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DEACONS END OF LIFE PLANNING SESSION ON SUNDAY
Start 2025 off on the right prepared foot! Join us in Bates Hall and on Zoom following worship this Sunday, January 12, as our Deacons lead us by creating an hour of space for each of us to start the new year off right by doing some sacred End of Life planning work together. This will be mostly a working space for each of us to begin or continue the important and faithful work of planning for our own and our loved ones’ full seasons of life. As a guide, use this link to access resources prepared by COTC Deacons and Pastors.
ALL-CHURCH POTLUCK AFTER WORSHIP ON JANUARY 19
Please plan to share a meal after worship on Sunday, January 19. Bring a plant-based dish if you can and come anyway if you can’t!
WELCOME CHILDREN & YOUTH!!
Welcome to all children, youth, and families—those we know already and those who are here for the first time. We offer Christian education through Godly Play for ages 3-9, youth classes for ages 10-13 and 14+, and a nursery for the littlest ones. If you need help finding us, please ask an usher. We share CYCE info regularly via email, so please email Rev. Kate at kate.carlisle@cotcbos.org if you want to receive updates!
WORSHIP IN THE STREETS: BOSTON’S WINTER WALK
On Sunday, February 9, we will once again take our worship to the streets by joining the 9th annual Boston Winter Walk, walking two miles in shoulder-to-shoulder solidarity with those experiencing homelessness in our city, and re-committing ourselves to the prayerful work of housing justice. There will be three options: to join the walk in person at 9:00 am; to join the walk virtually on your own; or to join in a virtual “prayer walk” at home. We are invited to join Women’s Lunch Place for a pancake brunch afterward in Bates Hall! To register, please visit https://tinyurl.com/cotcww2025register (choose Women’s Lunch Place as the designated organization, click Register Now, and search for the Church of the Covenant Team) and RSVP to Covenant staff at https://tinyurl.com/cotcwinterwalk2025.
LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR: AN INAUGURATION EVE VIGIL
The Diocese of Massachusetts and Episcopal Peace Fellowship invite all to join for “Love Casts Out Fear: An Inauguration Eve Vigil” on Sunday, January 19, at 5:00 pm at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. Everyone is welcome to join Bishop Julia E. Whitworth and other diocesan and Episcopal Peace Fellowship leaders―in person or via livestream at the cathedral’s YouTube channel―for this prayer service, to hold sacred space for leaning into the Christian teaching that love casts out fear, the church stands with the marginalized, and love in practice looks like justice and peace. Please register in advance here so the Cathedral Church of St. Paul can plan well.
LIVING IN A CLIMATE CRISIS WORLD: A CALL TO HOPE AND ACTION
Jim Antal, Special Advisor on Climate Justice to the General Minister and President of the UCC, will be giving will be giving a talk entitled “Living in a Climate Crisis World: A Call to Hope and Action,” on Saturday, January 25, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon at the Peace Dale Congregational Church, 61 Columbia Street, Peace Dale, Rhode Island. Jim explains: “We will reflect on the grief, hope, and action required to address the climate crisis as faithful stewards of God’s creation. We will examine the most recent science, and we will ponder how a few generations of humans have reaped immeasurable profits by devastating God’s great gift of creation as they built the modern world. We will see how we are living amidst a theological emergency in which the preservation of God’s creation has been reduced to an ideological debate. And we will receive God’s call to faithfully engage a new vocation as we respond to the long emergency.” A chili lunch and light refreshments will follow the talk. Snow date is Sunday, January 26, at 1:00 pm. More information available here.
ANNUAL REPORTS ARE DUE JANUARY 13
Please submit your 2024 annual reports for committees and staff members to our Parish Administrator, Nancy Stockford, at nancy.stockford@cotcbos.org. Please create each report in a Word document using Garamond 11-point font with the title (committee or staff member name) centered at the top. Each report’s author(s) should be provided at the bottom. Deadline: no later than noon on Monday, January 13. Thank you!
COTC SNOW CANCELLATION PROCEDURE
In the event of a significant snowstorm over a weekend, please check our website to find out whether our in-person service has been cancelled. Zoom worship will still be held at the same link.
WORSHIP IN BATES HALL!
Due to repair of the chandelier in the sanctuary, we will hold in-person worship downstairs in Bates Hall until February 16.
COLD/FLU SEASON
This is the time of year when illness is more common. If you have any symptoms of a respiratory illness, PLEASE stay home and take care of yourself and participate in worship on Zoom.
PARKING NEAR CHURCH OF THE COVENANT
Parking is available at the Back Bay Garage (Clarendon Street, between Boylston and St. James) on Sundays between 6:00 am and 9:00 pm for the first three (3) hours for only $5. To get this rate, please ask an usher before or after the worship service for a parking discount voucher. A weekend discount is also available for longer periods: $10 for up to eleven (11) hours. A scannable parking voucher is available from an usher and at this link: https://tinyurl.com/cotcsundayparking.
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UPCOMING WORSHIP
Please join us each Sunday at 10:30 am and during the special services listed below as we come together in community- to pray, sing, share celebrations and concerns, and hear God’s still-speaking Word proclaimed in these hybrid services (in-person and Zoom options). Zoom link for each service.
- Sunday, January 12: Rev. Rob Mark preaching, Deacons End of Life Planning After Worship
- Sunday, January 19: Rev. Joshua Lawrence Lazard preaching, Holy Communion, All-Church Potluck After Worship
- Sunday, January 26: Rev. Rob Mark preaching, Deacons Meeting After Worship
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OTHER COTC ACTIVITIES
BIBLE STUDY WEDNESDAYS
Our weekly Bible Study meets on Wednesday mornings at 9:45 on Zoom. We are studying the book of Acts, exploring the movement of the Christian community throughout the Jewish, Greek, and Roman worlds. If you would like more information or want to be on the list to get regular reminders and Zoom details, contact Jack Ammerman at jwacooks@gmail.com.
WEDNESDAY EVENING PRAYERS
On Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 6:30 pm, join us for our weekly Wednesday evening prayers with intentional liturgy, contemplative song, psalms, and sharing of prayers with our siblings from Newton Presbyterian, on Zoom.
THE JANUARY ISSUE OF COVENANT NEWS can be read online here.
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