November 2015

PASADENA COVENANT CHURCH

Ministry Opportunity: Serving Pasadena's Homeless

Through Pasadenas Bad Weather Shelter (BWS)
Pasadena Covenant helps man the Bad Weather shelter on Wednesday
evenings:
Dec. 2nd thru Feb. 24th
Homelessness is a significant problem here in Pasadena. Pasadena
Covenant partners with area churches and the City of Pasadena to help
respond to this need. During winter months when temperatures drop
to 40 degrees or below, or there is a 40% change of rain, Pasadena
Covenants gym transforms from a basketball court to a shelter for those
who need a safe place to stay at night.
Area churches share responsibilities: as the host church, we cover
Wednesday nights. There are several jobs, so if your time is
limited, you can volunteer with what fits your schedule. Our
volunteers basically help anytime from 6:30-9:00pm, so even if
you need to arrive late or need to leave early, there will be
opportunities for you to help. Trained, professional staff will be
on site to help direct volunteers. You may sign up for one, two or
more Wednesday nights, either as an individual or as a group
(e.g. life group or group of several families). Children are welcome to serve with their families under
their parent's close supervision.
To sign up to help, or for more information about the BWS,
come to the Bad Weather Shelter table in the Courtyard/gym on
Sundays after church (during hospitality time) or call Wayne
Walker (626) 429-5120 or e-mail Wayne at
waynefredwalker@gmail.com (on the subject line put: BWS).

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Adult Bible Class: 9am Sundays (hosted by Couriers)

Come to the Couriers Bible Class, in the Fireside Room, at 9am to hear from Dave Rinker on
the book of Deuteronomy. All are welcome; coffee and pastries will be provided.

Sunday Morning Womens Bible Study

The Bible Study meets at 9am in the Corner House. Childcare will be available. It will run for 8
weeks through a series, To Know and Be Known. We will be engaging passages of scripture and
several practices including contemplative and listening prayer. Please contact Lisa Thackwell at
thackwells@gmail.com for more information.

Wednesday Evening Adult Small Group

This adult group is open to all for a meal, fellowship and growing in Christ. It meets at the home
of Wayne and Susan Aoki (1002 Dolores Dr., Altadena). Come after 6pm for dinner; the group
conversation is 7-8:30pm.

Upcoming Womens Bible Study: Begins December 2nd

Kathy Waldner-Gourash will facilitate a group using a new video series from Priscilla Shirer
(Dec. 2, 9, 16, 30 2015 and January 6, 13, 20, 2016). Please contact Judy Pruitt
dapruitt@earthlink.net. By November 19 if you are interested in signing-up.

Time of Prayer and Discernment: Sundays at 9am

Randy Hill will be leading a time of prayers and discernment for our next season of Alpha that
will be in early 2016. Please join him in the Santa Barbara room at 9am Sunday morning
beginning November 1st.

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The Mens Book Club will meet on

Thursday, November 12th, at 7pm at the
Corner House. We will discuss FATE IS
THE HUNTER, by Ernest K. Gann, which
chronicles the era of early aviation, especially
the courageous pilots who helped create an
industry. Newcomers are always welcome.
Join us for fellowship and no worries if you
have not finished reading the selection. We
will also be discussing and voting on titles to
read in 2016. For more info, contact Rich
Doyle at DoyleRJRB@aol.com.

Womens Book Club

The Pasadena Womens Book Club will meet
on Tuesday, November 17th, from 7:30 9:00pm, at the Corner House to discuss
Unless by Carol Shields.
Newcomers and one-timers welcome. Come
check us out. For more information, please
contact Jennifer Mawhorter at
jmawhorter@pomona.edu.

Pascov Play Club

Sarah Circle will meet Tuesday, November

17th, from 9:30 am - noon in Fireside. We
welcome all women to join us for service
projects, fellowship and refreshments.
For more info, contact Julie Maljian at (818)
790-5911.

The next Urban Ministries Team meeting

will be on Monday, November 9th, at
6:45pm in the Santa Barbara Room. All
are welcome to join us!
For more information, contact Wayne Aoki
at aoki6@sbcglobal.net.

The next Koinonia Prayer and Praise

potluck will be on Sunday, November 1st,
at 6pm at the home of Valla and Wayne
Walker.
Please contact Valla to coordinate your
potluck item vintagevalla@yahoo.com.

Play Club is for any kids under 5 and parents

(moms or dads). We will meet on Thursday,
November 5th, from 9:30-11:30am. For more
information and location, please contact Lisa
Thackwell at thackwells@gmail.com.

