Food for the Soul - This Week at Covenant

Public School Opens
Not only should we be more careful as we drive around town, we need to Pray for our schools, staff,students, family, and administration. May God's Light be Shared in the schools. We had a great day yesterday, as Lindsay shared in the Blessing of the Bags. 

Wednesday Night
6:00pm - Join us for the last Summer Solace Worship Service, in the Sanctuary. A short devotion, prayer, Holy Communion Service. Indeed Food for the Soul. We won't feed you supper, but the Lord will feed your soul

Saturday Morning
8:00am - Men's Breakfast and a short workday following.

Sunday
We get to worship all over again. A baptism at our 9:00am service, Recognition of the Covenant Preschool and Mother's Day Out staff at our 11:00am service.

My message is: Whole Hog and With Both Feet.

Preschool Report - April 2013

March was a great month for the preschool! We had a fun hoe down and pony rides and the St. Patrick’s Day leprechauns paid us a visit. Thank you to everyone that participated in the Komen race. We had a group of about 50 people join us. April should be just as much fun. We will have Easter parties and egg hunts before our holiday break. We will be off March 29th through April 7th. We will have our Spring Program on April 17th & 18th. Please feel free to come and watch how well Mrs. Susie’s classes perform.
Amy Rizzuto

Preschool News

We can’t believe that November is already here! We have been very busy at the preschool. We will be learning about Pilgrims, Indians, and Thanksgiving this month. Our Preschool students will have a Thanksgiving Feast on November 14th & 15th. We are learning about Lettter T this month so we will also have a train coming to take us for a ride. Please join us November 12th for our Veteran’s Day ceremony at the flag pole at 11. Remember we have our Fall Break November 17-25th. We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!!

Amy Rizzuto

Peace in the Storm

Well, once again, we are preparing for the worst, and praying for the best. Most of us have done this drill way too many times before, but please, make preparations for Isaac. Our Covenant Preschool and Church offices as most other places will be closed tomorrow,Wednesday, and should be open again on Thursday. Provided we have power.

But, please, my cell number in case of emergency is (337)591-0580. I do remember from my experience in Katrina, while the cell number did not always work for a call, it seemed to always work for a text.

As you can imagine, the threat of the storm has prevented our steel erectors from starting to hang iron on our new Firm Foundation, but hopefully will be able to come do some work on Thursday and Friday.

But please rest assured, we will have church on Sunday, unless there is a mandatory evacuation of Lafayette, (which seems highly unlikely now). This is Holy Communion Sunday which also means don't forget our ICAN food offering for UCO food pantry. We are preparing for a great service.

Sincerely,

It's A Heavy Metal Monday

What a great morning - Sunday Worship, Sunday School Classes, Youth Group, Young Adults, new Acolytes, Trustee and Church Council Meeting - what a great day. And then when I arrive at church this morning, lots of workers and good news. The plan is to pour the slab tomorrow - Praise God! And as soon as I heard that two big trucks arrived, with the metal frames for the building. So as soon as slab is cured they can start hanging the metal. Wow!

Got so excited I had to share this with a few of my closest friends. And if that was not enough, a full parking lot as the Covenant Preschool and MDO open house started today. You certainly are a Light in the Darkness! 

And Oh yeah, we are feeding the Students at Wesley Foundation at UL today. Thanks to those women who help with this ministry. Should you wish to help in the future, please let us know.

Monday Afternoon News

It is a great week ahead of us. We had two wonderful Worship Services yesterday, and the biggest crowd at Sunday School. Almost 50% of the people in church (over 350) attended Sunday School. Good for you! This is the best way to grow as a disciple of Christ. If you need help finding a class for you adults, come talk to me or Rev. Byron.

Our children's Ministry program is off and running. We have had to make some adjustments (easier word to say then change) but all is well, and the bugs will all get worked out. The important part is this: our team is doing a great job to do all they can to help our children see, hear, and experience the Love of Christ. Do your part to get them here!

