Potluck Picnic & Courtyard Worship
2024-06-20 17:45 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Doors open at 5:45 p.m. Thursdays June 20th & July 18th

Bring food to share and your table service, beverages provided
The meal will begin at 6:00 p.m., after grace
Worship will start about 6:45 p.m.

Movie Goers
2024-06-23 08:00 - 17:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Join members of your Covenant family for an afternoon at a local movie theater (and a light meal following) on June 23rd. The movie and show time have yet to be announced. For more details about Movie Goers, please contact Pastor Adele at ALangworthy@CovenantLB.org.

7th Annual Rising TIDE Golf Tournament
2024-06-28 07:00 - 17:30 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Golf_Tournament_Brochure_June_2024
For more information or to purchase tickets follow this link:
https://risingtidegolf.funraise.org/
Place: El Dorado Park Golf Course
2400 Studebaker Road
Long Beach, CA 90815

Date: Friday, June 28th, 2024

Time: 7:00 am Check-in
8:00 am Shotgun tee-off
(Awards ceremony immediately following the last golfers’ completion)

Format: 4-man scramble (best ball)

Register: By June 1, 2024

Attire: Collared shirts or blouses, slacks, skirts, or walking shorts. No denim, t-shirts, or tank tops. No metal spikes are permitted. Rules also apply to non-golfers.
A majority of the event is underwritten to maximize your dollars directly benefitting the young people at Rising TIDE.
For additional information, please contact:
Event Coordinator, Chuck Landon
310-781-0359
or
Executive Director, Adele Langworthy
562-437-0958, ext. 25
Rising TIDE’s Education and Development Program for Urban Youth uplifts and empowers young people in downtown Long Beach:

through academic support, cultural enrichment, healthy relationship building, nutritional support, and recreational programming,
by preparing them to lead happy, whole, and productive lives,
ultimately equipping them with the skills and tools necessary to become self-reliant and fulfill their academic, professional, and personal potential.

Our goal this year is to raise over $250,000 and increase awareness of the valuable service that Rising TIDE is providing.
We hope you can be a part of this event where you can greet old friends or make new ones while enjoying challenges, food, fun, entertainment, inspiration, and the opportunity to go home knowing you have made a real difference in the lives of countless young people.
We are committed to making this a great experience for you and a tremendous success for the Rising TIDE family. Please sign up early and join us for Rising TIDE’s 7th Annual Golf Tournament Fundraising Event being held on June 28th.

Pastors' Letter for July
2024-07-01 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Click here: Pastors’ Letter for July
July 1, 2024
Beloved,
We write this letter as an invitation to join us in the appreciation and celebration of certain volunteers in our church who play as crucial a role in it as any.

Covenant is a church that identifies as “Presbyterian”. That English word derives from a word in koine, the ancient Greek language in which the New Testament was originally written. The word is presbyter. It is translated in English as “elder”, referring to an office in the community of God’s people that goes back to the time of Moses. The words, presbyter and presbyteroi (its plural form), are used twenty times in the New Testament.

The congregation in our kind of church elects its elders. The congregation elects elders to lead the church in the will of Christ. Thus, the main function of elders is to listen to the living Christ and to discern His particular will for a particular church (in this case, Covenant).
This is no easy job.
The Bible gives us the general principles and purposes of a church, but it gives no specific instruction about how a specific church in today’s world should fulfill those general, but eternally essential, principles and purposes. It takes faithful praying, hard thinking, open-minded discussing and more faithful praying to pick up Christ’s particular wishes for a particular church in a particular context.

That is all the more the case when the context is as unprecedented as today’s. Never-before-seen changes in the cultural milieu have been taking place every which way, and with increasing speed. What used to work in helping “the church be the church” often no longer works, and frequently what works wonderfully are things we are still figuring out how to do best.

So please give thanks for our Covenant elders and pray for them as they discern Christ’s wishes and lead us in them. The elders are Jar’reese Billberry, Ah’jea’le Brown, Mary Lou Fourtane, Kris Hall, Karen Kennedy, Adele Langworthy, Rob Langworthy, Hubert Lloyd, Bubele Sakala, Jen Schwing, Ed Story, Jeff Sutton, Mark Wiley and Drury Wisdom; and they meet the middle of this month, July 16.
Thank you!
In the grip of God’s grace,
Rob & Adele
P.S. Here’s a teaser.
This letter of gratitude is the first in a two-part series. For in our tradition there are two kinds of church officers: elders and deacons. The primary role of the first is to lead with true discernment, and the primary role of the second is to serve with true love. Both are to be equally honored, for Jesus our ultimate Leader said, “The Son of Man came, not to be served, but to serve.”

