This Week at Covenant Sunday, August 12, 2018 The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost Philemon: Love for all the Saints Rev. Julie Avis Rogers, preaching This Sunday at Covenant 10:30 Sunday Worship in the Sanctuary    Worship Participants:  Preacher - Rev. Julie Avis Rogers Liturgist - Dennis McCullough Minister of Music - Thomas Handel Lector - Tom Reid Testimony - Devin Hansen Usher Coordinator - Denice Thornhill Sexton - Fred Lopes   Reading from Scripture:      New Testament Reading: Philemon 1:1-25 My Very Heart   Sarah Are & Lauren Wright Pittman A Sanctified Art This Upcoming Week at Covenant OUR FINAL SUNDAY OF "FACES OF OUR FAITH" SERIES:The past 10-weeks have taken us on a journey of some of the "bold and untold" lesser-known stories of both our scripture and of members of our own Covenant community. This Sunday, August 12 we will conclude this series with gratitude for all who participated in this journey, particularly those who shared beautiful "Testimonies from our Lives;" Ken Bitner, Alice Hageman, Elsa Abele, Christine James, Karen Henry, Nancy Hollomon, Anna Lovett, Tim Groves, Nancy Stockford and Devin Hansen. EXPERIENCING THE HOLY LAND: A CONVERSATION WITH TOM REID AND REV. JULIE AVIS ROGERS THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 12: On Sunday August 12, Covenant member (and BU seminarian) Tom Reid and Rev. Julie Avis Rogers will have just returned from Israel and Palestine (where Tom was studying Hebrew and Julie was part of a Boston clergy delegation) and they would love to share experiences and reflections with anyone who might be interested! We will gather after church on August 12 from 12-1 pm in the Williams Library. We know many in our community may be traveling so we'll also plan to do a future event for our wider community this fall after many are back in town. OPEN NEWBURY STREET THIS SUNDAY: This Sunday, August 12th is the second "Open Newbury Street" date of the summer where Newbury St. becomes a pedestrian-only street for the day and thus is closed to cars. This will make parking a bit more limited than usual so please plan accordingly! There will also be an Open Newbury date on September 9. 20s-30s CAPE COD RETREAT ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 25: Registrations are now open for our third-annual "Cape Escape"! All young adults-- whether or not you are brand new to our community or a longtime member-- are heartily encouraged to join us for a beautiful day of delicious food, boating, swimming, worship, and community building. Click here for the registration form and please register for Friday, August 17. "WELCOME BACK FROM SABBATICAL" REV. ROB AND FAMILY; SPECIAL COFFEE HOUR AUGUST 19:  On Sunday, August 19, Rev. Rob, Becky and Rowen will host a simple coffee hour in Bates Hall after worship (their first Sunday back!) inspired by some themes and tastes from their travels. Join us in welcoming them back!   WEEKLY PUBLIC WORSHIP VIGILS against the Back Bay Fracked Gas Billionaire's Pipeline: Every Wednesday at Noon (stay for 5 min or an hour - whatever time you have) at the intersection of Huntington Ave. and Belvidere St. The August issue of Covenant News can be read online here.    Every Sunday at Covenant click on the links to learn more:    GODLY PLAY CLASS FOR CHILDREN: Godly Play is on break for the summer. CHOIR REHEARSAL: The choir is on a well-deserved break for the summer. BIBLE STUDY THIS SUNDAY: Join us at 9:15 am in the Williams Library. NURSERY CARE FOR CHILDREN:  Nursery Care is provided by our wonderful caregivers each Sunday from 9:15 am onward. Please ask an usher for directions if you need help finding it.  Upcoming Events   GBIO ACTION AUGUST 23: On Thursday, August 23, from 7 pm - 9 pm at the Boston Teachers' Union (180 Mt Vernon St in Dorchester), please be part of 600 GBIO folks for an Action with all our candidates for District Attorney in both Suffolk and Middlesex counties. We will be asking them for specific commitments that will lead to more fairness in criminal justice prosecution. We will also have commitments to ask our two Democratic candidates for governor. Covenant has committed 30 participants; please join us! If you have any questions, please talk to Tim Groves, Faith Perry, Anne Crane, Kathryn Barry, and Anita Gram. ALL CHURCH RETREAT DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO OCTOBER 19-20: The all-church retreat has been changed to October 19-20 at Miramar Retreat Center in Duxbury, MA! Please mark your calendars with this new date. We send a special word of thanks to the many who responded to our poll about preferred dates-we were delighted to see that there was an overwhelming preference for October 19-20! MAKING GIVING EASY: Thanks to our COTC Generosity Generators, we can all now give fully online and set up automatic, recurring giving to the life and ministry of our beloved church. Simply click on the "Give" tab on our website to do some generous clicking! http://www.cotcbos.org/give.html  THANK YOU!! UPCOMING EVENTS FOR OUR 20s-30s GROUP: We have an active group that meets regularly to share food together, build community, and discuss how our faith motivates and guides us to live through this unique life stage. If you'd like to be added to the email listserv, please simply email info@cotcbos.org. To RSVP for any of the events, email our Leadership Team at youngadults@cotcbos.org. EVENT SEXTONS AND OPEN SANCTUARY HOSTS NEEDED:  As we move towards summer, Church of the Covenant looking to expand our team of Open Sanctuary hosts and Event Sextons. Both hosts and sextons are so important in helping us make Covenant a welcoming place for the wider community. OS hosts staff our Open Sanctuary program that opens our building to the public, welcoming visitors and telling them about our building. Event sextons work with outside groups holding events here, opening and locking up the building, assisting with set-up (must be able to lift/carry moderately heavy objects), and making sure that events run smoothly. If you think you or someone you know would be a good fit for either of these positions, please email Ben Crosby at ben.crosby@cotcbos.org to set up an interview! UPDATES FROM OUR KINDLING COLLECTIVE: The first full-year of activity has wrapped up for our Kindling Collective, a multi-faith initiative for arts students and young creatives locally! It was a year full of inspiring art, delicious vegan meals cooked by our student minister Megan, endless conversations over tea and coffee, and even a course in spiritual entrepreneurship. The year ended with two well-attended and rejuvenating Artist Retreats (one here at Covenant and one at the Spingold Theatre at Brandeis). Please visit the Kindling Collective's Facebook page to view photos! www.facebook.com/thekindlingcollective   Click here to visit our online calendar and learn more about what's happening this week at Covenant! F     Follow us on facebook!