From the Pastor’s Desk . . .
out by the Christmas rush. Take note of the daily blessings that you too often take for granted, and perhaps you will appreciate them a little more and find them adding a little more joy to your life. Along the way, remember to thank God for the loves and joys and peace in your life, for the story of Christmas is full of those gifts as proclaimed by the angels: tidings of great joy and hope for all people in all times – including you and me in this time! Blessings to you and yours! — December 2, 2024 (John Peterson)
Praise the LORD! I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God! (Ps. 146:1-5)
The psalmist reminds us that no mortal – no prince or president – is the one who will save us. It is God alone who reigns, God alone who endures across the generations, God alone who is the source of our help and our hope. God can work in, through, and despite whatever leaders are chosen, for the Lord is God of all! In the 46th Psalm, he offers this encouragement:
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult …
“Be still and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. (Ps.46:1-3,10-11)
Last week we had the annual meeting of SACRA (Staunton-Augusta Church Relief Association). Over 50 churches and organizations contribute to the work of SACRA in meeting the needs of neighbors in our area. Over the last year, $239,884 in assistance was distributed to meet utility, rent, fuel, food, and medical needs for folks in our community. Through the generosity of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and many volunteers, overhead expenses were just over 2% which means that most of the monies contributed went to assist neighbors in crisis. Churches across the theological spectrum and individuals with widely divergent political views join in helping struggling neighbors. On the eve of election day (or perhaps in its aftermath if you are reading this later in the week) when the fractures in our nation and politics are on full display, SACRA reminds us that we should be able to do better. As Christians we are called to love all our neighbors, regardless of their political affiliation, immigration status, race, gender, nationality, or life circumstance. We love them because God loves them, and like us, they are all created in God’s image. That is something that we should be able to do – and through SACRA, we are doing it! There are areas in our lives in which we will disagree with Christian siblings, including politics, but we should do without being disagreeable! As Christians who happen to be Americans, we have a responsibility to participate in our democratic process – to make our voices heard and vote – and we know that we will not all agree on who deserves our votes. But we should agree on the values that underlie our choices. We should support those candidates and policies that reflect our values as disciples of Jesus, and our values should reflect those that Jesus proclaims: love of neighbor, servanthood, welcome of strangers, concern for the poor and marginalized, pursuit of peace, good stewardship of the earth, humility, and self-sacrifice. We should ask what policies of the candidates best put those values into action in our public life. We should be willing to stand for justice and to oppose injustice in whatever form it takes. Faith should inform our politics, but never seek to dominate it or oppress others in faith’s name. The claims of Christian Nationalists in this regard are unfaithful both to our Christian faith and to our democracy. As I have said many times, what binds us together is greater than what divides us. I still believe that is true despite the rancor in our current political spheres. Our task going forward after this election is to work together where we can, disagree respectfully when we disagree, and in all things seek to be faithful to Christ’s call to us as disciples. For before we are Americans or Virginians, we are Christians, followers of the risen Christ with good news to share with the world. In that good work, may God bless us – every one!! — November 4, 2024 (John Peterson)
This past Sunday three of our folks shared their stories of those who have been shining examples of faith and faithfulness for them; perhaps their comments stimulated reflection on your part about those who have been such examples for you. We do not come to faith alone, and we do not understand faithfulness in a vacuum. We learn from others! Have you considered whether you might be such an example for someone else – in your family, among your friends, or for acquaintances who have observed you from afar? In you, do they see a great example of faith and faithfulness to God or do they see a hypocrite who professes faith on Sunday morning and then betrays that faith the rest of the week? Does your life reflect the faith you hold and the faithfulness to which God calls you each and every day? Across the world there are a host of challenges and existential threats – conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, political rancor in this year’s presidential