Trustee Meeting
Thursday, November 5th
7pm in the Corner House

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WELCOME NEWCOMERS!
If you started coming to Pasadena Covenant within the past year and would like the opportunity
to meet staff and others from our congregation, and to ask questions about our faith community
in an informal setting, please join us for our Newcomers Lunch, Sunday, November 8th from
12:15 - 1:30pm at the Corner House (on the Northwest corner of Santa Barbara and Lake Ave.).
All family members are welcome! In order to plan for the food, your RSVP is greatly appreciated
to Marianne Hill, marianne.haver.hill@gmail.com or 626-798-2097. Please let us know if you
have any dietary restrictions, and also if you will be bringing pre-schoolers so that we can plan
food and activities for them.

2016 Pictorial Directory

Please return your directory form to the church office along with your photo! If you need a form,
please contact Doreen in the main office at pascov1@pasadenacovenant.org or (626) 795-9381.

Come One, Come All Choir

Do you love to sing? Did you used to sing with the adult choir or another choir? Do you have a
child in Children's Choir or Miriam Singers? If you answered yes to any of these questions, join
us for a combined children, youth, and adult choir that will sing during the service on Sunday,
Dec. 13. We will rehearse after church on Sunday, Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 from 12:30-1:30 pm in
the choir room. Contact Mindy Gustafson for more details. mindyjs@yahoo.com Everyone is
welcome!

Budget Update for October 28, 2015

In the last month we have reduced our deficit by about $33,000 thanks to your giving and
generous special gifts. Lets keep up the positive momentum so that we may maintain ministry
and staffing in 2016!
Offerings
Rents
Giving/Rents ytd
=
460,471.15
189,024.67
Year-End Target
=
625,000.00
209,600.00
Anticipated ytd
=
515.792.98
175,073.15
Surplus/(Shortfall) ytd =
(55,321.83)
13,951.52
If youd like the convenience of giving through online banking, youll find assistance at
http://pasadenacovenant.org/resources/donate/.

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Journey IN the Promised Land: God's Big Welcome

Sunday Mornings at 10:30am
This year's theme for our Kids' programs is Journey IN the Promised Land: Jesus Welcomes Us. We
will be focusing on stories of God's surprisingly BIG welcome which extends to lots of unexpected
people. In those stories we find our own journey of hope following Jesus to the promised Kingdom.
Preschoolers: In November, preschoolers will finish reviewing their Old Testament stories from last
year's Journey to the promised landseeing how God's welcome is beginning to unfold. They will focus
on David and Daniel.
Ideas for following up at home:
1. Before he was a king, David was a shepherd. If you have a family pet, have your child help care for
your petfeeding, walking, etc. Discuss: how do you think caring for the sheep helped prepare David
to be a good king?
2. Discuss highs and lows: Israel under Kind David was a "high"they finally were in the Promised
Land with a godly King. But then just a few generations later they are once again outside the Promised
land-- in exile in Babylon. Yet God was with them even in exile. This would be a good time to revisit
our practice of family sharing of the days highs & lows around the dinner table or bedtime, looking
for where you can see God's presence in both. (for more ideas, see Sleeping with Bread by Dennis &
Sheila Linn).
Gradeschoolers: In Logosland, gradeschoolers will finish their study of the Beatitudes (Matt. 5). The
Beatitudes are really all about Gods Big Welcome: they are a list of sometimes surprising, unexpected
sorts of people who are blessed to be welcomed into Gods great kingdom. Through reading and
studying the beatitudes, our praye is that kids will come to see how they, too, are included in Gods
Big Welcome.
Ideas for following up at home:
1. Discuss the whole idea of "blessing". When have you felt "blessed"? What does it mean to be
"blessed"?
2. Look over the beatitudes in Matt. 5: 3-12. Which ones surprise you? Why?
3. Read some blessings given in the Bible (e.g. Ps. 121:78; Ps. 29:11; Rom. 5:5-6; Rom. 5:13; 1 Thess.
3:11-13; Phil. 4:7). Choose one to focus on as a family, make a poster with the verse and hang it in a
prominent place.
4. Choose some people outside your family who need God's blessing. Pray one of those blessing over
them each day.
Continued on next page

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Continued

Family Advent Breakfast

Sunday, December 6th
8:30-10 am gym
Begin the Christmas season with a fun & meaningful family breakfast served by our students. Youll
also make an advent craft and receive an advent calendar to guide family devotions. A free-will offering will be taken to help support scholarships for our youth camps.

