Newsletter for September 3, 2021
FAITH IN ACTION TOGETHER (F.I.A.T)
As First Christian Church of Covington grows and transforms we have been wrestling with what our justice ministry looks like. Meeting our neighbors’ immediate needs is an important part of our ministry, but we have been looking at how to address the causes of those needs – and what role our congregation can have in fighting these systemic issues. This is a big part of embracing our mission to, “Welcome Wholly. Love Authentically. Share God’s Grace Abundantly.”
This has taken shape in a couple of ways that we hope to connect together. The first is an interest in looking at how our church can be explicitly anti-racist, promote reconciliation, and work on policies that help promote racial equity. This will include conversation within our church, with other churches in our community, and taking action with organizations like the Poor People’s Campaign and the Kentucky Council of Churches.
There has also been an interest in exploring work around creation care, fostered by the book club’s discussion around Lost Mountain, and a desire to learn about Green Chalice work to protect our planet and environment. This will look at what we can do for our physical space, but also through policies that (again) the Poor People’s Campaign and the Kentucky Council of Churches promotes.
Finally, our Leadership Council has proposed, and our Elders gave their blessing for us to explore whether or not to adopt the identity of becoming an Open and Affirming (ONA) congregation. An Open and Affirming congregation seeks to build a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) that welcomes persons of all gender expressions and sexual orientations to the table of Christ’s communion and to the full life and leadership of the Christian Church. Alliance Q will be helping our congregation examine what this means, and guiding us as we explore this.
This is a lot of work, and we will spend some time on each of these at our FIAT meetings. We are looking for people who are interested in any or all of this work to join us virtually on the 4th Wednesday of every month beginning in September at 7 pm to help us move forward together. Info to join this meeting can be found below. If you have questions, please contact Joe Gallenstein or Pastor Tracy.
MARTHA & MARY CLASS
The Mary and Martha (M&M) Class will resume in-person Sunday School September 5 at 9:30 in the room at the end of the first floor. We will begin a Bible study ” From Daughters to Disciples”. Women such as Mary, Elizabeth and Anna as well as the Samaritan woman, the bent-over woman, the woman who anointed Jesus are presented. How does Jesus respond to these women? We will see that Jesus did not follow the norms of the day. Come join us!
** for all Zoom meetings, contact the office for participation info. **
TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY
Please join us for Bible study on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 pm. There is an optional prayer time at 1:45p.
THRIVING CONGREGATIONS
The Thriving Congregations Group will meet on Sep 14th, at 6p.
BOOK CLUB
Book: The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths.
Book club will meet on Sunday, Sep 19, 2021 at 1p.
LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MEETING
The next Leadership Council Meeting will be Sunday, Sep 19th, 2021 at 7p
ELDER’S MEETING
The next Elder’s Meeting will be Sunday Sep 26, 2021 at 7p
FAITH IN ACTION TOGETHER
The first Faith in Action Together Meeting will be on Wednesday Sep 22, 2021 7p.
CANE RIDGE DAY
Sunday, October 10, 2021
1:30 pm Gathering at Cane Ridge Meeting House, 1655 Cane Ridge Road, Paris, KY 40361 (859) 987-5350 http://www.caneridge.org
This event is being held in conjunction with the Paris Story Fest, October 8-10, 2021 (www.ParisStoryFest.com). We will welcome Sheila Arnold as our Storyteller. Sheila is from Virginia and is a regular at the Colonial Williamsburg Storytelling Festival and the Paris Story Fest. She will present a Historic Character Interpretation of the African-American experience at Cane Ridge.
Due to the uncertainty of the Coronavirus and infection rates we hope to be able to hold this event. Guests are asked to practice safe social-distancing and mask if unvaccinated. We will make every effort to announce any changes to the date and any precautions that may be necessary.
Join Disciples Welcoming Afghan Refugees!
We continue to mourn the tragic fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, grieve the loss of US soldiers and Afghan residents in attacks during evacuations, & pray that as many remaining allies and vulnerable Afghans seeking escape may find pathways to safety even following the official withdrawal date of US forces.
As evacuated Afghan refugees are processed at international bases, brought to the US through Dulles Airport, and fully vetted through military bases such as Fort Lee in Virginia, Fort Bliss in Texas, Fort Dix in New Jersey, and Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, we continue to multiply our efforts as Disciples to Welcome Refugees. We invite your congregation to join this movement of hope, as you:
- WATCH this: https://www.facebook.com/weekofcompassion/videos/879307126316661 Week of Compassion short video call to Give & Respond.
- EXPLORE HOW TO CONNECT with refugees through RIM WRAP “Welcoming Afghans” Alerts here: https://conta.cc/3juxpD9 and here: https://conta.cc/2W3iGpR, & SIGN UP to receive ongoing alerts: http://bit.ly/RIMWRAP
- LEARN about Afghan allies & refugees through this recording of a recent “Lunch & Learn” background presentation by our CWS partners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKIxmsD1E4s
- TAKE ACTION to urge safe and ongoing evacuations of remaining US citizens, Afghan allies and vulnerable communities fleeing dangers under the Taliban here: https://cwsglobal.org/action-alerts/take-action-urge-the-administration-to-expand-refugee-protections-for-afghans-fleeing-violence-and-persecution/
- WATCH “Facing Brokenness: Communities” with Disciples Refugee and Immigration Ministry Director & other DisciplesJustice Ministry Leaders on “Being Brave Together: Facing Brokenness”! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjFxBrd84MA
- GIVE to welcome baskets for refugee families being received by Catholic Charities of Southwest Ohio. Catholic Charities is an approved agency for receiving refugee and assisting in resettlement.
We are going to give welcome baskets to Afghan refugees coming to the area. CCSO created a list of suggested items for bedding, bathroom and kitchen welcome baskets. Pastor T is going to purchase the suggested items for each of the 3 welcome baskets. On September 12th, there will be a table in the back of the sanctuary on which the items for the baskets will be displayed. You can pick what you want to buy from the table. Each item will have a price tag on it. You can choose the item, put the item you bought in the basket and put the money in the container. For example, you see a spatula on the table with a $1 price tag attached, you pick up the spatula and put it in the basket and then put the $1 in the container that will be marked. If you want to shop from home, you can contact Pastor T and say I want to give $10. Pastor T will send a picture of what your money bought. The estimated cost of the baskets will be a little less than $200.
PIE THE PASTOR – DONATE FOOD!
We have collected 1999 items toward our goal !!!!
KEEP IT COMING!!!
We’ve surpassed the goal of donating 1200 items to the Panorama food pantry during the months of August and September. You get to 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! We need tribute volunteers to take a couple pies in the face since we surpassed the goal!
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.
First Christian Church 