Covenant Leaders Conference

Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront · January 18–22, 2027

About

Midwinter isn’t just a conference. It’s a sanctuary.

Since its beginning, Midwinter has been anchored in the idea that pastors need one another. Decades later, the world has changed, and so has ministry, but that conviction hasn’t.

Jesus was honest with us: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We gather in Jacksonville this January to hold both halves of that promise together. Join us for five days of being present in worship rather than responsible for leading, learning alongside others instead of being the one with answers, and fellowshipping with people who know this work from the inside.

Registration opens October 5, 2026. Early registration pricing runs through November 20, 2026.

Worship

In general sessions, you’ll worship, learn from, and be inspired by thought leaders, and be renewed in your passion for the mission God has placed before you.

Breakout Sessions

In-depth dialogue with pace-setting leaders from diverse fields, in midsized gatherings that equip you with practical tools and renewed purpose.

Relationships

If you’ve never been to a Midwinter, this is a time to meet colleagues and build the connections we need — we are better together, side by side in ministry.

Local Experiences

Beyond conference programming, explore our host city of Jacksonville, Florida, and all it has to offer.

Highlights

What Midwinter Looks Like

A look back at previous Midwinters — worship, workshops, and the friendships that carry pastors through the rest of the year.

Speakers & Worship

Announcements Coming Soon

We’re finalizing an incredible lineup of speakers and worship leaders for Midwinter 2027. Sign up for our weekly newsletter, CovChurch Now, and you’ll be the first to know when announcements drop.

Schedule

Five Days, One Purpose

January 18–22, 2027  ·  All times Eastern

7:00 am – 10:00 pmRegistration Open
8:00 amNorth Park Theological Seminary Classes Begin
8:00 amSafe Sanctuaries Training
8:00 amAscent to Jerusalem Course
9:45 amCovenant Women of Color Gathering (women only)
11:15 amAdvocates for Covenant Clergy Women (ACCW) Lunch (women & men)
1:00 pmAfternoon Specialized Trainings
1:30 pmWomen in Leadership (women only)
5:00 pmDinner Break
7:00 pmOpening Worship Session
9:00 pmConference Receptions
7:30 amHosted Breakfasts
9:30 amMorning Plenary Session – Presidential Update
11:15 am – 12:45 pmLunch Break / Hosted Meals
2:00 – 4:00 pmLarge Workshop
5:00 pmDinner Break
7:00 pmEvening Worship Session
9:00 pmAntiracism Discipleship Pathways (ADP) Reception
7:30 amHosted Breakfasts
9:30 amMorning Plenary Session
11:15 am – 12:45 pmLunch Break / Hosted Meals
1:00 – 2:30 pmBreakout Session 1
3:00 – 4:30 pmBreakout Session 2
5:00 – 6:30 pmDinner Break (Ethnic Associations)
7:00 amCovenant Kids Congo Walk for Water
9:30 amMorning Worship Session
11:15 am – 12:45 pmLunch Break / Hosted Meals
2:00 – 4:00 pmAll Midwinter Breakout
4:00 pmAI Conversation
5:00 pmDinner Break
7:00 pmEvening Worship Session
9:30 – 11:30 amMorning Worship Session

Breakout Sessions

Equipped for the Work Ahead

8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Safe Sanctuaries

Led by Ramelia Williams

This intensive one-day training will equip you to pastor a people who have experienced trauma from the injustice of abuse. We will develop a theology of abuse, talk about how trauma impacts victims and survivors, learn how to partner with advocates in our community to bring holistic healing, learn how to respond to victims who share their stories of abuse, and acquire best practices for providing spiritual and practical support. Prework is required. Cost: $25, lunch included

8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Ascent to Jerusalem

Led by Hannah B. and Sally Carlson

Serve Globally invites you to join us as seekers exploring God’s heart for peace and justice in the Holy Land. Through a course developed by the Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East, we will meet diverse peoples of the land, study historical events and biblical interpretations that provide important context for today, and consider our own next steps toward a hopeful future. Cost: $50, lunch included

9:45 – 11:00 am

Covenant Women of Color

Come join your fellow Covenant Women of Color clergy sisters. This will be a time to reconnect, recenter, and restore ourselves as we embrace the new year!

