This Sunday we officially start a tradition: It's our 2nd year of "Love Burnsville" where we suspend our normal weekend worship services and instead go out into the community to do service worship- raking leaves.  It may not seem like much, but by establishing this new tradition, we build on a legacy and reputation that has been established over the 50 years of Jesus Christ at work in and through Faith Covenant.  That reputation can be heard in a recent quote from a Burnsville city official who remarked to a staff member, "I hear that you are the church that does things to help the city."

Praise God that we have been given an opportunity in Love Burnsville to show people the love of Jesus and let our worship and our witness come together and bless the city!  Here are some key details to help prepare us for this Sunday October 28, 2012: 

• For those who wish to attend, there will be a 9am service Pastor John is leading. It will include worship through hymns and a concert of prayer invoking God's blessing, protection, and guidance over our cities and nation.  
• If you have not signed up for a raking team or other assignment, come to the church at 10:30am. We will place you on a raking team or find a spot for you to help cover the service worship with prayer in the prayer chapel.
• Do come prepared for the cold temps, and get a free Love Burnsville t-shirt to throw over your sweatshirt or coat.
• There is still a need for more volunteers with flatbed trailers to haul leaves Sunday and/or Monday morning as well (please call the church office, 952-890-31110 and ask for Pastor John if you can help with this need).

Don't miss this amazing opportunity to live into our vision, "the good news of Jesus renewing hearts, homes, and cities."
-Pastor John Foley

HERE IS WHAT IS COMING UP AT FAITH

50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Sunday, November 11, 6-8pm. Tickets on sale in church lobby on Sundays. Tickets are $35, but contact [email protected] if money may be a hindrance to your celebrating with us.

SANTA LUCIA & BAKING NIGHTS
This has been an awesome program put on by Mille Johnson and her Daughter Angie for the past 26 years. This years Santa Lucia program promises to deliver the same great quality it has for the past 25 years. Tickets go on sale November 4th – 25th.

Also, this year Santa Lucia needs some help with baking. Because of a change in regulations, any food being served at Lucia must be baked in an industrial kitchen here at the church. In order to follow these regulations, we have decided to put on some baking events. They are Wednesday November 7th 10am-3pm & 5pm-9pm; Thursday November 8th, 5pm-9pm; & Saturday November 17th, 9am – 1pm. If you would like to help with this please contact Beth Bennett at 952.890.0684 or [email protected].   

CHOIR MEMBERS WANTED
This Christmas our Faith program hinges on having a Choir. We would like 50 people to participate. Rehearsals are 11/13, 11/27, 12/04, 12/11 and 12/20 from 6:30pm - 9pm. First and last rehearsals are mandatory. Other rehearsals may be just sections at a time. Vicki Newendorp will be leading the choir rehearsals. If you or someone you know want to be a part of this opportunity, please contact [email protected]. 

HYMN SING
Also, November 4th is Faith's Hymn Sing. If you would like to be a part of that Choir or suggest a hymn, please contact [email protected]. Rehearsal for the Hymn sing are October 30th 6:30pm – 8:30pm and November 3rd from 9am - noon. Lunch will be provided.

COUNCIL
Faith is looking for people to be nominated for the new Church council beginning January 2013. If you or someone you know might be a good fit, please contact Jen Sorensen: [email protected] 

What’s happen’n Faith family?. Jon Oney here. Just finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy and I can finally say that I am an official Hunger Games fan. I have read the books and know the ending.

You ever wish life was like that? Well here is the good news—we know the ending. Christ will come again to renew this earth as we learned a few weeks ago in our “Come Together” series. This week we will be focusing on what to do in the meantime. Mike Lotzer will be taking us through a passage in Ephesians to talk about the importance of our witnessing and our worship. They both send a message to the world here and now. It will be a message you do not want to miss.

Speaking of things you don’t want to miss, I still have many positions open in the Christmas choir. I can tell you the success of our Christmas program hinges on this choir. So please, we need you to be a part of this awesome experience. Children from 8years and older. You can make it a Family event. There will even be a meal served and everything! It will be a Christmas to remember.

Other things you might need a reminder of are listed below. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Otherwise, this is Jon Oney signing off. See you this weekend!


