Weekend News from Covenant - October 29, 2010

Dear Covenant Family -
Our last day of field trips and only two more weekend days to enjoy ourselves at the Patch. Come out and support this wonderful endeavor, the weather promises to be great.

Saturday - the Lewis Family and I are cooking up all the dogs and burgers we have left. Funds raised will support Angel Tree Ministry and Pastor's Discretionary Fund. We still have Hayrides and FunJumps and great fellowship as we welcome all the families who come out for the last weekend of Covenant's Pumpkin Patch.

Sunday - Wear ORANGE to celebrate our last day of the Patch and pass the word, I want our sanctuary to look like a giant pumpkin.

We also will have Fifth Sunday Songfest with lots of singing at both services & Potluck Dinner! Bring a side dish to share with your church family. Brisket will be served.

Blood Mobile Unit from 10:30am - 1:00pm. Donate the gift of life.

Then finish out the Patch at Trunk or Treat. Decorate your trunk and pass it out goodies to all the children. Parents bring your children to trick or treat in the safety of the parking lot. Awards will be given for Best Trunk and Best Children's Costume.

A BIG word of thanks to all the many, many volunteers who have helped make this Patch the best one yet. Many folks make it work, but we could not do it without the giant effort of the Mason Family.

See you this weekend,
Chris Blanchard

Youth News - October 28, 2010

Well, at the time this is being written, we have two more weekends left of Pumpkin Patch and so far, it's been absolute AMAZING!! It's bigger & better than ever and I want to thank each & every youth member who has shown up and worked til we were wiped out! Your loyalty and dedication are awesome and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

Now moving on to November. The Youth room is just about complete--minus some finishing touches so it's time to get back into regular meetings. We'll start meeting again on Sunday November 7th at 3:30pm. Anyone 12 yrs old or in 7th grade on up is invited. We've revved up the youth room, now it's time to rev up the group. We're changing the format of the meetings and some of our alumni have returned to get it started. They will be serving as recruiters and mentors to the younger members as well as bringing in some new ideas for activities, youth trips & great discussion topics. We're even discussing a new name for the group ... something that defines what we'd like to become for each other as well as to those in our community. We'll take any suggestions offered.

For those of you who have seen the youth room and were left with questions as to why we decided to go in this direction, let me explain the concept. The way we see it, is that this room depicts every Christian's journey. We all begin in darkness and chaos, but when we give our lives to Christ and begin our walk with Him and begin to live our lives for Him, a change begins. The darkness and chaos is diminished and overpowered by His light in our lives and we then begin to walk only in the Light of Christ, which is our ultimate goal.

So if you haven't seen it, stop by and take a look and if you have, take another look and think about your journey with Christ.

Again, a huge thank you to Jennifer Blanchard, Tara Gondron, Nick Wolfe, Michael Neal, Angelica Deforest, Lauren Lee, Moriah & Stephanie Rabeaux, Kyle McDonald, Brandon Guidry & Kaye Lewis.

Your sister in Christ,
Gretchen Cheshire

Preschool & Children's Ministry News - October 28, 2010

Summer is over and our new year has begun! Summer whizzed by us real fast with a total of 145 children. Yes, we all stayed busy and the highlight of the summer was the Fun Jumps. The children enjoyed them immensely.

Our new year has begun with a total of 150 children enrolled. Teachers and students are very excited and enthusiastic and we are all looking forward to a wonderful year together.

We welcome to our staff this year four new employees: Dana Hebert - Younger 2's Teacher; Trisha Haley - Toddler Assistant; Mona McRae - Assistant for 2's; Kendra Domingue - Assistant for Nursery. We are pleased to welcome these four dedicated ladies to our staff as part of the Covenant Family.

Parents and teachers alike are very thankful for this ministry of the church. We are striving to present these children with a solid foundation on which to build their lives and it's because of you that we are able to do so. Please keep the staff, parents and children of YOUR preschool in your prayers.

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The big deal with children's ministries is that the kids are back in school! August was a busy month with Bibles being presented to our third graders, book blessing tags were given to all students to remind them that they are never alone - God is with them and they have an entire church family praying for them, and we honored our Acolytes for their service to our church. We have several new ones and several who are "graduating" and are ready for new volunteer positions.

By the time you read this, our Children's Ministries Leaders will have met to discuss the future of Children's Ministries. We have looked at what is working well, what we need to add, and how we can improve. Keep alert for upcoming announcements about children's programs, particularly Sunday school. Suggestions and ideas are always welcome.

These children are the future Church Council members, Finance committees and SPR Committees. They will carry on the legacy of Covenant United Methodist Church in to the coming days. When volunteer opportunities arise, please consider contributing to the future through our children.

Blessings to you as you serve the Lord in this place,
Kim

From the Associate Pastor - October 28, 2010

As another year of Pumpkin Patch comes to a close, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who volunteered to help make this the best patch ever. In the Purpose Driven Life series we just completed, the fifth week’s focus was on Ministry: You Were Shaped for Serving God. We saw that ministry of serving this past month as volunteers gave of their time to help on tours, working on week-ends, unloading pumpkin trucks, greeting the families, feeding animals, watering plants, spraying for ants, culling pumpkins, working in sales trailer, Granny’s Store, just to name a few. In Matthew 10:42 it says that “and if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” (NIV) I don’t believe we could count the number of “cups of cold water” given this past month but God saw each and every one.

Thank you again.
Byron

Bits & Pieces - October 28, 2010

Here are Bits & Pieces - things going on at Covenant you may not be aware of:

The Wesley United Campus Ministry at ULL is holding a Plate Lunch sale and Open House on Saturday December 4th from 11am-3pm. Church members are invited to come tour our building and learn more about our vital ministry with young adults. ULL alumni can look forward to seeing old friends and learning about what the ministry has been doing since they graduated. Lunch tickets are $6, please contact the Wesley Ministry (337-235-6073 or amy@ulwesley.com) to order yours today!

