Annual Report

In an effort to keep the congregation informed of the activities of the various committees and ministry groups at Covenant, the first Annual Report of Covenant was put together to give you a snapshot of the past year's activities and the upcoming goals of those groups.

Click on a committee name below to view their report.

CARE Year End Report
Jan Funk – Associate Pastor

The first year of ministry at Covenant was very exciting and required much learning.  A Pastor’s Team of Steve, Harold and Jan provided care.

This past year at Covenant has been equally as exciting and very fulfilling.  This assignment is a wonderful fit the needs of the Covenant community and my call to Deacon.  God is GOOD.  Care has expanded quite a bit using established small groups at Covenant.  The Pastor’s Team continues to provide care while utilizing qualified volunteers, hospital chaplain recourses and serendipity grace moments.  Let me explain.

A person currently receiving care from the Pastor’s Team and a Cheers group was here at church.  Grace came when a man reached out to pray for the care receiver without knowing the situation.  He later came to my office describing the encounter with enough detail I was able to identify and encourage these prayer moments.  Later that day a staff member mentioned care provided to this same person throughout the week indicating that as the care receiver obtained care they also encouraged and provided ministry to the staff person.  A circular divine process was occurring.  An additional group felt moved by the Holy Spirit to pray for this same care receiver.  Much care happens at Covenant through the Holy Spirit outside of formal channels.  It is the amazing power of Jesus through holy encounters that continues to encourage me and lift this ministry up.

In 2007, a new reporting process was developed allowing a summary of visits, types, pastor, person and situation.  Basically data is kept under password protection in Excel and disseminated using pivot tables for communication.  Our Stephen Ministers were assigned heavily and one inactive Stephen Minister agreed to service, as all current Stephen Ministers were assigned. Randy Sims is becoming more confident on hospital visits.  Faun Brown continues to provide gentle, holy care. The women on Tuesdays write notes to support the prayer requests made on the blue prayer cards each week.  Care at Covenant continues to be wonderful, personal, and effective.  Resources continue to be developed.

Now in 2008, the bulk of care at Covenant is provided by members and small groups.  The Pastor’s Team continues to minister to those without a small group attachment and where the situation is particularly critical.  As our caring group/groups mature I see more ministry outside of Covenant.  Many are already involved in encouraging and caring for their neighbors, co-workers and friends.  As God leads I am trying to discern a simple, effective method for recording the care outside of Covenant along with internal care.  I expect our care will grow in the community and I want to capture the statistics and stories of God in action through care.  While I am in the Holy Land a member of our care team will be praying and discerning God’s will in a particular care situation.  This person will be “stepping outside of the box” I look forward to the report when I return of God’s mercy and our care provider’s growth in this process.  Covenant continues to be a leader in how the congregation responds in love to those in distress. 

(return to top)

Children's Ministry
Marlene Fenstermacher, Director of Children's Ministry

Covenant UMC offered the following opportunities for children in 2007:

• Covenant Preschool and Parents Day Out-weekday program ministered to 126 children and their families each week.

• Sunday School-preschool-5th grade-Graded Sunday mornings classes averaged 28 children a Sunday in 2007 with the most attending on a given Sunday being 48.

• Kids’ Connection-we averaged 10 children in the breakout time for children during the 11:00 am worship with the most attending a given Sunday being 30 on Easter Sunday

• Joy Night-preschool-5th grade-Wednesday evening fellowship and learning groups.  We averaged 27 for September-December, 2007.

• Nursery care in a safe and loving environment-Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings and other times for infants through 3 year old children.

• Learning to Use My Bible class—for third graders to learn about the Bible and receive a Bible from Covenant.  Six attended in 2007.

• Vacation Bible School Week long activities and learning opportunity for children during the summer.  We averaged 58 children this past summer.

• Conference Camping-summer camp for children kindergarten – 5th grades.  Seventeen of our children attended last summer.

• Acolytes-An opportunity for children to serve during worship.  We have 13 children serving as acolytes.

