Cabbage, Black Eyes, and I CAN

Another New Year is given to us by our Lord. We celebrated with my son's family and since they have young children and old parents our new years celebration was over by 8:30, so I could watch a little football before falling asleep, knowing that each day with the Lord is special, so all we have to do now is to learn to write 2011. I look forward to all the Lord is going to do with us and through us in this coming year. Maybe, just maybe we can see a new building going up!

Know you are knee deep in preparation of cabbage and black eye peas, and consuming lots of football as well. One is for health, one is for wealth, and one is for America's greatest past-time. Only another month or so, until we hopefully are settled in watching the Saints play for the National Championship again.

But tomorrow, Sunday, January 2, 2011 will be our first worship service in the new year. We will hear the story of the Magi, hear about The Road Less Traveled, and don't forget as we gather for Holy Communion, we will gather our offering for the UCO food pantry with our I CAN FOOD OFFERING.

Happy New Year from you Pastor.

Sincerely,
Chris Blanchard

Mission Possible KIDS - December 23, 2010

Mission Possible Kids was out in full force this month, completing mission projects on behalf of Covenant. On Sunday, December 5th, thirteen agents completed Christmas craft projects to be added to Angel Tree gift packages. Special thanks to Kate Manuel, Ava and Ashlyn LeFeuve, Presley Nutter, and Cameron Chadick for collecting money to donate to Angel Tree families.

Congratulations to Trevor Purgahn for his promotion to Special Agent 1st Class for completing six mission projects. Kate Manuel has been promoted to Master Agent for completing 12 mission projects. Way to go, team!

MPKids would like to bestow Miss Kathy Lewis an honorary title of Special Agent for all her work coordinating the Angel Tree project. We appreciated having her on hand at our meeting to tell us all about her work with the Angel Tree each year.
Thanks go out to our agent moms on hand to help this month: Robin Stokes, Stacy Purgahn, Jamie Keller, Kellie Kinsland, and Christy Chadick. Without your help, our program would not exist!

Our next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 2. We will meet from 3:30 to 5 p.m. (please note the shortened meeting time) for Operation Covenant Clean-Up. Hope to see you there.

MPKids is open to all children in 1st through 6th grades. We complete hands-on mission projects the first Sunday of most months. For more information, please contact Jennifer Manuel at jenandwally@earthlink.net.

Preschool News - December 23, 2010

It hardly seems possible that we are beginning a new calendar year! That means school is half-way over for the 2010-2011 school year. The fall semester for YOUR Covenant Preschool Ministries was a great success. The children have been learning and each day we can see their minds and environments expanding as they grow. Probably one of the most rewarding aspects of working with children is when we can see "the light bulb switch on!" The switches are being flipped on regularly here!

Beginning this month, we will have two additional two year old classes with a total of 16 new children. We have been able to rearrange staff to handle the necessary positions and have only hired one additional employee, Peggy Smith, who will be serving as the aide to the two new classes. Trisha Haley will be teaching the younger two's and Annette Guidry will teach the older two's. We are very excited about the new children who will be learning with us.

As we begin 2011, please keep our students, teachers and leadership in your prayers. We are doing God's work in this place and your prayers help to sustain us.

May God bless you richly in this new year.

Blessings,
Kim Havard

Children's Ministries - December 23, 2010

My first six months as Children's Ministries Director have passed. Lots of things have occurred and it's all been very good. I appreciate all of your prayers and support!

December was a fabulous time for the children. We had a Birthday Party for Jesus where we played games, sang carols, heard the Christmas story, created some crafts and had lots of food! Many thanks to Mrs. Shirley Mason, the Pences, Mrs. Susie Blanchard, and Rev. Chris for their assistance. The highlight of the month was the children's Christmas program. So many people have told me how wonderful they thought that it was. Kudos to Mrs. Jennifer Tassin on directing the children, to Troy Guidry (Santa) and thanks to parents for making the commitment to have your children at practice on Wednesday nights. It really paid off, don't you think?

