The Gleam
A publication of First Christian Church, Covington, KY
“WELCOME Wholly
LOVE Authentically
SHARE God’s Grace Abundantly”
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Just click the link below to be connected!
https://www.facebook.com/firstchristiancovington/events
We have so much going on so please be sure to read the GLEAM! There are lots of opportunities to partner in ministry and participate in the life of the church!
Pastor T
COVID Precautions
Based on new CDC guidance, we are STRONGLY SUGGESTING people to wear masks when gathered in the sanctuary. There are disposable masks at the back of the sanctuary if you’d like to take one when you arrive at the church.
Vacation
Thank you so much for the week to rest and renew. I’m grateful for the ministry that continues from pastoral care to feeding ministries to worship experiences thanks to all of you sharing your gifts and talents so generously with the church and community.
Prayer group
A Sunday morning prayer group will begin Sunday August 1st at 9:30 am in the women’s Sunday school room. The prayer time will begin with a devotional reading from Ash and Starlight: Prayers for the Chaos and Grace of Daily Life by Arianne Lehn followed by a time for sharing joys and concerns. This is a great opportunity to develop new friendships or renew old friendships. This group has the opportunity to transcend gender and generation to be an inclusive group that prays together – time for intergenerational faith formation. The time will not be led by any specific person – you may sign up to lead as part of a rotation of shared leadership if you’d like.
Adopt a Class at John G
We have been invited to adopt the kindergarten classroom that we worked in 2 years ago. I’d like for us to see how the school year begins this Fall. If the environment is conducive to safe entry into classrooms, would you be interested in participating in a class adoption beginning after the first of the new year?
Featured Members
I’d like to add a piece to our weekly worship experience called “Featured Member”. Each week, during the welcome time, we will have a short video introducing a member of the church. Please send a video to me: introducing yourself – name, what city you live in and how long you’ve been a member, and respond to the question: what is church? You can email me your video or share it via iCloud or Google photos. If you don’t know how to record a video, I will come to you and record a video on my phone – just let me know.
Baptisms are being planned for Sunday, September 12th. We have 3 young people who are considering baptism, perhaps a new member, a dedication and signs of recommitment to one’s faith journey. Mark your calendar!
Panorama
You are invited to coffee/fellowship time at Panorama on Thursday August 12th at 2 pm. Please let Pastor T or Lori know if you plan on attending.
In honor of my dog Mo Mo’s gotcha day, I will be offering a pet blessing on Saturday, August 28th at 1 pm. There will be some readings, an anointing with oil, blessing charm for their collar, certificate of blessing and treats. All pets must be leashed or crated and good around other animals and kids. I hope this will be a big community event with invitations going out to the Newport Dog Park friends and other community pet organizations.
Faith in Action Together
The Leadership Council voted to form a Faith in Action Together Task Force that will lead the congregation in creating racial, environmental and queer justice ministries. If you are interested in becoming a part of this work, please contact Joe Gallenstein.
Disciples Virtual Gathering
Have you signed up yet for the Disciples Virtual Gathering on Saturday August 7th? You’ll have the opportunity to worship with, study the Bible with and learn with Disciples from around the country led by scholars and dynamic faith leaders from our denomination. If you haven’t yet signed up, the cost is only $25! Visit: https://disciplesconnect2021.vfairs.com/
Workshops include: celebrating the history and tradition of the Disciples, how to offer hybrid church, telling the story of your church, how to connect to the world through mission, praying for peace and working for justice, building new ministries. Bible study will be led by Disciples scholars Yolanda Norton and Eric Smith. Worship will be led by Rev. Terri Hord Owens, General Minister and President.
If you’d like to sign up and gather in our church to participate together, please let me know. I can arrange for us to view the event in the donut / choir room and share lunch during the break.
Pie the Pastor
The poverty rate in Covington, Ky is 24.7%, much higher than the 18.3% state average. One in 4 people living in Covington is living in poverty. There are roughly 5000 seniors living in Covington which would equate to about 1200 seniors living in poverty. We are responding to this need by sourcing a food pantry at the Panorama Apartments around the block from us. I’d like to challenge us to donate 1200 items to the food pantry during the months of August and September. That may seem daunting – but let me remind you that we collected nearly 12000 feminine products and 800 cans of soup just a couple years ago.
If we meet this goal, we will do a Pie the Pastor event on Sunday October 3rd. On that day, after worship, we’ll go outside and 3 lucky people will get to throw a whip cream pie in my face!
The list of things needed for the food pantry are: small boxes of mac & cheese, pudding cups, fruit cups, applesauce cups, 1 lb boxes of spaghetti, small jars of spaghetti sauce, saltine crackers, instant oatmeal, cans of soup, small packages of instant potatoes, small boxes of instant rice, canned meat (tuna, chicken, spam, Vienna sausage). NOTE: a four pack of pudding cups, etc. will count as 4 items donated.
Thank you to Sue and Steve Rehfuss, John Longard and others who have kept this ministry going!
Breakfast Everyone?!
Tom Edwards stopped in to say that we have served over 10,000 breakfasts so far this year!
https://www.facebook.com/BreakfastMissionOfCovingtonKy/
200 Year Celebration
FCC Covington will celebrate the 200-year anniversary of Racoon John Smith preaching in Covington in 2027. It takes a lot of time to plan a 200-year celebration. The Leadership Council has approved the formation of a group to plan this celebration, because 5 years goes by quickly when you’re planning such an event. Much of the work will be gathering all the historical documents in one place, creating a place like a library to store and display important items and compiling a history of the church – that doesn’t seem to have been updated since 1965. If you’re interested in helping, please contact me or Alex Gallenstein.
** for all Zoom meetings, contact the office for participation info. **
TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY **please note a new link and ID**
Please join us for Bible study on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 pm. There is an optional prayer time at 1:45p.
LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MEETING
The next Leadership Council Meeting will be Sunday, Aug. 15th, 2021 07:00p
FEM FELLOWSHIP
The next Fem Fellowship Meeting will be Wednesday, Aug 4th at 6:00p.
Power in the Basements ~ by Joe Gallenstein
Power in the pulpit
Power in the benches
Power in the choir loft
Power in the trenches
But the power of the parish that is strongest
Is the power in the basement
Power of community
Power of recovery
Power of humanity
Power in feeding the hungry
The power in the planning
The power in the mission
The power of conversation
And the power of growing tighter
Power of the pulpit
Power of the pews
Power of the choir loft
The power of me and you
Come on and Laugh a Little
What did one wall say to the other wall?
I’ll meet you at the corner.
When does a joke become a “dad” joke?
When the punchline is apparent.
What did the paper say to the pencil?
Write on!
How did the bullet lose its job?
It got fired.
Bulletin Blunders
“The church is glad to have with us today as our guest minister the Rev. Ralph Green, who has Mrs. Green with him. After the service we request that all remain in the sanctuary for the Hanging of the Greens.”
“When parking on the north side of the church, please remember to park on an angel.”
“Pastor is on vacation. Massages can be given to the church secretary.”
“Men’s Prayer Breakfast. No charge, but your damnation will be gratefully accepted.”
From our very own Pete Pro
A zoo attendant sees children throwing $10 bills into the flamingo exhibit and he yells “You can’t do that!” One of the children says “The sign says it is ok”. The attendant says “No it doesn’t”. The kids say “Yes it does, it says ‘Do not feed. Ten dollars fine’”
Customer: I’ll have a pint of beer and a steak please.
Bartender: Filet?
Customer: Oh, yes, right to the top!
Joe said: I gave up fish farming. Friend asks “Why?” Joe says, “well my tractor kept getting stuck in the river!”
First Christian Church 