election, horrific destruction wreaked by recent hurricanes, and the rapid pace of technological change. Our faith does not offer a safe harbor away from those realities, but a resource to draw on in facing them. As a community of Christ, we seek to spark and nurture faith to sustain us, support one another through whatever challenges arise, and share the Gospel in faithful ways within our walls and far beyond. Together we wrestle with hard questions of faith and go wherever God sends us as heralds of the gospel and instruments of God’s love, justice, and peace. Are you joining in that good work, or are you just along for the ride? All that good work is supported by your contributions to our General Fund and the sharing of your time and talents. It is holy work that is supported by staff who lead worship, offer pastoral care, teach classes, and care for children in our preschool, but also by volunteers who do that work too. These church facilities in which so much of that ministry is carried out require maintenance and care throughout the year, including payment for increasing utility and insurance costs. And as good stewards of the financial gifts entrusted to our care, Session has approved hiring a financial secretary to aid in managing the increasingly complex finances of our church and preschool. So often we take the church for granted. But we shouldn’t! We have been blessed by the generous support and vision of saints who have gone before us, and we should not only appreciate their faithfulness, but continue their legacy into the future. In the coming days you will receive a letter from the Stewardship & Finance Team with a pledge card asking you to make commitments for 2025. Give those commitments prayerful consideration, not as an obligation, but as an opportunity to share in ministry and to respond gratefully to God for all the blessings you enjoy. These are commitments that enable us to do God’s holy work in this place and beyond, as a Covenant family, together! — October 21, 2024 (John Peterson)
Ten days after the arrival of Hurricane Helene, we are only beginning to comprehend the scope of the devastation. Bridges, roads, homes, businesses, and whole towns have been washed away by raging rivers. The number of deaths is rising with many folks still unaccounted for. Many places in western North Carolina are inaccessible due to washed out roads and downed trees. Power is slowly returning but still out in many areas and cell service is spotty. Ironically, clean water is a desperate need in these flooded areas. Montreat, home to the Montreat Conference Center and untold numbers of Presbyterians, has been badly damaged. We think of hurricanes hitting the coasts – and Helene did her damage on the coast of Florida – but her devastation moved well inland, as did some of the memorable hurricanes that hit our mountains and valley in years past. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is one of the organizations working to meet the needs of people in these communities. PDA coordinates with FEMA, national relief organizations, and local agencies to offer aid and assistance in these crises, wherever the disasters may strike. (Information about giving to PDA to help hurricane victims can be found on an insert in this newsletter) Some of you will recall that under Allen Hensley’s leadership we built a shower trailer to be used onsite in such damaged areas. Our support of PDA through our individual gifts and Outreach budget is just one of the ways in which we serve our neighbors in need. Through special offerings, Glorious Gifts, Four Cents Per Meal, and the $88,000 of Outreach monies in our General Fund budget, we reach out to neighbors near and far. As a Matthew 25 congregation, some of those funds support work to eradicate systemic poverty and address issues of structural racism. Other monies meet emergency needs of folks in our community and provide scholarships for children in our preschool. From Nigeria to Ethiopia to the Philippines to neighbors across these United States and down the street, Covenant is at work to fulfill our calling to love our neighbors in tangible ways. Our efforts are not limited to monies. Through hands-on work providing lunches at Trinity Soup Kitchen, food boxes to Hispanic neighbors, home repairs with Renewing Homes Augusta, projects with Boys &Girls Clubs, food collections for Verona Food Pantry and Shelburne Middle School, knitting prayer shawls, making applesauce for Valley Mission, and pulling weeds at the Jones Garden we share our gifts with our community. By opening our building to community groups for meetings, play practices, prayer breakfasts, concerts, mission groups, and soccer practices, we serve our community. Our General Fund provides the means by which we do all these things and more, for each and every one of them is ministry. In sharing these resources, we serve our brothers and sisters all, and in serving them, we serve Christ. That is what we do, because that is what we are called to do – generously, joyfully, lovingly – serve! — October 7, 2024 (John Peterson)
