Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Seasons Greetings Everyone!

This is the second advent season that we have experienced at here at Community Covenant Rocklin and while the church calendar seems to always be packed, this advent season has been particularly special. One thing we love about this church is that every year around Advent (and Lent) the Sanctuary is rearranged for us to worship in the round. This set up turned out to be particularly impactful on Sunday, December 4th when we had Junia dedicated during the Sunday service.

It was so powerful to be physically surrounded by our community as they committed to support us in raising Junia to know and love God. Several family members were able to join us and celebrate with us as we presented Junia to God and the congregation. This is just a brief glimpse into that special day. The Christmas season means so much to both of us and we are so grateful that we had the opportunity to dedicate Junia during Advent.

Youth Ministry This fall has brought with it some exciting things in Youth Ministry. After lots of prayer and vision casting throughout the summer, Jeff felt led to reconfigure the youth ministry around a single word/phrase for the semester. Instead of going through various series throughout the fall, Jeff felt called to lead the entire youth ministry through a semester focused on prayer. Every Wednesday night there was a different prayer lesson and activity (prayer through music, journaling, etc) that the students would participate in. It was really exciting the hear some of the feedback students were sharing about their experience. The Spring semester will be dedicated to the idea of worship, which will include different ways of worshipping. Jeff is really looking forward to another semester of youth ministry at Community Covenant Church. Another highlight of the fall has also been the youth ministry volunteer team. Jeff has been extremely blessed by the dedication of these volunteers. Their willingness to walk alongside and care for students has made this past fall so impactful. They have made the burden of ministry significantly lighter. Please keep the youth ministry and its leaders in your prayers as they continue to minister to students.

Missional Serving Communities

In November Chrissy once again helped coordinate our church's efforts to distribute Thanksgiving food baskets to families in need in our community. Partnering with a local high school, our church was given over 2000 canned goods to help distribute. Several baskets were given to families who attend the elementary school right across the street from our church campus. We were also able to donate extra canned goods to Loaves and Fishes (an organization in Sacramento that we're building a partnership with for Missional Serving Communities).

After concluding with the pilot group in late October, we began to share more with the congregation and opened up sign ups for people to join Missional Serving Communities in the new year. We are so excited that in addition to several of our small groups expressing interest in adopting the Missional Serving Community model, we also had several people (not yet part of a small group) sign up to be part of a new Missional Serving Community!

Prayer Requests

As we look towards 2023, we ask that you keep us and our ministries in your prayers. Here are some specific things you can be praying for;

• Travel: At the end of January, Chrissy, Jeff and Junia will be traveling to Jacksonville, Florida for the Covenant's Midwinter Conference. Please pray for safe travels and that Junia will be able to travel well. This will be our first time flying with Junia and we are a little nervous, to say the least.

• Missional Serving Communities: In January, Missional Serving Communities will launch church-wide. Please pray for wisdom as Chrissy leads the church into this new season and receptive hearts of those who will be participating.

• Fundraising: Please pray for our financial support. We will have to continue raising support throughout 2023, and we ask that you keep us in your prayers as we look for new supporters to help partner with us. Pray for us to continue trusting in God's care and provision.

• Parenthood: Pray for wisdom and grace as we continue learning how to be parents. Pray for Jeff and Chrissy to enjoy time with Junia. Being in full time ministry roles, it is easy to lose track of time. Both Jeff and Chrissy do not want to miss this precious season of Junia's life. Please also pray for Chrissy's mental health as the physical/emotional/hormonal realities of motherhood have been a bit of a rollercoaster.