Pastors' Letter for August
2024-08-01 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Pastors’ Letter for August
August 1, 2024
Beloved,
As last month we wrote in appreciation and celebration of the church elders, this month we do so in honor of another group of volunteers who are essential to the fulfillment of the mission of our church.
They are the deacons, church members who make a special effort to embody the love of Jesus to others, particularly those in special need. They take as seriously as anyone the call to imitate Jesus when He said that He came “not to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28).
In the Bible, deacons are introduced in Acts 6. At that time, the church was growing rapidly and incorporating all kinds of people into its fellowship of shared love.
Many of the new members were poor and in need of extra help just to make it in life. It took a lot of work to take care of them all, and those who labored in this work had to be sensitive and vigilant in making sure that every segment of the church got an equitable share of the church’s charity.
The apostles valued this mission of compassion, and were at first very involved in it. But this mission of compassion had grown so big and complicated that their involvement in it was pulling them away from their God-given priorities.
So the apostles “called together the whole community of the disciples” and declared that “it is not right” that, even for so valuable a ministry, they should neglect their prime ministries of “prayer and serving the word”. So they instructed the congregation to select a number of people to head the ministry and thereby free up the apostles to do full justice to their primary calling.
Those selected by the people and appointed by the apostles to the work of mercy would later be commonly referred to as diakanoi, which literally means “servants”.
Servanthood should be a core quality of every member of a church of Christ and of each church as a whole. For example, the Apostle Paul called himself a “diakonos” (that is, “servant”) of the gospel of Jesus. But as the meaning of the term evolved over time, it came to refer to those with a specific calling to bring compassionate care to the needy.
In the Presbyterian tradition, deacons are those who embody Christ’s love “for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the loss, the friendless, the oppressed, those burdened by unjust policies or structures, or anyone in distress”. (Book of Order, G-20201)
We often see Covenant’s beloved deacons as those who jump into the troubled waters of others to be lifelines to the church and to rescue them from dark seas of difficulties.
So please join us in giving thanks for our Covenant deacons and pray for them as they represent the mercy of Christ widely for us all. Our deacons are Narin Antoniades, Mei Cameron, Margaret Hullett, Diana Law, Ray Law, Lea Lindley, Ruben Lindley, Cynthia Olson, Greg Perkins, Sandy Smeby and Felecia Taylor.
This August, as was the case August last year, the church is catching its breath. Its only “big” activities will be those that take place on Sunday (with the exception of Back to School Day on Monday, August 26th).
This August please slow down, linger prayerfully with the Lord, grow still and attentive to the deepest parts of your existence, and reflect on this scripture from Isaiah 30:15b, wherein God says, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
In the grip of God’s grace,
Pastor Adele and Pastor Rob

Programming for Children & Youth
2024-08-27 12:30 - 20:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Rising TIDE @ MKEC
Programming for Children & Youth
Monday – Thursday
Homework Help, Tutoring, Activities, Science Experiments, The Arts, Recreation and More
12:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Pre-school & Elementary-aged Children
2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Middle School & High School Youth
Go to www.RisingTIDEatMKEC.org:

to sign up a new young person for Fall, click on New Participant Enrollment Form
to sign up a returning student for Fall, click on Fall 2024 Participant Renewal
to apply to be a tutor, mentor or general volunteer, click on Volunteering

Special Middle School & High School Programs are held on Wednesdays

Pastors' Letter for September
2024-09-01 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Letter for September 2024
September 1, 2024
Beloved,
The seasons change, from Summer to Fall, on the 22nd of this month.
The world around is day by day changing radically and rapidly.
The church needs to change to bring the changeless good news of Jesus to as many as possible in
this new, unprecedented cultural context.
We, however, are not yet clear on how we should change or how we can change.
What then are we to do?
What comes to us is we are both to work faithfully in the Lord and to wait faithfully for the Lord.
That is to say that we are, first of all, to carry on in doing what He has already made clear is ours to
do, changing only in the sense of doing those things still better as His grace enables.
It is also to say that we are, as well, to keep listening carefully for His guidance and to keep hoping
that He will lead us, at the exact right moment, in every next, new step we are to take.
Most of us probably understand better what it means to work for the Lord than what it means to
wait for the Lord.
Waiting for the Lord does not mean becoming passive and inactive. In fact, it means diligently
persevering in what God has already directed us to do, even while we hold on to His promises of directing
us further and hold out for His revelation of what is our best next step (which requires us to refrain from
jumping to what just occurs to us as a good next step).
To wait for the Lord is to let go of our illusions about our ability to figure things out on our own, to
depend on God to show us the way forward, and to believe that He will do that at the perfect moment
according to the perfect timing of His perfect schedule (which is often quite different from our schedule).
To wait for the Lord is to turn to Him first and foremost for the wisdom we need. It is with focused
and sustained attention to listen vigilantly and expectantly for His voice as it might come to us through the Bible, through the Spirit in prayer, through conversations with other brothers and sisters in the faith, and through our meditation together on the circumstances of our present context.
It is a process that takes longer than we might like; and, in the midst of it, we might feel like the
children of Israel on their forty-year journey to the Promised Land.
But let us persist in this drawn-out process of working and waiting, even as we obey the call of
Psalm 31:24 to “be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord”!
In the grip of God’s grace,
Pastor Adele and Pastor Rob

