Week of March 20, 2011 Sunday 8:30am Worship 9:40am Church School 11:00am Worship 12:30pm Session Meeting & Confirmation 4pm MWYC 5pm Youth Monday OFFICE CLOSED 8am Covenant Breakfast Club NO Boy Scouts Tuesday 11:30am Road Trip to Fatz 8:00pm New Freedom Wednesday 10am Adult Bible Study 5:00-5:45pm Choir/Bible & Youth 5:45-6:15pm Dinner 6:15-7:00pm Choir/Bible & Youth 7:00pm Vespers 7:25pm Adult Choir Thursday 2:00pm Knitters & Knotters 4:00pm - 9:30pm Project Safe 8pm Happy Squares Friday 3:30pm The Cave NE GA Presbytery Spring Youth Retreat 8:00pm New Freedom in FH Saturday Fellowship Hall Cleaned

Worship March 20, 2011 8:30am: Reader: Jim Smith Ushers: Jim Smith & Steve Bell 11:30am: Reader: Carol Huber Ushers: Bert & Marie Ballard-Myer, Wayne Crowell, Centner/Johnson Family Greeters: Foutz Family Piano: Betsy Burmeister Congregational Care: Jan Rawlings Counter: Pam Knox Flowers: Juergen Wiegel Plant Care: Frank Allen Open Building: Alex Clark Close Building: Rich Reaves Grounds: Jim Bowden (March 21 - 27) Nursery/Super: Michelle Cram 8:30am: Michelle Cram & Tammy Gilland 11:00am: Birth-Walking: Juergen Wiegel Walking- 3 yrs old: Pam & Evan Knox 3 - 5 years old : Craig Barber, Lucas Givens

Worship March 13, 2011 8:30am: Reader: Eileen Becker Ushers: Kent & Heidi Wolfe 11:30am: Reader: Jim Anderson Ushers: Ross & Allisyn Johnson, Rich Kim-mich, Hank Tweedell Greeters: Mindy & Doug Hill & Susan Paul Piano: Betsy Burmeister Congregational Care: Jan Rawlings Counter: Randy Parish Flowers: Juergen Wiegel Plant Care: Frank Allen Open Building: Jim Bowden Close Building: Alex Clark Grounds: Hank Tweedell ( March 14-20) Nursery/Super: Joan Baird 8:30am: Lola & Susan Bell 11:00am: Birth-Walking: Joan Baird Walking- 3 yrs old: Marie & Josh Ballard-Myer 3 - 5 years old : Tim Foutz, Aly Huberty

Week of March 13, 2011 Sunday Daylight Savings Time Begins 8:30am Worship 9:40am Church School 11:00am Worship 4pm MWYC 5pm Youth Monday OFFICE CLOSED NO Boy Scouts Tuesday Mark on leave thru 3/18 1:00pm Presbytery Meeting at Friendship Presbyterian Church 8:00pm New Freedom Wednesday 10am Adult Bible Study 5:00-5:45pm Choir/Bible & Youth 5:45-6:15pm Dinner 6:15-7:00pm Choir/Bible & Youth 7:00pm Vespers 7:25pm Adult Choir Thursday 2:00pm Knitters & Knotters 4:00pm - 9:30pm Project Safe in Teen rooms only Friday 3:30pm The Cave 8:00pm New Freedom Saturday 9am B&G Clean Up Day Fellowship Hall Cleaned

for the week of March 13,2011 - THE COVENANTER THE COVENANTER THE COVENANTER THE COVENANTER

Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1065 Gaines School Road, Athens, Ga. 30605 Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1065 Gaines School Road, Athens, Ga. 30605 Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1065 Gaines School Road, Athens, Ga. 30605 Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1065 Gaines School Road, Athens, Ga. 30605 706706706706----548548548548----2756 or 7062756 or 7062756 or 7062756 or 706----613613613613----2344 2344 2344 2344 email: covenantp@covpresathens.org, www.covpresathens.orgemail: covenantp@covpresathens.org, www.covpresathens.orgemail: covenantp@covpresathens.org, www.covpresathens.orgemail: covenantp@covpresathens.org, www.covpresathens.org

Member NE Georgia Presbytery, Synod of the South Atlantic, General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

NOTE: Please go to www.covpresathens.org or your email for a link to recent copies. The next newsletter will be published for March 20. Please email your articles to kwetherington@covpresathens.org before 12 noon, Wednesday, March 16.

BUILDING AND GROUNDS WORK DAY

Saturday, March 19, 2011 (rain date: March 26)

9:00 am - Noon

Projects include: raking leaves, cleaning windows and gutters,

painting, trimming Liriope grass and much more. Many hands make light work.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN FORMING A SMALL GROUP?

