(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
Oct 02, 2025
“Nourish Your Soul” — Practicing spiritual wellness in the digital age.
Your soul deserves care not just in church pews or on quiet trails, but in the places you scroll and click each day. Spiritual wellness in the digital age asks us to bring intentionality into our online habits—transforming screens from sources of noise into tools of nourishment.
Spiritual wellness online is less about avoiding screens and more about choosing wisely. Your clicks can become prayers, your scrolls a practice of peace, your feed a table set with nourishment for the soul.
💬 This week’s challenge:
Choose one new digital rhythm to nourish your soul: a morning scripture app, a weekly log-off sabbath, or a playlist of sacred music. Notice how your spirit shifts when your digital diet feeds peace.
#TheDigitalDisciple | #NourishYourSoul | #HCUCCEverywhere
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and social media whisperer. He believes your digital diet can be holy fuel for a nourished soul.
Sep 23, 2025
“Pixels of Justice” — Using our digital presence as a tool for justice, love, and purpose.
Your social media feed isn’t just entertainment—it’s a ministry tool. Vocation is more than a job; it’s how we carry purpose into daily life, online and off. When we curate and amplify voices that reflect love, justice, and mercy, our pixels preach.
Our vocation online isn’t to win the algorithm—it’s to witness to love. Your feed can be a small liturgy of hope: post by post, share by share, pixel by pixel.
💬 This week’s challenge:
Choose one justice theme (e.g., housing security, creation care, voting access). Follow two credible organizations, share one post with context and a next step, and add alt text. Small, faithful actions—repeated—become a witness.
#TheDigitalDisciple | #PixelsOfJustice | #HCUCCEverywhere
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and social media whisperer. He believes purpose-filled pixels can change hearts—and sometimes policies.
Sep 17, 2025
Vocation is more than a job title or career path. It is the way we embody our God-given purpose in every corner of our lives—including the digital world. The feeds we scroll, the posts we like, and the words we share shape how our vocation is lived out before others. When we approach our digital presence with intention, even a quick scroll can become an act of faithfulness.
So what does it look like to carry purpose into our online lives? Here are a few practices to try:
Scrolling with intention reminds us that vocation isn’t confined to work hours or Sunday mornings. It is the ongoing invitation to live with purpose, to be a presence of love, justice, and authenticity—whether face to face or screen to screen.
💬 This week’s challenge:
Choose one online habit to shift toward greater purpose. Maybe it’s sharing a story of hope, unfollowing a source of negativity, or pausing before posting. Let your vocation shine—even in your scrolling.
#TheDigitalDisciple | #ScrollingWithPurpose | #HCUCCEverywhere
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and social media whisperer. He believes even a scroll can be sacred—when it is done with intention.
Sep 10, 2025
Let’s talk hashtags.
Yes, those little phrases that start with a pound sign and end with the hope that someone, somewhere, might see your post.
You’ve seen them—
#blessed
#SundayFunday
#JesusTookTheWheel
#HCUCCEverywhere
But what are hashtags, really?
Hashtags are like digital filing cabinets. When you add one to a post, it groups that content with every other post using the same tag. That means your message can reach people who don’t follow you (yet), but do follow that topic.
In a world where attention spans are short and algorithms are picky, hashtags help the Good News travel further.
Good hashtags are:
Bad: #thisisareallylonghashtagthatnoonewants
Better: #FaithInAction or #HCUCCPride
You can mix broad tags (#Justice, #ProgressiveChurch) with community tags (#HCUCCEverywhere) and playful tags (#HolyTrouble).
We use:
#SacredSeenCalled for Pride Month devotionals💬 This week’s challenge:
Write your own social media post that uses hashtags intentionally.
Maybe it’s a quote, a photo, or a prayer.
Then tag it in a way that connects it to your faith, your community, and the message you want to share.
Example:
Kindness doesn’t need a platform—but it sure helps.
#HCUCCEverywhere #DigitalGrace #HashtagWithPurpose
#TheDigitalDisciple | #HashtagWithPurpose | #HCUCCEverywhere
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and social media whisperer. He often wonders how bath towels get so dirty when you’ve just finished washing all the dirt off. He believes hashtags—like towels—should be reused with care, purpose, and maybe a little fluff.
Sep 04, 2025
💬 Posting in faith means practicing it—even when the comments get complicated.
Social media is where we post prayer vigils and potluck photos… and sometimes, where we get hit with drive-by opinions, armchair theology, or just plain snark.
We’ve all seen it: you share something meaningful—an invitation to worship, a justice event, a devotional—and suddenly someone you haven’t spoken to since 2011 pops up with, “Actually…”
So what do we do with that?
The truth is, when we post from a place of faith, we’re putting more than content online—we’re putting ourselves online. And that takes courage. Especially in a world where the comment section often rewards volume over kindness.
But grace can still live there, too.
Holy Covenant is committed to showing up online the same way we show up in person—with humility, courage, and purpose. That means:
Sometimes faith looks like a prophetic post.