HERE IS WHAT IS COMING UP AT FAITH

50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Sunday, November 11, 6-8pm. Tickets on sale in church lobby on Sundays. Tickets are $35, but contact [email protected] if money may be a hindrance to your celebrating with us.

SANTA LUCIA & BAKING NIGHTS
This has been an awesome program put on by Mille Johnson and her Daughter Angie for the past 26 years. This years Santa Lucia program promises to deliver the same great quality it has for the past 25 years. Tickets go on sale November 4th – 25th.

Also, this year Santa Lucia needs some help with baking. Because of a change in regulations, any food being served at Lucia must be baked in an industrial kitchen here at the church. In order to follow these regulations, we have decided to put on some baking events. They are Wednesday November 7th 10am-3pm & 5pm-9pm; Thursday November 8th, 5pm-9pm; & Saturday November 17th, 9am – 1pm. If you would like to help with this please contact Beth Bennett at 952.890.0684 or [email protected].   

CHOIR MEMBERS WANTED
This Christmas our Faith program hinges on having a Choir. We would like 50 people to participate. Rehearsals are 11/13, 11/27, 12/04, 12/11 and 12/20 from 6:30pm - 9pm. First and last rehearsals are mandatory. Other rehearsals may be just sections at a time. Vicki Newendorp will be leading the choir rehearsals. If you or someone you know want to be a part of this opportunity, please contact [email protected].

HYMN SING
Also, November 4th is Faith's Hymn Sing. If you would like to be a part of that Choir or suggest a hymn, please contact [email protected]. Rehearsal for the Hymn sing are October 30th 6:30pm – 8:30pm and November 3rd from 9am - noon. Lunch will be provided.

COUNCIL
Faith is looking for people to be nominated for the new Church council beginning January 2013. If you or someone you know might be a good fit, please contact Jen Sorensen: [email protected]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we approach the formal celebration of our 50 years of ministry as a church family, we wanted to reach out to you after our congregational meeting and your receipt of the recent letter earlier this month from Pastors John and Mike regarding the Jubilee Invitation.  We see many things for which to give praise to our Lord.   We pray that all we do and ask is in obedience to our Risen Savior.  We ask that you use this time to further strengthen your own personal relationship with our Lord through prayer and in your own personal way.

We want to summarize some of the items that we highlighted at our congregational meeting.  Our pastoral and support staff are healthy and well motivated.  We heard from our newest directors, Brian Martin (Youth Director) and Jon Oney (Worship & Welcome Director). They are excited and inspired with their ministry areas.  Big items here -first – a need for additional lay volunteers to supplement and support our children ministry programs and second - a call for 50 choir voices to sing praises at all three Christmas Eve services.  Stay tuned for details on choir rehearsals and schedules.  Finally, a huge praise to our Lord and thanks to our church family for the financial response to needs.  For the first time in almost nine years, we came through August and September with all bills paid.  Please keep up the good work.

Next, we want to invite you to pray for and nominate some of our gifted and talented brothers and sisters to council positions.  If you feel a calling to do so, we would welcome your nominating yourself for consideration.  We can assure you that serving on council contributes immeasurably to the effective governing and oversight of our church ministry.  You will also benefit significantly in your own spiritual development and growth.  Please e-mail Carol Olinger at [email protected] with recommendations. Carol will then send all names to the FCC Nominating Committee.  Thank you to those who have agreed to serve on our Nominating Committee.

Finally, we want to underscore our council’s support for the Jubilee Initiative as Pastors John and Mike explained in their letter.  We prayerfully deliberated for several months together as the initiative was formulated.  It is clearly a spirit led invitation towards specific goals as we approach our dinner celebrating 50 years of ministry.  Leading the list is the great commission component – reaching out beyond our walls to free the lives of others in our community.  Close seconds and thirds are retiring our remaining mortgage balance and growing our capital fund – freeing ourselves to free others.  November 11th is our banquet and celebration day.   Although we set it as the date for officially taking a snapshot and reporting on progress, we welcome any contributions through the end of the year and beyond as the Holy Spirit may lead you.  For those who want to consider making online donations, please do so at our secure online site at: http://www.faithcovenant.org/#/give/the-jubilee-invitation

Thanks to all of you for your interest and support of our collective ministry at Faith.  Let us pledge to maintain a healthy prayer life through this season. We can only imagine the stories that will be told 50 years from now as God’s children look back at what will then be 100 years of celebration.  We can proclaim with certainty they will be pleasing to our Lord.


