TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTRIBUTORS SENIOR PASTOR Thomas Daniel
{ FROM THE LEAD }
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR Duane Dube
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EDITOR Stephanie Schultz
{ EVENTS }
DESIGN AND LAYOUT Noël Kalmus
Pastor's Letter
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Life Guide
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Fall Calendar
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Stephanie Schultz, Beth Feger
{ FEATURE }
PHOTOGRAPHY Beth Feger, Noël Kalmus, Stephanie Schultz, Julie Weeks
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The Music Man
{ COMMUNITY }
ILLUSTRATION AND LETTERING Noël Kalmus
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SPECIAL THANKS TO Paul Mowry, Brian Sparks
La Maestra
{ LIFE } 13
Thin Places
pg. 17
pg. 23
{ FROM THE LEAD} Accordingly, our fall sermon series is titled “Encounter” and that is what I am hoping this fall holds for each of us. The fifth chapter of Mark describes a day when one town encounters Jesus in incredibly powerful ways. People discover their dignity, worth and the magnificent power of the almighty God that is in their midst. What these fragile locals hold in common is that the place of “encounter” resides in their incompleteness, loss and need. It is here that the Savior comes to minister, redeem and heal. While many of us desire to hide our pain and loss from others, this passage invites us to journey together in the belief that God will encounter us and revive us again! May we journey forward this fall seeking to encounter the person of Jesus in each of our own stories.
Friends, I hope this letter finds you well as our long and hot Texas summer begins to wind down. I trust that these days allowed for times of rest, reflection and renewal. As fall approaches, it is natural to feel the increased pressures of busy calendars and “to do” lists crowding in on us. In all of this busyness, however, I encourage you to intentionally ask: “Am I busy with the right things?” We should not allow our schedules to drown out our spiritual growth and commitment to follow Jesus wherever we live, work and play.
I am also excited to let you know that we will launch a brand new Covenant website later this fall. This site will become the central hub for all news, events and stories about what God is doing in and through the Covenant community. To consolidate our communication efforts, this is the final printed copy of the Cornerstone. We believe that this change will enhance our ability to describe how God is on the move. The new, improved digital format will enable us to provide more stories and more timely content as we move forward.
Financial Update
Friends, this fall promises to be a wondrous time as we can encounter Jesus both individually and as a community. I look forward to being on the journey with each and every one of you!
June 30, 2018 General Fund (YTD) Offering Receipts: $1,776,767 Budgeted Offering: $1,766,702 Surplus: $10,065
Joyfully,
Actual Expenses: $1,538,973 Budgeted Expenses: $1,774,152 Difference: -$235,179 Building Fund Total Loan Balance: $425,536 Principal Reduction YTD: $778,914
Thomas Daniel Senior Pastor
Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
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{ LIFE GUIDE}
SOLITUDE
COMMUNITY
Just as Jesus sought solitude by retreating alone to pray, we too need to set aside time for spiritual examination that opens our hearts and minds to God’s healing presence and guidance.
Following Jesus involves learning to be in relationship with everyone else whom Jesus invites. In community with one another, we discover opportunities to grow in our practices of faith, hope and love.
Daily Devotion
Explore Membership
Keep a regular routine of spending time in scripture and prayer this fall with Covenant’s Daily Devotion email, which arrives in your inbox each morning. Subscribe at covenant.org/dailydevo.
Explore what it means to be a part of the Covenant community in this four-week class, 9:30 a.m., Sundays, Sept 9–Sept. 30. Contact Amy Skaggs, askaggs@covenant.org.
Rule of Life Create or revisit your Rule of Life. Consider what spiritual practices need more attention. covenant.org/ruleoflife
Check out the fall adult education options on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. at covenant.org/sundaymorn.
Small Groups
Q Commons
Covenant’s small groups will kick off the week of Oct. 3.
Covenant will host its third annual local Q Commons on Thursday, Oct. 25. The two-hour live event will educate Christians on how they can bring hope and leadership to their communities in a critical moment for America. For more information, visit
covenant.org/covenantgroups
Ideas to grow your practice of solitude:
Sunday School for Adults
Pick a regular time and place to unplug from devices. Let yourself sit for a few minutes each day with no agenda. Build a habit of rest into your schedule.
qcommons.com/austin
SERVICE Following Jesus always involves being sent with a mission to the world.