• Trunk-or-Treat-a Halloween alternative for Covenant and the community

• Pumpkin Patch –first time in 2007- $958.59 was raised for missions.

• Christmas Pageant-42 children shared the Christmas story with the congregation through the retelling of the Christmas story.   

All the above are opportunities for children to be connected in ways that will help them grow in their relationship with God, and with others, as they become disciples of Jesus Christ.  They are supported in this through many volunteers who give many hours to help children learn and grow.

(return to top)

International Mission and Outreach Team – 2007
Jada Conner, Chairperson

In 2007, Covenant extended its mission worldwide.  For the first time, one of our very own members, Justin Grogg, was called to be a missionary in Peru, South America.  Justin spent one year in Peru teaching God’s word and touching the lives of those who have not heard the message of Jesus Christ.  Covenant and friends raised $33,000 to support Justin’s ministry there. 

On another side of the world, Pastor Steve Conner and Tim Alderdice were called to "go and make disciples" in Kenya, Africa.  In August 2007, they joined a team from Atlanta and spent two weeks working with Life for Children Ministry (LCM) in Kisimu and Wachuro Village, Kenya.  LCM is a ministry that Covenant is partnering with this year (2008).  Life for Children is a ministry to AIDS orphans that was started one year ago through the vision of Michael Agwanda.  In Kenya, Pastor Steve preached God’s word to those who may not have heard and both Steve and Tim touched the lives of people in ways we may never know.  Since our connection with Life for Children Ministry, Covenant has sent money to buy Bibles, help dig wells, purchase mosquito nets, and help the small Wachuro Village people purchase land for a church.   We will continue our partnership through 2008. 

Several Covenant friends have committed to Disciple Dollars.  This commitment involves giving $1 each day to a ministry.  The ministry that we are currently supporting is raising enough money for the Wachuro Community to fully purchase their land to build a church.  Covenant has already given $5,000 and expects to fulfill a commitment of $8,000.  Disciple Dollars are collected the first Sunday of each month.

One of our goals this year is to raise the awareness of the needs around our world.  Several Covenant friends attended an AIDS/HIV awareness class.  We also recognized National Aids Awareness Sunday in December.  In addition, one of Covenant’s families traveled to Russia in November and visited an orphan ministry there.  We will continue to raise the awareness of needs in our world. 

My hope is that Covenant will continue to expand our horizons as we become more sensitive to the needs of our brothers and sisters in all parts of our world.  Jesus commands us to take his message to the “ends of the earth.”  We shall continue to do so.

Additional financial support was given for organizations such as

• Heifer Project

• Operation Classroom

• World Hunger/Poverty/Global

• Nothing but Nets

• and many others.

May God bless all of us as we hope to bless others with His Gospel.

(return to top)

Ministry Development
Jackie Young, Director of Ministry Development

It is hard to believe another year is behind us and it is time to write my yearly report!  Every year I promise myself I will keep a list of ministry activities and accomplishments to make this task easier.  But, I have not done so and perhaps a ‘list of accomplishments’ misses the real point anyways!

Although new ministries were launched this year the real heart of what has changed, or grown, or is blossoming, is a deepening of faith and discipleship at Covenant.  Although the number of small groups and adult education opportunities has not increased or decreased dramatically, and programs are still well attended, there is a sense of a hunger to want to "go deeper."  I see it happening during Sunday morning classes as participants wrestle with tough biblical concepts and how to apply them to their lives.  I sense a deeper level of care in small groups as people share and respond to the needs of others.  I witness weekly people coming to the Prayer Chapel asking others to pray with them.  I praise God for the response to projects like “Operation Outreach” that involved over 150 from the Covenant community in service to non-profits all over Fort Wayne.  My sense is that when we look back at this period of Covenant history, we will remember it as a time of going deeper into our faith journey both personally and corporately.  And we will remember it as a time of preparation for the plans God is calling Covenant to embrace.  This excites me more than any new program or number growth, because it accounts for the true work of the church - soul work.  And I am thankful to be a small part of that.  To be a part of another person’s faith-journey is an honor.

