A Rose of Recognition goes to Kate Lenox for her dedication, support, and leadership as coordinator of the Covenant Groups. Kate led with warmth and an open heart. Always willing to meet to help conveners through any questions or challenges, Kate’s flexibility was crucial to successfully navigating the groups through transitions, especially through the pandemic. She also implemented two new things. She aligned the start of Covenant Groups with the start of the program year, helping to recruiting new folks and sync up timelines. She introduced monthly learnings to the convener meetings so that leaders could discuss recurring topics in addition to check-ins and running through the theme of the month. Thank you, Kate, for your hard work, creativity, and leadership!
Covenant Groups, one of the small group ministries at First Parish, meet monthly from September to June. Group members stay together for at least one program year and discuss a monthly theme by reading quotations and answering questions. Past themes have included community, play and spirituality, the music within, and stories. Not to be confused with the current congregation-wide covenanting process in which First Parish members will vote on a covenant, Covenant Groups are a long-standing spiritual practice and typically engage about twenty percent of the congregation each year!
Monique Chapman and Anna McMaken-Marsh are the new co-coordinators of Covenant Groups now that Kate has stepped down from the role as of the start of this church year.