Children's Hybrid Sunday School
2024-09-01 11:15 - 12:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Children’s Hybrid Sunday Programming
Sunday School for children thru 5th grade meets in the “Center” for those attending in-person, and for those on-line through Google Meet.
Email ALangworthy@CovenantLB.org for virtual joining information.
[/column]

Youth Faith Exploration - Y.F.E. (2nd & 4th Wednesdays)
2024-09-11 16:30 - 17:30 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Youth will gather in-person for a faith issue discussion and to offer each other mutual support, led by Pastor Adele. This will take place on the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of the month at 4:30 PM. Both a Girls’ Club (GLOW), led by Pastor Adele, and ‘Boys 2 Men’, led by Pastor Rob, youth empowerment group meet on the 1st & 3rd Wednesdays each month.
For more information or to sign up, contact Pastor Adele at ALangworthy@CovenantLB.org or 562-437-0958 x24.

Long Beach Gives Early Giving
2024-09-12 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Long Beach Gives is almost here! We invite you to join with others in this city-wide philanthropic event.
The big day is Thursday, September 19th, 2024 but early giving opens as soon as September 12th!
To support efforts to uplift young lives through Rising TIDE, you can either give online: https://www.longbeachgives.org/rising-tide-at-mkec or by mailing a check to the church made out to Rising TIDE with a memo indicating LB Gives.
Please join with us in (T)raining (I)ndividuals to (D)evelop and (E)xcel!

Covenant Adult Choir
2024-09-12 19:30 - 21:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Covenant Adult Choir
Covenant Adult Choir rehearses on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. in the Choir Room, beginning September 12th. If you’d like to join, please contact Peter Bates for more details.

Cutters
2024-09-14 09:00 - 11:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Cutters
Cutters are a group of adults who enjoy getting together to break bread over breakfast (on Saturday) or over dinner (on Sunday). Cutters will be enjoying breakfast on Saturday, September 14th at 9:00 a.m. at The Potholder Cafe. See Mary Lou Fourtane or Pastor Adele to make your reservation.

Music For Two Organs
2024-09-15 16:00 - 17:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Two Organs – Two Organists In a Concert of Music For Two Organs
Featuring Covenant’s Mighty Aeolian-Skinner Pipe Organ and the Rodgers 3-Manual Digital Touring Organ
Sunday, September 15, 2024 – 4 p.m.
Free Of Admission Charge

Long Beach Gives
2024-09-19 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Long Beach Gives is here! We invite you to join with others in this city-wide philanthropic event.
The big day is TODAY!
To support efforts to uplift young lives through Rising TIDE, you can either give online: https://www.longbeachgives.org/rising-tide-at-mkec or by mailing a check to the church made out to Rising TIDE with a memo indicating LB Gives.
Please join with us in (T)raining (I)ndividuals to (D)evelop and (E)xcel!

Movie Goers
2024-09-22 12:00 - 17:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Movie Goers
You are invited to see The Forge with your Covenant family on September 22nd.
Movie Goers is a group that meets monthly to watch a movie together and then discuss it over a meal following the movie. The Forge is our September choice. For more details, please Pastor Adele at ALangworthy@CovenantLB.org.
Synopsis: A year out of high school with no plans for his future, a boy is challenged by his single mom and a successful businessman to start charting a better course for his life. Through the prayers of his mother and biblical discipleship from his new mentor, he begins discovering God’s purpose for his life is so much more than he could hope for or imagine. [Google]

Serve Day
2024-10-12 08:00 - 17:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Join in a Serve Day to help around the church facility 8:00 a.m. – 12 Noon.

Southern California Junior Bach Festival
2024-10-12 14:00 - 17:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
October 12, 2024 (SAT)
Complete Works Audition Awards Concert, Time TBA
Covenant Presbyterian Church
607 E 3rd Street (at Atlantic Ave) • Long Beach 90802
Pamela Worcester, Chair
CWA First Place Winners will perform • Medal Presentation for all Winners

COA: Gospel Brunch on the Beach
2024-10-19 09:00 - 11:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
From 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Saturday, October 19th, at the Salt Water Deck restaurant, right on the beach below 2630 E. Ocean Blvd., the social service agency Christian Outreach in Action, will be having its Gospel Brunch fundraiser. You can enjoy an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet, joyous and uplifting music and a beautiful view of the ocean — while, by your $45 ticket purchase and possible participation in a silent auction, you support the feeding of our unhoused and low-income neighbors. You may purchase your tickets by calling 562-432-1440 or by visiting https://givebutter.com/o7rje7.