We look forward to a wonderful 2011 with opportunities for fun and learning God's word. Don't forget: on the first Sunday of each month, children in 1st through 6th grades are invited to join Mrs. Jennifer Manual as they learn about missions and how to reach out to those outside the walls of the church and on the other Sundays, Mr Jerry and Mrs Leigh Nugent meet with 4th, 5th and 6th graders learning about God's word through a variety of activities. On Wednesday nights, Mrs. Jennifer Tassin leads children's music. And of course, each Sunday at 10:10, there are opportunities in Sunday school to learn the Word. If you want your child to grow up active in a Bible-based environment, bring them to YOUR church for these events...what a great way to see your child get to know Jesus better!

Thanks to the entire congregation for the Christmas gift. The giving nature, love and encouragement, not just of one or two people, but of the whole body of Christ in this place lifts my soul and spirit every single day. May God bless you as you enter into a new year of walking with our Lord.

Grace and peace,
Kim Havard

From the Associate Pastor - December 23, 2010

As we begin the New Year, I want to say thank you to all who have offered to do the children’s message on Sunday mornings. You will notice in the bulletin that for the month of January we have several weeks that we have someone for each of the services. It is our goal to have a different person for each service. But, we still need folks that would like to use their talents and gifts, to bless the children. Please let me know if you are interested and don’t worry we have many resources that are available to help you.

Our Sunday school is now averaging 143 which is up from the beginning of 2010 when we averaged 127. A special thanks to all the great teachers who have made 2010 the best year ever. As Rev. Chris would say, “find a Sunday school class and GO!” Would love to see us break the150 mark very soon.

Rev. Byron Aucoin

From the Pastor - December 23, 2010

A New Year

It is the week of Christmas. That also means planning two Christmas Eve services, two worship services on the day after Christmas, making certain our pre-school rooms get painted, floored, and stocked for our two new classes to begin on January 3rd, as well as think about my shopping for Susie on Christmas Eve (you do know I procrastinate). To make matters worse, I had to go to my doctor this morning for routine checkup, in the midst of too much Christmas Party food and a slowing down of my walking routine. Sssshhhhhhooooo! This is a sigh, if you can’t recognize it, but while there may a few down days for us all, just after Christmas, it won’t last long, because a New Year comes just around the corner.

With the New Year, we will see our mother’s day out and preschool program grown by two new classes, and maybe more to come. My thanks to Kim Havard for helping this much needed growth to happen, as we are committed to helping more families provide the best basic pre-school program possible. With this change, our administrative offices have been relocated to a wonderful temporary trailer. Come by and see just how nice it is.

With the New Year, we will see our Building Committee begin to work double and triple time, as we take the next step towards our future. The Charge Conference gave us unanimous approval to get detailed plans and bids for our consideration. I hope you all take a look at our preliminary plans, offer us any advice for our consideration as we work toward final plans. The Conference also approved working toward having a Capital Fund Campaign. We are so blessed to have considerable funds toward this project, but will need much more. You will hear from us as we strive to raise as much money possible to avoid much long term debt. If you are interested in talking with me or Mike DeHart about your helping by giving a gift, we will be more then eager to accommodate that conversation.

With the New Year, we look forward to an ever growing congregation and worship services. Our goal was to reach an average of 350 attendances each week. It appears as if our average will be around 335, but next year, why not 375 average? This is more then reachable when we commit our own attendance as often as possible, but also to call and invite family and friends that you know could benefit from a church family like Covenant. It’s a New Year.

With the New Year, our new leadership team will help us make certain we are actively living out our mission for Jesus Christ. Jesus great commission was: to go and make disciples for Jesus Christ. We will always provide a place for people to MEET JESUS, to hear the MESSAGE OF JESUS, and be encouraged to provide the MISSION OF JESUS. 2010 has been a super year in the life of Covenant, but I can’t wait to see all the Lord will do in us and through us in 2011. Fasten your seat belts and hang on! HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR IN 2011!

See you each and every week in worship.
Rev. Chris Blanchard

Christmas Pecans

There are still a few packages of pecans available. They make wonderful Christmas gifts. Or just for munching while watching the game. If you're interested, contact Marie Smith at msmith9585@aol.com.