For about a year, six Covenant couples have been meeting together as a small group. We have taken turns hosting the meetings, and usually, we have shared a pot luck meal or appetizers. Over the course of the year, each of us has shared our faith story and personal history with the others. We all feel that it’s been a great time of fun and fellowship and that we’ve grown closer and more connected to one another. We would like to encourage anyone who feels a need to connect to others within the church to consider forming a small group. If you are interested in learning more about the process, please contact Randy Parish, Sue Amole or Luanne Rigsby. Or better yet, come join us at our next meeting at Panera Bread Company, 9:00am on Saturday, March 19.

-Vespers - The Worship Ministry Team invites you to make Wednesday evening Vespers service a part of your spiritual practice during the Lenten season.

The Vespers service is a wonderful, peaceful time of contemplation and prayer. It refreshes the spirit the way a cold drink of water on a hot day refreshes the body.

Wednesday, March 16 we will gather at 7:00pm. 7:00pm. 7:00pm. 7:00pm. Come and be refreshed!

OUTREACH COVERED DISH DINNER SUNDAY, MARCH 27 at 6:00pm

Food, music, talk, and fellowship. Guest

Speaker, IHN Director, Julie Knowlton.

Sign up on the bulletin board.

Week # 10 Week # 10 Week # 10 Week # 10 - Financial Report Anticipated Pledges - $83,653.80

Actual Pledges - $62,811.76 Pre-Paid Pledges - $22,525.38*

(*not included in Actual Pledges) End of the quarter coming soon -

so let’s catch up! Bowden Vocation Fund: $1,623.64

...unless you are born again, you can-not see the kingdom of God.

DAILY BIBLE READING March 14 - March 20,2011

Monday March 14 Psalm 103 Tuesday March 15 Psalm 113 Wednesday March 16 Psalm 116 Thursday March 17 Genesis 12:1-4a Friday March 18 Romans 4:1-5,13-17 Saturday March 19 Psalm 121 Sunday March 20 John 3:1-17

WHO’S WHO? Katie Bemisderfer

STEWARDSHIP CORNER The United Nations declared 2005-2015 the Decade for Action

on water conservation, calling it Water for Life. FYI: The amount of moisture on Earth has not changed. Water the di-nosaurs drank millions of years ago is the same water that

falls as rain today. Just about anything we do or touch utilizes water. Switch on a light; water generated the power. Read a

newspaper; water made the paper. Drive a car; water pro-duced the steel. Eat a hamburger; water sustained the cow. The U.S. withdraws an estimated 339 billion gallons of fresh water a day from lakes, streams, and underground sources.

That is nearly 10% less than the total used in 1980, even though population has grown. Economic downturn, water-saving technologies, higher water prices, and conversation

efforts have stemmed water demand. Still, Americans remain among the world’s biggest water users. YOUR TASK: Check

out the narthex bulletin board & start a new water conservation habit.

WHO’S WHO? Can you guess who at Covenant rode in a jeep in Aruba with a boa constrictor wrapped around the engine?

What Time Is It? What Time Is It? What Time Is It? What Time Is It? Northeast Georgia presbytery Spring Youth Retreat March 25 - 27, 2011 Rock Eagle Conference Center, Eatonton, GA For Youth in grades 6 -12 with advisors Time--we use it, we spend it, we waste it. Sometimes it moves too fast, sometimes it moves too slow. Sometimes time disappears. So, when it comes to faith and your relationship with God, what time is it for you?what time is it for you?what time is it for you?what time is it for you?

$90 REGISTR

$90 REGISTR

$90 REGISTRA-A-A-TION FEE DUE

TION FEE DUE

TION FEE DUE BY MARCH 14

BY MARCH 14

BY MARCH 14 10$ LATE FEE

10$ LATE FEE

10$ LATE FEE THEREAFTER

THEREAFTER

THEREAFTER

Covenant B

reakfa

st C

lub

Marc

h 7

at 8

:00am

At C

racker B

arre

l on

Epps B

ridge

Join

us fo

r good c

onver-

satio

n a

mong frie

nds.

COVENANTCONNECTION NEW TIME

5:00 - 7:00- WEDNESDAYS NEW STUFF

MISSION°MOVIES° EXPERMIMENTS°GAMES

Come Join the Fun! Programs for Pre-School through 12th grade!

