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New Covenant Institute Focuses on Community Transformation
ENCINO, CA (August 15, 2002) - More than 70 Evangelical Covenant Church pastors,
administrators and lay leaders, including President Glenn R. Palmberg, met
at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino last week for the first
Covenant Institute for Community Transformation.
Compassion and Justice Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC),
under the auspices of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence (CMB), sponsored
the event in partnership with the Pacific Southwest Conference.
Superintendent Evelyn M.R. Johnson attended as did other conference staff
members.
Henry Greenidge, pastor of Irvington Covenant Church in Portland, Oregon,
led worship and gave a presentation at the event. Jim Sundholm of Covenant
World Relief delivered
the opening worship service sermon. Rudy Carrasco, associate director of
Harambe Family Ministries in Pasadena, California, was a keynote speaker.
Among those teaching seminars at the event were Max Lopez-Cepero, the ECC's
director of Compassion and Justice Ministries; Ed Delgado, academic dean of
Centro Hispanico Estudios Teologicos (CHET) in southern California; Nancy
Jo Hoover, facilitator of International Holistic Ministries; and Covenant
pastor Harvey Drake of Seattle, Washington, who also is founder of Emerald
City Outreach Ministries, which provides crisis assistance, educational
programs and economic and leadership development training. The accompanying
photo shows Lopez-Cepero (left) and Drake.
"It was a really good experience," said Harold Spooner, executive vice
president of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence (CMB). "The gathering of
like minds brought some tremendous energy, which will be the impetus for
really igniting the denomination for doing ministries of compassion and
justice."
Two strategic initiatives emerged during this gathering of ministry and
outreach-minded leaders, said Churches Planting Ministries communications
coordinator Liz VerHage. An association of Covenant-based Community
Development Corporations is being created to increase the effectiveness of
existing and new community development projects. A Center for Community
Transformation also is being developed to sponsor continuing education for
churches involved in community development work.
Feedback from those attending the event was reported to be positive,
including short-term missionaries Erika and Nils Clauson. The Clausons are
headed to language school in the fall to prepare for a community
transformation ministry in Mexican border towns. They said they especially
appreciated a seminar on community organizing presented by Kazi Joshua, the
newly appointed director of Justice Ministries for North Park University in
Chicago.
"The best part of the whole event was connecting with other people who are
passionate about Compassion and Justice Ministries and learning
about what the Covenant is already doing in this area," said Erika
Clauson. "Just putting a vocabulary to the type of ministry we want to do
was important," Nils Clauson added.
For more information about Churches Planting Ministries, call VerHage at
773-907-3311 or email her at liz.verhage@covchurch.org. The organization's
web site can be found by visiting the Covenant's home page at
www.covchurch.org and selecting the drop-down menu at the upper right of
the screen for the Churches Planting Ministries link.
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