Teachers are running around our Preschool Building trying to get our rooms in order for the start of Covenant Preschool and mother's day out. Amy says there are only a few openings. This Sunday, the 19th at our 11:00am worship service, we are inviting our Preschool Staff so we can recognize them and Pray for the new year. Come by and let this staff know how much we appreciate them and their part in our vital ministry to the community.

Enroll now for the Wednesday Night Bible Studies coming in September: Basic Bible Overview with Jennifer Manuel and Byron Aucoin or the Book of Daniel with Chris. Sign up in the foyer.

Wednesday Night - our last Summer Solace. No meal, but Food for the Soul. Holy Communion and devotion as well as singing some of the Olde Olde songs a new way. 6:00pm  followed by Ken's Music Fundamentals class.

Two pieces of sad news: Troy Williams, our beloved custodian, quit working for the church on Friday after 10 years. We wish Troy well and we will sorely miss him. 

And Becca Wharton, the leader of our Junior High Youth, lost her grand father today after a long illness. Please pray for the Clay Harrell family.

Covenant Preschool News

Happy Easter! I hope everyone is enjoying our “Spring” weather- we sure are. The Preschool/MDO students are so happy to be going outside to play. We are so busy. The school is getting ready for our Easter parties and egg hunts. We have our Easter break the week of April 9th-13th. After our break, we will be preparing for our Pre-K Graduation, as well as our Summer session. We still have a few opening for Summer and Fall. Please come by or call if you are interested.

Amy Rizzuto
P.S. Thank you to all that participated in the Komen walk- we had 41 people sign up!

Changing of the Year - Happenings & Hope

Mind boggling and life changing. Since our last newsletter went to print, we have had several happenings to deal with. We lost two staff persons here at Covenant, as well as say goodbye to another of our young moms (Jan Knight Begnaud) who also died. Gretchen Cheshire, our beloved director of youth and young adults died on October 16th. We still are mystified and will carry the hurt of this loss to us individually and to our congregation, and we need to continue to surround Ken and Gretchen's family with this loss.

The next happening to our staff, was the resignation of Kim Goodman, which I accepted effective Friday November 18. We are so happy that Kim and Don married, but I certainly didn't realize her life change would effect our congregation so much. She and Don feel she needs to be full time married, so I reluctantly accepted her resignation.

Happening number three—hopefully by the time this newsletter is delivered to your house, we will have a completed bid package for our planned multi-purpose building. We are so excited. It has taken way too long, but know that when we get bids, we will have few if any change orders. Mike DeHart and the committee did not know they were signing up for a multi-year commitment. Sometimes in January, we will get the final price and inform the congregation as we get a final approval. But let me tell you, we are so ready. We already have outstanding pledges toward the buildings from several of our key leaders of $285,000 plus have already received some $270,000 towards the building. PRAISE THE LORD! Each of our households shall soon be receiving a brochure that talks about the Master's Plan and it has information along with a commitment sheet for you to return. We hope many of you will be able to return those to the church office, hand them to me or Mike DeHart or to Jeanne Boniol during December. Wouldn't it be great to see how we could fund this building by extra mile giving and funds already in hand, and not have to borrow too much. This is my hope!

Christmas is a season of hope! Unlike the kinds of hope found in only the right circumstances and the “stars all lining up” found in the world, the Bible emphasizes a hope that is eternal. We have hope because of the possibility of our future resurrection along with Jesus, hope in the knowledge of the unconditional love of God as evidenced in Jesus Christ and His Grace. Even when we must face the death of a loved one, we had all hoped they would get better. Our Christian faith says they did get better, and now are forever healed by God's grace. We can hope that things can get better in this world, but even if they do not....we still will live our life in the fullness of God's Kingdom here in our lives and the Kingdom of God to come. Have Hope this Christmas season....