Shaped to Serve
Drive-Thru Prayer
Street Youth Ministry
Covenant’s tenth annual churchwide day of service is Nov. 10. On this day, members form teams to do projects in the community that benefit our mission partners and neighbors. More information coming soon online and in Covenant Matters.
Aug. 20-24, 7-9 a.m. Be part of this powerful ministry that offers prayer to commuters. Volunteers are needed to hold signs or pray with commuters in our parking lot. Visit deidox.org/austin/offering to see DTP in action. Contact Joe Skraba at jsskraba@gmail.com.
Fall needs include: adult boxers, t-shirts, socks, canned food, household cleaning supplies, reusable water bottles and backpacks. Drop off at Covenant Hall. Contact terry.cole@gmail.com or visit streetyouthministry.org.
Drive-A-Senior West Austin
Refugee Ministry
Volunteers serve the needs of older adults by driving them to the doctor, store or other errands so they can continue to live in their own homes. Drivers needed. Contact Kit Chenault at
Gift cards to Target, HEB or Ross provide much-needed essentials for our refugee families. For financial donations, make checks payable to Covenant Presbyterian Church with the designation “Covenant Refugee Ministry.” Contact Jennifer Wood at
cchenault@austin.rr.com.
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jenniferhwood@gmail.com.
Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
Movin’ & Groovin’ Donate furniture and household items to this ministry that serves families exiting homelessness. Volunteers needed for Saturday deliveries. Contact Jim Troiano at movinmission@gmail.com.
{ LIFE GUIDE}
FALL 2018 AT COVENANT Four Worship Services Resume Sunday, Aug. 19 Traditional in the Sanctuary at 8:15, 9:30 and 11 a.m. Contemporary in FE 200 at 11:05 a.m.
Sunday School Kick-off Sunday, Aug. 19 Children check in at FE 200 and FE 300 Students (grades 6-12) check in at FE 400
Journey Choir Rehearsals start Sunday, Aug. 26
GraceNotes Rehearsals start Sunday, Sept. 2
Lamplighters (9:30 a.m.) and Moms in the Word (9:30 a.m.) Wednesday, Sept. 5, in FE 200 lamplightersbiblestudy.com
Confirmation Retreat Saturday, Sept. 16
Choir Dedication Sunday Sunday, Sept. 23 9:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary
PW Fall Kick-off Brunch Thursday, Sept. 27 at 11 a.m. in FE 200
Downtown Men’s Bible Study Sept. 26 at 11:30 a.m. Max’s Wine Dive mcrawley@covenant.org
Children’s Choirs start Wednesday, Aug. 29 4:30 p.m. in FE 100
Wednesday Night Kick-off Wednesday, Aug. 29 Dinners start, 5 p.m. in FE 200
What a Wednesday (kids programming) Wednesday, Aug. 29 6:30 p.m. in FE 300
Student Ministry D-Groups start Wednesday, Aug. 29 6:30 p.m. in FE 400
Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal starts Wednesday, Aug. 29 7:30 p.m. in FE 100
Walking the Mourner’s Path Thursday, Oct. 4 – Nov. 29 6:30 p.m. in the Parlor
Meet Your Deacon Sundays in October on the Patio
First Grade Bibles Sunday, Oct. 16 11:05 Contemporary Worship
Student Ministries Fall Retreat Friday, Oct. 19 – Sunday, Oct. 21 Camp Champions
Trunk or Treat Wednesday, Oct. 24 5 p.m. in the parking lot
Preschool starts
Covenant’s Day of Service
Thursday, Aug. 30
Saturday, Nov. 10 All over Austin
Career Transitions Thursday, Sept. 6 – Oct. 4 7 p.m. in FE 100
Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
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{FEATURE}
Tom Brown raises the bar for church choirs!
Four senior pastors. Three interim senior
pastors. Too many associate pastors to count. One music director. Tom Brown has been Director of Music at Covenant for 25 years. “What’s kept me here is the ambitious attitude of our adult choirs and their willingness to sing good music that spiritually enriches worship. Our choirs don’t merely entertain or appease congregants. We are a very active ministry with a rather diverse complexion.” When pushed, Tom will admit that his vision has led the way, but it’s only worked when coupled with the ‘yes, let’s try it’ attitude of the choirs. “They have not been stodgy. No one ever says, ‘that will never work here.’” It wasn’t always like that. Tom had to work hard to sell a few of his ideas over the years. “There were people on the worship committee who were very suspicious about the Hanging of the Green service.” Tom said the pushback was normal. “You tend to wait a while to initiate
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new things. But in the first year, we started the Hanging of the Green service and immediately did a version of Jazz Sunday.” Tom said both events were met with great criticism, but the risk paid off. The Hanging of the Green, innovative when Tom proposed it, is now a cherished tradition. Similarly, Jazz Sunday is a day of all-church fellowship that unites the church.
