vol. 11 issue 10 THE NEW COVENANT MESSENGER New … · 1 vol. 11 issue 10 THE NEW COVENANT...
Transcript of vol. 11 issue 10 THE NEW COVENANT MESSENGER New … · 1 vol. 11 issue 10 THE NEW COVENANT...
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vol. 11 issue 10
THE NEW COVENANT MESSENGER
New Covenant Community Church
October 2015
1587 West Exchange Street
Akron, OH 44313
330-253-6989
www.covenantakron.org
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NEW COVENANT WORSHIPS
October 4th
A Service of Worship and Communion
World Communion Sunday
Rev. Dr. Alex McLean
Dick Wagner, Liturgist
Mary Lindsay, Fellowship Hour
October 11th
A Service of Worship and Communion
20th Sunday after Pentecost
Rev. Dr. Alex McLean
Mark Davis, Liturgist
Betty Miller, Fellowship Hour
October 18th
A Service of Worship and Communion
21st Sunday after Pentecost
Rev. Dr. Alex McLean
Tim Meyer, Liturgist
Jackie Horton, Fellowship Hour
October 25th
A Service of Worship and Communion 22nd Sunday After Pentecost
Rev. Dr. Alex McLean
Phil Smith, Liturgist
Bev Cinovec, Fellowship Hour
NEW COVENANT GOVERNS
FAITH DEVELOPMENT
Sunday, October 4th
12:15pm after service
Jackie Roth, Chair
FINANCE
Tuesday October 20th
Fellowship Hall, 11am
John Sezna, Chair
GOVERNING BOARD
Wednesday, October 28th
Fellowship Hall, 4pm
MEMBERSHIP
Tuesday, October 20th
Fellowship Hall, 4pm
Mary Dietz, Chair
MISSIONS
Tuesday, October 20th
Fellowship Hall, 5pm
Margie Frlich, Chair
WORSHIP
No meeting this month.
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October Pastor's Column
During this lovely season remember the words of Albert Camus: "Autumn is a second spring
when every leaf is a flower.” We have passed the autumn equinox and now the days are shorter
than the nights. In a few weeks, the trees will be resplendent with their fall beauty. I hope you
will take time to enjoy the beauty of God's creation at this special time of year.
October is filled with special events, both at the church and in the community. On October 4th,
we will be celebrating World Communion Sunday. The day celebrates our oneness in Christ
with our brothers and sisters around the world. Paul tells us that we are to "discern the body"
when we partake of Holy Communion, mindful that we note our relationship to all our brothers
and sisters in Christ in the celebration.
World Communion Sunday began in 1933 in a Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh. When asked
how the special Sunday spread, one of its early proponents said: "The concept spread very
slowly at the start. People did not give it a whole lot of thought. It was during the Second World
War that the spirit caught hold, because we were trying to hold the world together. World Wide
Communion symbolized the effort to hold things together, in a spiritual sense. It emphasized
that we are one in the Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ." I hope you will attend this special
service at the church this October 4th.
On October 24th, there is another special event. The Eastminster Presbytery will be hosting
Disciplefest 2015. It will be held from 9 until 2:30pm at Canfield Presbyterian Church, 140 W.
Main Street, Canfield, Ohio. This is a wonderful continuing education event with many great
speakers. Rev. Dr. Ken Bailey will be the keynote speaker. He will be sharing research from his
upcoming book on the image of the Good Shepherd in the bible. There are also seminars on
prayer, the missional church, understanding your church family, the differences between the
generations in and outside the church, and more. The cost is $15 if you sign up before October
15th, and $25 afterwards.
On Halloween, Saturday October 31st from 5-7PM we are planning to host a new event at our
church and for the young people of our community. We will be having Trunk R Treat. We need
a number of members, ten or more, who will turn out with the trunks of their cars filled with
Halloween treats. As trick or treaters pass by the church parking lot, candy and treats are safely
distributed. These events are a great way to make our name better known in the Akron
community. It all depends, however, on enough members and friends turning out. I hope that
you will be available and join in the fun.
Blessings, Rev. Alex
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Pastoral Recap for September 2015
I would like to thank everyone for making my installation such a special event on September
20th. It will be a day I won't soon forget. Thank you for the meaningful gift of the colorful stole.
The beautiful stained-glass design with three interlocking circles signifies the Trinity, which is
an important doctrine to me. Also, I would like to extend a special thank you to everyone who
extended hospitality to my mother, Lily McLean, my brother John, and to our friends from out
of town. They all had an excellent time and enjoyed meeting each of you. It was a very special
day for me, as well as our church community and I can't say thank you enough.
On September 8th, I attended the quarterly Presbytery meeting at the Presbyterian church in
Boardman, OH. The Presbytery is in a state of transition and over the last few meetings, we
have been working together to form a new vision and mission statement for Eastminster
Presbytery. Once this document is finished, it will set the direction for the ministries and
staffing of the Presbytery office.