1:00 – 2:30 pm

Justice Journey for Kids (JJ4K) Information Session

Led by Celeste Cecchi

Curious about Justice Journey for Kids? Come learn more about the newly revised children’s discipleship curriculum designed to help kids follow Jesus in word and deed, integrating evangelism and justice through the Great Commandment and Great Commission. We’ll share an overview of the curriculum, answer questions, and talk about opportunities to join an upcoming cohort of churches journeying through JJ4K together while providing real-time feedback and receiving coaching and peer support. Join us to explore whether JJ4K might be a good fit for your church!

Mon., 1:00 – 4:00 pm

Wed., 11:15 am – 4:30 pm

Then monthly for nine months

Preaching Cohort: The Next Faithful Step: Preaching Prophetically and Caring for Your Soul

Led by Bret Widman and Cheryl Lynn Alexander-Bermúdez

Participants will explore preaching faithfully and prophetically while tending to their own emotional and spiritual health. Meets Monday and Wednesday of Midwinter and will continue with monthly meetings for nine months.

1:00 – 4:00 pm

Are You Beginning to Think About Retirement?

Led by Michael White and Alan Forsman

As you approach this transition, your day-to-day role in ministry may change, but your calling doesn’t end. What will that look like in this next stage of life? Is there a theology of retirement to help you plan? We invite you to a conversation designed to help you navigate what’s next. Beyond exploring these key questions, you’ll have a chance to share how the denomination can support and resource you during this season.

1:00 – 4:00 pm

Committees on Ministerial Standing (COMS) Training

Led by Danielle Ng

This discussion is to train, resource, and equip members of conference committees on ministerial standing to be more effective interviewers of credentialing candidates. Come and receive updates, discuss common problems and issues, and share best practices.

1:30 – 4:00 pm

Women in Leadership

Join this gathering of women-only leaders to be celebrated and encouraged in our call as we lead, preach, and advocate to create a more just society for all to flourish. Come and be lifted up, laugh and cry together, worship and pray, hear gifted speakers, attend breakout conversations, and be poured into. All women—volunteers, lay leaders, bivocational, licensed, commissioned, or ordained—are welcome to attend.

Most breakouts are offered twice: 1:00 – 2:30 pm and again at 3:00 – 4:30 pm. Sessions offered only once are marked.

The Preaching Cohort also meets today, 11:15 am – 4:30 pm. .

If I Perish, I Perish: Taking Heart for Justice and Mercy

Led by Cindy Wu and Steve Eng

In every generation, God calls people to courage—Moses before Pharaoh, Esther before King Xerxes, and pastors and churches today before systems that harm the poor and the displaced. Come explore what it means to take heart in the call to advocate for immigrants, refugees, and other vulnerable populations through Christ. Join long-time Covenant ministers Steve Eng, advocacy director for the National Association of Evangelicals, and Cindy Wu, co-founder of Mosaic Formation and co-director of Diaspora Network, as we speak and act for justice, mercy, and gospel witness in a time of global uncertainty.

Take Heart: Every Church Has a Yes

Led by Zach Szmara

In a season when immigration policies are changing rapidly and many immigrant families are experiencing uncertainty, fear, and disruption, how can the Church respond with both courage and faithfulness? In this workshop, we will begin with a biblical foundation for understanding God’s heart for immigrants and the Church’s call to welcome and love them. We will explore the changing immigration landscape and what these shifts mean for immigrant families and the communities walking alongside them. Finally, we will move from understanding to action. Every church is in a different context and has different capacity, but every church has a yes. That could mean learning more, connecting families with trustworthy legal consultations, helping families prepare for uncertainty, or offering a Welcome Program. No matter what your yes is, Immigrant Connection is here to partner with you. Together, we can take heart, remain present, and faithfully take the next step God has placed before us.

