Spiritual Reflection

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

What is GriefShare^TM



GriefShare^TM is a support group to help you move through the grief process in a safe, welcoming place where people understand the difficult emotions of grief. Through this group, you’ll discover what to expect in the days ahead and what’s “normal” in grief. Since there are no neat, orderly stages of grief, you’ll learn helpful ways of coping with grief, in all its unpredictability, and gain solid support each step of the way.

GriefShare^TM is offered by volunteers who have walked their own journey of grief and loss. They are here to guide you and encourage you as you maneuver this new season. 

Registration is required. Please use the link below to register, or email Sharon Weimert, Care Coordinator, if you have questions. 

Workbooks are not required but are available for a suggested price of $25. Scholarships are available.

Fresh Expressions

Do you like meeting new people? Maybe you have a gift for leading some songs and activities? Our Fresh Expressions ministry needs you!

Pastor Donna Hendren heads up our Fresh Expressions ministry which offers a glimpse of heaven to residents of assisted livings, memory care areas, and other residential locations in and around our region. Currently, teams of people are visiting more than 20 senior living communities, sharing the love and message of Jesus Christ through songs, devotionals, and communion. Many of the residents are deeply longing for meaningful connection and compassionate care. Through these visits, we offer friendship, encouragement, and the reminder that they are not forgotten.

We have a great opportunity to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus Christ into our community. If you want to be a part of Pastor Donna’s ministry, please contact her using the link below.

Dare to be UNcommon

Wednesdays, September 23 - November 4, 2026 from 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM

Tony Dungy says its time…. For every man to choose an UNcommon Life!

This Superbowl-winning Coach has spent his life shaping young men. Now Tony Dungy wants to share core truths that he wants every man to understand, live by, and pass on to others.

Examine your life in this seven-week study and aspire to a life of renewed integrity, influence, and faith. You will explore scripture, engage in discussion, encounter character-building insights, and uncover what it means to live a life of true significance. The seven sessions include strengthening your core, loving your family, lifting your friends and others, reaching your full potential, influence over imagery, and living in your faith.

Please register your attendance.

Facilitator: Lee Williams, Retired UM Clergy.

The book may be purchased through Amazon.



If you have any questions, please contact Pat Hill, Care Coordinator - Discipleship.

Residing Hope

Local Methodist Churches began collecting Fifth Sunday offerings in 1906 for Residing Hope. These offerings are a meaningful blessing to the ministry, helping make programs like the Carpentry Program possible and allowing us to continue serving others in practical ways. This is an on-campus vocational training program that allows teenage residents to learn key job skills.

All items are handmade by them. You can view their work with the button below.

Please help Residing Hope continue to provide these types of programs by donating to this ministry. You can make a check out New Covenant with Residing Hope in the memo line. Your support is greatly appreciated!

The Glory of God

So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (I Corinthians 10:31)



We glorify God when we invest His money in things that are aligned with His values. We dishonor God when we invest His money in things that violate His values and do harm. This verse reminds us to carefully and joyfully consider how we can bring honor and glory to the name of Jesus in everything we do.

Financial Highlights
January 2026 – July 2026

Stewardship is a key component of our Christian faith. Your tithes and offerings to New Covenant UMC supports missions, funds quality worship, enhances discipleship and offers care to those in need. Our Finance team wants to thank you for your generosity and your commitment to New Covenant’s vision of being the “hands, feet and voice” of Christ.

In order to keep you informed on the finances of New Covenant United Methodist Church the finance team is providing you with these financial numbers monthly. We hope this information is helpful to you as we track our financial status throughout the year. Thank you again for all your support and faithfulness.

Highlights:

• Total Congregational Giving Through 07/31/2026: $2,014,034
• Total Expenditures Through 07/31/2026: $1,985,923
• Net $28,111

Legacy Giving

Rooted in Faith, Growing for Generations

If you would like to know more about Legacy Giving, please contact Linda Stubits, Finance Manager. Thank you for considering our Legacy Giving Ministry.

"Breaking the Code"

Tuesday, September 8 through November 3 at 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Don’t understand the book of Revalation? Are its images a mystery?

Join our “Breaking the Code” class to see how the symbols, beasts, trumpets, and bowls serve as images to the greater message of hope, faithfulness, and the ultimate triumph of Christ. This will be an 8-week class.