It has been a busy month at the church and I appreciate all of the volunteer efforts. On
September 13th we had Back to Church Sunday. We sent out over 500 invitations to the
community surrounding the church. We are getting our message out that we are a strong
community neighborhood church, who provides meaningful worship to God and serves our
community. It is important to remember that this was more of a start in outreach than a finish.
We have been in the neighborhood for just over two years, and people are still discovering who
we are. The good news is that we may have five new members. Four are coming through the
Confirmation class which starts October 11th, and one is someone who lives in the neighborhood.
If you would like to join, or know someone who is interested, please contact me.
Also on the 13th, Sunday School restarted for all ages. Everyone is welcome to join the adult
class which meets at 9:30am. I am teaching that class, and we are discussing the bible texts that
will be used in the service following the class. Thank you to Tim Meyer who taught the first
two classes in September. Jackie Chetelat is teaching the young people. She is using a good
curriculum that features crafts. I hope if you have a child, grandchild, or great-grandchild that
you will encourage them to attend.
During the month, I developed sermons, children's sermons, prayers for the bulletins, and
offered pastoral care to members and friends. I also wrote a visitor letter that is in the hallway
under the bulletin board. This can be given to newcomers, and describes our ministry at NCCC.
I also met with the governing board, the finance committee, the member-care committee, and
the renovation committee. The governing board is developing a vision statement about the
renovation, and I worked on that. I also attended the book club at Lib Kime's home. We are
studying a great book, The Spirituality of Imperfection. In addition, I joined in with members
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of the Eastminster Presbytery, who gathered together for a book club meeting on leadership,
near Youngstown at the home of Nancy Kahaian.
In terms of outreach to the community, I offered the invocation at the September Kiwanis
meeting. I attended the talk by Tracey Krska, education specialist, for the Akron Better
Business Bureau. I also attended a committee meeting of the Akron Area Interfaith Council
(AAIC). Please mark your calendars for November 5th when the AAIC will be putting on its
fall forum. It will feature writer Bob Dyer from the Akron Beacon-Journal moderating a
discussion of area youth from different faith traditions. The start time is 6:30pm. For more
information see the flyer on the bulletin board or contact Nancy Williams. Also on the 13th,
Rose and I attended the Global Village Festival at Lock 3 park downtown where the interfaith
council had a booth. On September 17th, I attended the Akron Roundtable with Rose and my
mother, Lily. We heard a talk by John Norquist, former Mayor of Milwaukee, and CEO for the
Congress for the New Urbanism, and who is currently an urban planner and author of the book
“The Wealth of Cities”. His talk was on the "new urbanism" and how we can make Akron an
even more livable city.
On the 27th, I attended the closing service of Butler Memorial Presbyterian Church in
Youngstown, Ohio. It was a bittersweet service, celebrating the 92 years of witness at this
historically African-American church in the Eastminster Presbytery. I was informed that this
was the only African-American Presbyterian church between Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
Membership had dwindled down to 10 or so members, and the time to move on had come.
Though the ministry at Butler has ended, the gifts of their members will go on with the new
churches they join.
Thank you once again for making the installation so special. It is a day I won't ever forget!
Blessings,
Rev. Alex
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A Message From Your President
Fall is here. The air is cooler and soon the trees will be bright with color.
Many people have been working tirelessly to make our renovation project acceptable to the
congregation. Ken Williams and Bev Cinovec have been preparing documents for banks in the
area to see if there is financial assistance locally. The Finance committee has begun our annual
pledge campaign first to make sure our church can be secure during our fundraising efforts for
the renovation project. The Renovation committee has been evaluating and reevaluating the
project to try and get the costs as complete and as low as possible.
Some improvements are already being made. Rev. McLean is using a new portable microphone
which makes it better to hear and the sound more clear. We have talked to lighting people to
work on getting the stage lighting installed. We hope, with everyone’s support, we will be able
to go forward with our complete project in the spring. We need everyone’s prayers and support
in order to make this happen. This is the hard part and we need positive prayer from everyone
to move forward.
New Covenant Community Church continues to provide God’s love and care to all. A new year
has begun with Sunday school, choir and mission projects in full swing. There are many ways
to show God’s love for his church at NCCC.
Margaret Roth is running our power point on Sundays. Mission is gearing up for Christmas
baskets, and helping at Gennasarrat every second Saturday. Fellowship is planning some
fundraisers and get togethers. You can show God’s love by getting involved and helping with
our projects in our community. That’s who we are. NEW COVENANT COMMUNITY
CHURCH.
With HIS Love
Carol Davis
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Fellowship:
The next Fellowship meeting will be a joint one with Member Care on Oct. 20, 4 pm, in
Fellowship Hall (not at Mary Dietz’s).
Fellowship Activities:
In addition to organizing the Installation Reception for Alex McLean which took place on
September 20th, our committee is working on small fund raising ideas for our church
Renovation Project. Our goal is to make these fundraisers affordable and fun, with the intent
of spreading them out over the next year or so.
