Be A Blessing

We Can Still Be a Blessing!
How do we faithfully and responsibly continue to share the gospel in these challenging times? Executive Minister Michelle Sanchez shares about this topic on the Ed Stetzer leadership podcast focused on helping leaders navigate through the new reality of the coronavirus. Check out her thoughts on faithful and responsible outreach in times of crisis, and access many other interviews with ministry leaders on a number of vital ministry topics.

Stay Connected

MDD Facebook Page
Join the MDD team on Facebook. We will be posting helpful resources and encouragement as we navigate our current ever-changing reality.

Youth Workers Online Gatherings
We will be gathering every two weeks to share words of encouragement and hear from each other on creative ways to care for our communities in this complex season. Mark your calendar for our upcoming gatherings on April 14th and April 28th.

Crescendo Facebook Page
Stay connected with the Crescendo team on Facebook for ideas to enhance connections during this physical distancing time as well as words of inspiration and hope.

Youth & Kids Resources

ECC Youth Ministry Resources 
Youth workers are on the frontlines of ministry with students and families and we want to help you respond well in your youth ministries in this season. In this document, you will find helping information, resources, and ideas curated by leaders across the Covenant.

Blinky and Coronavirus
This 4-minute episode with Blinky, a bird puppet, and Steve Burger, Director of Children, Family, and Intergenerational Ministry, can help parents talk to children about the challenges of staying home because of Coronavirus.

Spiritual Formation Resources

Spiritual Direction
Spiritual direction is a ministry of listening, discernment, and prayer in a confidential setting of encouragement and compassion. Through this ministry one discerns the presence and work of God’s Spirit with a companion who sets aside the concerns of their own life to attend to the experience of God in the life of another. If you desire to receive spiritual direction, there are Covenanters in each conference who are happy to assist you in locating a director or pointing you to further resources. Find a director in your regional conference or see ACSD member bios.

2019 Week of Prayer: Crushed Olives, Enduring Light
During this season that may feel crushing, learn more about people of the Bible whose lives were transformed in a purification process when they were crushed through the press of life’s difficult situations such as loneliness, abandonment, disease, injustice, and betrayal, when only faith was able to take them forward. It is the pure oil from crushed olives that keeps the lamps lit. For Christians, it is the oil, the Holy Spirit that takes us forward, keeping our spirit, our faith lit. (Spanish and English)

2020 Week of Prayer: Reconciling Grace
Hear and receive God’s amazing grace–boundless, both in its beauty and its many dimensions, as these writers share their perspective of the gift of God’s grace while being isolated from family and society. (Spanish and English)

Small Group Resources

Designed, Women’s Discipleship Resource
More than a curriculum, this resource provides a discipleship framework based on ongoing patterns found in the Bible that apply to all disciples as they pursue God. If you are looking for ways to connect with other women in your community and church, we hope Designed can be a helpful resource for you. Complete with a comprehensive facilitator’s guide, teaching videos, and weekly handouts this 10-week resource is created to help us draw near to God, grow in Christ, and partner with the Holy Spirit in intentional ways, even during this pandemic season.

Crescendo: An Ascent to Vital Living
This study is based on a framework for ministry to, with, and by boomers and older adults presented in Crescendo. This study is designed with small groups in mind, but you may choose to use it for individual study or a large group setting with smaller bre
akout sessions. Each session consists of four parts, based on the elements of Christian worship: gathering, word, response, and sending. The sessions are designed for small or large groups and can be completed within a 90-minute time frame. (Spanish and English)

Blazing Center Resources

Download Blazing Center Resources
As Covenant people, we affirm a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit. This resource suite is specifically designed to ignite a passion to see the Holy Spirit move through our congregations, out of our churches, and into our communities. It includes sermon videos, adult, student, and children curriculum, 25-day devo, and more.

Agenda of Thirds
The Agenda of Thirds offers a different way of organizing meetings that focuses attention on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. In light of our current season, we encourage you to use this guideline as you lead your online meetings.

Adult, Youth, and Children Resources
These 6-week resources examine Jesus’s promise of the Holy Spirit and fulfillment of that promise in the book of Acts.

• Adult
• Youth
• Children

Racial Reconciliation and Righteousness

A Message Regarding COVID-19 At Stateville Correctional Center
This document outlines how churches can correspond with our Stateville students because there are particular protocols that the program’s director has asked people to follow.

