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PORTLAND, OR (June 23, 2007) – Following is the text of a special litany offered on behalf of Covenant Bible College on Saturday as part of the 122nd Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), with CBC Acting President Paul Lessard (accompanying photo) and ECC Executive Vice President Donn Engebretson leading the special service. To read an earlier story containing an update on the CBC closure process, please see CBC Update Report. To view a video of this special service, please select from the following options, depending on the speed of the Internet connection: high-band, or low-band.
Litany
L: To the God of Glory who called us together,
C: Praise to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
L: Lord, we read in your word there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
 L2: A time to plant and time to uproot, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to be born and a time to die.
C: Lord, we come before you with sorrowful, yet grateful hearts as we recognize that the ministry of Covenant Bible College has come to the end of its season. In the midst of the mix of emotions that wash over us in these times, we ask you to focus our hearts on who you are and what you have done in and through the college.
L2: It was birthed in 1941 by the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada as an educational ministry to equip men and women to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.
L: Many of the early graduates of the three year program went on to serve as pastors, teachers and missionaries in Canada, the US and around the world.
L2: For sixty-six years Covenant Bible College has been a community of faith, centered on God’s word, worship and life together.
C: God in Heaven, we have seen and heard of your work through the generations in the lives and stories of all those connected with the college – staff, students, deans, faculty, volunteers and supporters from across the Americas, Europe, Africa and India.
L: Lord Jesus, we thank you for these your servants – the deans, staff and faculty who have served so faithfully.
C: We thank you for all those who have given of their time, talent and resources, for the many who have volunteered their time on work teams, boards and in missions support.
 L: Thank you for the Department of World Missions, the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada and The Evangelical Covenant Church and their churches who have supported CBC by sending students and gifts in support of this ministry.
C: Lord, we thank you for the thousands of students that have grown in your image at CBC.
L: Thank you for this community where spiritual battles were fought and won, where critical thinking was encouraged and students struggled honestly with questions of faith, where love for the church was modeled and the heartfelt search for you was both allowed and encouraged.
C: Thank you for the puppets and drama, the music and sports, the study and service that characterized life on this campus.
L: And Lord Jesus, we thank you for the hope that is found in you, for opportunity that comes from living into your mission for our world and for a future that looks different from what we can know.
C: And now as we stand here as one Covenant body together we confess these things:
L: Great and numerous are the kindnesses that the Lord has extended to Covenant Bible College; for each of them we offer thanks and humble gratitude.
C: Any one of these would have been sufficient to show God’s love for us.
L2: Had God done nothing more than build this community of faith on three campuses and empower it for 66 years of ministry,
C: For that alone we should be grateful!
L: Had God done nothing more than give us students and deans, staff and faculty who spoke God’s word with spirit and compassion,
C: For that alone we should be grateful!
L: Had God done nothing more than give us each other to love, to serve, to comfort and sustain in the spirit of Christ,
C: For that alone we should be grateful!
L: How great and numerous are the kindnesses that the Lord has shown us! For all these gifts we gladly say
All: It is to you that we give glory,
It is to you, O Lord, who is holy that we lift our hearts,
It is to you, O Lord, that we give praise and adoration for the work that has been called Covenant Bible College. Thanks be to you!
L: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen,
C: Amen.
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