The first such event occurs on Friday evening, December 4th, in Fellowship Hall. The ever-
popular Christmas potluck and white elephant gift exchange will return, but with an additional
feature. There will be a raffle with the following items already donated: a $100 Acme gift card,
a $50 Get Go gas card, a combined chocolate and nut basket, and a wine basket. We are open
to other gift items, small or large. Raffle tickets will be sold both before and after the church
services on Sundays beginning November 8th. Cost will be $5 per raffle ticket. Winners need
not be present at the party, but everyone is encouraged to attend.
The next event is Soup Sunday, after the worship service on January 24th. Details will be
worked out, but soups would be donated by our members, and people would pay a certain
amount to attend the luncheon.
Another idea is to have our committee along with youth sell pies from Gardner’s on Valentine’s
Sunday, February 14th.
The last idea is to have the Finance Committee along with the men of the church make breakfast
on some Saturday in early March. People would pay to attend.
An on-going plan is to have the kids’ Sunday School class decorate a box where members could
donate a small amount of money any time they wished. This idea was used when we had our
two ice cream socials at Fairlawn West and generated quite a bit of money that went toward the
various games rented.
Any of these ideas can be modified or added to over the coming months. Please speak with
Nancy Williams or any member of the Fellowship Committee.
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AAIC Coming Events:
Akron Area Interfaith Council general meeting is Tuesday, October 6th, from 10:30am-12pm at
Fairlawn West UCC in the parlor. See Nancy Williams if you wish to attend as a guest.
Set aside the evening of Thursday, November 5th, from 6:30pm-8pm at First Congregational
Church in Akron, 292 E. Market St., for the annual, very timely Fall Forum-- CELEBRATING
DIVERSITY—YOUTH SPEAK. Bob Dyer from the BEACON will lead a youth panel from
various high schools representing Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Unitarian
Universalist faith traditions on the subject of diversity in their lives. This program is certainly a
must for anyone from age 13 or 14 up. We will provide a ride from either from the church
parking lot at 5:45, or from your home for this insightful event. First Congregational Church is
providing light refreshments after the program.
Saturday, November 7, St. Bernard’s Church in downtown Akron is hosting a community
Thanksgiving Dinner sponsored by Global Ties Akron. It’s free, but a covered dish is to be
provided by those attending. Your covered dish should serve 10-12, and the time of the dinner
is 5pm-8pm. This community event is intended to introduce international students and scholars
to the traditions of an American Thanksgiving. AAIC is helping to spread the word about this
community event.
As an active participant in AAIC along with Pastor Alex, I would like to see members of our
congregation come out for the events offered throughout the year from the Fall Forum to the
Hunger Walk in May.
Confirmation Class:
If you are not baptized and/or confirmed, then this is your opportunity to do something about
it. Dr. McLean and Rev. Smith are going to lead a confirmation class this fall. The first
meeting will be Sunday, October 11, at the Sunday school hour of 9:30 a.m. There are four
young people, ages eleven through fourteen, whose parents and great grandparents would like
them to be confirmed. Those parents are also encouraged to attend the first meeting of the class.
This course will be about eight to ten weeks in duration and will extend through the first part of
January and will focus on Scripture, Church History and Doctrine, the nature of the Church
today, and personal faith. The title of the course is: "Faith, Theirs, Ours, and Mine." No matter
your age, if you are interested we will see you in October.
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Fresh Vegetables for Genessaret
Genessaret's cook Philip and assistant George look
forward to our deliveries every Friday! It is very
rewarding to know how much our fresh produce is
appreciated.
Now that fall has arrived, it's time to put our garden
to bed. We'll still be picking collards and tomatoes
until we have a freeze, but the shorter days and cold
nights have slowed the ripening process and growth.
Hopefully with our bunny problem solved, and the
number of beds increased, next year will be even
better!
Thank you to everyone who has helped make our
mission garden a success!
Quote of the Month by Frederick Buechner:
“Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that
the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . .
even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an
astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your
spirit and take it easy . . . What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the
inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human
thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort . . . than being able
from time to time to stop that chatter . . .”
-Originally published in Telling Secrets
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Sally Ann Anderson, 7th
Bob Myers, 10th
Cathy King, 10th
Kyndra Heischman, 16th
Ruth Anderson, 21st
Chuck Cooley, 23rd
Brynna Kouri, 29th
Betty Miller, 29th
Lydia Anderson, 30th
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Jaci Chetelat and Chuck Cooley 9th
Church office hours are Monday – Friday 9am – 1pm.
Church Office: 330-253-6989
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.covenantakron.org
Rev. McLean’s office hours: Monday – Thursday 10:30am – 2:30pm
If you are in need of pastoral care please call the church office or
Rev. McLean on his cell phone: 330-801-5025.