In chapel with the preschool kids this week, I asked if they knew any birds. At first, I was pleasantly surprised at their responses: “A blackbird. A bluebird.” But then reality set in as they continued: “A red bird. A green bird. A yellow bird.” And I realized that for them, birds were simply identified by their colors – the blackbird was really a black bird, and the bluebird was a blue bird. It took awhile before someone volunteered, “pigeon,” and then another suggested, “bluejay,” and then another, “hummingbird.” And finally, I was able to steer the conversation toward where I had hoped to go in the beginning – to the dove as a symbol of peace. I suppose had we made it to “white bird” I might have segued to “dove” but then again, I may have ended up with an egret or snowy owl! In our Christian tradition, the dove is a symbol of peace and of the Holy Spirit. The image of a dove graces the green pulpit cloth that the fabric artists in our congregation made for this season of Ordinary Time. The figure of a dove alights on our baptismal font as a reminder of the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus at his baptism, the same Spirit present in our baptisms at that font. Thus, doves are front and center in our worship space – literally and figuratively – and peace should be front and center as well. Last week we had Peter Egwudah, an international peacemaker from Nigeria, speak to us at the 8:30 service about his work in that corner of the world; on World Communion Sunday in October, we will receive the Peacemaking Offering that supports peacemaking efforts locally, nationally, and internationally. Peacemaking is at the heart of our calling as disciples of the risen Christ. “Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you,” says Jesus. It is that peace we are called to share with the world – in word and action. Our world is in desperate need of peace these days as violence surges in Ukraine, Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, Lebanon, and Sudan. Closer to home, political rhetoric has become increasingly volatile and divisive; in some political corners, working with the other party or seeking compromise is anathema. Peace is increasingly elusive! Are you a peacemaker who promotes peace among your friends, family, strangers, and enemies, or are you one who stirs the conflict? There seem to be far more voices calling for conflict, war, retribution, and violence than there are voices calling for peace and understanding. Might we be the voices that offer a peaceful alternative? As followers of Jesus, we are called to counter that narrative of conflict – to “seek peace and pursue it,” to quote the psalm, to be channels of God’s peace to paraphrase the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. In your work, your neighborhood, and home – among your family, friends, and colleagues – in person and online – seek peace! Be peacemakers! For in doing so, we faithfully follow Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace! — September 23, 2024 (John Peterson)
Over the past two weeks, the eyes of our nation and neighborhoods have been glued to the Olympic competitions in Paris. The Games offer a respite from more serious and sobering events – war in Gaza, Israel, and Ukraine; tropical storm Debby plodding her way up the East Coast; wildfires in the West; regime change in Bangladesh; the rancor of political campaigns. While competitors are representing their nations, it is heartening to see the mutual respect, support, and good sportsmanship that has prevailed across national, racial, and religious lines. That has not always been the case, but one might hope that the example of these athletes could carry over into other realms in the relationships among nations, neighbors, tribes, and political parties. Throughout the Games, there have been individual stories of triumph and tragedy, sheer dominance and surprising upsets, redemption from past losses, and prospects for future excellence. The work and discipline necessary to achieve the level of performance that these athletes demonstrate is remarkable. All had to be fully committed to their sport and the training demanded to excel in it; it took a lifetime of practice and a village of supporters to enable them to rise to an Olympic level. Not everyone can be an Olympic athlete, but no Olympic athlete can get there alone! Are you as committed to anything as the Olympic athletes are to their sport? Where does commitment to your faith fall in the list of those things that you pour the most time and effort into? Paul uses athletic imagery to speak of his faith journey: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Could you say the same? If we are to excel as disciples, then we must do the hard work of discipleship. We cannot sit passively by and expect faith to blossom in us any more than athletes can expect to become Olympians while sitting on the couch watching others compete! Are you a disciple or are you just a spectator? Just as athletes train and commit their time and energies to their sport, so we are called to commit, train, and work to be faithful disciples. Faith is formed day to day through the commitment of time and energies directed toward nurturing faith and practicing faithfulness in things like Bible study, worship, prayer, and service to others. May you be inspired by this year’s Olympians to be the best disciples you can be, so that one day you too can say with Paul: “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith!” – August 12, 2024 (John Peterson)
