Sunday Worship
At Covenant Church, we worship on Sundays at 10:15 am - in person in our sanctuary and online at live.covumc.com. Our worship service includes traditional music from the hymnal, the chancel choir, the bell choir, and the children's choir on various Sundays throughout the year.
All are invited to come as they are to worship God, to seek forgiveness, and to receive assurance of God's love. On the first Sunday of the month, we celebrate communion. In the United Methodist Tradition, we use bread (with gluten-free as an option) and grape juice. Also in the United Methodist Tradition, the communion table is open to all who seek to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Other times throughout the year, or at key moments of human life, worship focuses our attention on God’s ongoing, gracious involvement in the world that makes life holy. We invite you to worship with us. Special services of music are presented during Advent and Lent. Childcare is provided on Sunday mornings beginning at 9:15 a.m. Covenant also celebrates significant life events, including marriage & baptism.
Chancel Choir
The Chancel Choir is open to individuals of high school age or older. Rehearsals are held on Thursdays from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the Music Room of the Kingswood Building. Additional rehearsals are sometimes scheduled on a Saturday or Sunday whenever the choir is preparing a special musical service for Advent or Lent. The Chancel Choir is responsible for providing music at the 10:15 am worship service each Sunday from September to June.
The choir also sings for the 10:00 pm Christmas Eve service, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and both services on Easter Sunday. Choir members are invited to participate in the Springfield Community Services held on Thanksgiving Eve and Good Friday.
The Chancel Choir is made up of volunteers who share a love of singing - no other requirements exist! New singers are always welcome! Please contact Sarah Batchelor if you would like to get involved.
Handbell Choir
Handbell choirs have long been a part of the music program at Covenant Church. The Covenant Ringers is a mixed age group of experienced ringers that rehearses on Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 9:30 pm in the Sanctuary. The group presents an anthem approximately once each month at the 10:15 service.
The present choir is comprised of 13 talented ringers who span a broad range of occupations and ages. None of the members are professional musicians; they give of their own time to rehearse weekly and perform with the group. Several ringers enjoy performing solo pieces with piano accompaniment or playing in duets and trios of handbells alone. Their concert repertoire includes a wide variety of musical selections from settings of favorite hymn tunes and original handbell compositions, to popular and folk song arrangements.
Life Events
Major life events are rightly marked by prayer and worship. These may be arranged as needed in consultation with the pastor.
- Baptism – Birth is often followed by baptism, which is an act of God through the Church and expresses God’s promise of inclusion in God’s kingdom. As such, it creates links among people as well as between people and God. The congregation and the family of the individual being baptized make promises to fulfill their obligations. That is why we consider it important that everyone is sure of each other’s role in ongoing spiritual growth before a baptism is scheduled. That is also why baptisms are performed within a Sunday service, not privately.
- Marriage – Weddings are the beginning of marriage, not an end in themselves. That is why a period of preparation is asked of couples in the months leading up to a wedding. Weddings are services of worship and are put together in consultation with the Music Director as well as the pastor.
- Funerals – A funeral is a service that helps those who are grieving view a person’s life in the light of eternity. When someone has died, a funeral service is prepared by the pastor in consultation with the family and a funeral director. It may be conducted at church, at a funeral home, or at the graveside.