What is Happening This Week 3/4-3/7/21
 St. Francis de Sales once said, “Have patience with all things but first of all with yourself.” Good words of wisdom for our Lenten journey. We need to be patient and loving to ourselves. We also need to remain in the season of “doing no harm.” For that reason, when you are on the Holy Covenant property we will continue to be requiring masks, distancing between one another and hand washing hygiene. The leadership will continue to follow the suggestions of the CDC and leading doctors and scientists. We will be posting signs and encouraging people to continue to be patience. We are so close to being safe again, to arriving on the dawn of this liminal season. We are working towards offering three ways to worship with the HCUMC congregation beginning Sunday, March 21: 8:30 am Outside in-person10:30 am Livestreaming10:30 am In-person, with masks, distance & an air purifier installed in the sanctuary A great accomplishment and a big thank you for the work of the Trustees to make this all possible! I am praying for you all daily during this Lenten season. God bless and Keep You! Shalom Blessings, Pastor Cheryl  We hope you are joining us for online worship on Facebook Live. We will be on Facebook again this Sunday at 10:30 am. If you have missed any of the services, or do not use Facebook, you may also find them on our website hcumc.org. Outside Sunday Worship – Returning!  OUTSIDE WORSHIP – Will return Sunday, March 21st at 8:30 am, weather permitting! Sunday, March 7 Third Sunday in Lent Scripture: Luke 15:11-32 Prayers of the People  Please keep the following people in your prayers this week: The Lathrop and Roberts family; the Mincieli family; Betty Laker; Rhonda and Mitzi King; Andy Edwards; Helen Mayo; Mary Harrison; Tyler Ackerman; Jojo Sain; Mike and Susan Bragg; our friends at Atria Carrollton; and those impacted by the winter storm. Highlights This Week  Micah Sunday Presentation MARCH 7th 9:00 am Holy Covenant’s Advocates for Justice and Peace will present, “A Report on Our Neighborhood – a Panel Discussion on Housing Insecurity.” Panelists will be: Tracy Eubanks, CEO of Metrocrest Services Chris Lopez, Justice of the Peace, Precinct 6 Adam Polter, Carrollton City Council Member, Place 2 A Neighbor Within the Crisis and A Representative from CFB School District This presentation will be on Zoom. Time: Mar 7, 2021 09:00 AM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84303535826?pwd=c2NIMG1yeW9XR0hWYUFKUDBQZDNjZz09 Meeting ID: 843 0353 5826 Passcode: 340389 Dial 1 346 248 7799 If you would like to contribute to help cover the costs of our Micah Sundays, please go to hcumc.org to donate or send a check to the church office. Be sure to put “Advocates” in the note. Our next Advocates meeting is on March 4th at 6:00. We would love to have you join us. Please contact Lois Eaton at 214-862-8683 or [email protected] for a link to the meeting. Lenten Prayer Walk  Be sure to come to Holy Covenant each week in Lent, any time of day, to experience a Lenten Prayer Walk. You will find a QR code with instructions posted on the glass doors by the labyrinth on the east side of the sanctuary. Just scan the code with the camera on your phone and follow the steps. Any materials you may need will be in the Prayer Box located below the code. You may complete the walk by yourself, or with someone else. We hope the walk will prove to be a time of meditation and reflection for you. Highlights Next Week  Music Ministry Check-In Thursday, March 11 7 pm on Zoom If you are part of the Music Ministries (choir, handbells, instrumentalists) at Holy Covenant–or would like to be– please join this virtual gathering. It will give us a chance to check-in with everyone and make plans for upcoming music opportunities. HCUMC IT is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Choir Time: 07:00 PM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87955220118?pwd=b0lKTjBpMWFHVWViTzg0eHdnSFZQUT09 Meeting ID: 879 5522 0118 Passcode: 944377 Dial by your location +1 346 248 7799  Food Pantry We held two Food Pantry Food Distributions in February, where we served 181 families or 627 individuals more than 8,500 meals. Our next Distribution will be Sunday, March 14th. Please go to signupgenius.com to volunteer to either pack food or to distribute food. Someone will be at the church office Thursday and Saturday from 10:00 am to noon to accept donations of food. We are almost completely out of: Hearty Soups Chili Mac and Cheese Dog and Cat Food Thank you for your continued support of the Food Pantry. Prayer Reminder Remember to set your alarm for 12:30 pm each day to pray for our church family.   Lent 2021 Devotionals We are still accepting devotionals! Please volunteer to write a devotional that we can share with the Holy Covenant family each morning during Lent. Select a favorite scripture and write a brief reflection and a prayer that we can email out to everyone each day of Lent. Send them to Elise at [email protected]. If you are one that does better with suggested themes, below are the themes of the weeks. If you would like to have your devotional fit into the theme of the week, please select one of these: Mar 7 – Lent 3 – Grace Mar 14 – Lent 4 – Hope Mar 21 – Lent 5 – Faith Mar 28 – Holy Week Feel free to contact Pastor Cheryl [email protected] for suggestions. We want to hear your witness, your story, your passion for Jesus! Coming Soon  Church Work Days – Spring Freshen Up Saturdays, March 20 and 27 9 am to Noon The Trustees/Building and Grounds subcommittee is requesting volunteers for a work day to help clean up the exterior beds to prepare for Easter and spring. Dates are Saturdays March 20 and 27, 9-12ish each day. We are offering two consecutive Saturdays to allow wider participation of Holy Covenant folks, and to also allow wider separation of volunteers satisfy COVID protocols. Families are welcome and can be assigned a particular area/task to limit contact with other groups Typical garden tools will be needed (rakes, trowels, shears, trimmers, and of course gloves and appropriate shoes and clothing). There are electrical outlets around the building exteriors for those type tools. You can get more information contacting Donna Johnson (254-485-9888), William Powell (903-267-2487) or Rick Davis(972-814-5325). Please let one of us know if you plan to help so we can get a count of volunteers and plan tasks to maintain safe working separations. Finances  Thank you for your continued generosity! If you typically write a check, please consider online giving. February Regular Donations/Pledge Payments: Needed $37,604 FINAL $40,639 YTD (Jan, Feb) Goal = $84,643; Actual Given = $87,461 Wow! We’ve gone above and beyond our goal for January and February. Let’s close out the 1st quarter strong and keep the momentum going for March! March Regular Donations/Pledge Payments: Needed $46,982 Given to Date $2,578  Online Giving Donate Here. You may set up regular giving by choosing the Donation Frequency.  Volunteers Needed! Would you like to help with our online worship? We need volunteers for our worship streaming ministry. You will be asked to commit to 2 worship services per month to operate either a video switcher or a camera. Experience welcome–but not required! There will be training. If interested, please contact Tim Shepardson at [email protected]. |