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Vibrant Covenant Plans First 'Preview' September 19
PORTLAND, OR (August 10, 2004) - Vibrant Covenant Church is busy preparing for
its first preview worship service on September 19, according to church
planting pastor C.V.
Hartline.
The core group of 25 individuals will have an opportunity to worship
with members from some of its supporting churches – including First
Covenant Church in Portland and
Trinity Covenant Church in Salem – on August 22 at First Covenant. First
Covenant is helping birth the new congregation, which began core group
development in April and had its first official event on June 13.
C.V. and his wife, Stacy, are originally from Dallas, Texas, and Edmond,
Oklahoma, respectively. They met while C.V. was at Truett Theological
Seminary in Waco, Texas. The two completed their undergraduate
educations at Baylor University, which sponsors Truett Seminary through
the Southern Baptist Church. Hartline was pastor to students at Trinity
Covenant Church for five years before being called to church planting.
"What really excites me is exercising faith," said Hartline about the
new church, which will meet at a local school in an eclectic area of
town this fall. "I'm really leaning hard on Christ to do far more than
even I can imagine. Our whole goal is shifting church from the idea of
place to an emphasis on relationships. The way that it is manifesting
itself is through our core group and weekly core group meetings. We're
watching it take shape within the core group; we're functioning in small
groups and I'm encouraging them as a leader through connecting people
and letting them know that they're intrinsically valuable."
Music and drama are important concepts as Vibrant Covenant begins
considering how to form a church. Hartline likes to call himself a
"community designer and planner" as he communicates Christ's values in a
multi-faceted way. The congregation also values
children's ministry and has core group members who have already done
children's ministry at previous churches or organizations. Hartline is
hoping to connect with native Portlanders – using small group ministries
throughout neighborhoods - without
communicating "Christian-ese," he added.
For more information about the church, call Hartline at 503-238-5950 or
email him at
Silversurfer_cv@msn.com. The church's website is
www.thevibrantcommunity.com.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
