Volume 4, Issue 10 COVENANT COMMUNITY CHURCH ~ A UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST CONGREGATION October 2nd, 2016

This article is the first in a series

relating to the new Faith in Action

movement in Alabama, a faith-based

grassroots effort to create more op-

portunity for all Alabamians.

One inspiration for me in this

movement is Desmond Tutu, the first

black Archbishop of Cape Town,

South Africa, and one of the leading

activists who worked to bring about

an end to apartheid (the former politi-

cal system in that country, ruling

over an ethnic majority by a cruel

and oppressive ethnic minority), or-

ganizing marches and supporting the

economic boycott of his country.

After the fall of apartheid, he headed

South Africa’s Truth and Reconcilia-

tion Commission. Among my favor-

ite of his words are these:

“Equality is essential to hu-

man life and well-being, and

people were willing to make

enormous sacrifices to achieve

it in South Africa... But as King

and Gandhi remind us, God’s

dream envisions more than

mere equality. An equal you can

acknowledge once and then for-

ever thereafter ignore. God’s

dream wants us to be brothers and

sisters, wants us to be family.”

“I would refuse to go to a ho-

mophobic heaven. No, I would

say sorry, I mean I would much

rather go to the other place. I

would not worship a God who is

homophobic and that is how

deeply I feel about this. I am as

passionate about this campaign as

I ever was about apartheid. For

me, it is at the same level.”

Faith in Action Alabama is a

diverse group, like what I imagine

Tutu's words to encourage: bridg-

ing race, sexual orientation, and

other differences that may have

been allowed to be barriers to unity

in the past. The mission statement

is quite simple:

“To honor God by achieving

systemic change through faith-

based community organizing to

create pathways of opportunity

for all Alabamians.”

If you would like to hear more

about this effort, please ask one

of these Covenant family mem-

bers who have chosen to be in-

volved in it: Peter Tepley, Dea-

con Jamie Grimes, Deacon Ron

Collins, Judy Hand-Truitt, Pas-

tor J.R. Finney, II, and/or Dodd

Waters.

By Judy Hand-Truitt & Jamie Grimes

PAGE 2 VOLUME 4, I SSUE 10

By Ron Collins

Sometime this month we will all gather

around our TV sets and watch Linus

wait to see if the Great Pumpkin will

visit him this year. Oh, I hope Linus

gets his wish this year. While I sit on

pins and needles for the answer, there

are other things that happen each Octo-

ber. My mother’s birthday is on the

31st, her 91st. Atlanta Pride is this

month, 8th & 9th. Halloween is on the

31st. Are we having Trunk or Treat this

year? If so, no clowns please!

For all members of Covenant we

have a special day. October 16th is our

Annual Congregational Meeting and

"Pot-Luck" dinner. Like many of you, I

“ain't” going to miss lots of food and

fellowship. Then as we gather, our

congregation will look backward and

forward to the journey we are to follow

which our Creator has placed before

us. On a personal note, more than any

time sense my first Sunday at Covenant,

I feel that God has a mighty work for

Covenant Community Church. During

the summer we have added members to

our Covenant family. We welcomed

over 10 guests each Sunday, and that's

during the summer. Don't tell J.R., but

his sermons have put the Baptists in

shouting territory.

I am beyond

excited

about God's

plans for our

church. As

we meet on

the 16th for

food and

fellowship, the election of Board

Members, and other business of the

church, may we all have a vision of the

plans that God has for us. I hope you

will join us as we continue our commit-

ment of “Offering Hope + Showing

Faithfulness + Sharing Joy” to our

community and beyond.

By Ron Collins

What is a conver-

sation? In my

opinion, there are

many people who

just don't have a

clue when it comes

to having a con-

versation. They

want to debate or

have a shouting match, not even close to

having a conversation. If there was ever

a time we need to have conversations, it

is now. So, what is a conversation?

This is my definition: “You talk, I lis-

ten… THEN, I talk you listen… and we

both learn something. Simple, right?

We all have a story to tell. Grow-

ing up, I loved listening to the conversa-

tions of adult family members and

friends. I learned a lot as they talked

about their lives from children to

adulthood. The good, the bad, and the

ugly were all parts of their story.

It's also a part of our story too. We

are adding to it every day and will

continue adding to it.

I enjoy attending the Inquirers

Class here at Covenant. When I

listen to those attending tell their

stories, I find out that we have a lot

in common and that can be a start-

ing point for conversations

down the road. There is

potential conversation with

every person placed in our

daily path. There is a time

for silly and funny conversa-

tions too.

However, we need to

look for those conversation

opportunities that will help in our un-

derstanding of the people we share this

planet with. That will solve problems,

cause action not just RE-action, and

create an atmosphere of lifting up, not

tearing down. I pray that these conver-

sations will start now, that we work

together to bring about justice, healing,

and unity in our communities. Lord,

hear our prayer.

I’ll share just a little bit more about

types of conversations. I think that it is

important to have conversations with

ourselves, as well. Sometimes it helps

to hear our own words as we try to

solve a problem or make a decision.

The story goes, a man hears a friend

talking to himself. So he asks the friend

if he’s talking to himself? The friend

replies, “Yes, sometimes I need an

expert opinion!” However, the most

important conversations are those we

have with our Creator. Those conversa-

tions can help with all those other con-

versations. But we often place a period

(Amen) when it should be a comma

(Pray without ceasing); always ready to

talk to God (Praying). Talk to God

when you see first responders as they

travel down the highway. Talk to God

when see an accident. Talk to God

just to tell Him you love Him. The

mainline is always open.