Crescendo: Storytelling

Led by Lynda Delgado (1:00 pm session) and Jim Sequeira (3:00 pm session)

Develop an increased understanding that storytelling and story-listening are sacred, essential practices between generations. Stories leave memories and valuable legacies that cement life’s experience, wisdom, and purpose from one generation to the next, blessing them with identity, belonging, inspiration, and encouragement for the future. The next generation is strengthened, which in turn strengthens communities.

Reengaging Millennial and Gen Z Families

Led by Jessica Springer

Understanding why families are not “sticking” the way families did in the past and sharing practical tools to support and meet families where they are.

People, Purpose, and Practice: Navigating Church HR

Led by Heather Hernandez and Michael White

Navigating the complex world of human resources and legal requirements can be a challenging aspect of ministry. We’re here to help explore best practices in supervision, policies, performance reviews, and hiring—helping you uphold your church’s mission and values while maintaining professional excellence.

Starting a Security Ministry

Led by Chris Jones

Jesus called us to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). This session is designed to help us welcome those who enter our churches/schools wisely in this uncertain world. You will learn how to evaluate what your faith community has and doesn’t have regarding safety and security policies and procedures, identify threats and hazards inside and outside your facility(s), and understand what training and exercise options are available and how to make them realistic and fun to participate in.

Moving Beyond “Covenant Nice”: Speaking the Truth in Love

Led by Catherine Gilliard and Anthony Thomas

How do we move beyond “Covenant nice” to engage difficult conversations with honesty, courage, and grace? This session explores practical ways to address challenging theological, relational, and leadership issues while maintaining respect and strengthening relationships.

Before God Gave Adam and Eve Jobs: Leading Faithfully Without Losing Yourself

Led by Barbara Ettinger and Carlos Ortiz

Before God entrusted Adam and Eve with responsibility, he placed them within an environment designed for their flourishing. God’s first leadership strategy was to create conditions in which they could become the kind of people he intended them to be. In this interactive session, you’ll discover a biblical framework for understanding how God forms leaders and learn to recognize the environments that shape you every day. Through Scripture, shared ministry experience, and lessons from the Covenant’s growing internal coaching network, you’ll leave with renewed hope, one practical experiment to try immediately, and a fresh way of cultivating an environment that helps both pastors and congregations flourish.

Preparing Churches for Female Leaders

Led by Marilyn Williams

Drawing on research on women in ministry across the Covenant, this session will celebrate the progress already made while equipping pastors—whether you are leading affirming or resistant congregations—to take the next faithful steps forward. Participants will learn about concrete initiatives such as “March into Those Pulpits” and pulpit-supply resources, with opportunities to join ongoing connection groups for encouragement and support. Grounded in Jesus’s promise in John 16:33, this session offers both inspiration and practical tools for churches ready to fully embrace women’s call to pastoral leadership.

From Ministry “For” to Ministry “With”

Led by Claudia Garza Alvarado and Grace Shim

Ministry is more than offering our skills, resources, or ideas to another. It is learning to recognize where God is already at work, listening before acting, building relationships before projects, and walking alongside others as equal partners. Led by one of Serve Globally’s global partners, this workshop offers a perspective shaped by ministry on the ground and by the experience of partnering across diverse communities. Together, we will explore how to move from doing mission for others to participating in God’s mission with others—creating partnerships that cultivate dignity, local leadership, flourishing, and mutual transformation.

Neighborology

Led by Travis Randolph and Paul De Neui

John 16:33 invites us to view Christian hospitality through the eyes of our neighbor. When we struggle to find the right words, we can take heart that Christ is already present in our neighborhoods working to promote peace and reconciliation. He has overcome the world, including our fears and insecurities in interfaith work. We need new eyes to see the surprising ways God is at work!

