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Growth is Recurrent Theme During Midsouth Meeting
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (April 30, 2003) - The rapid growth of congregations and the
birth of another congregation are among the bright spots for the Midsouth
Conference, said Supt. Garth Bolinder as he reported to delegates at last
weekend's annual meeting at Westmoore Community Church.
Bolinder stated that based on statistics from November 2002 average weekly
worship attendance, the combined weekly worship in the Midsouth increased
from 8,186 to 10,089 in the past year, a 23 percent increase. Three
Oklahoma congregations embarked on major building projects to accommodate
growth in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Edmond. A congregation in Norman is also
considering how to accommodate its rapid
attendance increase and one church in Oklahoma City moved into another
building recently after meeting in a local movie theater in recent years.
The annual meeting's host church, Westmoore Community, is a case in point
for what's happening in the Midsouth. It has grown from an average
attendance of 500 to 1,400 during the past 19 months under senior pastor
Paul Cunningham. Known locally as "The Flock That Rocks," the nine-year-old
congregation moved into a 21,000-square-foot facility from a location in a
local shopping center two years ago. Now, after hosting 2,400 for Easter
services, the church has decided to expand its building another 28,000
square feet (increasing its sanctuary and adding a gymnasium and children's
multipurpose room). The church is beginning a capital campaign entitled
"The Journey Continues"
to help finance the multi-million-dollar project.
"I'm very grateful for what God is doing in the Midsouth Conference," said
Bolinder about his diverse and ministry-minded group of churches. "We've
got wonderfully gifted pastors and enthusiastically youthful congregations.
The big challenge is to create a sense of camaraderie throughout the larger
conference."
In other news at Saturday's business meeting:
- Ron Alfson and Paul Cunningham were named to the Midsouth's Executive
Board
- Bolinder stated that one church plant is taking place in Oklahoma City
this spring under the leadership of Greg and Tricia Coates and two others
are in the works
- Two congregations - Central Covenant Church in Oklahoma City and Cedar
Heights Covenant Church in Tulsa - recently concluded their ministries and
delegates accepted the closings
- Delegates approved the appropriation of $5,000 for a high school youth
ministry event yet to be determined
- Camp Board chair Nancy Dieckow discussed the annual summer camp held in
Grapevine, Texas, in August and thanked churches for their efforts to
improve training for staff. She also acknowledged the work of Merge
Ministries' Dale Lusk, who has led recent camps.
Guests at the Midsouth annual meeting included Mary Miller, vice president
of administration for the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC); Art Greco,
director of evangelism and prayer for the Department of Church Growth and
Evangelism and Rose Cornelious, coordinator of church relations-east from
the Department of World Mission. Miller and Greco spoke at a Friday evening
worship service and Westmoore's Sean
Gutteridge led worship services on both Friday evening and Saturday
morning.
The Midsouth Conference, which originally founded churches at the regional
level in 1985, covers five states with 13 congregations in place as of the
annual meeting. However, congregations existed in the Midsouth decades
earlier under the auspices of Covenant World Mission. More information
about the conference can be found by calling Bolinder at 918-481-9097 or
visiting the conference's new web page at www.midsouthcovenant.net.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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