The retreat will be held April 9 from 9am to 4pm at Winnetka Covenant Church (1200 Hibbard Road, Wilmette, Illinois). Transportation and childcare are available. You are welcomed and encouraged to RSVP with Eva Sullivan Knoff (evasullivanknoff(at)gmail.com) or to sign up online.

We hope you will join us!

The story of humanity?s relationship with God that begins with creation in Genesis 2 turns quickly to disobedience and a severed relationship with God (Gen. 3). Therefore, after we recognize that it is God who called us to worship, God?s initiative that created and called us, we confess our sin publicly and acknowledge our rebellion against God. Like David in Psalm 51, we confess, “create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” This is essential because left to our own devises, we tend to explain away our sin and justify our actions in order to escape the stark reality of our brokenness. Yet, the confession in the liturgy forces us each week to confront our sin, to confront our fallenness and confess that we come to worship as sinner and saint.

And part of the reason we confess together is that sin is not simply a private affair between “me and God”; we sin corporately and must confess together that what we do as communities, institutions, churches, and as a nation misses the mark as well. Voicing this together allows us to enact and better comprehend this reality.

Yet, thanks be to God the story does not end with our brokenness. While we must boldly acknowledge our sinfulness, we also must boldly acknowledge corporately that our sins have been forgiven through the redeeming work of Christ. Therefore, the assurance of pardon after confession is an essential part of corporate confession. I believe it is important that we hear the confession audibly because for some of us forgiveness does not come easy. We may know intellectually that our sins are forgiven, that “as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions for us,” but left to our own devices we tend to ruminate on the memories and shame of these sins. We need someone outside of ourselves to speak forgiveness, to hear “the good news of the Gospel, that in Jesus Christ we are forgiven.” Therefore, the proclamation of the assurance of pardon is not what forgives us, but it assures us that we have been forgiven through the work of God. As on scholar notes, “The assurance of pardon does not open the window to forgiveness but points us to the open window.”

So, when we engage weekly in the prayer of confession and assurance of pardon, may we actively engage both in the story of our brokenness as well as the larger narrative of God?s amazing grace that reconciles us with God and with those around us.?

I remember the first time I attended church with my Grandma and Grandpa. They were Catholic, and I had been raised in the Pentecostal tradition, so needless to say it was a new and confusing experience going from a very low church tradition (very little traditional worship elements and much spontaneity) to a very high church tradition (many traditional worship elements with much structure). Everything seemed to be smells and bells, tradition and stuffiness, symbolism and mystery. There was a reverence and symbol to worship that I had not experience and because of this, I discarded the whole experience as spiritless and an example of churches “going through the motions.”

However, as I began to experience more of a more structured worship and learn about the symbols, I began to find that much of what I had discarded as empty ritual was in fact saturated with symbol that, when uncovered, added new layers of meaning onto worship. Yet, as with any symbolism, it is important to understand what the ritual symbolizes in order to understand and appreciate it. So, over the next few newsletters I will attempt to explain some of the traditional elements of worship that we participate in at ResCov and hopefully shed some light on the elements and why we do them.

As Maria von Trapp sang, “Let?s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.” The call to worship is the first element of most services and serves a distinct purpose in setting the tone for the rest of the worship service. To state the obvious the call to worship…well…it calls us to worship God. At this point some get nervous; isn?t all of life worship after all? Why should we be specifically called at this point? Yet, I believe that there is something distinct about the setting aside of a specific time for the sole purpose of worshipping in community with other believers.

The traditional definition of the word “holy” is “set apart for God.” One example should suffice to underscore this notion. God told the people of Israel as they entered the Promised Land, “You shall be holy to me; for I the LORD an holy, and I have separated you from the other people to be mine” (Lev. 20:26). Setting apart something for God makes it different, makes it holy. Thus, when we as a community of believers set apart time on Sunday morning for the praise of God, it does make it distinct from the rest of the week, holy in some way. This does not mean that the rest of our lives are not worship or we don?t worship in other ways, it is simply saying that this time is different.

Therefore, the call to worship introduces us into this “set apart” time. It reminds us that we gather for no ordinary task; we are not a community club or even a group of social activists, but we are people who have been called by God to worship. In doing this, a call to worship should include two main elements: 1) a call to the act of worship, of praise, of thanksgiving, and 2) a recounting of the acts of God that makes God worthy of this worship, praise, and thanksgiving.

A great example of this is Psalm 100. “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth, worship the LORD with gladness and come into his presence with singing. Know that the LORD is God, it is he that made us, and we are his; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

This Psalm shows this twofold pattern of the call to worship. First the calling: “[m]ake a joyful noise,” “worship the LORD,” “come into his presence with singing;” Then the attributes of God or actions of God that are worthy of this calling: “it is he that made us, and we are his” and “For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

So, next time we begin worship and stand for the call to worship, take time to think of the words we say, to remember that we come together for the specific task of worship. Recall the work that God has done in your life and the life of this community and may doing so help set apart this time, help us become attentive to the movement of God in our midst, and call us to lives of worship for “God?s glory and neighbor?s good.”?