Interview with Dr. Stan C. Sonu
In this conversation, Dr. Sonu and Rev. Dominique Gilliard (Director of Racial Righteousness and Reconciliation) discuss the racial disparities associated with COVID-19. They explore why these disparities are so glaring, the root causes of racial health disparities, and COVID’s connection to a broader history of injustice and inequity within healthcare. Their conversation ends with a discussion on why COVID is spreading so aggressively behind bars, and ways the Church can help love our neighbors during this pandemic, while also advocating for a more equitable system of healthcare. Click here for additional resources referenced in the interview.

Asian Covenanters Subjected to Xenophobia
Covenanters of Asian heritage say they and their children have experienced shunning, bullying, and verbal assaults amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A Call to Practice Solidarity
Statement from Love Mercy Do Justice, Covenant Asian Pastors Association board, and Presidents of the Ethnic Associations.

Advocacy for Victims of Abuse

COVID & Domestic Violence Podcast
Ramelia Williams and Dr. Elizabeth Pierre present a podcast with information and suggestions for how pastors and neighbors can care for victims of DV/SV in the midst of the COVID crisis.

PBS Special Report
Many Americans are staying home amid the coronavirus pandemic. But what does that mean for those who aren’t safe where they live?

Domestic Violence Victims Facing Higher Risks Amid Coronavirus Quarantine
Raises awareness of the negative implications for shelter-in-place restrictions on DV victims

Staying Safe During COVID-19
This article from the Domestic Violence hotline <thehotline.org> offers suggestions for abuse survivors to increase their safety. If you are in need, or know someone who is, please call 1-800-799-SAFE. You can also text LOVEIS to 22522 for assistance. The hotline is open via phone call and chat line 24/7/365.

Domestic Violence Website
This site has many resources available for both abusers and the abused.

Child Sexual Abuse Prevention During COVID-19
COVID-19 Resources for parents and caregivers to help keep children safe. The Helpline (1.888.PREVENT) has email and chat response services that provide information, referrals and support for individuals concerned about possible child sexual abuse. The Online Help Center is a web-based tool that provides adults with 24/7 access to balanced information and practical resources for questions and situations involving possible child sexual abuse.

Justice in Pandemic
This 10-minute news special raises awareness and addresses safety measures for victims of multiple forms of abuse like child abuse, elder abuse and domestic abuse.

100 Sermons About Domestic/Sexual Violence
As the COVID crisis has increased the incidence of domestic violence, it is even more urgent that we increase awareness in our congregations. At Sojourners 100 sermons site you can read quotes from each sermon or (read in entirety) and learn how to continue to make your church community safe space for victim-survivors of abuse.

Ministry Development in Season of Crisis

Caring for Neighbors from a Distance
Ministry development experts Joy Skjegstad and Heidi Unruh join together to offer this informative piece on how to continue the call to care for our neighbors, especially in a time of crisis.

Social Enterprise

Covid-19 and Small Businesses
A conversation concerning small businesses with the new Director of Social Enterprise, Benjamin Vazquez and business owner Reesheda Washington. She is the CEO for RGW Consulting and Live Café. They give small tangible solutions the church can do to help support small businesses during Covid19. Small businesses across America are already feeling the financial crunch from Covid19 and we must act. Watch video here.

Other Resources

Recommendations for Loving Older Neighbors Well Amid COVID-19
13 recommendations for how to love older congregants and neighbors well amid COVID-19

COVID-19 Prayer Calendar
Daily prayers for those reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

ECC Women Lead Amidst Crisis

COVID-19 hit the U.S. in March, which is Women’s History Month, and throughout the world we have seen women rise up to lead in response to this emergency. Germany’s Chancellor of State, Angela Merkel, warned her country early on to take the virus seriously, and Germany began testing immediately, which helped that country’s infected numbers remain far below their European neighbors. Under Tsai Ing-wen’s leadership, Taiwan proved to be among the fastest responders to the threat. Now Tsai Ing-wen is sending 10 million face masks to the United States, and CNN named Tsai’s leadership among the world’s best, according to Forbes magazine.

In the U.S., women currently make up 7% of firefighters and 15% of EMS providers and emergency management directors, according to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

Throughout the Covenant, women are finding ways to help, lead, and adapt. They are serving as first responders, ministry workers, and witnesses in their communities of God’s powerful and soothing presence in this pandemic.

Marilyn Williams
Director of Women’s Initiatives

Susan Cosio

Hospital Chaplain
Davis, California

Chair of the Covenant Chaplains Association Susan Cosio serves as a hospital chaplain at a large urban medical center in Northern California. In her role, Susan is one of the first responders in this pandemic. She is responding strategically and creatively to support patients, families, and staff.