Taking Heart: Stories and Practices for the Town & Country Church

Led by Tim Shekleton, Havey Cozart, and Tamara Hutsell

Join a facilitated panel of town and country practitioners as they speak candidly about where they see God at work, the challenges of ministry in their contexts, and the practices and partnerships that sustain hope in their communities. Through guided conversation and interactive discussion, participants will have space to reflect on what encourages them, what they’re learning, and how they might build stronger connections with fellow town and country pastors.

Starting and Strengthening Churches: The 3. The 12. The 34?!

Led by Glenn Peterson, Pat Stark, Mary Peterson, and Fil Nesta

Jesus’s pattern for changing the world is still at work—it’s the church! He went deep with 3. He sent 12. He released 72. Join us as we explore what that progression means for Covenant churches today. Drawing on research, real stories, and the Covenant’s own renewal DNA, The 3. The 12. The 34?! invites pastors to reimagine their church not as an endpoint of the mission but as its engine.

Surviving a Building Project: A Pastor’s Guide

Led by Rollie Persson, Rob Hall, and Kyle Thomsen

Is it possible to do a church building/renovation project and maintain your sanity? Yes! The NCP real estate services team, along with pastors who have done building/renovation projects, will walk you through the role of a pastor in casting a vision, determining what you can afford, avoiding burnout by effectively delegating tasks, and utilizing consultants to raise capital funds. This session will be highly interactive, so bring your questions.

Se Un Consejero Eficaz: Cómo Acompañar, Orientar Y Establecer Límites Saludables

Session 1 only · 1:00 – 2:30 pmEn español

Led by Ana Siguenza

¿Cómo Podemos Acompañar Y Aconsejar Eficazmente Sin Cruzar Límites Que Puedan Causar Daño O Exponernos A Conflictos Legales?

En este taller práctico aprenderemos principios esenciales para brindar una consejería pastoral saludable, responsable y efectiva. Exploraremos la diferencia entre el cuidado y la consejería pastoral, los límites que todo líder debe establecer, incluyendo algunos aspectos legales importantes que debe conocer. Al finalizar, los participantes contarán con herramientas para acompañar de manera más segura y responsable, reconocer situaciones de abuso, identificar cuándo una necesidad está fuera de su alcance y obtener recursos pastorales prácticos que les ayuden a responder adecuadamente ante diferentes situaciones.

ALIPE Breakout

Session 2 only · 3:00 – 4:30 pm

Led by Robert Guerrero

Details coming soon.

Special Events

Connecting and Growing Together

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

$15

ACCW Lunch (Women & Men)

Are you a sister who is ordained, licensed, commissioned, or pursuing credentials? Or a brother who is committed to women flourishing in ministry? Join us at the Advocates for Covenant Clergy Women (ACCW) luncheon where we will meet new and old friends, fellowship, and Take Heart as we celebrate what God is doing through God’s daughters.

You will also hear ACCW updates and have the opportunity to share ideas as we continue the work before us. We have come a long way, but we still have far to go. Let’s eat together, share stories, and encourage one another on this journey. We see you, we hear you, and we are here for you!

7:30 am

$10

Coaching Workshop Intensive Alumni Breakfast

Coaching Workshop Intensive alumni, this breakfast is for you! Join fellow trained Covenant coaches for a time of continuing education, table fellowship, and meaningful connection. Gather with Covenant pastors, global personnel, and leaders from our growing internal peer coaching network of more than 250 trained coaches. Enjoy breakfast, great conversation, and practical learning as we explore timely topics in coach development while strengthening the relationships that are such a valued part of Covenant life. Join us as we continue learning, encouraging one another, and growing together as a peer coaching community.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