Sometimes it looks like hitting “delete” without guilt.
Sometimes it looks like walking away, praying for the stranger, and protecting your peace.
And yes—sometimes it even means leaving a heart emoji and moving on.
The digital world isn’t just where we share what we believe. It’s where we practice it.
May we do so boldly—and with grace that can’t be trolled.
💬 This week’s challenge:
Before you reply to a difficult comment—or decide not to—pause.
Ask: What does grace look like here?
And if you need to log off for a while, do it with your whole heart.
#TheDigitalDisciple | #GraceOnline | #HCUCCEverywhere
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and social media whisperer. He comments not just in words, but in wardrobe—his ever-growing collection of sequin jackets is a liturgy of color and courage. He now packs lighter, designs smarter, and trusts that even in moments of chaos, the Spirit gets the final word.
Jul 30, 2025
📆 What’s on your calendar might be more than a task—it might be a moment that matters.
There’s a strange new question I find myself asking lately: If it’s on the calendar… does it carry weight?
Because let’s be honest—our calendars are full.
Church meetings. Doctor’s appointments. Potlucks. Plumbing repairs. That Zoom call you forgot you accepted. A link to a livestream you meant to watch.
It’s all in there. Clickable, color-coded, and begging for our time.
But somewhere in the middle of the double-bookings and recurring reminders, I wonder:
What if the calendar is more than just a to-do list?
What if it’s a record of our intention—our presence—our care?
At Holy Covenant, we don’t just post events and services because it’s expected. We do it because we believe in a faith that moves—and movement requires rhythm. And rhythm? It loves a calendar.
That’s why you’ll find worship themes, justice actions, community partnerships, and celebrations listed on our website.
Not just to stay organized—but to stay connected. To stay formed. To stay ready.
So maybe this week, give your calendar a second look.
What’s filling it?
What’s feeding it?
What’s forming you?
And if something on there looks mundane—like “Clean out fridge before in-laws arrive”—maybe that’s the exact moment where something meaningful will break through.
Because no matter how packed your schedule feels, grace still finds a way to get on the calendar.
💬 This week’s challenge:
Take five quiet minutes with your calendar.
Look at what’s already there—and add one thing that nourishes your spirit.
Then take away one thing that doesn’t.
A walk. A worship link. A conversation.
You don’t need to be busy to be faithful—just willing to show up.
#TheDigitalDisciple | #GraceOnTheCalendar | #HCUCCEverywhere
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and social media whisperer. He once tried to board a flight with a massive can of hairspray in his carry-on—only to be humbled by airport security and a Walgreens run in Dallas. He now packs lighter, designs smarter, and trusts that even in moments of chaos, the Spirit gets the final word.
Jul 23, 2025
📥 A rhythm of faith, justice, and joy—delivered weekly. Are you Looped In?
Every week, a quiet gift arrives—not with fanfare or fire, but with a gentle ding. It’s not just an email. It’s our church’s rhythm pulsing into the digital space: The Loop.
Inside you’ll find worship links, justice actions, ministry updates, heartfelt reflections, ways to show up for one another, and events at Holy Covenant and the greater Charlotte community. It’s like Holy Covenant’s heartbeat—in your inbox. Whether you’re near, far, or just curious, The Loop helps keep you connected to what matters most.
We’re a church that believes faith is not a Sunday-only activity. The Loop carries that belief all week long—reminding us that love is action, justice is ongoing, and community is a conversation. It’s also one of the easiest ways to stay in touch with the life of our church, even if you’re traveling or tuning in from afar.
The Loop is a practice of presence. It’s a digital whisper saying: you belong, you’re not forgotten, and God’s people are still on the move. Whether you read every word or just scan the headlines—know this: it’s for you. And someone else might need it too.
Need the details before Friday? You can catch most of The Loop’s contents early—posted throughout the week on our website HCUCC Everywhere. It’s our always-on bulletin board for all things compassionate, courageous, and Holy-Covenant.
💬 This week’s challenge:
Forward The Loop to one person who might be longing for connection, courage, or community.
The Spirit may already be preparing their inbox.
#TheDigitalDisciple | #LoopedIn | #HCUCCEverywhere
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and social media whisperer. He once forgot he had a giant can of hairspray in his carry-on as he thought he had removed and replaced it—TSA was not amused. It turns out, finding the right hairspray in a strange city is harder than building a website. Eric believes in pixels with purpose, clicks that carry compassion, and that the Spirit can show up even when you’re frantically scanning drugstore shelves at midnight.
Jul 14, 2025
📬 Have you subscribed yet?
Substack is where faith, voice, and reflection meet pixels.
Catch the latest writings from Pastor Chris.
There’s a quiet little platform that’s reshaping how writers speak, how readers gather, and how communities form—not in a sanctuary, but in your inbox. It’s called Substack, and it’s one of those digital mysteries that seems to shimmer with both promise and confusion. Is it a newsletter? A blog? Is it something churches should care about?
Let’s take a breath and open the box.