I am proud of the new ministries that the Covenant community has embraced and supported this year.  In the spring, Faun Brown and Alison Roser were trained as Healing Partners and launched this new prayer ministry late summer.  It has been well received by our community and has added to the deepening of personal faith for many.  Recently a Wellness Team was brought together to continue to explore how we might provide avenues for healing and wholeness through prayer and counseling that will support what we currently offer though our Caring Ministries.

In September we celebrated the grand opening of our new bookshop, The Mustard Seed.  Our mission and purpose is ‘out of a tiny bookshop, great faith will be encouraged and grow’ through promoting time spent reading the Bible, devotional materials, great classics and Christian fiction.  Bookshop Team leaders, Joyce Walus and Karen Ilardi manage the daily affairs, train volunteers and sift through resources to feature in the bookshop.  Although we have only been open 2 months, I am encouraged by the response to this new ministry.

Our outward focus on mission and outreach has exploded this year under the direction of Jada Conner, International Team Leader and Debbie Smith, National Team Leader.  The Mission and Outreach Team started out the year encompassing both national and international programs, but grew so quickly that the team was divided into two new teams!  Covenant supported it first missionary, Justin Grogg, as he ministered in Peru this past year.  Steve Conner, our senior pastor, along with Tim Alderdice went to Kenya to explore ways we could partner with “Life for Children Ministries”.  Ongoing national projects have continued to be supported, and new ministry opportunities have been brought before the congregation.  In February we held our first annual “Operation Outreach” day.  Over 150 people from Covenant worked at 15 non-profits in the Fort Wayne area offering support to these great agencies.

Covenant is a busy church actively engaged in ministry and discipleship.  As we continue to move into the future, our challenge will be to find that delicate balance between being a ‘Martha’ and a ’Mary’ church!  We will need to continually evaluate and prune to maintain the right amount of programming resources that encourages the Covenant community to grow and deepen in their faith, as they become disciples of Christ.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of this community of faithful followers and look forward to our future kingdom-building years!

(return to top)

The Ministry of Worship
Rebecca Vanderpool, Chair

This area of ministry are groups of people who assist in the "physical" part of the worship service each Sunday.

The areas covered are the lay readers, ushers, communion servers, acolytes, and altar guild.

This past year (I came in mid-year) seemed to flow fairly well.  There is a need for more acolytes in first service and more ushers in third service. We also would like a person from third service willing to help with communion.  We continue to seek those who are willing to help.

Everyone who shared their time and talents were serving our Lord in his house of worship, and at the same time enhanced the service to flow smoothly.

Another area covered this past year, was decorating at Easter, Harvest Sunday, and Advent.  The Hanging of the Greens committee was very willing to both put up the decorations (Fun !!) and also to take them down,  which was not as fun, but we had a great time in fellowship together.

THANK YOU to all have served in this area .

I look forward to work with our Covenant servants in 2008!

(return to top)

Music/Drama Department
John Kratzat, Music Director

2007 has been a strong year for music and drama at Covenant. The Chancel Choir varies in number from 18 to 25 with additional singers for special programs. The adult hand bells rang two octaves+ in the spring and currently are ringing two octaves+.

While this is very hard to quantify, the spirit of these adult groups is wonderful. We have fun while preparing the music. It is just a joy to be able to lead these groups.

The children’s program has excellent volunteer leadership. We offer the Rainbow Choir for children 3 years to kindergarten, the Shepherd’s Kids for ages 1st grade to 5th grade and Chimers for 3rd through 6th grade students. After discussing music desires with our middle school students, we disbanded the bells and started an occasional choir.

Our drama program has grown steadily, but sporadically. The Christmas Cantata was a highlight of the drama program with 18 people playing parts.

The fall has seen a transition in some of the ensembles. The adult choir continues to add new members and lose members. The adult bells are experiencing the same trend. Shepherd’s Kids is younger than in the past with the addition of the 1st graders (a change this fall), but they are doing well. Rainbow Choir is struggling a little as it is almost all boys (very strange) with lots of energy. Out Youth Choir (middle school) is down to 4 for the fall performance, but they are 4 singers who really want to share their talent – hopefully it will grow.

