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Ministerium Approves 87 for Ministry
ROSEMONT, IL (June 25, 2003) - A total of 87 people were approved for various
kinds of denominational ministry during the annual meeting of the
Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) Ministerium Wednesday afternoon.
Of that aggregate, 38 were approved for ordination of word and sacrament
and 26 were approved for ordination to specialized ministry under a new
categorization of ordination approved at last year's Annual Meeting. Brad
Boydston, pastor of Cornerstone Covenant Church in Turlock, California, was
installed as president of the Ministerium. Tom Ek, pastor of The Covenant
Church of Galesburg, Illinois, was installed as treasurer. Both are
installed for three-year terms.
Boydston has been acting president of the Ministerium for one year and
finished the term for David Kersten, who had to give up his position as
president of the Ministerium when he became executive minister of the
Department of the Ordered Ministry.
Much discussion was generated as the Ministerium voted overwhelmingly to
oppose a resolution that is being brought by Graham Evangelical Covenant
Church in Graham, Washington, to this year's Annual Meeting of the ECC. The
Graham resolution states in part that "the ECC has had a long tradition of
cherishing freedom, which allows for differences of opinion in matters of
interpretation, doctrine and practice within the context of biblical
guidelines and historical Christianity (taken from Covenant
Affirmations). Therefore be it resolved . . . that conformity to a
particular view of women in ministry within these biblical guidelines shall
not be grounds for exclusion of any church, new or existing, from
association with the ECC or exclusion of any qualified applicant for
ministerial license, ordination or commissioning."
Jonathan Wilson, pastor of Cuyler Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois, led
the motion that was carried to oppose the Graham resolution. Pastor Alan
Eagle of Graham Covenant Church stated that, while he affirmed women in
ministry, he and his church should have the freedom to oppose women in
ministry and still be part of the larger body of the Covenant.
Herb Hedstrom, parliamentarian for this year's Annual Meeting of the
Ministerium, stated that the Covenant's constitution makes it clear that -
in accordance with the ECC's constitution - that individual congregations
need to support denominational mandates. The Covenant's constitution in
Article 4, section 4.3 states, "member congregations pledge mutually to
support the principles, policies, programs and institutions of the ECC . .
. the constitution and bylaws of ECC congregations shall be in essential
agreement with the constitution and bylaws of the ECC . . . "
In Article 13, section 13.3, it adds, "that all members of the Covenant
Ministerium shall abide by the principles, policies and decisions of the
ECC and shall support its mission, programs and institutions . . . "
This was the second time that a Covenant ministerial body had voted to
oppose the Graham resolution. The North Pacific Conference Ministerial
Association also voted to oppose the Graham resolution last April.
Earlier on Wednesday, Kersten announced an initiative that has been
developed to honor the work of significant pastors and to provide
additional pastoral care at North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) in
Chicago. The Good Shepherd Chair will honor pastors who have made
significant contributions in pastoral care. The first honoree will be named
in 2005 with the nomination process starting following the 2003 Annual
Meeting of the ECC - the total cost of endowing the chair is $1.2 million.
The Good Shepherd Chair of Pastoral Care was not named after a specific
pastor, states the initiative, but instead honors the example of Jesus, the
good shepherd. However, specific pastors will be honored every two years at
the denomination's annual meeting and will receive an actual chair (Kersten
suggested a rocking chair for the gift) in recognition of their specific
work in pastoral care. It is hoped that $100,000 will be raised in
recognition of each honoree within each two-year period.
According to the initiative, pastors are nominated as charter members of
the Good Shepherd Chair. In order to be considered as a charter member, the
nomination must include a description of the pastor's ministry and a plan
to raise $15,000 in that pastor's name for the endowment fund.
To nominate someone as a Good Shepherd honoree or charter member, please
call NPTS at 773-244-6210 to receive the proper paperwork.
In other news:
- Glenn R. Palmberg, president of the ECC, gave a greeting to the
Ministerium and discussed an upcoming celebration of the 40th anniversary
of the death of Paul Carlson, a Covenant missionary who was martyred in
Congo in 1964. The event will occur on Sunday, June 20, as part of the 2004
Annual Meeting of the ECC in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It will honor the many
martyrs of the faith and the sacrifice of missionaries during the
Covenant's history.
- The Ministerium remembered the pastors, missionaries and spouses of
pastors who died during the period between last year's and this year's
Annual Meetings. They also remembered the work of 25 ministers who retired
during the past year, the work of Kersten, the Department of the Ordered
Ministry and the Board of the Ordered
Ministry, along with outgoing Ministerium treasurer Sandy Anderson.
Participants approved the proposed budget - $48,800 - for 2003-2004
Ministerium efforts.
- The Ministerium announced the dates of next year's annual Covenant
Midwinter Conference, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in
Rosemont, Illinois, from February 2-6, 2004. Plenary session speakers
include Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, assistant professor of religious education
at Claremont School of Theology in southern California; Brian McLaren,
senior pastor, Cedar Ridge Community Church, Spencerville, Maryland; Klyne
Snodgrass, Paul Brandel professor of New Testament Studies at NPTS; and
Robert Webber, Myers professor of ministry, Northern Baptist Theological
Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. A new feature will be a Children Adult and
Family Ministry Connection during the Midwinter Conference. Three other
Connection events - Worship, Youth Workers and Church Planters - will occur
before the Midwinter event. The first two will occur from January 31
through February 2. The third will occur February 1-2.
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