Learn that God is Sovereign, Christ is victorious, and the Kingdom of God is real. Experience a new twist on an old study!


Please register your attendance.

Facilitator: Judy Stuart

The book may be purchased through Amazon.

If you have any questions, please contact Pat Hill, Care Coordinator - Discipleship.

Tuesday Bible Study (TBS)

Tuesday Bible Study or (TBS), formally “Just Like Jesus” is a mixed small group study that resumes this fall on Tuesday, September 8 at 2:00 pm. The group will be reading Acts 16 where we find Timothy joining Paul and Silas as they take the good news further into the nations.

Come join us as we read through the chapters in Acts, learning more of this orderly account of the only historical record of the birth and early growth of the church.

No registration is required.



If you have any questions, please contact Pat Hill, Care Coordinator - Discipleship.

September Women’s Gathering (Mini Retreat)

Thursday, September 17, 2026 from 10 AM - 2 PM

“Sacred Threads: Wedding Gowns through the Ages”



You will not want to miss the launch of the Women’s Ministry 2026-2027 monthly events. We will begin with a “mini retreat” featuring Leigh Anne Browne, a seventh-generation Floridian, who began an antique and vintage clothing collection which has grown into an archive of more than 450 wedding gowns from the Civil War era to today.



Leigh Anne will share her beautiful gowns, the stories and dreams associated with each one, and a journey from the Civil War to the present.

Don’t miss this special opportunity—sign up today to reserve your spot!

If you have any questions, please contact Pat Hill, Care Coordinator - Discipleship.

Menu: Chicken Salad wrap and Fresh Fruit with a Special Dessert

Cost: $20.00 Registration Deadline: September 10, 2026 at 12 PM

The Kingsmen Bring Their 70th Anniversary Tour to New Covenant

Thursday, September 17, 7:00 PM

One of Southern Gospel music’s most celebrated and enduring groups is coming to New Covenant! The Kingsmen will bring their 70th Anniversary Tour, and their Big & Live Band, to the Christian Life Center on Thursday, September 17, at 7:00 PM.



For seven decades, The Kingsmen have delighted audiences with their unmistakable harmonies, powerful performances and beloved songs of faith. This special concert will celebrate their remarkable musical legacy while showcasing the energy and sound that continue to make them a favorite with Southern Gospel audiences across the country.

Tickets are on sale now:

• $40 — Artist Circle (Front/Center)
• $35 — Center
• $30 — General Admission
• $20 — Side View

Doors open at 6:15 PM. The best seating is limited, so we encourage you to purchase your tickets early and invite your friends and neighbors to join us for this exciting evening of music!

Upcoming Holy Land Tour and Journeys of Paul Tour

Pastor Harold will lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land next spring (March 8 – 17, 2027).

In addition, Pastor Harold will be leading a cruise tour that follows in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. The cruise (October 6 – 17, 2027) will take us to towns where Paul had established churches such as Philippi, Thessaloniki, Corinth, Athens, and Ephesus. There also will be stops in Rhodes, Mykonos, and Santorini, Greece.

If you are interested in learning more about these tours, you can pick up a brochure at the Welcome Center in the East Narthex, download the information from the New Covenant website, or use the links below.

In the fall, Pastor Harold will hold information meetings to talk more about these trips, answer questions, and share more details.

Happy Hands

Happy Hands Prayer Shawl Ministry meets each Wednesday to share the journey of making prayer shawls together. This loving group of volunteers don’t just make shawls, but they share their joys and concerns together. They pray for one another and for other prayer requests as they knit or crochet the shawls for those in need.

One way you can help is to donate yarn for them to make their beautiful shawls, and another way to help this important ministry is to join them! They are happy to welcome new people and to teach others about the craft and ministry of prayer shawls.



For more information, please contact Sarah Cooke, Ministry Leader.

25th Anniversary Reflection: Making Room

As we draw closer to New Covenant’s 25th anniversary, we’re taking a look back at the many memories, moments, and blessings that have shaped our church family over the years.

Before New Covenant had the Christian Life Center and its additional classrooms, Sunday mornings could become wonderfully crowded.