Our contemporary service is served by the Connection Band. These dedicated and talented musicians play every week and have seen Worship attendance steadily rise since the service was moved into the Sanctuary in January of 2006. In early 2008 we will again combine both the Connection Band and Chancel Choir for a special anthem. This is part of our ongoing effort to integrate all aspects of our music department into a (very large) team.

And finally, Barb Krick continues to bless us with beautiful music on both the organ and piano.

In conclusion, I have been pleased with the support, spirit and musicianship of everyone involved in the music & drama program. I am also grateful for the support and encouragement of our Church leadership. I look forward to growing the program and continuing to Praise God through the arts.

(return to top)

National Mission and Outreach Team
Debbie Smith, Chair 

Covenant was blessed to have many servants answer God’s call to help those in need during 2007.  In February, over 150 members and friends participated in Operation Outreach 2007 which involved serving several agencies in our community and surrounding area, as well some individuals needing assistance.  It was a wonderful experience for those who gave as well as those who received.  Planning for Operation Outreach 2008 is already underway.

Another first time event was Servant Saturday held in November.  Approximately 30 people gathered on a Saturday morning to work around the church, help with projects for Christmas missions, assist young at heart friends with yard work, and assist with a Haitian greeting card ministry which is going to become a weekly event during 2008.

Support of missions financially and with donations of goods was strong again this year, surpassing our previous year of giving.

Although a good amount was done in 2007, God has much more for Covenant servants to do in the future, and we look forward with anticipation to see how God will call us to serve.

(return to top)

New Member and Membership
Dianna Mitchell

I’m into my Second year as the membership coordinator.  I have experienced many new things in this position, most of them have been positive.  Working with the Newcomers of the church remains tops on my list.

There is now a set plan in place for welcoming and getting new people connected here at Covenant UMC.  I have revamped the welcome letter and the Newcomers brochure.  Along with the letter if they leave a phone number I will give them a welcome call.  Personally is always better.  We have a Newcomers lunch every other month followed by a Membership Classes. The Getting Connected Class is held by me.  I meet with new member after they have become member to get them plug in.

I continue to work on the membership tracing to keep up with who is not coming regularly.  I now have a questionnaire we use to give a call to the absent members.  Calls are made monthly.

This year I work on all the scheduling for the volunteers to see what improvement we can make.  Jackie Young and I are meeting weekly to improve this area of concern.  A new Covenant Servant Form has been reduce and made much simpler for all to use.

We have a new Joy Night cook.  I have been working with her to get her up to speed on the cooking.

We had a Shelby instructor come to the church to help us learn more about The Shelby program (church specific software used to track membership information).  I continue to work on this and make improvement and make reporting easier for all.

I continue to work on updating the Shelby files and hard copy files, this is an on going day-to-day battle.

(return to top)

Prayer Ministry Team 

Hesychia

Definition:  Greek word for rest.  Literal translation of the words “pray always” is come to rest.  Hesychasts is a prayer of rest.  This rest, however, has little to do with the absence of conflict or pain.  It is a rest in God in the midst of a very intense daily struggle.  Hesychia, the rest that flows from unceasing prayer, needs to be sought at all costs, even when the flesh is itchy, the world alluring, and the demons noisy.  Hesychastic prayer leads to that rest where the soul can dwell with God; it is the prayer of the heart.  Our mission will be unceasing prayer for the church.  From Henri J.M. Nouwen’s book The Way of the Heart.

Highlights of 2007

January-February-March: 

• Invited the congregation to explore the meaning of unceasing prayer.  12 copies of Henri J.M. Nouwen’s book The Way of the Heart made its way throughout the congregation.

• Joined conference in “Imagine Indiana” in prayer and fasting for discernment.

• Devotions offered for Operation Outreach.

• Facilitated Lenten services – series on “Experience His Presence”

• Attendance to seminar “Reclaiming the Church’s Healing Ministry” at Epworth Forest.