“While others have been asked to isolate and retreat, I have been asked to step in through new and innovative ways,” she says.

As is true throughout the world, the staff at her hospital are more stressed and stretched than ever before. Responding to the emotional and physical demands they are experiencing, Susan helped to establish strategies within the spiritual care department to address their increased anxiety as well as their exposure to death and loss. This includes a support line staffed by chaplains. She also writes weekly inspirational reflections to encourage hospital staff, and developed a protocol and script for “telechaplaincy” in response to visitation restrictions. Those resources allow chaplains to offer spiritual support to patients and families by phone when they cannot visit them in person. She has also written guidelines for families whose loved ones are hospitalized or even die without the physical presence of loved ones.

Susan continues to visit as many patients and families as she can. During Easter week, she began delivering “comfort crosses” to patients to hold onto when they are feeling anxious and lonely. These hand-held olivewood crosses fit within the palm of a patient’s hand when they cannot reach out for the hand of a loved one.

In addition, Susan works to help Covenant chaplains receive the support they need. One way she does that is by sending regular updates to 300+ Covenant chaplains serving in hospitals, hospice, retirement communities, military, and emergency response teams. She and ECC president John Wenrich have also been hosting biweekly WebEx calls where chaplains around the country can share their stories and prayer requests. On one recent call, Susan noted that any artificial barriers based on geographic location or chaplaincy specialization seemed to be gone.

“We are all one team,” Susan says. “Here to support and encourage one another.”

Danielle “Dani” Kilgore

Associate Pastor of Outreach and Missions & 30 for 30 Participant
Marin Covenant Church
San Rafael, California

As associate pastor of outreach and Missions at Marin Covenant Church, Danielle “Dani” Kilgore has been focusing on how to help their broader community while keeping the church family connected. Using healthy volunteers from the congregation, the church created a program called MCC Cares for anyone who needs help getting groceries. “Think of it as Instacart, Jesus style,” Dani says.

Additionally, Dani has been working with community partners across the Bay Area to provide resources and practical help, including doing food drives for a local shelter ministry in San Francisco, hosting a blood drive with the county blood bank, as well as providing financial donations to communities with at-risk individuals who face extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic.  

The church has created virtual small groups, which have helped provide connection to folks when connecting physically isn’t possible, Dani says. As a result, members of the church and their neighbors say they are feeling loved even as they shelter in place.

So often people ask the question, “Where is the church in all this?” Dani says. “My answer is always you’re looking at them. When you see me serving others, it’s not me but the church being the church. We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ, and now more than ever I am grateful to be able to do so!”

Angie Diamond

Family Ministries Leader
Rock Harbor Covenant Church
Melbourne Beach, Florida 

Angie Diamond has found new ways to minister to families online every day. From reaching out to kindergarteners and first-graders on Mondays to running moms group and women’s Bible studies on Tuesday mornings and evenings, second- and third-graders on Wednesdays, and fourth- and fifth-graders on Fridays, Angie has found a way to continually support ongoing spiritual formation virtually at Rock Harbor. On Thursdays, Angie and her own children produce videos to use in children’s church on Sunday mornings before the adult service goes on Facebook Live. On the weekend, Angie sends out encouraging emails to families, asking how Rock Harbor Covenant can support them. In between staying on top of prayer requests and family needs all week long, Angie and her husband, Kevin, who is Rock Harbor’s pastor, work together to create innovative and interactive Sunday online services.

Although innovation can take considerable time and energy, Rock Harbor reported more than 300 people attending their online Sunday services from start to finish. The church plant launched in 2019, and Angie reports that they are reaching more people online than they’d had a chance to reach on-site. One woman told them that she had checked out Rock Harbor right before COVID-19 hit. In the midst of her own struggle with doubt, she listened to Kevin’s sermon online on not doubting. As a result, she started giving to Rock Harbor online as a means to declare her newfound faith.

“It’s all about pointing people to Jesus in and out of every season,” Angie says.

Tanya Constanza

Manager, Covenant Orientation and Sustaining Pastoral Excellence
Develop Leaders, Covenant Offices
Chicago

Tanya Constanza has been finding new ways to show Jesus’s love to her neighbors and surrounding community. She has been delivering take-out or frozen meals with a care package that includes toilet paper, games, and snacks. She facilitates virtual prayer groups and creates space for people to share their concerns and needs.