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Look out world, MPKids are on the move! A whopping TWENTY-TWO agents reported for duty Sunday, October 3rd to help sort pumpkins and coloring books for Pumpkin Patch
field trips. Whew, what a workout! But our agents got the job done.

Congratulations to Morgan Stokes for completing six missions. He joined the ranks of others promoted to Special Agent 1st Class. Also, we welcome our Honorary General Jennifer Blanchard for going way beyond the call of duty by helping our agents with the sorting of the pumpkins. We would have been lost without you!

Special thanks to our agent parents who helped at our October meeting: Lesley Nutter, Jamie Keller, Kellie Kinsland, Stacy Purgahn, and Christy Chadick. MPKids will participate in the St. Jude's Bike-a-Thon on Saturday, November 6 here at Covenant. This will serve as our November meeting.

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Thanksgiving for the Homeless
God has called us to reflect His love to one another. All the area United Methodist Churches in Lafayette come together to celebrate our thankfulness for each other and the homeless community who will join us in a Thanksgiving Feast on the parking lot of First United Methodist, downtown Lafayette. We need you to come help us serve and visit with our guests on Sunday, November 14th at 3:00pm. Bring large casseroles, desserts or bread because we feed around 300 people. IT IS A JOY!

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The Fellowship Class is once again taking orders for Pecans — pieces, halves and beautifully foil-packaged gift bags of different kinds of delicious candied pecans — the perfect gift for friends and neighbors. Please place your order in the Narthex.

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Christmas Music at Covenant
Now that Pumpkin Patch is almost over (*whew*), it'll be holiday season before we know it. All of the music ensembles are busy preparing Christmas music to make it the best year ever. I'm specifically looking forward to a New Childrens Pageant. Miss Jennifer is working with the kids on a very special program.

The Chancel Choir program will be Sunday morning, December 12th. "I Heard a Prophet Callin'", will heighten the anticipation of Advent. Handbells and Redeemed will be doing their part to make the season extra special.

And there is still more in the planning stages. I hope you enjoy all that our Music Department has to offer. I encourage you to sing loud and proud in worship as we praise our Creator and Redeemer. There are no bad voices in God's family.

God bless,
Ken Cheshire

The Sun is Setting on the Patch - and other News from Covenant

Dear Covenant Family -
with both sadness and relief, the Patch is almost over for 2010. We still have several days of Field Trips, each morning through Friday, and then we have two weekend days left. No big events planned, just hanging out and meeting folks who come on the property. Why not come out and see how much fun there is during the weekends?

Last Weekend was the GIGANTIC CRAFT SALE. Thanks to Myra Duhon and all her helpers who pulled off a BIG TIME EVENT.

This Saturday, Butch Lewis, Barry Hester, and I will be cooking up all the dogs and burgers we can. The proceeds will be split between the Christmas Angel Tree Project and the Pastor's Discretionary Fund. But we will also be cooking up for our Sunday Potluck.

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This Sunday's Goings On! Wear ORANGE as we celebrate the end of the Patch and the Fifth Sunday, where we know the rule for all Good Methodist is to eat together. Our services, both indoor this week, will feature lots of music. Old Hymn Singing and Children Playing at 9:00am and 11:00am will feature lots of singing the new songs of praise. And in case you have not heard: No Sermon. (I can hear the AMENS and ALLELUIAS going up to heaven for that)

Following the Sunday School hour, we will begin serving the potluck dinner - bring a side dish, and the church will provide the drinks and meat.

Blood Drive is also this Sunday: 10:30am - 1:00pm.

Then, to close out our Patch - Trunk or Treat in our Parking Lot from 5:00-7:00pm. Prizes for Best Trunk and Best Children's Costume will be awarded.

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Also this week:

Wednesday
8:00am - Pilatees Exercise Class
9:30am - Explorers Bible Study
5:00pm - Handbells
5:30pm - Meal with your church family (chicken fried steak or baked chicken)
6:15pm - Children's Music (come be a part of the Christmas Pageant)
6:15pm - Dr. Rich Sudduth will present a program on Genesis and Creation (check our website for more).

JUST FOUND OUT - The Timm's will NOT be here on tomorrow night. So I'm asking for two or three volunteers to help with the cooking and cleaning. If you can, please email me and let me know.

Sincerely,
Chris Blanchard

Thank you from Chris and Covenant

Dear Covenant Family - how can I thank you enough? Our truck was unloaded yesterday in almost record time, and thanks to all who came to help. I was out of town on District Business and when coming back into town after 7:00pm - it was great to see a front yard with bright beautiful pumpkins. And still had empty pallets.

Which brings me to our other reminder: we have our last truck coming in TODAY!
WE NEED PEOPLE TO HELP US UNLOAD THE TRUCK AND FILL OUR YARD WITH PUMPKINS - NOON TODAY - FREE PIZZA, FUN, EXERCISE! COME ONE , COME ALL! NOON TODAY - WE NEED YOU!

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Don't forget 
Saturday and Sunday after church - the Gigantic Craft sale!
Come Out and help greet and meet all those folks who will come our way. Parking may be an issue, so come early.

Sunday Worship
9:00am service indoors
11:00am service outdoors - we are hoping to create a little more interest in our church having this service outside our four walls.
Two different sermons should you want to experience them both.

Looking forward
Sunday, October 31st - Fifth Sunday Fellowship Dinner and Songfest at both services - the blood unit here for donations, and then the Youth Trunk or Treat in our parking lot from 5:00pm - 7:00pm. Prizes for best decorated trunk and for best costume for the kids.

What a way to close our patch.
Sincerely,
Chris Blanchard