VOLUME 4, I SSUE 10 PAGE 3

A Camel!

By Jim Ball

On a recent out of state trip, friends and I encountered an evangelistic group. This group was 'promoting' a better life through Jesus Christ. We all know that this is true: Our lives are much better when we show our love for Christ by following His commandments of love. But this group, in no way or manner, demonstrated love. They were a loud and boisterous lot shouting insulting, condemning and judg-mental remarks at the crowd. People in the throng were called all kinds of derogatory names and told that they were going to hell. This disrespectful batch held of-fensive signs condemning many. I made the list many times. I laughed! Joy is mine! When I first saw this obnox-ious clutch, I immediately thought of a verse in the Bible, "God's Name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." So many folks see this and want no part of God, thinking He advocates this kind of condemna-tion and judgment. They speak of God with contempt because of these kinds of people. It is terrible that so many shun God because of this condemning garbage. Fueled by the harsh

words of this distasteful bunch, many onlookers attempted to physically assault them. If they had come with gentleness, showing love with no condem-nation, wrath would have been avoided and God's name would not have been reviled.

We, as Christians, should do as we are commanded and love people. Never should we do any-thing to cause our Father's name to be cursed. We should be glo-rifying Him. We should show

our love to others and let them know that God is love. Abhorrent groups, such as the one we en-countered, will always be present in this world. But let us demon-strate the true God by following

His commandments and showing love and “They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love”! Reading references: Proverbs 15:1; Luke 6:37, 10:27; John 13:33-35; Romans 2:24; Ephe-sians 4:2; Philippians 4:5; 2 Timothy 3:1-6; 1 Peter 3:15; 1 John 4:16, 5:3.

PAGE 4 VOLUME 4, I SSUE 10

WEEKLY OPPORTUNITIES:

Wednesday Night 6:00 PM – Supper; $5 Donation 6:30 PM – Upper Room Prayer 7:00 PM – Praise and Worship

Thursday Night 7:00 PM – Choir Rehearsal

Sunday Morning 9:00 AM – Lighthouse ~ Adult Bible Study 9:00 AM – Choir Rehearsal 9:30 AM – Synergy Youth Group ~ (Grades 6 – 12) 10:00 AM – Worship Service 10:00 AM – Children’s Church ~ (Nursery - Grade 5)

MONTHLY MINISTRY MEETINGS:

Covenant’s Transgender Outreach 3rd Saturday, 4PM – Danko Hall

Staff Meeting 2nd Monday, 7PM – Danko Hall

Glenn’s Reading Room 2nd & 4th Saturday, 2PM – Judy Hand-Truitt’s Home (While a book or topic is under discussion.) Inquirer’s & Membership Class 2nd Saturday, 10AM – Danko Hall (Quarterly)

Family Game Night 3rd Friday – 6:30PM – Danko Hall Open Board Meeting 4th Tuesday – 7:15PM - Danko Hall

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Oct 8th - Blessing of the Animals Oct 16th - Congregational Mtg & Pot Luck Dinner

Nov 6th - Daylight Savings Ends & All Saints Sunday Nov 23rd - Thanksgiving Eve Service

Dec 24th - Christmas Eve Service Dec 31st - 7PM-Chili Cook-Off/Games - 11:15PM - New Year’s Eve Communion Service.

Jan 1st - New Years Day & Epiphany of our Lord Sunday.

MONTHLY QUOTE:

By Kevin Kelly

A LITTLE TRIVIA: How many hours was

Jesus on the cross?

The answer can be found in Mark 15:25 KJV

It is easier for this animal to pass through the eye

of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter into

Heaven?

Somewhere in this Newsletter is a picture

of that animal.

An organization is a set of relationships that are persistent

over time.

Mini Pumpkin Cakes Recipe courtesy of The Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

6 Mini Sugar Pie Pumpkins

1 18.25 Ounce Box Spice Cake Mix,

(Plus Necessary Ingredients For

Cake Mix)

1/2 Cup Shelled Pumpkin Seeds

Vegetable Oil, For Brushing

Sugar, For Sprinkling

Maple Syrup, For Serving

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut the tops from the pumpkins and set

aside. Hollow out the centers of each pumpkin and place the pumpkins onto one of the prepared baking sheets. Prepare the

cake mix according to the package instruc-tions, stirring in 1/4 cup of the pumpkin seeds at the end. Pour some cake batter

into each pumpkin, filling half-way. Sprinkle the top of each

with the remaining 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds.

Lightly brush the cut side

of each pumpkin top with vegetable oil and sprinkle with

sugar. Place the pumpkin tops cut-side down on the other baking sheet.

Put both baking sheets in the

oven. Bake the pumpkin tops for about 25 minutes, and then

set aside to cool. Bake the bat-ter-filled pumpkins until a wooden toothpick inserted in

the centers comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool completely on a cooling rack.

Put a pumpkin top on each pump-kin cake and serve with maple

syrup.

SERVINGS: 6

PREP TIME: 5 Minutes

COOK: 1 Hour

INACTIVE TIME: 30 Minutes

TOTAL TIME:

1 Hour 35 Minutes