducing Gun Violence Task Force of the Church of the Covenant's Outreach and Social Justice Committee meets on the second Tuesday of each month in the church office area. Anyone desiring to help address the evil of gun violence in our community and nation is invited to attend.

 

Believing God calls us to be peacemakers, by Session action, we include in the Prayer of Thanksgiving, Intercession and Petition, once each month, specific concern for people affected by gun violence and addressing the evil of gun violence in our nation, marked by the tolling of the tower bell.

 

Tell your Senators what you believe they should do about gun control.
  Email Senator Brown by clicking HERE.
  Email Senator Portman by clicking HERE.  

And the Work Progresses!

Many thanks to our Building and Grounds Committee for their continued work  on our concrete repairs, and to our custodial staff who guide people into and through our building during these repairs. Last week our parking lot was seal-coated.

Buildings & Grounds is a committee of the Board of Trustees.  Members include Rod Keen (chairperson), Al Kuntz, Chris Langmack, Catherine Miller, Ron Neill, and Paul Williams.  Thank you!

COTC logo

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

Send information for e-news to  
This week's e-news compiled by David Keltner & Lyn Tomaszewski.