Changes While the structure of the choirs is much the same as when Tom joined the staff, he has made numerous additions. “We’ve added groups like the Covenant Folk Band and we formalized GraceNotes, moving it from a volunteer group with no leader and eight performers to a group of 20. We’ve added special
Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
{ LIFE} services that have become traditions, like Jazz Sunday and Hanging of the Green.” Other special services throughout Tom’s tenure have been the Worldwide Communion, where the choir performed music of the world, and Gospel Sunday, which was popular for many years. “Some of the special music springs from my own musical interest and abilities,” Tom said. “A new leader may not be fluent in jazz, but could do a bang-up Gospel Sunday.” In addition to singing in worship, Covenant choirs have maintained a concert schedule. “I am proud of the fact that we have a decent to strong congregation audience for our concerts. I have colleagues who don’t do concerts anymore because they can’t get anybody to come. We almost always have 200 to 250 in the audience, sometimes more. Our Bluegrass Mass filled the Sanctuary for two nights.” Tom’s influence extends beyond Covenant’s music ministry. Covenant’s acolyte ministry was his brainchild, which he started with Melanie Williamson. He also spearheaded the idea to expand and train lay liturgists. “I created the first training workshop. We immediately had 15 people sign up. At the Saturday workshop, we read together, looked through the order of worship and talked about presentation styles.” Recently, Tom collaborated with Associate Pastor Jon Wasson to create Beer and Hymns. “I hope this takes off and is a periodic event,” Tom said. “It’s a good expression of the church in the community and something I’m disappointed to be leaving.”
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{ LIFE}
Raising the Bar Tom said there are too many lovely services and concerts to pick a favorite, but the Bluegrass Mass performed by GraceNotes in 2011 was such a unique work for choirs that it stands out. Tom’s colleagues from other churches came to hear the concert. Cindy Couch, who at the time was directing the choir at Westlake Presbyterian, told him after the concert, “You’ve raised the bar for all of us as far as what church music can do in Austin.” “I always remember that comment,” Tom said, “because I do things that make us a leader and an innovator in what traditional music can be. We stretch the limits and the boundaries in the context of what can be done in traditional music.” Others feel the same. In an email to Tom after a concert, an audience member told him: “The choir concert was incredible! I was so moved by the music, the perfect harmonies and the song choices that I’ve thought about it for days after.”
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Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
Tim Hurst, a choir member for 12 years, said, “I was drawn to sing by Tom’s talents in the musical traditions of jazz, gospel, early American hymns, as well as all the cultural and classical traditions from worship around the world.
“To say that Tom Brown is a guiding light as our Minister of Music is an understatement,” Tim said. “He has helped pastors and interim pastors amplify their sermons with hymns from many different Christian traditions. His experience of music has inspired us all in our prayers, in our confessions, in our taking of the sacrament and in our joy of giving in the offering.”
{ FEATURE} Harold Skaggs, a choir member for 20 years said, “The best words for Tom are flexibility, giftedness and the ability to excel in various genres, like jazz and gospel and religious and baroque. He excels in all of that. I’ve noticed in the 20 years that I’ve known him that he’s become more mellow and more spiritual. He’s more oriented to music as worship, rather than music as music.” “I’ve always been impressed with Tom’s attention to detail and his musicality,” Jan Skaggs added. “He gets good music out of us.” For the past five years, Melanie Dixon has been Music and Worship Assistant. “Tom’s been a good boss,” she said. “He’s laid back and forgiving, and he’s so talented. He has an incredible ability to play the piano and make stuff up on the fly to go with the hymns.”