Speculation following the attempted assassination of former President Trump at the rally in Butler, PA, just 18 miles from Slippery Rock where I grew up, has given voice to a lot of bad theology. On one hand, there are folks who are claiming that the shooter missed his target because a guardian angel was watching over Mr. Trump – “The Lord was looking out for him!” some have said. Others have suggested that God had no role in it, but rather “the Devil protects his own.” Such comments share space with those who contend that a child being hit by a bus or a tree falling on someone’s house is “just God’s will.” Such theologies suggest that anything that happens – for good or bad – is controlled and caused by God. There are some inherent problems with attributing such disasters or rescues to God’s intervention and will. Most notably the concern is what such theologies suggest about the nature of God. What kind of loving God goes around hitting a child with a bus or causing the firefighter who was shot at the rally to die? Was God protecting Mr. Trump while killing the young firefighter and wounding the others around him? Adolph Hitler survived an assassination attempt; was God protecting him in order to perpetuate the slaughter in World War II? How can God be loving, merciful, and just while arbitrarily inflicting suffering on some while sparing others? It may rain “on the just and the unjust alike” but is God really choosing whose homes get washed away in the ensuing flood and whose are saved? Theologies that suggest a tug-of-war between God and Satan are no less helpful. Does God win the battle to save the child in the near disaster but lose it to the devil when the child is killed? Is all good attributable to God and all bad the work of Satan, and in whose eyes is the good and the bad to be judged? Some of the same folks who claimed that Trump was elected by the will of God in 2016 denied that Biden was elected by God’s will in 2020 – and vice versa. Who is wise enough to discern the will of God in those instances? In his book Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power, Richard Carwardine quotes that great president as writing: “’In great contests, each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time.’ There followed, however, not a statement of Unionist certainty, but a startling hypothesis: ‘In the present civil war it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party…’” What Lincoln identifies is a caution to all of us about pretending to know the will of God. While we may not know God’s will with certainty, we do know that the Lord is a loving God, a God of mercy, grace, and justice, who does not go around arbitrarily inflicting suffering on God’s people. For some strange reason, God gave us free will which means sometimes people make bad decisions that cause others to suffer. Sometimes, as the story of Job points out, suffering is undeserved – “bad things happen to good people.” God does not promise that there will not be disasters or troubles, floods or fires, shootings or valiant rescues. But God does promise to be with us through it all – through thick and thin, good and bad, triumph and tragedy. So be cautious of attributing to God or the devil the outcome of any event. It may or may not be God’s will. But strive instead to live as God calls you to live – to bend your will to the will of God which is perhaps summed up best by the prophet Micah: What does the Lord require of you? Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. – July 29, 2024 (John Peterson)
- Election of Rev. CeCe Armstrong and Rev. Tony Larson, both from South Carolina, as co-moderators. They will serve a two-year term until the next GA meets in Louisville, KY in 2026.
- Election of Rev. Jihyun Oh, born in South Korea and reared in Kansas, as stated clerk, the highest ecclesial office in the PCUSA (Bronwen Boswell, Shenandoah Presbytery’s General Presbyter, has been serving as Interim Stated Clerk for the PCUSA for the past year). Rev. Oh will serve a four-year term.
- Adoption of a budget for 2025 of $94.9 million and for 2026, $95 million.
- Approval of changes to the Book of Order to add gender identity and sexual orientation to the list of the “rich diversity” reflected in the church’s membership, and to include the commitment to fulfill all requirements in the principles of participation, representation, and non-discrimination to the examination of candidates for ordination and installation. (These changes, like all changes to the Book of Order, must be approved by a majority of the presbyteries to become effective.)