Greetings and salutations!  The last time I posted, summer was just starting and here it is the last day of August. School is starting for kids, college, and grad students, colors are even starting to change on the leaves on the trees, and there is a slight hint of fall in the air. While cooler weather is still a ways off, ResCov will kick off the new season with our Fall Kick off on September 12th. Come and worship with us, stay for a pot luck, and find out about all the different ways you can become an active member in our congregation and community.

The service this past Sunday got me thinking. It got me thinking about what I do to reflect what I believe. I say that I believe in social justice, in helping the disenfranchised, and righting societal wrongs. I say I believe in loving your neighbor as yourself and that includes the stranger. But, if I really believe these things… what am I doing to practice these beliefs? Is there any cost to my discipleship? Is there any cost to my beleifs? Or am I like one of the people pastor Aaron spoke about with an “easy faith?”

So many times I’d rather sit at home on a Friday night watching movies, than go volunteer at the Warming Center or sleep in on Sunday rather than going to the worship service. Now I’m not saying watching movies is wrong or anything like that. But I am saying that we have to fight against our comfort zones to do good and make the better choice. We have to go outside our own familiarity and comfort to reach out to others and be active in the kingdom of God.

It’s a daily struggle to fight against the flesh to do the will of the Spirit. I don’t want to be a passive member of the kingdom. I want to be active. I certainly don’t have all the answers and I don’t always make the best choice out of the options given to me. But I want to be active. What about you? Do you have an “easy faith” that needs to be stretched into a more active, and dare I say, costly faith? Are you willing to try something different and outside your typical comfort zone to reach out and help another be it your best friend or a complete stranger??

Share and share alike.

Summer is upon us! The weather is hot (and humid!), the sun is out, the trees are flowering and there is a hint of gardening and home improvement projects in the air. While we all have vacations planned, family trips and reunions, gardens to plant and home renovations to embark on, our community at ResCov doesn’t stop for the summer months.

Something the Leadership Team has been discussing is how to keep congregational involvement up during the summer months. The SWAP has been on a hiatus for a while and we’d love to bring it back soon. There has been talk of a Sidewalk Cafe to have during summer Saturdays: a place to have some snacks and cold or hot coffee, get some fresh veggies form the ResCov garden, and mingle with the people in the neighborhood. A way to connect with the immediate neighborhood of our church. And as much as we need social time together to grow our relationships, we also can’t let our formation and discipleship dwindle. School may be out, but our learning and growing in our faith never takes a  summer vacation.

What do you think? Do you have suggestions on how to deepen our faith via Table Talk, Sunday School, or another way that we can read scripture and discuss together? Is there something you love at church during the other months and know of a way to keep it going strong during the summer? Share and share alike.?

All in the congregation are welcome to attend the meetings. If you have interest in attending a meeting or a question about how that works – feel free to contact anyone of us on the Leadership Team. Our monthly meeting minutes (say that three times fast) will also be posted on the blog for all to view. If at anytime you have a question, comment, or concern about something in the minutes, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the Leadership Team.

That being said, a brief introduction to the LT:
Aaron Johnson: Pastor, Worship Team Liaison (along with Dave Bjorlin our Worship & Arts Intern)
Carissa Esmon: Church Chair, Missions Team Liaison
Dena Wangberg: Vice Chair, Community Life Team Liaison
Christin McFadyen: Secretary, Community Life Team Liaison
Bryan Nelson-Phelan: Financial Officer, Building Team Liaison
Rick Elgendy: Christian Formation Liaison
Baxter Swenson

(Liaisons – not “leader” of the team, but an active participant and can give updates to the Leadership Team at meetings).

On to non-logistical topics… the topic of being a more diverse church has come up many times in congregational or annual meetings as well as in the LT meetings. What do we mean when we say diverse? Do we mean by gender? Ethnicity? Generationally? Educationally? There are many ways to look at it.

We want our church to grow. What do we mean by that? Grow in numbers? Grow in depth of discipleship? Do we want to look at physically expanding the sanctuary to fit more people? If you would like to see our church more ethnically diverse… how would you propose we work on that? Or generationally? How could we improve discipleship in our current congregation? What do we do if/when our attendance is larger than the capacity for our sanctuary?

While the LT discusses ideas and works to make some happen – such as ideas discussed at the Saturday session or Annual meeting. Our community as a whole needs to be thinking and praying on these things. How can we continually improve upon our ministries and outreach to the local community? How can we continually improve on our relationships with one another in the context for our community at ResCov?

What do you think?