Stacy Curtis has worked in various roles for Tom for 12 years. “Tom is open and supportive of my creativity and encourages me to think outside the box. He has a wonderful sense of humor and keeps things positive. Also, what musician would not enjoy working with a person as effortlessly talented as he? Melanie Dixon sings at the spring 2018 concert
Melanie has learned a lot from Tom. “I’m a much better singer. He’s always, always teaching about vowel sounds and consonants and style and dynamics and what the composer intended and the feel of the pieces.” Melanie, in her worship assistant role, appreciates Tom’s worship knowledge. “He’s a good lay liturgist. He’s so thoughtful and careful with the creation of the flow and the timing and the feel of the worship service,” she said.
“I have learned so much from him about choral conducting and the importance of picking meaningful, theologically correct literature,” Stacy said. “I have learned about cohesiveness in worship planning, and also about flexibility.” Stacy continued, “The number one thing I have learned from Tom is to approach all situations with grace. Tom has shown me that no matter the circumstance, God is in charge. If I can have faith in that, even difficult situations will work themselves out.”
{ FEATURE}
Limitations Perhaps Tom’s music program was too popular. Covenant’s choir loft is designed for about 40 singers, and the Sanctuary Choir has had about 70 active members for the past several years. “They don’t all fit and I think that discourages growth,” Tom said. “When you look at the choir loft, you think ‘it’s full; they don’t need me.’” The small loft has necessitated putting up risers for certain Sundays, which has been a challenge. However, the facility issue has not slowed Tom. “I tried to do the things I would do with perfect facilities and Covenant always said ‘yes.’ They had a lot of trust.”
What’s Ahead Tom got his first church job at age 17 and has been a part of church worship for more than 45 years. Even when he had a job in academia, he still worked weekends at a church. As Tom and his wife, Ann, pack their bags for New Orleans, he recognizes there are many things he’ll miss about church work.
“I will miss making music in the context of worship. I’ll miss the choirs—that’s the heart of what I’ll miss: Wednesday nights, Sunday nights and a lot of warm friendships.
Hello,
Louise!
“I’m far from perfect and I’ve got a lot of people who know my imperfections and still pretty enthusiastically allow me to be their leader.” Tom is excited to have more freedom on the weekends and will take advantage of the family nearby. His mother will live with him and Ann, and their son and family will be just a few blocks away. As for how he will spend his hours, Tom said, “I don’t have a formal plan. I will write more and hope to publish more music. I look forward to practicing piano a few hours a day and work on playing jazz,” he said. “I hope God has something in mind that I don’t fully know about yet.” Covenant will hold a farewell lunch for Tom at 12:15 p.m. in FE 2oo on Sept. 23.
By Stephanie Schultz Director of Communications
Covenant has hired an interim music director. Louise Avant will work with our choirs while we seek a full-time permanent music director. Louise is well-known within our choir community. Until this summer, she was Minister of Music for First Baptist Church of Austin, where she served for 23 years. The Covenant choirs have performed several concerts with First Baptist. Additionally, Louise has served as organist and choir director in Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches. “Her spirit is great,” Senior Pastor Thomas Daniel said. “She’s worked with a lot of denominations and brings a lot of experience. It will be a delightful journey as she shepherds us through this interim time.” Louise will start on Sept. 4, giving her three weeks to work with Tom before his last day, Sept. 23.
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Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
{ COMMUNITY}
Evangeline was hired for this job through Austin Voices for Education and Youth (AVEY), where she planned to volunteer two hours a week when she left her job teaching high school math for the Austin Independent School District. Her plan quickly changed: Two hours of weekly volunteering turned into a 15-hour/week job. “Evangeline has done a great job with Plaza Comunitarias,” said Julie Weeks, the Director of AVEY Family Resources Centers. “Evangeline’s years of teaching experience have been so helpful, as she is now helping adults to learn basic education in Spanish.” AVEY is one of three organizations offering the classes. Manos de Cristo and El Buen Samaritano also offer classes. Through the program, the students get educated in their native language, continue to their GEDs and then move onto learning English.
Twice a week,
Evangeline Herring teaches four subjects to 18 students ranging in age from 28 to 59 years old at grade levels ranging from kindergarten to 9th grade. The group is part of Plaza Comunitarias, a program funded by the Consulate of Mexico to educate Spanish-speaking immigrants who did not finish elementary or middle school. Evangeline teaches her students math, science, language arts and social studies.
Evangeline expected the teaching to go faster, initially surprised at how challenging it can be for some of her students to learn letters and write simple sentences. She has learned to be patient. “We have people who have never gone to school and have to start with basic ABCs and writing their names, all the way to students learning pretty difficult algebra,” Evangeline said.
Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
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{ COMMUNITY}
“Many immigrants don’t have the education we have,” Evangeline explained. “In Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and many other Latin American countries, the elementary school is free, but you have to buy books, notebooks and uniforms. In sixth grade, you have to pay for school. Many families, especially in small agriculture-dependent towns, don’t have the means to send their kids to school after sixth grade. Many don’t finish or even start school because they are working in the fields, sometimes as early as five or six years old. Girls clean houses by age seven or eight, or take care of others’ kids or their siblings so their parents can work. Often the oldest child doesn’t go to school, but the youngest will. “The hardest thing for my students is math,” Evangeline said. “If two are doing algebra, I will give a minilesson. Sometimes, I’ll make everybody stop what they are doing and give a fraction lesson because sooner or later, everyone will have to do fractions.” The students are very patient. “These students are the most humble people that I have ever met in my life,” Evangeline said.
“My students are so giving and helpful the way they support and encourage each other. We laugh together, cry together, pray together. It’s more than education; it’s a support group.” Julie Weeks emphatically agreed. “It is more than an adult education program. Evangeline has a real ministry to these women. She is so warm, caring, supportive and encouraging that she creates ‘community’ with these women. I’ve seen them blossom in self-confidence and self-image in the time that she’s been working with them. They celebrate and support one another to take on new challenges such as continuing their own education. Several of her graduates are going to enroll in the GED prep class.” Evangeline said when the students share their stories, she is often moved to tears.
Jose “I have one male student who never went to school. He came to America at 14 and started working construction. He taught himself how to read a little and how to write letters, but he never wrote a complete sentence. He came to me with his wife, who already had her middle school diploma. He stayed for two months. He wanted to do everything perfect. He was like a sponge. “I told him the best thing to do to improve his reading is to read to his kids. I got him several books and his wife told me that the four-year-old sits on his lap and the eightyear-old its by his feet and he reads to them every night. Simple reading is changing that household!”
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Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
{ COMMUNITY}
Maida “Maida went to sixth grade but hadn’t been in school in 20 years. In less than eight months, she finished middle school and has started her GED classes. She and her high-school-age kids do their homework together. Her fourth-grade son told his teacher he was going to do really well in school because he wanted to be like his mom.” Evangeline said her job has made her appreciate the immigrants in this country and how hard they work. “They want the best for their families; they want to raise their kids to be successful. Education is really important for their families because they didn’t have the opportunity that their kids have.”
The students are respectful, Evangeline said. “They call me la maestra. It means ‘the teacher’ and it makes me think about Jesus. They say they learn a lot from me, not just about the school subjects, but about life.” For a couple hours every week, Evangeline gets to experience the privilege and the challenge of teaching this group of eager learners. She says that she is often the student. “I learn from them about how they are raising their kids. I see what a good job they are doing and how hard they work.” If you would like to learn more or volunteer in Evangeline’s class, contact her at evaherring@gmail.com.
The Weeks Make a Move Allen and Julie Weeks and their two kids made a major move this summer. After 14 years in the St. John neighborhood, the family moved to Charlottesville, Va., to be closer to Allen’s family. “We’ve decided to shift gears in our ministry,” Allen said. “While we will continue to be deeply involved in the work of Austin Voices, we relocated our family to Charlottesville. The move enables us to reduce the many hats that we both wear and focus more on our kids.”
Allen remains Executive Director of Austin Voices for Education and Youth (AVEY) and is traveling back to Austin once or twice a month. Julie continues to oversee AVEY’s eight Family Resource Centers and coordinate data and evaluation, but she has turned the reigns of the Webb Family Resource Center over to an AVEY staff member. Julie relayed that the move was rife with challenges. The moving van company did not show up on the moving date and the family was forced to rent two UHauls and move themselves. The Weeks had three health crises in less than a week: Julie had an emergency root canal, son Ryan got stitches and Allen pulled muscles in his back. “Other than all that,” Julie optimistically said, “we love being here, close to Allen’s brother. We are slowly unpacking our house
and have met some wonderful neighbors, including some kids on our street who are Ashley and Ryan’s ages.” Allen is excited for what lies ahead. “We love our Covenant family, and this has been the church that we absolutely know we were called to. God has done so much in both of our lives during these years. The friendships at Covenant have enabled us to do so much in St. John and beyond. While we will miss our friends at Covenant, and will not be in St. John physically, we will continue our ministry in Austin through Austin Voices and hope our partnership with Covenant will continue for many years to come.” Learn more about AVEY, including ways to volunteer at austinvoices.org.
Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
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{ LIFE}
I first heard about “thin places”
in a sermon by Thomas Daniel. The expression stuck with me so I researched the term. I found this: “There is a Celtic saying that heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller. A thin place is where the veil that separates heaven and earth is lifted and one is able to receive a glimpse of the glory of God” (Maddox, 2004). It wasn’t until the summer after my sophomore year in college at camp for the first time that I experienced a “thin place.” Having grown up in the church, I had knowledge of Jesus but when I arrived at John Knox Ranch (JKR), I experienced Him for the first time. It is hard for me to explain almost 30 years later how my summers at John Knox Ranch transformed my life and my faith, but a couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to experience John Knox Ranch again with my five-year-old daughter. She was spending a week at day camp; I would help out around the ranch. Driving through the Hill Country outside Wimberley, I felt lighter. I rolled down the windows and was hit with a hot blast of summer air. When we turned off the highway, I felt emotions welling inside me. I swallowed the tears forming in my eyes as Michelle loudly sang her VBS songs in the back seat. I dropped Michelle off in the capable hands of two teachers and a handful of high school kids spending their summer helping at the day camp. I headed to the office and was quickly put to work. The first few days it rained; still, everyone carried on enjoying swimming in the rain, arts and crafts and games. By Wednesday the rain gave way to a typical hot summer day. I took Michelle to swim in Blue Hole, the deep natural spring at the heart of John Knox Ranch. The water is cold; perfect after a long morning of archery, hiking or helping in the kitchen. We swam, laughing and talking about the rocks as we tried to climb up the slippery edge on the far side. As we were leaving, a group of kids from overnight camp came hiking down the cliffs. Michelle wanted to see what the big kids were doing, so we swam over. They were climbing along the cliff several feet above Blue Hole to jump in. Anyone who knows our brave, dancing girl can guess what happened next. “Mommy, can I jump like the big kids?” I wasn’t sure this was a good idea and as we tried to get past the slick edge, I lost my footing and slid down the rocks and almost fell in the water. “I’m scared, Mommy,” she said, her confidence gone. I was a bit scared myself. I asked her what she wanted to do.
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Just then, one of the kids called, “Follow me, Michelle.” He led the way. Each calculated step was a huge accomplishment on the slippery, steep climb. Finally, we made it to the jump spot and as the whole crew of big kids cheered Michelle on, she jumped fearlessly into the Blue Hole. When she emerged from the water her smile filled my heart. Michelle walked proudly around camp the rest of the week. This spring, I have spent a lot of time thinking about faith formation, what we as a church family want our kids to know, feel and do as they grow in faith as part of the body of Christ. As part of a children’s committee, I have worked with others, writing plans and envisioning a life of faith for our children. Moving forward, our committee will make decisions about how we can accomplish these outrageous plans and dream for our children. My time at John Knox Ranch gave me peace to know that God is at work already. Maddox writes,
“The [Blue Hole] seemed to whisper Jesus’ words, ‘I am with you.’ These words could be said in a book, in a classroom, in a sermon, but in a thin place there is an immediacy of experience where words of faith become words of life.
For me, witnessing my sweet girl take the plunge in the deep water of Blue Hole, I was able to see God at work in her life and in the lives of the kids helping her negotiate that cliff. I was able to witness “the hallowed space and time” where heaven and earth are one. I am not sure what this means for her faith formation but I am reminded of God’s goodness and how much He enjoys seeing his children face their fears and move forward with confidence knowing they are safe and loved.
In this hallowed space and time heaven and earth for a moment are one.”
John Knox Ranch is a place where “words of faith become words of life.” Learn more about the opportunities at JKR for kids and adults at johnknoxranch.org. For me and my family, John Knox Ranch is a place where you can plunge deeply into God’s amazing love and experience the diverse body of Christ. It may be someplace else for you, but it is my hope that we can all find our own “thin places.” By Beth Feger
Cornerstone | September - October | Ordinary Time
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3003 Northland Drive Austin, TX 78757
Covenant’s 10th annual Day of Service Saturday, November 10, 2018