Substack launched in 2017 with a mission to help writers speak directly to readers. No gatekeepers. No noisy ads. Just real words shared from one inbox to another. It began with journalists and now includes theologians, poets, and organizers. Some charge subscriptions; others offer their work freely. Either way, it’s become a place for deeper reflection and authentic connection.
At its best, Substack is a spiritual practice of writing aloud—of sending reflections, questions, and calls to action into the world, trusting they’ll land where needed. It echoes how Paul once wrote letters to the early church. Now, in the digital era, some of us are doing the same—just with pixels instead of parchment.
At Holy Covenant, Pastor Chris regularly writes on Substack, sharing thoughtful, prophetic reflections that arrive like a trusted voice on your spiritual path. These are not just blog posts—they are modern-day epistles. Part devotion, part witness, part soul work.
We don’t all need a Substack. But we all need spaces for slower wisdom, deeper presence, and real conversation. The platform is not the point—presence is.
Maybe it’s this: slow down, read something beautiful, and forward it to someone who needs to know that faith still speaks.
Substack is just one voice in the digital wilderness. But when the words are honest and the inbox is quiet, it feels like something sacred. Like a message you didn’t know you needed—delivered not just to your inbox, but to your heart.
💬 This week’s challenge:
Read Pastor Chris’s latest Substack post. Forward it to one person who might be longing for something real.
The Spirit might already be subscribed.
#TheDigitalDisciple | #HCUCCEverywhere | #SacredInbox
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and social media whisperer. He once forgot part of a song while singing during worship—so he smiled, hummed, and carried on to a beautiful finish. He believes in pixels with purpose, clicks that carry compassion, and that sometimes the Spirit shows up right in the improvising.
Jul 10, 2025
There’s a sacred act that happens every time you click “Share.”
Not dramatic, not loud. Just a quiet yes—a decision to put something meaningful into someone else’s feed, inbox, or group chat. When you forward a Holy Covenant post, article, video, or event, you’re doing more than spreading information. You’re building the sanctuary. Brick by digital brick.
In today’s landscape of noise and division, sharing something grounded in welcome, justice, or love is a small revolution. It tells the algorithm, “This matters.” It tells your friends, “This is my community.” And it tells a weary world, “There’s still a place where all are truly welcome.”
Here’s the thing: we put heart and time into every post we make. A photo from Pride. A sermon recap. A book recommendation. Each one is crafted with love—but it only travels if you send it.
Go forward boldly. Screenshot the weekly worship post and drop it in your group chat. Share one of our book recommendations from “Read. Reflect. Renew”. Email the livestream link to your cousin who stopped going to church but still hums the hymns. Post one of our many Pride Posts or stories from June with, “This is my church.”
In a way, you become the usher—guiding people in, helping them find their seat, reminding them they’re not alone.
Jesus said to go out two by two. We say: click it, copy it, send it. That’s modern ministry, y’all.
✉️ This week’s challenge:
Choose one Holy Covenant post that speaks to you. Share it with one person who needs to see it.
Let the Spirit guide your clicks.
#TheDigitalDisciple | #HCUCCEverywhere | #ClickForwardBuildTheSanctuary
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and producer of sacred short films. He once made an entire congregation laugh and leave five-star Google reviews—on purpose. He believes in pixels with purpose and clicks that carry compassion.
Jul 01, 2025
You’ve told your friends. You’ve brought your kids. You’ve baked the muffins. But have you told Google about Holy Covenant?
We’re launching our very first Digital Disciple call to action: write a review about Holy Covenant UCC on Google. Just scroll to the bottom of our home page and click the button labeled “Leave a Review on Google”. (Go on. It’s right there in the footer. We’ll wait.)
Here’s why it matters: Google reviews are one of the most important factors in how people find our church online. Search engines take your words — the ones about welcome, warmth, preaching, music, justice, and handbells — and use them to decide whether we show up when someone types “progressive church near me” or “open and affirming churches in Charlotte.”
More reviews = higher rankings = more seekers finding us = more chances for us to say “you are already loved.”
It’s evangelism, but make it tech-savvy. Your voice helps extend our extravagant welcome beyond Sunday morning and into the digital wilderness where people are quietly searching for a place like this. And yes — even a short, kind sentence makes a difference.
Now, we’re not trying to guilt you into it… except we kind of are. But in that “if-you-love-your-church-so-much-why-don’t-you-marry-it-and-leave-a-review” kind of way. 💍📲
Let’s use our clicks for good. Be a Digital Disciple. It’s easier than some of our hymns.
📍Click the “Leave a Review on Google” button at the bottom of our homepage:
👉 holycovenantucc.org
#TheDigitalDisciple | #HCUCCEverywhere | #5StarsForJesus
✍️ About the Author:
Eric Miner is Holy Covenant’s resident digital prophet, website wizard, and producer of sacred short films. When he’s not fixing footers or writing code that makes the Spirit sing, he’s out here gently encouraging people to write five-star reviews like their church depends on it — because it kind of does. And yes, he will ask if you’ve submitted yours. 😉
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