What is Happening This Week 4/29-5/2/21
 May is upon us – can you believe it! April was a great month for us at Holy Covenant! We have a month of worshiping together outside at 8:30 with as many as 56 on Easter! And in the sanctuary at 10:30 our largest crowd was for Rev Jack Soper’s last Sunday in North Texas, 93. We continue to have a nice gathering joining us on line as well. We celebrated Holy Week and Easter, the resurrection and life beyond! We had our preschoolers in the building! Our Green Team helped the community to shred documents and we fed 95 of our neighbors through the blessing of our Food Pantry. The leadership gathered to make some tough decisions about spending needs as we plan groups returning to the building. We updated the church family at our quarterly church wide meeting! We were busy and beginning to feel the rhythm of Holy Covenant life returning. However, there was one area that was a bit lacking this month. We are well under our financial goals for the April. We finished the first quarter stronger than we have in years, and it’s important to keep that momentum going! Unfortunately, we have only reached 60% of our goal for April. If you have not given towards our ministries please do so. The ministries and witness of our church depends on your generosity. Our impact, as the Body of Christ is possible because each of us contributes. I am looking forward to the ways the Holy Spirit will bless us in the month of May. We have much to celebrate! Shalom Blessings, Pastor Cheryl Outside Sunday Worship 8:30 am  OUTSIDE WORSHIP – We gather Sundays outside by the cross at 8:30 am. We will move inside if it rains.  10:30 am Sunday Morning Worship In-person and Livestreamed We hope you are joining us either in-person, or 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. Sunday, May 2 Fifth Sunday of Easter Scripture: Acts 8:26-40 Theme: Spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ Highlight This Week  Breakfast for Austin Street Saturday, May 1 9 am to Noon Holy Covenant Kitchen Holy Covenant is scheduled to again provide breakfast for the homeless at Austin Street Shelter. If you are able to donate food, please prepare 12 sandwiches, 12 pieces of fruit and 12 hard-boiled eggs and deliver them to Holy Covenant on Saturday, May 1, between 9 am and noon. Bottled water and juice boxes are also appreciated. Please drive around to the kitchen door where members of the Spiritual Journeymen will receive the donations from you. If you would like to help serve the food at Austin Street on Sunday morning, May 2nd, we will meet at the church at 6:00 am, load up and head there. Please let Rick Davis (972-814-5325, [email protected]) know if you are coming so we have a head count. All servers must complete a check-in beforehand so you are on the list. To check in: -Go HERE to find the Holy Covenant page -Look at the line for May 2 -Click “Respond Individually” -Follow prompts to create an account The time says 7-11 but serving should actually end around 8 am. Prayers of the People  Please keep the following people in your prayers this week: Rex and Susan McAnally; Preston Hunt; Lana King; Jacquelin Solenberg; Kimberly Ditty; Brian Dermody; Rhonda and Mitzi King; Mary Harrison and our friends at Atria Carrollton. Children’s Choir  Children’s Choir May 2 Rehearsal 11:30 am in the sanctuary We are putting together a children’s choir to sing for Mother’s Day Sunday on May 9th and would love to have as many children participate as possible. We are also inviting parent(s) to sing with us. The song is “Welcome to the Family” by Debbie Rettino. Here is a video, with words, for you to practice with at home. We will get together on Sunday, May 2 at 11:30 for a rehearsal so that the Praise Band can practice with us. We will sing as the prelude on May 9th, Mother’s Day. Please come and join us. This is going to be lots of fun.  Food Pantry Our next Food Distribution is on Sunday, May 9th. Please go to signupgenius.com to volunteer. Someone will be at the church office Thursdays and Saturdays from 10:00 am to noon to accept donations of food. We are almost completely out of: Hearty Soups Chili Mac and Cheese Thank you for your continued support of the Food Pantry. Celebrating Seniors  Senior Sunday May 16 We will celebrate our high school seniors on Sunday, May 16th. In order to congratulate them on their achievements and wish them well, we are asking everyone to write a card or note of encouragement. You may mail your cards to Holy Covenant or bring them to church. Please have them in by May 16. Graduating seniors are: Amy Baumgardner, Abby Evans, and Jayda Hartzog.  Now Hiring! Part-Time Preschool Director Contact Pastor Cheryl [email protected] if interested. See details HERE. Coming Soon  Blood Drive Sunday, May 16 8 am to 12:30 pm Carter BloodCare will be set up in the Covenant Center. COVID-19 antibody testing available for all donors. Give blood in May and receive free queso from Chuy’s.  Vacation Bible School Registration Begins May 15! Holy Covenant will offer 2 opportunities for VBS this summer: -Preschool VBS for ages 3 to kindergarten, will be June 28-29 from 9-11 am. -Evening VBS for ages 1st through 5th grade, will be June 27-29 from 6 to 8 pm (with an optional Family Picnic at 5 pm) All VBS will be held outside. Please contact Ashley Norris [email protected] or Heather Hinton [email protected] if you would like to help out!  Sack Summer Hunger June 5 through July 31 Sign Up Now! HCUMC will participate in the Sack Summer Hunger Program again this summer. Sack Summer Hunger is a program that distributes nutritious and easy-to-prepare meals to families with school-aged children who depend on free and reduced lunch programs throughout the school year. Meals are delivered every Saturday during the summer free of charge. This program is designed by Metrocrest Social Services who, in conjunction with area churches, supports local families in our community. The program begins June 5th and lasts through July 31st. We will be asking for volunteers to help pick up food from Metrocrest as well as deliver to the families. The commitment is no more than 2 hours on Saturday morning. If you have questions, email Ashley Norris at [email protected]. Please use this SignUp Genius link if you would like to participate. Finances  You may send your checks to: Holy Covenant UMC 1901 E. Peters Colony Rd. Carrollton, TX 75007 Or you may submit your offering electronically through online giving. April Regular Donations/Pledge Payments: Goal $46,247 Given to date $25,312 (55%)  Online Giving Donate Here. You may set up a regular pledge payment by choosing the Donation Frequency. |