$20

Crescendo Luncheon: Building on a Legacy of Service

After celebrating its tenth anniversary last year, Crescendo, a ministry of Make and Deepen Disciples, is entering a new decade with a new leader. Dr. Steve Wong assumed the role of part-time coordinator of adult discipleship in October. Join us to meet Steve and share in exploring the current ministries relating to 60+ and future possibilities with 40s and 50s. Reservation required.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

$15

Covenant Chaplains Association

Join the Covenant Chaplains Association (CCA) as we gather spiritual care colleagues from diverse spaces including healthcare, retirement communities, military, corporate, and education. We will welcome new members, network over lunch, engage a panel of chaplain peers, and enter into prayer together. (CCA annual meeting has moved to February online.) Lunch included.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

Capacity: 175

Church Planters Lunch

Join us for a special gathering focused on the shared mission of starting new churches and strengthening existing ones. Connect with pastors, church planters, and ministry leaders from across the Covenant. Hear stories of transformation, learn about resources that foster church health and missional vitality, and celebrate how God is advancing God’s kingdom through our churches. Enjoy lunch, fellowship, and encouragement as we envision together what God has in store for our movement. Lunch is provided.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

Capacity: 125

Serve Globally Lunch

Come discover how Serve Globally is partnering with the global church in 2027—bearing witness to the good news of Christ, strengthening local communities, and joining what God is already doing around the world. In a time when we are called to Take Heart, we’ll celebrate stories of hope and faithful partnership while sharing resources and opportunities to equip your church for deeper missional engagement in the year ahead.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

Capacity: 45

Integrated Wholeness: Spiritual Direction in a Fragmented World (NPTS)

NPTS has trained spiritual directors for more than twenty years through the Weborg Center for Spiritual Direction. Hear from Weborg alumni who are bringing this ministry into the world through meaningful and transformative ways. Spiritual direction begins with the integrity of the director. A life that is increasingly integrated in God is also capable of creating sacred space where another can listen for the sound of the Beloved within. In a world filled with the noise of ambition and despair, apathy, and busyness, spiritual directors invite us to slow down, pay attention, and embrace the inward journey toward wholeness. Come explore the ministry of spiritual direction and discover how the Weborg Center might equip you for this sacred work. Led by center director Rev. Rich Johnson. Lunch is provided.

9:00 pm

$15

Antiracism Discipleship Pathway Reception

This gathering is for participants—past and present—of the Antiracism Discipleship Pathways. Light refreshments provided.

7:30 am

$20

Racial Righteousness Breakfast

This breakfast is for leaders who desire to learn more about racial righteousness and network with peers pursuing this biblical commission in their ministerial context.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

Capacity: 30

The Listening Lunch: Come Hungry. Leave Restored.

Pastors spend much of their lives listening to others, but when was the last time you experienced the gift of being heard? Over lunch, you’ll experience what it feels like to be genuinely listened to—and learn one listening practice you can use immediately in ministry. Listening is a skill, and you can get better at it through training and practice.

Come to strengthen your capacity to listen well, and discover how better listening can help pastors and ministries thrive. An optional, free online cohort will follow Midwinter for those who want to keep learning. Hosted by Serve Clergy as part of its commitment to helping pastors Flourish Fully. Lunch is provided.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

$15

Paul Carlson Partnership Luncheon: What Difference Can a Bridge Make?

Join Paul Carlson Partnership for lunch to hear stories from our partners and learn how bridge repairs in DR Congo provide people access to healthcare, schools, economic growth, churches, and more. Reservations required.

5:00 pm

$30

Asociación Latina De La Iglesia Del Pacto Evangélico (ALIPE) Business Meeting

Asociación Latina De La Iglesia Del Pacto Evangélico (ALIPE) links pastors and leaders of Latino congregations through connection, fellowship, and resourcing. Join our annual ALIPE pastors’ and leaders’ gathering during Midwinter.