Speaking of Christmas, here is the list of Christmas activities:

• Choir Performance—December 11th, both services 
• Redeemed Performance—December 18th, both services 
• Handbells—December 18th, both services 
• Children's Christmas Musical—Sunday School Hour, December 18th 
• Christmas Eve Services—4 Pm and 5:30 PM, Candlelight Holy Communion 
• Christmas Day—December 25th, one service at 10:00am, no Sunday school that day, “Blessing of the Toys”, and other fun things

See You at your place of worship,

MidWeek Update - October 4, 2011

Join Us
for this week's events

Wednesday

• 8:00am - Pilate's Exercise Group
• 9:30am - The Explorer's Interdenominational Bible Study
• 5:00pm - Handbell Practice - they will be playing this Sunday
• 5:30pm - Delicious Home Cooked Meal
• 6:15pm - Holy Communion & Prayer
• 6:15pm - Children's Ministry Activities
• 6:30pm - Marriage Enrichment & Intro to Revelation

Thursday

• School Fieldtrips in the morning.
• 12noon - we need all hands on deck. We have one of another three trucks coming with Pumpkins. A big freeze is headed towards New Mexico and the pumpkins have to be harvested and shipped before the freeze arrives. So not only do we have a truck at noon on Thursday, we will have one coming this Sunday, hopefully by noon, and then another one next Tuesday morning 7:00am.
• We will also have Zumba classes on this Thursday for our other Get Fit Group.

Saturday & Sunday

• Saturday, the Preschool will be cooking for this Pumpkin Patch and its Family Fun Day.  Invite Invite Invite - prizes and games for the little ones. 
• Followed by Sunday, the Angel Tree group will be grilling.

Crying Shame we don't have anything to do around here. 

So come on over and help stir the pot, and
join in the fun and fellowship.

Another Message from Covenant or the Preacher may get it right this time!

First Sunday is this Sunday, so we really will have Holy Communion.

I know most of you got a good chuckle at my mistake last week. It wasn't my first and sure won't be my last. But this coming Sunday, I have been assured is really the first Sunday of the month, which means Holy Communion and I CAN Food offering.

Marie Smith who delivers our offering to UCO, said it was a God Send. More people then ever are needing help, so Praise Be to God that one of our ways our church provides ministry is the offering of a few can goods and staple items to help out others. So come prepared this First Sunday to offer again if all possible with this vital ministry.

---

Our Preschool Ministries is currently looking for a 2 year-old teacher. If you love them and have had some experience working with young children, whether volunteer or paid, please prayerfully consider becoming a part of our preschool team. This is a 5-day a week position where you can help children learn and while doing so, play all day long! For additional information or for any questions you may have, please call Kim Havard at 988-3962 or 278-2340.

---

My message this week is on another of the Powerful Parables of Jesus, the parable of the Empty House.

---

Upcoming events: 
August 14 - Church Council and Trustees Meeting
August 20 - Mandatory Acolyte Training
September 7 - First Wednesday Night Dinner and Covenant Academy - classes on Marriage Relationships, Book of Revelations, and Get Fit.

---

Finally - It appears as if the deadline for some type of resolution to the impass at Congress may happen today. I don't really know how I feel about it, doubt if it does anything close to what needed to be done, but it certainly reminded us of how difficult it is to make the tough decisions. Pray for Our Congress, our President and for our Nation.

Sunday, someone asked me to pray because they were to have some medical procedure this week and I know I said, please write it down because I can't remember a thing someone tells me on Sunday, with all the conversations I have. So please if it is you or you know someone having a medical procedure this week, please let me know by emailing me back. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Preschool Update

We are already nearing the end of our summer session. It’s hard to believe that it has passed so quickly. We’re looking forward to fun jumps and ice cream the last week of school. Our fall session will be starting on August 22. We are getting our classrooms ready and are in need of a few things. Any donation of toys that you can make would be great. We are looking for gently used toys of any kind (no weapons, please) that are not made of fabric (for sanitary reasons). We are particularly in need of a couple of kitchen sets or tool bench sets. Also on our list are kid-sized pants hangers – those plastic ones you get from the stores when you purchase pants. All donations will be greatly appreciated. Please call the school office to make arrangements for pick-up or drop-off. Yes, we’ll come get it, if you’d like!