- Directed further engagement with greenhouse gas emitters and the fossil fuel industry to address concerns around climate change.
- Unanimously approved a resolution encouraging ratification of a U.S. Constitutional amendment abolishing the exception clause in the 13th Amendment that allows a person convicted of any crime to be enslaved.
- Unanimously approved an overture calling for action so that children can live free from gun violence.
- Reduced the number of PCUSA special offerings from four to three (One Great Hour of Sharing, Peacemaking, and Christmas Joy offerings).
- Adopted a resolution updating and expanding a 2004 resolution to reject Christian Zionism in all its forms.
This past Sunday (June 2) we gathered in the Great Hall to hear the annual “State of the Church” report from the Session teams. It has been a busy year since we gathered last June for that report, and there is more on the agenda for 2024. Some of the highlights include:
- Christian Formation changed its name from Christian Education to reflect more accurately their mission to nurture faith and faithfulness across lifetimes. Six youth attended the Montreat Youth Conference last summer and six will go there this summer. Five confirmands were welcomed into membership of the church. Rachel was welcomed on board with new ideas and resources.
- Congregational Care provided meals, visits, transportation, prayer shawls, cards, and support across the year. Support groups for those who are grieving and those serving as caregivers for family members have continued. Presbyterian Women offers study, fellowship, and good fun to women of the church.
- Facilities have been busy with the painting of the sanctuary, repair of the flat roof over the choir room, routine maintenance, and a battle with a pesky woodpecker.
- Fellowship continues to provide diverse opportunities throughout the year including Together on Wednesday dinners, a car show, receptions, potlucks, hymn sing, ice skating, kickball, and the annual Chili Cookoff and Dessert Extravaganza.
- Outreach distributed over $80,000 of budgeted funds in mission in addition to special offerings. The budget for 2024 is $88,000. Opportunities for hands-on work included serving meals at Trinity Soup Kitchen, refugee resettlement assistance, Hispanic food deliveries, Rebuilding Augusta projects, and ongoing collections of food, paper projects, clothing, and plastic. Fairtrade coffee, tea, and chocolate continue to be popular, and Glorious Gifts was again successful in providing alternatives for Christmas gifts.
- Personnel welcomed Rachel on board as Associate Pastor, offered pay increases to staff, and celebrated Lou Dolive’s 15 years as bell choir director.
- Preschool had a busy year with a host of new children arriving and several staffing changes. Enrollment for next year is already ahead of previous years! A new train is planned to replace the much-loved but aging train on the playground.
- Stewardship & Finance reported an unprecedented budget surplus of $106,000 in 2023, substantially due to savings from the associate pastor position being vacant for ten months last year. The surplus was allocated among various projects submitted by the teams and approved by Session. The Endowment has grown to over $290,000, and the Memorial Fund is supporting the purchase of music shelving for the choir room.
- Technology is the newest Session team, formed to coordinate and care for the wide range of techno-logical services that Covenant now needs and utilizes including WIFI, the website platform, staff computers, and a new tech cart to facilitate virtual programming.
- Worship planned around the sanctuary painting and organ repairs, and has purchased a new piano and music shelving for the choir room. Taizé services in Lent and live streaming of Sunday worship services continue to be highly valued.
- The Ad hoc Signage Team has worked diligently through the last year in the design and location of signs for the exterior and interior of the church facilities. It is a much bigger project than first imagined! Look for the signs to be installed this summer.