One creative way Tanya encourages her neighbors to be honest about their feelings is to start conversations by asking, “I am asking for a friend…what do you think that friend needs right now?” She says it helps people feel more free to share their own personal needs and fears in response.

Tanya also continually texts everyone in her address book to remind them she is thinking about them and praying for them. She often shares resources, articles, podcasts, and other important topics around COVID-19 information, especially with those who are not technologically savvy. She connects with others through virtual venues around lighter topics too to share the medicine of laugher (Proverbs 17:22). In all these ways, Tanya continues to be the hands, feet, and heartbeat of Jesus.

Caitlyn Stenerson

Connections Pastor & 30 for 30 Participant
Emmanuel Covenant Church
Shoreview, Minnesota

Caitlyn Stenerson is working to keep the congregation at Emmanuel Covenant Church connected during the pandemic. Recognizing the importance of the church family connecting in the lobby on Sunday mornings prior to sheltering-in orders, Caitlyn and the staff created a virtual church lobby that meets after their virtual Sunday service, encouraging their church family to grab a cookie and a cup of coffee. Church lobby conversations are prompted with the questions, “What brought you joy this past week?” and “How can we keep you in our prayers this week?”

The kids team has also set up a separate virtual lobby where kids and youth can connect for conversation and share prayer requests. That has created opportunity for more one-on-one conversations. Caitlyn remarks, “What our students (and our adults, too) need most right now is connection more than information.” She seeks to create a virtual space that is focused on seeing one another, talking in small groups, and continuing building peer and leader relationships.

Caitlyn has also continued their regular Wednesday night youth schedule by starting with a game like a real-life scavenger hunt in their individual homes or a challenge such as, “Show me your toilet paper!” She rewards winning students with a small prize or a church-sponsored pizza for the family. She also teaches spiritual truths such as, “Where is God when I am afraid? What does God say when I feel hopeless? Why do things like this happen if God is good?” She says the virtual groups have provided genuine connection.

Grateful for their established relationship with their local funeral home, Caitlyn and the staff at Emmanuel Covenant are learning how to guide people through new COVID-19 rules and regulations. They have also learned the power behind phone calls when they can’t make routine hospital visits to the sick, and she has been able to set extra time for longer phone calls and regular phone check-ins. Most of all, Caitlyn has learned the golden pastoral rule to lean into the gifted congregants around her to help carry the load and shepherd the church.

Some resources Caitlyn and the church have found to be helpful in their small group ministry:

• Netflix parties (watching movies together while sheltering in place: https://www.netflixparty.com ). It syncs playback and even has a chat box for participants to connect while watching the movie.
• Leaders can host a Zoom meeting and run a movie while sharing their screen. Zoom (http://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/202954249-Optimizing-a-Shared-Video-Clip-in-Full–Screen) will sync with DVDs, Amazon Prime, and YouTube (not Netflix). Be sure to click “Share Computer Audio” by clicking on the ellipsis (…) on the Screen Share Options Bar.
• Jackbox is super fun! Download the Steam app to the leader’s computer and screen share the games. Here is the current free game to download: https://store.steampowered.com/app/442070/Drawful_2/. Caitlyn’s favorite is Jackbox 3 (Quiplash is super fun): https://www.jackboxgames.com. There is a family friendly button in each game under Settings on the first page. Check out Uno (https://play.unofreak.com/create and Card Games (https://www.cardzmania.com/games/.
• Houseparty is also fun and easy to install. Have everyone download the app and add each other onto their list. There are a lot of games to choose from (https://houseparty.com).

Dawn Lindholm

Covenant Chaplain
Saratoga Retirement Community
Saratoga, California

Dawn Lindholm is finding new and innovative ways to minister to the 85-95 residents in the retirement community she serves.

Because the facility does not have internal television and most residents do not have access to technology such as Zoom, Dawn writes two articles a week to share with residents in their meal bags. She also checks in with residents by ph
one.

Dawn is also working to equip daily on-site managers with helpful tools for their teams, who are feeling overworked, tired, and stressed. As well, some of the residents have expressed suicidal ideations. Dawn wrote an article entitled, “My Going to Cranky Camp” to let the staff members and residents know that many people are experiencing an unusual amount of family stress and depression during this crisis.

