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Growth Obvious as Midsouth Delegates Gather
By Craig Pinley
CARROLLTON, TX (April 28, 2004) - A pastor's field trip and the celebration of
growth at various churches were among the highlights at the Midsouth
Conference annual meeting at Redeemer Covenant Church last Friday and
Saturday.
Under the theme "Into His Harvest" taken from Matthew 9:35-38, the focus
of the conference's annual meeting was on the fact that this was a
season of harvest in the Midsouth, stated Supt. Garth Bolinder. This
fact seems most evident from the rapid growth among congregations
throughout the Midsouth Conference, which is part of the Evangelical
Covenant Church. In 2000, aggregate attendance in the conference was
5,389. In 2003, the aggregate attendance was 13,480 among 17
congregations from Texas and Oklahoma.
A total of 47 delegates from 16 churches approved a budget of $351,203
for 2005 and welcomed two new churches: Grace Covenant Church in
Oklahoma City, under pastor Lance Gutteridge, and Journey Covenant
Church in Norman, Oklahoma, under Clark Mitchell. The latter
congregation has taken off since being founded nearly three years ago,
with 2,700 in average attendance.
"I am humbled and thrilled at the same time for what God is doing in the
Midsouth Conference," said Bolinder. "All of our churches have evidence
of new life stirring in them. I am grateful to work with the quality of
gifted pastors we have in our conference."
Along with celebrating a fruitful ministry harvest, Bolinder hoped the
time in the Dallas area would also help its respective pastors grow in
partnership together. A Friday field trip, some powerful testimonies at
a Friday night worship service and powerful preaching on Friday night
and Saturday morning seemed to do just that.
Bolinder said that Friday's pastoral gathering included a presentation
on biblical unity from Covenant pastor Dr. Willie Peterson. The group
then traveled to Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, where pastor Tony Evans
gave the contingent a tour of his African American church and told about
the ministries of racial reconciliation occurring in his area.
Later, Bolinder and company then went to the Urban Evangelical Mission
(UEM), whose president is Terry Woodson, a Covenant pastor for Bethel
Bible Fellowship in Carrollton. UEM's work has been significant in
helping minister to an underserved neighborhood and Bolinder said he was
deeply moved by the impact of the ministry. UEM has, in a sense, taken
over the neighborhood for Christ, Bolinder noted. It has bought a house
that functions as a learning lab, it runs a senior citizens retirement
home on the block and recently purchased an apartment for helping
provide safe and affordable housing.
"We got to travel for a little adventure in the afternoon and that
helped strengthen our camaraderie as pastors," said Bolinder. "We had
all of our pastors represented and to get everyone together brought some
wonderful friendship. This trip helped facilitate that. It's wonderful -
we did something like this two years ago in South Texas and we hope we
can do something like this every year."
Pastors, delegates and friends met on Friday evening for dinner and
worship at Redeemer Covenant. A combined gospel choir from Bethel Bible
Fellowship and Redeemer assisted in worship. Ruth Hill, executive
minister of Covenant Women Ministries, gave her testimony of mission
work and recent efforts for the denomination. Pastor Noel Cisneros of
The People's Church in San Juan, Texas, who had been in Iraq until a few
weeks ago as a military chaplain, then shared his experiences. He was
given a standing ovation, both for his words and his faithfulness under
such trying circumstances.
Ikki Soma, a church planter in San Antonio, shared his childhood
experiences of growing up in a Shinto/Buddhist background and coming to
know Jesus Christ in high school. Soma and his wife, Tara, hope his
congregation can be "a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, disciple-making
Covenant church" in San Antonio. Nick Harris, who has served as pulpit
supply pastor at Cornerstone Covenant Church in Midwest City, Oklahoma,
and has been a longtime pastoral mentor to many Covenant pastors in
Oklahoma City, then gave a stirring evening message.
Terry Woodson preached at a Saturday morning worship service as
participants shared communion. During the business meeting, delegates
elected Neil Brown of Bethel Bible Fellowship and Megan DeWald of Faith
Covenant Church in Houston, Texas, as camp board representatives in the
conference. Nancy Dieckow, the camp board president, reported that a
June one-week camp in Crockett, Texas, has been well supported by
volunteers from the Midsouth and that its director, Dale Lusk, will make
available more training for high school students than ever before.
To learn more about the Midsouth Conference and its annual meeting, call
Bolinder at 918-481-9097 or visit the conference web site at
www.covchurch.org under the Conferences link.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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