• Participated in prayer service for the “Life in the Spirit” Seminar at Covenant.

• Attended training for Healing Partners at St Luke’s in Indianapolis, a hands-on prayer ministry.

April-May-June:

• Led Maundy Thursday service.

• Chapel open 12 hours for National Day of Prayer.

• Participated in Global Day of Prayer by praying 24/7 for 10 days leading up to Pentecost Sunday.

• Led Pentecost Sunday service.

• Attendance to “Empower 2007” seminar in Grand Rapids, MI.

July-August-September:

• Healing Partners Ministry begins at Covenant.

• Noontime Family Focus every Tuesday to pray for Covenant families.

• Led Wednesday night service on keeping the Sabbath Holy during the summer 2007.

• Joy Night Family Focus every Wednesday evening to pray for Covenant families.

October-November-December:

• Prayer team led Joy Night classes educating on 2 prayer patterns.

• Participated in “Ignite Your Prayer Life” seminar in Toledo, OH.

• Prayer vigil for baby Kate.

• Advent 40 days of prayer and fasting – 40 people participated.

On-Going Prayer Ministry:

• Ministry to God by praise and worship through prayer.

• Chapel staffed for all 3 Sunday worship services.

• Blue prayer cards prayed for all week.  Small group meets on Tuesdays to send note cards in response to praises and prayer requests.

• Commitment to pray weekly for 8 Covenant families until all families have been prayed for throughout the year.

• Prayer ministry for our Pastors and staff for their specific prayer requests.

• Commitment to pray for the many committees of the church.

Vision for 2008

As we travel into 2008, our constancy will be to not only maintain the prayer ministry that has been blessed and is continuing to bless our church, but to expand on that ministry by training and forming a prayer usher team. Additionally, as we have covered the church in prayer over the past year, we are hoping that our numbers will grow so that we may continue to and continually pray for our church staff, the activities of the church, and its members.

Additionally, there is a sense that as a team, we are being called to expand our prayer efforts to include the community. We will begin working on building this bridge in the year 2008.

We are looking forward to the Chapel redesign in this coming year and are hoping that the new design will assist us to focus our efforts in an intentional manner.

Members:  (*new in 2007)

(return to top)

Staff Parrish Relations Committee
Todd Findley, Chairperson

Highlights from 2007:

• Hiring of Doug Anderson to consult with the staff and the SPRC to discuss and uncover new ways of gaining synergy within the staff

• Marc Buwalda was hired as Covenant’s youth director in May

• Held a staff appreciation lunch at Don Hall’s Guesthouse

• Each staff member completed an updated Job Description along with setting annual goals for themselves

• Work was begun on a Church Life Questionnaire with the goal of identifying what Covenant’s strengths and weaknesses are

In the year ahead our major goals will be to…

• distribute, collect and analyze data from the Church Life Questionnaire.  This will be accomplished with the help of the Administrative Council and the Strategy Committee;

• continue to evaluate the work loads of staff to help determine if more staff is needed;

• pray for, help, and encourage our staff so that they can continue to effectively do God’s work;

• and, to be an open ear and a liaison to the congregation to their praises and thoughts concerning our church and our staff.

(return to top)

Strategy Council
Kathy Sherman, Chairperson

We looked at the ministry possibilities, opportunities, challenges and priorities from a “strategic planning” standpoint.  First we learned about discernment through a book which we all read.  It helped us learn how to prayerfully discern God’s direction for the Covenant community.  We asked and answered these questions: 

• Where is God at work in our community that needs our response and attention?

• Is there anything that we should be paying attention to as a church from a ministry perspective?

Provided information for all interested about how social networks (particularly age groups) function in society and religious organizations.

What steps do we need to consider and take in order to develop our ministry in a strategic way?

Examined ideas about worship and potential changes to Sunday morning worship and education schedule.