We are also looking for a volunteer to help us with an ongoing project this year. We are going to collect Community Coffee and Campbell Soup labels. We need an organizer! If you would be willing to help with this, please call the school office.

One more volunteer opportunity: storyteller in chapel. We have chapel twice a week during the regular school session and would enjoy having someone besides Ms Kim tell the story sometimes! It’s simple...the entire chapel time, including the pledge, announcements, a song or two, recognition of birthdays and the Bible story is only 15 minutes long. What a great witness...to share Jesus with these little children!

Kim

Help Wanted at Covenant Preschool and Mother's Day Out

Kim Havard, our Preschool Director is seeking people for three positions in our Church Preschool and Mother's Day Out Program. We need people for our fall semester beginning in August. Read on, if you or someone you know may be looking for an opportunity.

All three positions are for a 5-day a week position in Covenant Preschool. One is for a position in our three year old classroom and the other two are for our toddlers and young two's. If you have experience or have a real heart for children and are interested, please call Kim Havard at the church - 988-3962 and arrange an appointment with her.

If you do not know anyone that would be suited for these positions, please pray for us as we make certain we get just the right people for our church preschool and children.

Sincerely,
Chris Blanchard

Preschool Update

We are nearing the middle of our summer session and it has been a great one! We are learning about different animals and there's been lots of barking, mooing and oinking going on. Bella the Pig visited us and we are looking forward to more animal fun.

Our Mother's Day Out is completely full for the fall with a waiting list (God is so good!). There are still a few openings in the three and four year old preschool programs. If you or someone your know is interested in registering, please have them call (988-3962) as soon as possible.

Thank you so much for the donations to the school via the garage sale. The books have been distributed through the classrooms and the children are loving them!

Kim Havard

June Preschool Update

We finished up the year with fun jumps, snow cones, water days, popsicles and lots of tired little people. There are still a lot of teachers who are also tired.

We held two special ceremonies this spring: a spring program with 3 and 4 year old participating and we graduated 36 four year old and have sent them off to kindergarten. Both ceremonies went very well.

Our summer program is coming together well. We have several slots available, but are filling up fast! We have four new hires for this summer: Diana Seiler, Peggy Lewis, Renee Guillory, Tori Burger. Peggy and Renee will be with us for the fall as well.

Thank you for all you do for YOUR preschool!
Kim Havard

Covenant and Change for Miles Update

We're on the back cover of Face Magazine. Covenant Preschool is at the top of the list!  http://issuu.com/inndgtl/docs/face.1105.web/72

 

We raised $2,290.81! This is more than some of the larger schools that participated. How exciting! You can see a list of participating schools and the amount they raised here:

http://www.milesperretcenter.org/ChangeForMiles/SCHOOL-CAMPAIGNS?Sort=

 

Kim Havard

Children's Ministries Director

Midweek Reminders - May 11, 2011

Dear Covenant Family,

First of all, pray for all those whose lives will be adversely affected by the rising waters. Some of our own have camps and houses that might see damage. I know at the appropriate time, our church family will try to do as much as we can to help. Isaiah says that in the rising waters, the Lord will be with us. This leads to an announcement, the United Methodist Church will be assembling flood buckets this Saturday at Asbury United Methodist from 9:00am - 12:00 noon. Should you be able to drop in and give some time to doing this mission project, it will be well worth it. Flood buckets are cleaning supplies, etc., that are given out to the homes that suffer rising waters, and the Methodist Church is there.