Protests on college campuses in our nation and beyond concerning the war in Gaza have sparked a multitude of reactions and some uncomfortable memories of protests on college campuses in the 1960s. What are we as Christians to say about these events that center on a conflict between Palestinians and Israelis half a world away? Perhaps the first thing to be said is that this is not at heart a religious conflict. The state of Israel does not speak or act for Judaism or the Israel of the Bible; it is a modern state that has its own political and national interests. Neither does Hamas speak for any one religion or for all Palestinians; many are Muslim, but not all. They reflect political and national interests related to eviction from their homes with the creation of the state of Israel and their aspirations for a nation of their own. Jews are joining in the protests against the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, and there are Palestinians appalled at the actions of Hamas who are calling for the release of the hostages. Secondly, while the majority of the protests are peaceful, those garnering the headlines are the protestors who have crossed the line from peaceful dissent to violence, destruction, and anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions. We should support those who are calling for an end to war, the release of the hostages, the delivery of food to the hungry to alleviate suffering, and a plan forward for peace that respects the lives of all. We should be a voice calling for justice for those who have suffered losses, those who have been driven from their homes by the brutal attacks by Hamas, the indiscriminate bombing by Israel, and the denial of access to food, water, and medicines for displaced Palestinians. As so often is the case, it is the innocent who suffer, and we should be righteously angry at the callous disregard for human life on both sides of this conflict. Thirdly, we should support those who make their voices heard through peaceful protest and hold accountable those who cross the line into intimidation, racist rhetoric, violence, and destructive behavior. At times, peaceful protests have been coopted by outside agitators with their own agendas, but it is also the case that some protestors have been carried away by anger to act unjustly or illegally, and they should face consequences for their actions. Finally, we should be praying for a resolution, and not simply ignoring the conflict as if it were of no consequence to us. These are our brothers and sisters who are suffering, and we should seek to alleviate the suffering where we can. Sometimes, the best that we can do is simply to pray, and so we should pray! It can be tempting in this conflict, as in so many others, to make this a black-and-white issue without recognizing the nuances of the problems and the varied interests of those involved. Hamas’s attack was unconscionable as is Israel’s response that has killed so many Innocent people, including thousands of children. We should demand better from all sides, including ourselves, and pray for a just peace that will bring an end to the violence and allow all the people to live in peace, for that is the dream of most of the folks involved in this conflict. – May 6, 2024 (John Peterson)
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What does it mean to be a member of the church? First and foremost, it means to be a disciple of Jesus who seeks to follow the risen Christ by loving God and one another, forgiving and praying for others, serving as Jesus showed us and taught us, and proclaiming the good news of his resurrection and God’s love for the world. The basic affirmation of faith in the early church was simply, “Jesus is Lord!” To be a church member is to make that same affirmation personal – to affirm that Jesus is Lord in your life by how you live day-to-day. Our Book of Order offers a vision for what those commitments look like in practice:
A faithful member bears witness to God’s love and grace and promises to be involved responsibly in the ministry of Christ’s Church. Such involvement includes:
- Proclaiming the good news in word and deed,
- Taking part in the common life and worship of a congregation,
- Lifting one another up in prayer, mutual concern, and active support,
- Studying Scripture and the issues of Christian faith and life,
- Supporting the ministry of the church through the giving of money, time, and talents,
- Demonstrating a new quality of life within and through the church,
- Responding to God’s activity in the world through service to others,
- Participating in the governing responsibilities of the church, and
- Reviewing and evaluating regularly the integrity of one’s membership, and considering ways in which one’s participation in the worship and service of the church may be increased and made more meaningful. (G-1.0304)
- This list is not intended to be exhaustive (or exhausting) but is intended to illustrate how we share our space with the community. Most of the organizations have Covenant connections. All are non-profits. In sharing our space, we seek to be good stewards of our facilities, good neighbors to our community, and faithful disciples in God’s service! We who have been so blessed, seek to bless others. That is why we built it! That is why we share it – to the glory of God! – April 8, 2024 (John Peterson)
In Gaza right now the United Nations is concerned about mass starvation as people displaced from their homes by the war have access to little or no food. In many other parts of the world, climate change has destroyed crops through drought, floods, or storms that have left whole populations food insecure. Within some of our cities, there are food deserts where no healthy food is available. Significant numbers of children in our community receive free lunches that are their best, or perhaps only, meal of the day. All of which is to say that we take for granted our daily bread while so many other folks go hungry. Fasting one day a week has brought that reality to my consciousness in a very visceral way!
