Pre-Thanksgiving Covenant Group!

Greetings all!

We will be meeting tomorrow morning at 8:00am to covenant together. If you are still around (and awake) please come by and join your fellow HDS Methodists in prayer and discussion. If you have left or are busy packing up...enjoy your break and may you have a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving.

Our Covenant....Finally Posted!

Our Covenant

Preamble

Christian discipleship is not a solitary enterprise, but it is most fully lived out in the context of community. We rejoiced in the gift of one another’s presence along our journeys of faith and commit ourselves to strengthening the bonds that unite us. We promise to watch over each other in love, to respect the full personhood of each member of our group, and to help one another, God being our helper, to grow in grace and in service to others. God blesses us beyond our ability to comprehend, placing us in a world of startling beauty and unlimited possibilities. We humbly acknowledge our tendency to take these blessings for granted and, by what we do actively or passively, to contribute to the world’s sorrow. Therefore, in gratitude for all of God’s gifts to us, we covenant together to use faithfully the power that is ours to preserve and enhance the created order, to work for justice in the human community, and to live our lives as committed and compassionate followers of Jesus Christ.

Acts of Compassion

· We will approach each person as a sacred mystery. We will not judge, but will listen. We will express our appreciation.

· We will seek to improve and maintain meaningful conversation with our friends and families.

· We will spend a minimum of four hours each month helping disadvantaged persons.

Acts of Justice

· We will not remain silent before injustice in the political arena, in the classroom, or in personal relationships.

· We will notice what is going on around us, seek to understand, and act.

· We will take risks on behalf of others,.

Acts of Devotion

· We will treat our bodies as a trust from God and manifestation of God’s handiwork.

· We will spend 15 to 30 minutes each day in devotional silence, prayer, and/or study of the scriptures.

· We will keep a discipleship journal, making entries at least once each week.

· We will keep a list of those for whom we are praying.

Acts of Worship

· We will attend worship at least once per week.

· We will give away one tenth of all we receive.

· We will seek to learn about and experience worship forms different from our own.

Spiritual Promptings and Warnings

· We will identify and refuse temptations.

· We will turn ourselves in new directions when we become aware of sin in our lives.

· We will keep a record of the ways in which we perceive God to be leading us.

· We will take responsibility for healing broken relationships in our lives.

Upcoming Event!

The annual Edward L. Mark Lecture will be held on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, 1555 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Elaine Wainwright, Richard Maclaurin Goodfellow Professor in Theology and Head of the School of Theology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, will deliver the lecture and has chosen as her topic, "Parable and Parabler, Habitat and Humanity: Telling Gospel Stories Anew in the Face of the Ecological Imperative."

The Lecture is free and open to the public. Harvard-Epworth is located three blocks north of the Harvard Square Red Line “T” stop; across from Cambridge Common and adjacent to Harvard Law School, and is handicapped accessible.

For more information about the lecture or to reserve seating, contact Harvard-Epworth by phone at 617-354-0837 or by email at harvardepworth@verizon.net.

Holiday Covenant Group at Au Bon Pain!!!

Greetings HDS Methodists,

A few of your fellow Methodists have agreed to meet this Wednesday, even though it is a University/State holiday. If you will be around or want to get a good start to the morning for a day's worth of catching up and paper-writing, please join us! We will be meeting at 9:00am at the Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square (delicious pastries and coffee!!). If you are busy...have a wonderful relaxing holiday and see you next week!