Recommendations from Strategy Council to take to the Administrative Council and Worship Design Team

• To enhance sacred space for worship

• Move prayer from chapel to sanctuary (for example, pre-service prayer for pastors to the beginning of the service) without diminishing the sacred space of the chapel

• Simplify worship service (streamline, maintain focus on worship, reduce ‘busyness,’ and phase out that which may no longer be relevant)

• Create time/space in worship for silence, meditative prayer

• Create multi-sensory experiences that invite people to participate fully

• Use personal testimony and witness to build connective relationships with each other and God

• To foster Christian community in a 21st century relational way

• Shift from the 20th century model of discipleship that focused more on intellectual study and learning to a 21st century ‘conceptual spirituality’ that focuses on discipleship through building stronger, more meaningful and intimate relationships with each other and God. Established on the foundation of  intellectual study (20th century) to cultivate the relational aspect of the Covenant community (21st century), we will ‘cast the net’ in ways that will potentially reach more (age groups and lifestyles) in the surrounding community

• Create a sense of space so that all may share gifts and talents (open participation)

• Develop from a church that emphasizes a ‘programmatic style’ of involvement to a church that sees itself as a community of believers who love and care for each other (for example, in small groups), a congregation of Christians who respond to God’s Word and who live out their lives so that their response to God’s call is visible in the community.

(return to top)

Trustees Committee
Tina Bell, Chairperson

Here is a listing of some of our more noteworthy projects:

• The fire alarm was fixed.
• Ken Vanderpool and Rick Fosdick cut down trees damaged in a storm.
• L.A.Electric fixed the small lights in front along the walk, and three pole lights.
• The handicap accessible door in the education wing was fixed.
• The sieve valve was replaced.
• The preschool wing was rebalanced.
• Tiling in the narthex was replaced.
• We worked to refocus the lights on the front cross so as not to blind those on the road.
• Repairs were made to the roof, the leaks in the ceiling have been repaired,
• and all damaged tiles have been replaced.
• A new mower was purchased for the parsonage.
• Leaves were removed from gutters.
• New stone was placed in back near the foot bridge.
• Fifty yards of mulch was delivered for the playground.
• Ken Vanderpool calked windows.
• We continued to address roof leaks.
• The floor in the new wing was fixed.
• The ballasts for the lights in Fellowship Hall were replaced.
• New brackets were mounted in Fellowship hall for quilts to be hung.
• Doors were painted and glass placed in several more.
• We worked with AEP to remove trees in front that were in the way of power lines.
• Oh yea, we continued to continue to address roof leaks!

(return to top)

United Methodist Women
Sue Andis, Chairperson

The organized unit of the United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ, to develop a creative, supportive fellowship, and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.

In order to fulfill our obligations as stated above, we meet monthly as two circles and as a unit four times a year.  Each member is expected to pledge any amount which helps to defray our obligation to District.  Besides our payments to District, we participate in fundraising which gives us the opportunity to support local, national, and international charities of our choice.  Our major fundraising projects are Apple Dumplings in the fall, Soup and Bread Lunch in the winter, and Cookbooks every 5 years.  As a result of our fundraising efforts and pledges, in the year 2007 we donated more than $5,000 to various organizations. 

(return to top)

Youth Ministry
Marc Buwalda, Director of Youth Ministries

Over the past 10 months our youth program at Covenant (renamed “The WAY Student Ministries") has been very active.

• Missions:  7 Sr. High and 20 Jr. High students went on mission trips.

• Worship:  Youth worship service, “707” launched in August, picked up momentum, and in currently meeting 3x a month.  Avg. attendance 25 students.

• Small Groups:  Jr. High group “Catalyst” meets Wed night.  Sr. High group “Imago Dei” meets Sunday mornings.  Avg. attendance for both groups 15 weekly.

• Leadership:  “Kardia” Student Leadership meets monthly to discuss leadership matters relating to youth programs.  Also meets before 707 for prayer and setup.

Future: 

• Planning to recruit, train and equip adults for various roles in ministry as well as to become personal mentors and leaders in the lives of our students.

• Sr. High mission trip planned for July 08 to West Virginia.

• Jr. High mission trip in planning stages.

(return to top)