Hello, Bailey-

New Operating Officer Named

Local Megachurch Busting At the Seams

Miraculous Healing Right Downtown

Church Leader Arrested for Preaching without Credentials

These are just a few of the headlines lately… in our first few chapters of Acts.

I hope you’re reading along with us – one chapter a day on the formation of the early church. It’s only the 5th, so you can easily catch up. You can start reading the first chapter of Acts online through Bible Gateway by clicking here.

For the next six weeks, we’ll be traveling through a few highlights of Acts – the formation of the early community, conversions, jailbreaks, a lot of maps and traveling – and reflecting on what foundational principles of the early church can help inform us on who God is inviting us to be as the church now.

One of the most important aspects of the early church were the ways people gathered in small groups for meals and prayer.

We are hoping you would consider participating in a small group in this way over the next six weeks as well. There are groups who meet at church, some in homes, some for dessert, some for coffee. It’s not too late to sign up – in fact, this is the perfect moment.

Small group leaders will be getting info out to their groups over the weekend for first meetups beginning this coming week.

Happy Easter!

Jess

Pastor Charlie's Sabbatical

Pastor Charlie is on sabbatical leave through Friday May 10. His email has been deactivated during this time; he will not see any emails sent to his address. Please contact another staff member or wait until Charlie returns on May 10.

Worship Schedule

In-Person and Livestream worship: 9:00AM & 11:00AM
"Transformative Community" Sermon Series begins
Holy Communion
Preaching: Jess Scholten | "A Transformative Community is Formed" | Text: Acts 2:37-47
Music (9:00): New Day Ensemble (Ben Welch, leader)
Music (11:00): Covenant Chancel Choir (Melissa Hinz, leader); Doug McNeel, organist
Children's Time with Nick Von Bergen
Nursery Care: 8:45AM-12:15PM
Kaleidoscope Kids: during 9:00AM worship
Bradfield Café: 10:00-10:45AM
Visit our Worship HQ for everything you need to worship with us online!

If you missed a service or would like to watch a service again, all livestreamed services are saved to our YouTube channel. Or you can give the sermons another listen on our sermon podcast!

Adult Education

Join us on Sunday at 10:00am for part 1 of this class. The book of Acts comes after the gospels and it describes how, in a time of uncertainty, the disciples grew stronger in faith and eventually brought the church into being, while sharing the good news of God’s love well beyond Jerusalem. Jesus promised that the Spirit would come to give the power to share God’s love with the world. Come to Adult Education for this 2-week class, as we kick off a congregation-wide effort to read through the book of Acts. John Strikwerda and Melissa Hardy will lead Sunday’s class.

Children & Youth Ministries

Note: this Sunday is a 1st Sunday, so Kaleidoscope will not meet.

Acts comes after the gospels and it describes how, in a time of uncertainty, the disciples grew stronger in faith and began a community movement (the church). We present a challenge to you for April - read a chapter a day of the book of Acts (28 chapters). Join us in this challenge and for the sermon/small group series.

Small Groups: Read the book of Acts and connect with others this Spring by joining a small group for 6 weeks! Discussion guides are available at church. Suggested donation of $5. Visit covenantmadison.org/smallgroups for more info. Sign up below!

Join Small Group!

New this week:

Pam Nelson, friend of Carol Philipps & Rod Rynes

Magali, friend of the Lovell family

Loving God, in your mercy, hear our prayers for each of these your children. We pray for healing, for courage, and for peace, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Full Prayer List

Bradfield Café Volunteer

Greeter & Welcome Center Volunteer

The Enneagram is an ancient and modern way of understanding our personalities and how we live in the world. Rich Henderson of Type 3 Consulting will host this workshop at Christ Presbyterian Church. Cost is $50, which includes lunch. Participants will need to take a $20 online Enneagram assessment ($15). Register by April 17.

Racists Anonymous Fellowship begin a 4-week study of John Lewis’ Across That Bridge - A Vision for Change and the Future of America! In this book, the late US Congressman and civil rights leader provides lessons that give us a ray of hope in the ongoing struggle for civil rights. Visit covenantmadison.org/raf for more info. Contact Jennifer Morgan to get the Zoom link.

Women of Covenant are invited to Soul Sisters! Please bring your own lunch and we'll eat and chat for the first part of the meeting. Wendy Weber will lead our discussion on the topic "Celebrating the Sabbath." For more info, contact Barb Eikenberry at barb.eikenberry@gmail.com.

Visit covenantmadison.org/youth for more info on the summer trips.

Come join us for supper at Rex's Innkeeper in Waunakee, a supper club staple in the Madison area. Only 25 spots are available, so sign up today!

In August, we are planning another outing to American Players Theater! They will be putting on a production of "Ring Around the Moon." We hope you can join us!

covenantmadison.org