Wednesday
8:00am - Pilates Exercise Class
9:30am - The Explorers Bible Study
10:30am - Preschool Graduation
5:00pm - Hand Bell Choir Rehearsal
5:30pm - Wednesday Night Dinner
6:15pm - Children's Music Ministry
6:20pm - Holy Communion and Prayer
6:30pm - Bible Study: Walking Where Jesus Walked

This coming Sunday, two very vital worship services.
9:00am - Traditional & 11:00am - Contemporary: during the services we will be recognizing and honoring our "graduates". Plus we are to have a guest updating us on the Methodist Summer Camp opportunities at our District Camp.

Sunday afternoon we will have, at 4:00pm, a Church Council meeting where we will update everyone on our progress of the building campaign. To take a vote, not on final approval, but to authorize us to begin our Capital Campaign. Be informed by being present and letting us hear your voice.

---

Don't forget our month long mission emphasis by bringing on Sunday your I Can Food offering for the UCO Food Pantry. Together we feed some of the hungry in our community. We will also continue our offering for flooding victims and tornado victims.

Chris Blanchard

Preschool News - May 2, 2011

Wow! It's hard to believe that the school year is almost over. We are on countdown! It has been an awesome first year for me as Director. The Staff is top-notch and great team players. I couldn't ask for better people with whom to work.

Our Summer Session is almost filled with lots of eager students. Our theme this summer is "Animals, Animals, Animals!" We will be looking at many of the animals mentioned in the Bible and the stories surrounding them. Fun jumps, water days and ice cream are on the way!

Thank you for supporting YOUR preschool!

Kim

Preschool News - April 1, 2011

Our 2010-2011 school year is almost gone! We've just taken spring pictures and celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week and have just a little over a month of school left! It's hard to believe that I've almost completed my first year. This has truly been a blessing to me and I am very thankful for the opportunity to serve our Lord in this capacity.

We have only a few slots left for the summer program and are quickly filling up for fall. Our theme for the summer is Animals! Animals! Animals! We will be looking at many of the animals that are mentioned in the Bible and teaching the Bible stories that go along with them. Summer is a fun time for the children to learn with a little extra play thrown in.

Our school is in need of a couple of teachers for the fall in our Mother's Day Out program. If you are interested, please give me a call at 988-3962 or send an email to kim@covenantum.org and I'll be glad to talk to you about possibilities.  

Blessings to all,
Kim

Preschool News - February 18, 2011

Preschool registration is well under-way and several of our classes, both in Mother's Day Out and in the Preschool are filled. There are openings in both the summer and for the 2011-2012 school year.

As always, we are looking for good substitutes! Call me at the school office (988-3962) if you would like information about our school or about substituting.

Grace and peace,

Kim Havard
Children's Ministries Director

Midweek Reminders from Covenant - February 18, 2011

Are You enjoying this beautiful weather God has given us?

Isn't it something to watch the unfolding of history being made in Egypt and other parts of the Mid Eastern World. Freedom has been placed in our hearts by God, and we should pray that what unfolds in those countries will be God Directed and God Lead.

Today
Be in prayer for our Covenant Preschool and Mother's day Out Program as we open up for registration for our summer and fall terms. People were already lining up before 6:30am. We have such a great program, and we should thank God for the staff He has lead our way, as well as the students we have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives. Registration continues through tomorrow, but if you know of anyone considering the school, you best call and tell them to contact the school today.

Tonight
5:00 - Handbell practice
5:30 - Wednesday Night Supper, fellowship hall
6:20 - Holy Communion and Prayer, followed by Our Study in the Book of James (chapter 4), tonight the theme is Humility

Some of our women will be "retreating" this weekend. Our prayer is for the Lord to ignite their hearts.

Sunday
Our worship services this week will focus on John 15:1-6, I AM the Vine.
3:00 - Board of Trustees
4:00 - Church Council - but all are invited to attend as we continue our conversation about the future of our church. We are more then a building and we want to discuss where the Lord may be Leading us to Do His Will. Come with one or two concerns or dreams or wishes for our church as we brainstorm and seek God's direction.

Sincerely,
Chris Blanchard