Here at Covenant, we try to meet the needs of hungry folks in our community in various ways. Teams cook and serve meals at Trinity Soup Kitchen each month. We deliver food from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank to Hispanic families. Each month we collect a Four Cents Per Meal offering and food for the Verona Food Pantry. In our annual budget, we support Meals on Wheels, Valley Mission, SCS Nutrition Program, Jones Garden, Verona Food Pantry, Project Grows, SACRA, and our Hispanic food distribution. We are trying to make a difference where we are with what we have, and while it may seem like just a drop in an ocean of hunger, to those we help it makes a huge difference!
This year Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day. On one hand, it seems an odd mix – ashes and valentines, repentance and love, ash gray and rose red (Ohio State fans find that a perfect match) – but there is perhaps something fitting in celebrating these two remembrances on the same day. For, Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday are both rooted in love – love for one another, our love for God, and God’s love for us.
Ash Wednesday begins our 40-day journey through Lent to Holy Week. It is a day marked by repentance, prayer, and self-reflection, a day to set out on a Lenten journey that will end at the cross and the empty tomb where God’s great love for us is expressed in profoundly tangible ways. As ashes are imposed on our foreheads, we commit to that journey; that commitment is itself an act of love for God. As ashes mark our foreheads, we are reminded that we are dust and to dust we shall return, but even as we recall that sobering truth, we are reminded of Paul’s words that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Celebrating Ash Wednesday is an act of humble contrition, reminding us of our mortality, and it is an act of faith, bearing witness to our commitment to the God who loves us without end.
On Saturday, January 20, Session held its annual retreat here at the church. A significant focus for us was implementation of the Matthew 25 initiative here at Covenant. I shared some data around health equities in our community and beyond, and Adam Campbell provided for us some information with regard to the work of the DEI commission in the city in order to help us understand some of the challenges that have been identified for us locally. Following review of our Long-Range Plan and our annual goals for 2023, Session adopted the following priorities for 2024:
¨ Identify a Matthew 25 project and resource it appropriately.
¨ Understand and implement Christian Formation across the life of the church.
¨ Develop a plan for lay leadership & enabling identification of spiritual gifts.
¨ Share the good news in tangible ways beyond our walls and welcome community participation in the life of the church.
These priorities are in addition to our ongoing commitments to ministry and work in the life of the church (e.g. worship, outreach, etc.). In coming weeks and months there will be more information shared about these priorities, but as a way of beginning the conversation, you might think of these priorities as addressing the following questions:
¨ What does it mean for us to be a Matthew 25 congregation, and how do we live in to that challenge?
¨ How is Christian Formation different from Christian Education, and what difference might it make for us to focus on “formation” instead of “education” in the life of the church?
¨ How do we help folks identify their spiritual gifts and provide opportunities for them to use those gifts in ministry?
¨ How might we be better evangelists for the good news we believe – as a church and as individuals – within the life of the church and reaching out to the community?
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr., writes of his own disappointment in the white churches of the South in 1963:
I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say that as one of the negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say it as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen…. I felt that the white ministers, priests, and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautions than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of the stained-glass windows.
Those words of Dr. King continue to challenge us 60 years later as we look to the challenges we face as the church in 2024. Are we more courageous than cautious? Are we listening to the voices of those who are suffering or in need? Do we seek to understand the problems and concerns of our community and world, or do we ignore them? We have no stained-glass windows (except in the chapel), but do we regard the church as a shelter from all that is chaotic and painful in the world, or do we see the church as a staging area from which to go and meet the real needs of our community and world?
Those are just some of the challenges we face in this new year. May we be faithful in our response, rising to the occasion in proclaiming in word and in deed God’s love and justice – as God’s faithfully courageous church in this place! — January 15, 2024 (John Peterson)