In it together,

Roger Baldwin and Susan Lay
Faith Covenenat Church Council
President & Vice President

HERE IS WHAT IS COMING UP AT FAITH

INFANT BAPTISM CLASS
Faith’s Infant Baptism class is taking place October 14th.

STUDENT UPDATES
MEA weekend will once again be the dates for our junior high and senior high fall retreats at Covenant Pines.  You can go directly to the Covenant Pines website to sign up – just be sure to write “Faith Covenant” under “church name” when you register.  Junior high: October 17-19; Senior High October 19-21.  Scholarships may be available – please contact Brian Martian [email protected] with any questions.

LOVE BURNSVILLE
Sunday, October 28 – Following the 9qm service. Lunch will be provided! Please Sign up ion Church lobby on Sunday if you want to be a part of this wonderful event.

50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Sunday, November 11, 6-8pm Tickets on sale in church lobby on Sundays. Tickets are $35, but contact [email protected] if money may be a hindrance to your celebrating with us.

CHOIR MEMBERS WANTED
This Christmas our Faith program hinges on having a Choir. We would like 50 people to participate. Rehearsals are 11/13, 11/27, 12/04, 12/11 and 12/20 from 6:30pm - 9pm. First and last rehearsals are mandatory. Other rehearsals may be just sections at a time. Vicki Newendorp will be leading the choir rehearsals. If you or someone you know want to be a part of this opportunity, please contact [email protected].

Also, November 4th is Faith's Hymn Sing. If you would like to be a part of that Choir, pleas contact [email protected]. Rehearsal for the Hymn sing is November 3rd from 9am - noon. Lunch will be provided.

Greetings Faith family! My favorite weather has arrived. Our sprinkler system was blown out and winterized this morning, the “fall sport” season ends next week, and the chill in this morning’s air is refreshing! That’s one thing I love about Minnesota: when we are tempted to settle-in to a season, things change and we adapt. So it is with our spiritual journeys: when life seems cozy and comfortable, one child begins high school, another excels at an athletic endeavor, and the schedule ramps up. And so we adapt and dig deep, to be sure our hearts, minds, and schedules are firmly planted in the peace and depth of our life with Christ…which never changes.

This season at Faith has been nothing short of refreshing. We are celebrating new opportunities to connect and dig deep, both with God and with one another. We are delighted at a wonderful class of prospective new members and are thankful for the body of Christ that God is growing here at Faith. And we are focusing on ways in which God and His creation ‘Come Together’ through our weekly sermon series.

Be sure to join us this Sunday as Pastor John talks about God’s Love and Our Hearts. The coming together of God’s perfect love and our imperfect hearts, wrapped together in grace.

Look for the following specific opportunities to ‘Come Together” with your Faith family in the coming weeks:

CONNECT OPPORTUNITIES:

·      Calling women of all ages: Remember to let Jen or Char know that you plan to attend this year’s annual
       Twin Cities Covenant Women brunch, hosted at Faith on Saturday, October 13. Bring a friend!

·      Once again, we are hosting our second annual Love Burnsville day, an opportunity for God’s family
       and our surrounding community to “Come Together” in love and service. Sign up to serve in the lobby! 

·      Our 50th Anniversary Banquet is November 11th. Tickets are available in the lobby this week!

SERVING OPPORTUNITIES:

·      Children’s Ministries: Our youngsters need loving adults to shepherd them, encourage them, and love
       them! Contact Jon Dack.

·      Worship Ministries: Our Hymn Sing and Christmas Choirs need voices! Contact Jon Oney.

·      MOMS Program: Single moms and their children in our community need a safe, stable, Godly influence
       in their lives. Contact Jane Palmer.

·      Homework Helpers: Do you have some time and a burden for today’s youth? The youngsters in our
       community need your time! Contact Karl Peterson.

PRAYER OPPORTUNITY:

·      Kosovo Mission Trip: Remember to pray for the Drenks as they return to Kosovo this month to continue
       pouring into the Kosovan people, meeting their daily needs and introducing them to Christ.

Written by Char Rotvold - Community Life Pastor at Faith Covenant Church