Long Beach CROP Hunger Walk
2024-10-20 14:30 - 17:00 | Los Altos United Methodist Church, 5950 E Willow St, Long Beach, CA, 90815
Starting at 2:30 on Sunday, October 20th, at the Los Altos Methodist Church at 5950 E. Willow (with organizing rally at 2:15), CROP/Church World Services will be having its Hunger Walk fundraiser. You can enjoy a pleasant 5k afternoon walk through nice neighborhoods in the company of lovely people — while you either take the stroll yourself or sponsor someone who is walking, and so raise money to relieve hunger (with 75% of the funds going to international feeding efforts, and 25%, to Long Beach local efforts). You may register by calling 562-983-1665 or by going online to crophungerwalk.org/longbeachca.

Movie Goers
2024-10-27 13:00 - 17:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Movie Goers is a group that meets monthly to watch a movie together and then discuss it over a meal following the movie. Average Joe is our October 27th choice. For more details, please email Pastor Adele at ALangworthy@covenantlb.org.
Synopsis: This movie is based on a true story about a marine who becomes a high school coach and takes a legal stand to defend freedom and religious liberty for everyone.

"Be Kind" Teen Girls Summit
2024-11-02 13:00 - 15:30 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States

Cutters
2024-11-09 09:00 - 11:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Cutters are a group of adults who enjoy getting together to break bread over breakfast (on Saturday) or over dinner (on Sunday). Cutters will be enjoying breakfast on Saturday, November 9th at 9:00 a.m. at IHOP – 2050 N. Bellflower. See Mary Lou Fourtane or Pastor Adele to make your reservation.

Covenant 101
2024-11-09 13:30 - 14:30 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Are you wondering what steps to take to deepen your relationship with Jesus?
Are you interested in exploring what it means to be part of the Covenant family?
If so, we hope you can plan to attend this Covenant 101 class on November 9th at 1:30 p.m. Child care will be available upon request.
Questions? Speak to Pastor Rob.

PWC Mystery Event
2024-11-10 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
PWC (Presbyterian Women of the Congregation) are hosting a mystery event on Nov. 10th (reservations have closed, so this is a friendly reminder to those signed up).
BUT, if you missed this event, keep alert for upcoming news about a Christmas Tea in December!

Covenant Family Thanksgiving Dinner
2024-11-24 12:00 - 14:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
The church will be providing turkey and beverages, and those attending are asked to bring traditional Thanksgiving fare such as mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams, green bean casserole, greens and pie. You can sign up to bring your favorite dish by calling the church office, sending an email or seeing Amy on Sunday. We hope you can gather with us to give thanks and enjoy one’s presence.

Thanksgiving Worship (Virtual Only)
2024-11-27 12:00 - 13:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Thanksgiving Worship
November 27th
Pre-recorded (virtual only)
First airing at 12 Noon
Psalm 34:1-8 “A Thanksgiving Feast”

Movie Goers
2024-12-01 12:30 - 16:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Movie Goers will not meet in November, but will gather to watch a movie together at a local movie theater (with a light meal following) on December 1st. For more details, please contact Pastor Adele at ALangworthy@CovenantLB.org.
Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.
Synopsis: “As the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is swept into the epicenter of a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler. With his faith and fate at stake, Bonhoeffer must choose between upholding his moral convictions or risking it all to save millions of Jews from genocide. Will his shift from preaching peace to plotting murder alter the course of history or cost him everything?”

Joy Gathering: Women's Christmas Tea
2024-12-07 12:00 - 14:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
Presbyterian Women in the Congregation invite you to the:
Joy Gathering
Saturday, December 7th, 2024, 12 PM
Chez Bacchus
743 E. 4th Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802
Located across from Ace Hardware, 1 block east of Covenant Church.
Note: For those unable to walk from the church parking lot, a car shuttle will be provided.
Menu
Seasonal Salad, Tea Tower, 3 Types of Tea Sandwiches, Scones, Muffins, Assorted Pastries, Choice of Tea
Cost: $35, includes tax & tip (Natura Water Service & Wine are extra).
RSVP: By 12/1/24 to church office

Congregational Budget Review
2024-12-08 12:00 - 13:00 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States

Covenant 101
2024-12-15 13:00 - 14:30 | Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 East 3rd Street, Long Beach, CA, 90802, United States