Dawn attends staff team meetings, seeking to be a source of calm amidst the storm. As those relationships are strengthened, Dawn notes, “These opportunities would not have happened before the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Karen Figueroa & Flor Graterol

Karen Figueroa
Dean of Students
Centro Hispano De Estudios Teológicos (CHET)
Long Beach, California

Flor Graterol
Chaplain and Professor
Centro Hispano De Estudios Teológicos (CHET)
Long Beach, California

Karen Figueroa and Flor Graterol have been busy helping CHET students transition to online learning, about 5 percent of whom have no internet access. Flor is finding innovative ways to keep their students engaged in their programs during social-distancing.
Karen is trying to balance working from home along with her husband while their children take online classes. She is also continuing her MDiv studies at North Park Theological Seminary online, which she is scheduled to finish in a year. She is thankful for this program, saying, “There is not a reading or lecture that doesn’t speak to me and what God is asking of me during this crisis.” In addition, Karen cares for her 82-year-old mother-in-law. She says she and her family are trusting God to show them how to be found faithful in this trying season.

Rici Skei

Co-Pastor
On Ramps Covenant Church
Fresno, California

Rici Skei says she can see how God has been preparing On Ramps Covenant Church for this season. One of the core values they have leaned into is their commitment to be family to each other. With most of their congregation struggling with financial stability and some being homeless, it has been necessary to connect quickly with those who come to church and work diligently to stay connected.

Before this season, On Ramps had active online small family groups, live-streaming services, community food ministries, and a strong follow-up presence in each other’s lives. One positive result of social distancing and not being able to gather is seeing the church rise up to shepherd one another in new ways, Rici says. “People are discovering gifts and operating in them. They are leading in ways—online prayer, devotionals, and reading to children virtually—like never before.” She says she hopes those who have discovered their spiritual gifts and begun developing them in new ways will continue into shared church leadership.

One way On Ramps has ramped up their community support is by taking the leftovers from the school district’s breakfast and lunch distributions and to five pickup spots in the community for anyone who needs food. Most of the congregation do not have personal transportation to access food drives, etc. To meet this need, those in the congregation who do have cars are lending them to those who need them.

Wearing hygiene masks presents a challenge for the black and Latino men in their congregation, Rici says, many of whom have experienced racial profiling and discrimination. Single moms are exhausted from home-schooling and trying to meet their financial needs in the home. While trying to remain realistic about how much they can do as a church, congregants are facing the demands of COVID-19 in stride with the rest of their ongoing larger problems.

On Ramps just closed escrow on a community center in March. That timing was a challenge in the midst of the pandemic, but Rici says she has seen God’s perfect timing. They were able to complete the construction work without having to displace on-site ministries. “By the time the world ‘opens up’ again, our offices and activity center will be ready for tenants and renters!” Rici says.

Mary March

President, ECC Mosaic Commission
President, Covenant Asian Pastors Association
Co-Pastor, New City Covenant Church
Edina, Minnesota

Mary March has been creating care packages for the congregation at New City along with her husband and co-pastor, John March. They are also checking on elderly members of the church through video chats and regular prayer. As well, Mary and their teenage daughter are sewing masks for healthcare professionals and hospitals. New City Covenant Church eats together on Sundays after online Zoom services, which is a continuation of “Soul Food,” which the church had implemented in person before sheltering in place. They are also accessing their ongoing benevolence fund for any COVID-19 needs, and Mary worked with CAPA to create a COVID-19 benevolence fund for Covenant ministers.

Dieula Previlon

Covenant Minister
Carrollton, Texas

Dieula Previlon connects with a North Park Theological Seminary Lily grant cohort through prayer lines while she continues to run a private counseling practice. “The main thing is to find ways to connect, connect, connect,” she says. “Human connection is crucial. While sheltering in place, we can make phone calls, video conference, and drop off groceries for neighbors. Be sure to check in one another.”

She also encourages everyone to find ways to keep living. While the temptation may be to retreat in the face of depressing news all around us, she urges us to “live as best we can and help others to do the same.” Virtual birthday parties and afternoon coffee breaks are helpful ways to stay connected through positive venues.

She also makes sure to practice her own self-care through exercise, journaling, reading, prayer, deep-breathing, and watching some favorite shows. 

Conclusion

These ECC women and so many more are serving as first responders, ministry workers, and witnesses in their communities of God’s powerful and soothing presence in this pandemic.

We know God has created humanity in God’s image, male and female, to shepherd the world in his likeness (Genesis 1-2). With men and women working together, we can portray the full image of God, for such a time as this. Now more than ever, the world needs to experience God who works through the full expression of Christ’s body in times of great need. The world has the opportunity to hear a full orchestra, men and women, working collaboratively in their spiritual gifts to bring the help and hope of Christ to the world. We are thankful to all who serve so well in our churches and communities to make an impact for Christ.