Chris Wile remembers people lining up for the second worship service; sometimes extending outside, beyond what is now the facilities office door. The narthex became so packed that the coffee station had to be moved to the concrete patio behind the church.

That solution brought its own Sunday-morning adventure: volunteers chasing napkins across the yard whenever the wind began to blow! It is an amusing picture now, but it also tells us something important about the early New Covenant congregation. The church was growing, people were coming, and its members kept finding ways to welcome them; even when the building had not yet caught up with the ministry.

Many of the people standing in those lines, pouring coffee, greeting newcomers, setting up outside, and chasing those runaway napkins are no longer with us. Some moved away. Some entered the Church Triumphant. Newer members may never have known their names or realized how much of today’s New Covenant was built upon their faithfulness. They helped create more than buildings. They created a culture. When the narthex was full, they made room outside. When more people came, they added another chair. When the ministry outgrew its space, they imagined something larger and gave generously to make it possible. They understood that growth was not simply about constructing a bigger church. It was about opening the doors wider so that another person could find worship, friendship, purpose, and a place to call home.

Twenty-five years later, our campus looks very different. Yet the calling behind that memory has not changed. God continues to bring people through our doors who are searching for community, carrying grief, longing for purpose, or simply hoping someone will notice them. Our responsibility is still to make room...not only in our buildings, but also at our tables, within our ministries, and in our lives. Perhaps that is one of the greatest ways we can honor those who came before us: to offer others the same welcome they once offered, to build faithfully for those we may never meet, and to remain a church willing to make room whenever God sends someone new, and if that occasionally means chasing a few napkins, so be it.

Memory shared by Chris Wile, member since 2006

Do you have a special memory from New Covenant’s first 25 years or a ministry, volunteer, or moment of faithfulness you believe deserves recognition? Please share it with Sean Pollock, Director, Worship & Events as we celebrate the people and stories that have shaped New Covenant.

Care Kits for Kids

New Covenant is supporting foster care and homeless youth during our the month of September through Care Kits for Kids by providing needed hygiene items. They include soap, body wash, deodorants, toothpaste, a hairbrush, and feminine hygiene products. This Christmas giving opportunity will replace Samaritan Purses Operation Christmas Child (shoeboxes).

Kids Central, Inc. Independent Living Program provides support for youth aging out of the system (those turning 18 years old without returning to the care of their parents or being adopted). The support is given through financial literacy training, household management, educational and career planning.

There are currently 65 young people participating in this program. Sumter County students experiencing homelessness are supported through the school district’s Families in Transition Program, which provides educational assistance as well as referrals to healthcare, dental, and mental health services. During the 2025–26 school year, 207 students experiencing homelessness were identified in Sumter County schools.

Please donate by filling one of the provided bags with the needed items only in the designated boxes in the East and West Narthex. 

Weekly Prayer Concerns

Praying Together meets at 2:45 PM in Classroom 14

Every Wednesday a small but faithful group come to pray over the requests and needs of the congregation. The written prayer cards and the online submitted prayer requests are prayed for by this team. If you would like to join this group, all are welcome! You do not need to be a member of New Covenant, or you don’t have to pray flowery, elaborate prayers, but just come with a spirit of humility and reverence as you bring these needs to God. Please use the link below to submit an online request

Prayer Quilts

Desiree needs strength dealing with the loss of her young daughter

We request your prayers for these prayer quilts. Please click on the quilt to be taken to our Facebook Page, where you can "Like" the post to virtually tie a knot. Prayer quilts are made by a dedicated group in our church and throughout our community who envision the quilts being a special gift of love for people experiencing life-changing challenges. If you would like to order a prayer quilt, please click the button below.

Our prayers, love, and sympathy are extended to...

Shirley Roewer, family and friends, on the passing of her husband, Martin Warren Roewer.

Christian Life Center Chancel Flowers

To place an order for Chancel flowers in the Christian Life Center for Sunday worship services, please use the button below. For any questions about Christian Life Center Chancel Flowers, please contact Sharon Weimert, Care Coordinator.



Flower orders for the Christian Life Center must be received by noon on Monday for flowers to be delivered that weekend.

Rev. Harold Hendren, Senior Pastor

Rev. Ellen Pollock, Associate Pastor