5:00 pm

$35

African American Ministers Association (AAMA) Business Meeting

The purpose of the AAMA is to support African American credentialed clergy and seminary students. The annual business meeting is from 5 to 7 p.m. A fellowship reception will immediately follow.

5:00 pm

$25

Covenant Asian Pastors Association (CAPA)

The Covenant Asian Pastors Association supports Asian/Asian American clergy, ministry leaders, seminary students, missionaries, chaplains, and those serving in Asian/Asian American or cross-cultural contexts. CAPA is a strategic partner in pursuing the goals of the Covenant and its vision to impact the world for Christ. The annual business meeting is before dinner off-site. We hope you can join us.

5:00 pm

Indigenous Ministers Association (IMA)

We invite Indigenous ministers, spiritual leaders, and those centering Indigenous wisdom in their ministry to gather in a spirit of healing, relationship, and Covenant community. We will gather for dinner off-site.

7:00 am

$25

Covenant Kids Congo Walk for Water

Join us to walk or run with Covenant Kids Congo powered by World Vision! You’re invited to move your feet and make an impact by bringing clean water to those who need it most in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Registration is $25 and provides clean water for one person in Congo. Pick up your t-shirt at Midwinter registration.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

$20

Spiritual Directors Luncheon hosted by the ACSD

All spiritual directors, spiritual directors in training, and those interested in learning more about the ministry of spiritual direction are invited to join us for lunch. Get to know other spiritual directors, share joys and sorrows from the past year, and dream about what God might have in store for the ministry of spiritual direction in the Covenant in the future.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

Town & Country Lunch

Join us in honor of all pastors serving in town and country settings, recognizing how much your ministry matters to God. Learn about new developments from the Town and Country Commission and ministry partners. RSVP during registration. Lunch is provided.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

Capacity: 45

Power, Integrity, and the Formation of Healthy Leaders (NPTS)

Power is present in every pastoral relationship, congregational system, and leadership decision, yet it often remains one of the least examined dimensions of ministry. In this lunch panel, Rev. Cheryl Lynn Alexander-Bermúdez, NPTS director of vocational development, will share insights from her doctoral research on “power intelligence,” exploring how power shapes leaders internally, influences relationships and institutions, and affects the church’s witness and mission. A diverse panel of pastors, educators, and Covenant leaders will reflect on the practical implications of this research for pastoral formation, accountability, vocation, and congregational leadership. Join us for a nuanced and practical conversation about power, integrity, accountability, and the formation of leaders who serve the church with wisdom, humility, and enduring faithfulness. Lunch is provided.

11:15 am – 12:45 pm

Capacity: 50

Clergy and Finances

Serve Clergy invites credentialed clergy to explore principles of financial leadership and stewardship. Hear from experienced leaders, engage in meaningful conversation, and learn about upcoming cohort opportunities designed to strengthen your personal financial well-being and ministry. Boxed lunch provided.

9:00 pm

Capacity: 20

AI Conversation

The pace of AI development is breathtaking. For the local church, conference, and denomination, AI brings tremendous potential, significant pitfalls, and new leadership challenges. Pastors already carry a heavy load—and now you’re being asked to navigate AI’s many implications as well.

The Covenant wants to learn how we can better support local church pastors. Come share what would be most helpful to you in your ministry situation. What resources, guidance, or practical tools would you like the denomination to provide?

Additional Events

Around Midwinter

NextGen Conference

Saturday, January 16 – Monday, January 18

Hyatt Regency Riverfront, Jacksonville

For everyone who leads children, youth, and young adult ministries — whether you’ve been at it twenty years or started last week. Teaching you can use, worship you don’t have to plan, and breakouts led by people who learned it the hard way.

Learn More & Register →

Covenant Living Communities & Services Chaplains Meeting

Sunday, January 17, 1–5 pm

Monday, January 18, 8 am–noon

Education and inspiration designed to support the work of Covenant Living Communities & Services chaplains and update them on current initiatives. Registration information is sent to all Covenant Living chaplains separately.