March 16, 2011

Table Blessings - since ancient times, food and meals have been times of cele-bration, hospitality and love. For many, ritual and tradition play into the dinner hour or special occasions. During Lent, the Outreach Ministry’s Food Committee will be offering suggestions for Blessings for your families to use at meal time. Each week there will be a suggested table blessing printed in The Covenanter. We encourage you and your family to use the prayer as a way of offering gratitude to God for His provision and a way to celebrate those around your table. If your family has a favorite or traditional prayer for mealtime please email them to kwetherington@covpresathens.org or leave them in the office and they will be

published. Let this be a time to remember Jesus’ sacrifice, and to be grateful for the life He has made possible for us.

PRAYER: Lord, Thank you for having given Yourself in intimate, inexplicable hospitality. You have been the Host to all creation. Without meat You have nourished us. Without beverage You have refreshed us. By Your very Word came sustenance. On bread and water without price have we been fed. You have been

manna in the wilderness of our lives. Without a table You have banqueted us, inviting us, yea, to be married unto You. Over our heart flies the banner of Your love. We are entertained with mysteries of faith, the songs of the Spirit, holy laughter, You have garmented us in festal righteousness… You are the Host of all…

Lifted up, suffering, without breath, You yet extend greeting to all masses, “Come unto me...Come...Come...You give us the mystery of Your presence in this supper of ages, this remembrance of Your ultimate hospitality. O Lord, make my hospitality as unto Yours, be forever my archetype of endeavor, my first fruit of harvested goodness: Love for the battered, misused child, grace to bind running ulcers of flesh and soul, eagerness for the wealthy without servility, and for the poor without superiority. Through eternity You have been and will be utterly hospitable. Help me, poor, faltering, unfeeling me, to be like You,

with breath-beat and soul-heart poured out, emptied, opened. Help me, to be given to hospitality. Submitted by Laurie Anderson - From “Breaking Bread - the Spiritual Significance of Good Food”

by Sara Covin Juengst

Menu:

Mac & Cheese, green

beans, & fruit salad

Our sister congregation, East Friendship Baptist ChurchEast Friendship Baptist ChurchEast Friendship Baptist ChurchEast Friendship Baptist Church, will be celebrating Pastor James Kendrick’s 50 years of ministry with them in April, with many activities we will share with you soon. Right now though, we have the opportunity to contribute in ways to honor Dr.Kendrick or a loved one - either with a page

in their souvenir booklet or a paving brick in their memorial garden. Our Session has approved a Covenant page in the booklet, and Mark & Beecher will be sending a letter of congratulations. Perhaps as a class or as an individual, you may want to participate too. Please see the Please see the Please see the Please see the info posted on the Covenant News bulletin board near the mailboxes.info posted on the Covenant News bulletin board near the mailboxes.info posted on the Covenant News bulletin board near the mailboxes.info posted on the Covenant News bulletin board near the mailboxes. The deadline for purchasing a page or brick is Tuesday, March 15.

The proceeds from the race will go toward the Meals on Wheels program, which provides more than 350 healthy meals to area citizens daily.

Fees: $20 by 3/18/11, $25 afterward to race day, includes commemorative short sleeved t-shirt. Registration will be available day of race. Checks made payable to: ACCA. On-line registration is available at www.active.com. Awards: Overall Male/Female, Masters Male/Female, and top three Male/Female winners in age groups staring at 10 and under through 75 and over. Complete results will be available within 24 hours at www.classicraceservices.com, www.runningintheusa.com or www.coolrunning.com. Directions: Start and finish will be at the Athens Community Council on Aging, 135 Hoyt St. Questions: Contact Carole Black at classicservices@gmail.com or 706-680-7223

Remember in Prayer: Coffee Worth, recovering well from surgery; frequent visitor Anna Morgan & family, whose stepfather James Walters died Mar.6; Jeremy Reaves’ friend Chris Coipers, now commander of 501st Service Brigade; Rich Kimmich’s daugh-ter Erika, returning from mission trip to Jamaica; and Anna Holshouser at home with a painful cyst in her knee.

All Covenant women are invited to join East Friendship Baptist Church women for a prayer

breakfast on Saturday, Mar.19, from 9:00-10:30am, in their Fel-lowship Hall, 480 Arch Street. Eileen Becker, Jere Bowden, Coffee Worth, and Margaret

Weirich attend monthly, so call them to get a ride. It’s a great

way to get to know neighbors in our sister congregation, with a devotional, singing, fellowship, and good food. The next meet-ing will be April 16. See minutes

on the bulletin board.