Christmas Shoebox Project Collect Nov. 22nd

We are collecting Christmas Shoeboxes to be given to children in war-torn countries, refugee camps,
and in developing nations. Any standard size shoebox will work, but plastic ones are particularly useful to those in chaotic circumstances. Fill your box with school supplies, hygiene items, toys. Hard
candy is OK, but no perishable food, liquids, war-related toys, weapons or breakable items. Enclose a
$7 donation in an envelope to cover shipping. Or go to www.samaritanspurse.org/ezgive to donate
online, and you will be able to track your box and find out where it is sent. Pick up a flyer in the children's classrooms to get a sticker to affix indicating if it is for a boy or girl label & indicate the age
level. Bring your box with you to church on Sun., Nov. 22nd. Note: If you can help deliver shoeboxes to the distribution center (in Arcadia or Glendale) in the afternoon of Sun., Nov. 22nd, please
contact Vikki at vrandall@pasadenacovenant.org.

Baby Dedications
Claires

Samuels

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Continued

Mighty Memorizers
Mighty Memorizers is a program to encourage kids to learn one memory verse per month, related to
their Sunday School lessons. At the end of the year we will honor our memorizers in a big
celebration. Our November memory verse is "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Matt 5:8." Take time to discuss the verse as a family and what it means. Challenge the whole family to
learn this important message together. Kids can recite their verse to any of their Sunday School group
leaders any time throughout the month.

TheStudy: Sunday mornings, 9-10:15am (Student Room)

All Wednesdays: LifeGroups, 6:30-8pm (Student Room)
Turkey Toss: The Party, Wednesday, November 18th
For more information about upcoming events, please contact our Pastor for Youth Ministries,
Dave Rinker, at drinker@pasadenacovenant.org.

Join the Urban Ministries Team!

Do you care about issues of peace and justice? Our UMT seeks to partner with our neighbors in
bringing healing & restoration to our community, and we are seeking 2-4 members to help discern
God's leading in two key areas:
Homelessness: PasCov sponsors a bad weather shelter (BWS) for the homeless in Pasadena. We
are looking for someone to partner with team leader Wayne Walker to organize, recruit & equip our
enthusiastic volunteers. (Most of the responsibilities will be seasonal: Nov.-Feb).
Madison elementary/food closet: PasCov has a great history of partnering with our local
elementary school to provide food and tutoring. As the program and needs of the community have
changed, we have taken a step back, with the food closet on hiatus, to discern how best to partner
with these neighbors moving forward. We are seeking 1-2 new team members to join us in this
process.
If you'd like to know more about the Urban Ministries Team and how you can join with us in
community with our neighbors, please contact Wayne Aoki or Vikki Randall.

Pasadena Covenant Church

539 North Lake Avenue
Pasadena, California, 91101-1217
Return Service Requested

Page 8

November 2015
1 Sunday
9:00am Classes
10:30am Worship Service
11:45am Hospitality
12:00pm Miriam Singers
6:00pm Koinonia Prayer and Praise potluck
2 Monday
3 Tuesday
4 Wednesday
5:45pm Childrens Choir
6:30pm PCSM LifeGroup
5 Thursday
9:30am Play Club
7:00pm Trustee Meeting
6 Friday
7 Saturday
8 Sunday
9:00am Classes
10:30am Worship Service
11:45am Hospitality
12:00pm Miriam Singers
12:15pm Newcomers Lunch
9 Monday
6:45pm Urban Ministries Meeting
7:00pm Cross-Cultural Ministry Meeting
10 Tuesday
11 Wednesday
Offices & Facilities Closed

12 Thursday
7:00pm Mens Book Club
13 Friday
14 Saturday
15 Sunday
9:00am Classes
10:30am Worship Service
11:45am Hospitality
12:00pm Miriam Singers
16 Monday
17 Tuesday
9:30am Sarah Circle
7:00pm Womens Book Club
18 Wednesday
5:45pm Childrens Choir
6:30pm PCSM LifeGroup
19 Thursday
9:30am Play Club
20 Friday
21 Saturday
22 Sunday - Shoebox Collection
9:00am Classes
10:30am Worship Service
11:45am Hospitality
12:00pm Miriam Singers
23 Monday
24 Tuesday

25 Wednesday
5:45pm Childrens Choir
6:30pm PCSM LifeGroup
26 Thursday - Thanksgiving
Offices & Facilities Closed
27 Friday
Offices & Facilities Closed
Bad Weather Shelter Begins
28 Saturday
29 Sunday
9:00am Classes
10:30am Worship Service
11:45am Hospitality
12:00pm Miriam Singers
30 Monday