Holy Covenant UCC

By Pastor Nancy Ellet Allison, Ph.D.

I loved my Friday night high school dances after the big football game. The dances were, of course, more fun if we won – but since that was a 50/50 proposition – we learned how to have fun even with a loss. That was back in the day when free style dancing was at its peak, the twist already being too proscribed a dance. So – I never really learned a two-step, a waltz, a box step, a salsa or samba, but I had a great time!

These days I am in two Zumba classes. At Holy Covenant, Jason teaches us real Latin-rhythm dance steps and creates an incredibly enjoyable environment; in contrast, my fitness center leader is way into belly dancing and mostly does four-step moves and beats. Even though they are dramatically different, I have a great time and they both keep me moving for an hour‘s worth of exercise. In neither of them can I sustain a dance pattern on my own. If I can‘t do what the leader is doing or if I can‘t imitate someone, I revert to marching in place. And that is the joy and generosity of Zumba. There‘s no one right way; there‘s no judgment of the one who marches in place or completely lacks coordination.

I need that grace and generosity, because I am a slow learner on the dance floor. I really like learning new moves with both classes and maybe in a couple of years of repetition I won‘t have to count 1-2-3, 1-2-3 to follow the pattern – maybe one day I will know and feel the rhythm so well my body will be able to flow with the music. In the meantime, even though I don‘t know the moves and I don‘t know what‘s happening next, I am once again having a great time.

And that describes exactly how I am feeling about all that is happening with the merger of Holy Covenant and Pilgrim these days. None of us know exactly the right moves or what is definitely happening next, but we‘re all doing our best to dance in the same direction and have a great time doing it!

2012 will be a year of learning, exploration and adventure for all of us. There are some churchy patterns that we can all rest in and know all the right moves, but we‘re going to be doing a whole lot of on-the-move learning. I‘ve gotten good at laughing at my mistakes on the dance floor. There are some ministry issues that are never a laughing matter – but there‘s a whole lot of room for saying ―Oops, that was a wrong step, without allowing the mishap to become a stumbling block. We will need to offer one another grace and generosity in the days ahead. This was not in anyone‘s vision of Holy Covenant‘s future ministry opportunities, but our generous God is giving us an open moment for claiming a new future – and that‘s a joy!

Many have been busy helping us move forward, here are some of the highlights:
Holy Covenant on Harris and Sharon

In our discernment about identity, we have decided for now to talk about one Holy Covenant congregation, with two physical locations: on Harris Boulevard and Sharon Road. For the next few months (January-March) the Sharon Road location will retain the Pilgrim Congregational UCC street sign. We will make signage changes as we are more prepared to offer our ―extravagant welcome‖ when people do visit the Sharon Road campus.

Rev. Linn Finger officially retires on December 31, 2011, with a final service on Christmas Eve. The Rev. Jim Humphrey will begin his service as the Interim Pastor for HC/Sharon on January 1, 2012. We are grateful for his leadership, gifts and skills and since he already knows most of the Pilgrim members, they are also quite grateful to have him serve.

We will begin to make physical changes to the building and some small changes to the current worship service. However, for January and February, we are essentially going to concentrate on overall planning and enhancing the site‘s physical appeal.

Where is God Calling You to Serve?
We need to begin to accurately discern who is interested in having the Sharon Road site become their primary place of worship and we need to assess where the skills and talents of those members will be most effectively used. If you know you are interested in being a part of the HC/Sharon ministry, please contact Kay Smith at tealadykay@carolina.rr.com. Let Kay know whether you want to lend a helping hand with targeted things like clean up days (and mostly stay engaged at HC/Harris) or that you are ready to commit to worship at this location beginning in March.

Worship Plans – Join us on January 4!
Our tentative plans are to hire a part-time clergy person to serve as the Associate Pastor for the church. This minister would primarily serve the HC/Sharon campus, but would also be engaged enough at the HC/Harris location for all of our members to feel connected to her or him. Since the current Pilgrim congregants would prefer worship remain at 11 AM, we are exploring the purchase of cameras, screens and the kinds of equipment that would allow us to broadcast my sermon with only a slight time delay. We‘re not at all certain what the music should/will sound like for this service – whether this is the time for us to go fully contemporary or to continue to offer blended worship services – and this is definitely the place where there is no one right answer and the dance steps could be very interesting!

If you want to join us in brainstorming ideas and style of worship for HC/Sharon, come to our Worship Team meeting on January 4 at 6:30 PM at HC/Sharon.

Communicating our Opportunities
Eventually our web site will reflect the identity of our two campuses. In the meantime, both our weekly email and our monthly newsletters will carry an HC/Sharon information section so we can keep ALL of our congregation updated – we‘re adding all of the Pilgrim members to our mailings as they officially become members of Holy Covenant this January 2012.
God has entrusted us with a new dance partner. Some of our most gifted and agile dancers will lead us in the new moves we must all learn. Some of us will make the adjustments effortlessly, some of us will stumble along. We can all have a terrific time in the learning. As we enter 2012, I am grateful for the openness of spirit I experience time and again at Holy Covenant. May this be a dance of new beginnings that carries us forward with joy and generosity.

Dancing along (1-2-3, 1-2-3),
Nancy