Thank you to all who gave their time and energy to host the IHN guests. It was a great, rewarding week. Each family sent notes of thanks and gratitude for our hos-pitality, generosity and love. The families said that the transition was very smooth and the food was delicious. Many, many thanks. IHN Coordinators for the week of Feb. 20, Shirley Hunt and Paula Zimdars

Restaurant Road Trip Restaurant Road Trip Restaurant Road Trip Restaurant Road Trip March 22, 2011 at 11:30amMarch 22, 2011 at 11:30amMarch 22, 2011 at 11:30amMarch 22, 2011 at 11:30am

Fatz Restaurant Fatz Restaurant Fatz Restaurant Fatz Restaurant ---- Lexington Road Lexington Road Lexington Road Lexington Road Join us for a good Food and great time

of Fellowship. Sign up on the bulletin board to make your reservation. Carpools leave the church at 11:15am. Come and join us!

Voilà! created by Marilyn Brown

Find a word which, when joined with the other words listed, forms a new word. example: _ _ _ _ : bend pad cap (answer = knee, kneebend, kneepad, kneecap) 1. _ _ _ _ : cold shoulder cream

2. C _ _ _ _ _ _ : closet horse brush

3. _ _ _ _ : path loose ball

Voilà! Answers: 1. Cold 2. Clothes 3. Foot

Pork & Beans and Saltine Crackers are the urgent need of the Athens Emergency Food Bank at this time. Who does the food bank serve? Recently The ARK referred the following family to the AAEFB. This fam-ily was unable to afford food. The father had been laid off from his job in December and the mother recently missed three days of work when their youngest child

had a severe asthma attack. The family used all their resources to pay their rent and some utilities and were now unable to buy food for the remainder of the month. The family received a week’s worth of food from the AAEFB and they were also referred to Angel Food ministries and the food stamp program. Thank you for your generous giving during this time of need and let’s see how high we can go!

All proceeds benefit Athens

Area Habitat for Humanity & the Athens Area Homeless Shelter!

SATURDAY, APRIL 23 8am at The Classic Center

Registration: $15 Pre-registration* $25 Day of Race $45 Family Rate*

Register online at www.active.com For more info call 706-208-1001 or visit

www.athenshabitat.com *must be postmarked by 4/15

Mark Your Calendar: VACATION CHURCH VACATION CHURCH

SCHOOLSCHOOL JUNE 13 - 17, 2011

More info coming soon!

Emily Ballard-Myer will be collect-ing items over the next few weeks for the Athens Animal Shelter for her Timothy Task. Items needed are: Blankets Towels Dog & Puppy Chow Dish Soap Laundry detergent Look for the sign with the collec-tion box in the Gathering Room area! Thank-You!

Remember to submit your suggestions

to the Nominating Committee by fill-

ing out the form in your church mail-

box, giving names (and permission) of

proposed Elders to serve on next

year’s Session in the Class of 2014.

Drop box is on the table in the

Gathering Room.

Upcoming Samaritan Counseling Center Sessions 1. Third Sunday Hot Topics - discussion free & open to the public - Sunday, Mar.20, at 2:30pm, downtown - on the book, Women, Food, and God by Geneen Roth - you don’t have to have read it yet! Next month’s will be 12 Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong. 2. Letting Go: An Experiential Seminar - practicing self control of body, mind, & spirit - regis-ter online or by phone - cost $70 before March 30 ($80 afterwards) - Tuesdays in April, 6:30-8:30pm, downtown - includes gentle Yoga (bring a mat), guided use of welcoming prayer, group sharing, centering prayer, and intro to Mindfulness Spirituality A pastoral care ministry of 15 area congregations 455 North Lumpkin Street, Athens, GA 30603 706-369-7911 - and - www.samaritannega.org Facebook: Samaritan Counseling, and Twitter: SamaritanNEGA

FUN FACTS: DID YA KNOW??? The lectionary used by the PCUSA has its roots in the wave of reform & ecumenism initiated by the Roman Catholic Council of Vatican II, 1962–1965. In an effort to promote a “warm and living love of Scripture” among its members, the Roman Catholic Church developed a new lectionary in 1969. Quickly, Protestant denominations recognized the wisdom within the three-year cycle of assigned readings. The Presbyterian Worship book, published in 1970, was the first official recommendation of the Roman Lectionary for Protestant worship. Subsequently, the Roman Lectionary has been modified by the Protestant community through the efforts of the Consulta-tion of Common Texts. The Revised Common Lectionary is the result of extensive ecumenical consultation, theological scrutiny, and liturgical testing. Mark & Beecher and the white work-sheets for children follow the RCL weekly for worship & sermons.