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Dear Covenant Friends,
This summer, I spent early mornings at my local pool. I wasn’t the only one. After years of sparse attendance for adult lap swim, suddenly it was “crowded.” People started arriving at 5:45 a.m. to claim their lanes—by 6:10 all the lanes were doubled and tripled. We all had to be out by 7:00.
It was sometimes challenging to make room in the lanes for an extra-splashy swimmer, or a person (like me) whose backstroke does not proceed in a straight line. Once I even scraped my elbows swimming too close to the edge in an overzealous attempt at hospitality. Shy folks had an especially difficult time asking another swimmer to share a lane. Some days, they just left.
At first you could feel the tension. But then something interesting happened. What had been a silent and individual experience—showing up, donning a cap and goggles that make you unrecognizable, and jumping in for your laps—became communal. The early birds started chatting. The latecomers became braver. We learned each other’s names and renewed acquaintances. We advocated for expanded hours for lap swimming. On the final dark August morning of the season, someone brought donuts to share.
The whole experience made me think about the church. Making room in the pews, literally and metaphorically, can be as uncomfortable at first as sharing an early-morning lap lane. When there are more of us, we move over, share a bulletin, and learn the name of someone new. There may even be a few scraped elbows along the way. But that is one of the blessings—and challenges—of a growing community: we make room for one another.
Our theme for this program year is Making Room.
God’s grace is spacious. Before we ever think to make room for God, God has already made room for us—welcoming us with all our gifts and shortcomings into a love larger than we can imagine.
Throughout this church year, we will explore what it means to live in response to that grace: making room for God in lives that can feel crowded and hurried; making room for children and young people, newcomers, immigrants, neighbors, and people whose experiences or perspectives differ from our own; making room for forgiveness, generosity, joy, and hope.
As we worship, serve, learn, and grow together, we trust that God will continue to expand our hearts and our community, making room among us for the abundant life Christ offers to all.
Included below are the September sermon themes and accompanying scriptures. Maybe you can make room in your mornings to revisit the ones we have already explored and preview what is to come. That is, unless you’re busy swimming laps.
Pastor Jessie
pastor@covenantweb.org
September 18, 2026
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