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Triennial Speaker to Focus on Building Unity in Diversity
CHICAGO, IL (June 29, 2004) - Brenda Salter McNeil makes her living helping
unite diverse groups of people, so she says the chance to speak at a
large gathering of Covenant women is right up her alley.
Salter McNeil, president of Overflow Ministries, Inc. of Chicago, is one
of the main speakers at Triennial XI: "Meet Me at the River," August
12-15 in Portland, Oregon. The four-day event is sponsored by Covenant
Women Ministries (CWM).
She and CWM executive minister Ruth Hill have worked together before. In
recent months, the two convinced two Chicago Covenant churches, Oakdale
Covenant and North Park Covenant, to work together on a yearlong effort
toward bridging racial differences.
She hopes that her words at Triennial XI can also help unify
participants to a common mission of loving others of differing
backgrounds and spiritual journeys.
Though she is not a member of a Covenant Church, Salter McNeil says that
she supports the church's efforts to promote diversity. "I see Triennial
as a way to bring women together from different parts of the country and
different ethnic experiences for a common purpose," she said. "I think
sometimes when people are taken away for a common experience, there is
camaraderie and an intensity (via the event) that allows God to do
something that is beyond what we think is possible. A conference allows
us to create a sense of expectancy for God to be present. And that
something special happens that we can take back to our churches."
Salter McNeil continued, "One of my motivations in being involved with
this event is my strong belief in women's ministries and the role of
women in the church. Most of our churches are made up of female
congregants and it benefits us to strengthen women and resources to
empower them in ministry."
Originally from Trenton, New Jersey, Salter McNeil attended Rutgers
University and graduated with a degree in Speech Pathology. During her
sophomore year, Salter McNeil was led to Christ by a woman in her dorm
and became a student leader on campus.
"I had few role models of women preachers and I think that oftentimes
we have gifts that lie dormant and we take for granted," said Salter
McNeil. "Only after we're given opportunities to exercise those gifts
are we able to recognize them. I didn't realize that 'the gift of gab'
could actually be something that God could use. But it wasn't just the
talking - it was seeing people's lives change. That's what motivated me
and led me to seminary."
After spending three years as a public schools speech therapist, Salter
McNeil felt called to full-time Christian ministry. She eventually
received a scholarship to attend Fuller Theological Seminary in
Pasadena, California, in the summer of 1981. She graduated with a Master
of Divinity in 1984. While at Fuller, she met her husband, J. Derek McNeil.
After graduating from seminary, she began working with InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship (IVCF). In 1990, Brenda and her husband moved to
Chicago. Brenda served Intervarsity Christian Fellowship as a regional
coordinator for multiethnic training, while her husband (who now teaches
at Wheaton College) pursued a doctorate degree at Northwestern
University in Evanston. She became a popular speaker at Christian
colleges on this issue of racial reconciliation on their campuses.
During recent years, Salter McNeil has become even more convinced that
her passion for racial reconciliation can help the larger Christian
church. Through Overflow Ministries, Inc., she has been helping various
Covenant church efforts in that arena, partnering with the Covenant and
North Park University leaders like Harold Spooner, Mark Olson, and Rupe
Simms to plan a Covenant pastors' Midwinter Conference that dealt more
directly with such issues.
Salter McNeil recently promoted curriculum for Schools of Racial
Righteousness in the Covenant and has preached at North Park chapel
services and at other Covenant events in order to further those efforts.
She believes Triennial XI is another strategic arena in which to spread
the message.
"I found that many Christians wanted to be more inclusive but didn't
know how to do it," she said. "I wanted to develop a model that gave
specific strategies to help Christians live out the reality of racial
diversity - to change the culture of their churches and implement things
to bring structural and institutional change. I believe the Covenant
wants to change and I am interested in showing people how to do it."
For more about Overflow Ministries and some of its programs and
curriculum, email Salter McNeil at Electlady12@aol.com. The
organization's website can be found at: www.overflow-ministries.com.
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