Questions: Cameron Wu-Cardona

Spiritual Directors Pre-Midwinter Retreat

Sunday, January 17, 3 pm – Monday, January 18, 3 pm

All spiritual directors, and spiritual directors in training, are invited for connection, encouragement, and equipping in ministry. Topic and speaker to be announced.

$50 members · $100 nonmembers
Become a member at eccacsd.org

Association of Covenant Camps & Conference Centers Annual Meeting

Monday, January 18, 1–4 pm

Tuesday, January 19, Noon–4 pm

Rich time together learning and growing at the ACCCC Annual Meeting & Gathering during Midwinter 2027.

$125

Throughout the Week

Resources & Conversations

North Park Theological Seminary Classes & Cohorts

Seminary and Covenant Orientation students can take classes offered through NPTS during Midwinter. Register for the class through North Park Theological Seminary and for Midwinter using the Midwinter registration form.

  • Jan. 14–17: ECCO 5010 Vocational Excellence
  • Jan. 18–22: ECCO 5030 Theology of the Evangelical Covenant Church
  • Jan. 18–22: FLDC 5300 Vocational Excellence / FLDC 7315 Intercultural Development Module

Conversation Hour with Tammy Swanson-Draheim

Spend time with President Swanson-Draheim during one of the scheduled conversation hours throughout the week — ask questions, share thoughts, or just listen. Check the registration form for dates and times.

Financial Conversations

Come with financial questions, concerns, and goals, and bring any statements or documents pertinent to this confidential conversation with a professional from Covenant Trust Company. Spanish consultations are available.

  • Mon. Jan 18, 1:30–4:30 pm
  • Tue. Jan 19, 11:30 am–1:30 pm & 4:00 pm
  • Wed. Jan 20, 11:30 am–12:30 pm
  • Thu. Jan 21, 11:30 am–1:30 pm & 4:00 pm

Meet with Superintendents, Conference Staff & Ministerium Leadership

To make an appointment with a conference superintendent, conference staff, or an officer from the denominational Ministerium during Midwinter, please contact them prior to the event. Limited Ministerium meeting times are available at a designated hotel location.

Ministerium: eccministerium@gmail.org

Spiritual Direction

A ministry of listening, discernment, and prayer in a confidential, encouraging setting. Trained spiritual directors are available Tuesday–Thursday for fifty-minute sessions. Capacity is limited.

Contact: Bruce MacMahon

Travel & Accommodations

Getting to Jacksonville

Hyatt Regency Riverfront

225 E Coastline Dr, Jacksonville, FL 32202

Double Queen

$179/night + tax

King

$189/night + tax

Reserve Your Room ↗

Need a Roommate?

If you’d like to share housing expenses, fill out this form ↗ and we’ll help connect you with others looking to share a room.

Parking

$20/night on Newnan Street, including in/out privileges.

Airport

Jacksonville International Airport (JAX)

2400 Yankee Clipper Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32218

All attendees are responsible for arranging their own transportation to and from the airport and hotel.

United Airlines Discount

Special discounts for the Covenant. Book online with code ZT25554726, or call (800) 426-1122, Monday–Friday. Booking fees are waived for meeting reservations.

Book with United ↗

Delta Air Lines Discount

Book at delta.com with Meeting Code NY523 under “Advanced Search,” or call Conference & Events Reservations at 800-328-1111.

Book with Delta ↗

Registration

Registration Opens October 5, 2026

Early registration runs from October 5 through November 20, 2026. Regular registration applies after November 20, 2026.

Midwinter 2027 registration rates
Category Early Regular
Primary Registrant $395 $440
Additional Registrant $365 $410
Retiree, Spouse, Bivocational $225 $275
NPTS / CHET Student $225 $275

Using your 2027 budget? For Primary and Additional registrations, a nonrefundable $100 deposit made by November 20, 2026, locks in early bird rates. Balance due in full by January 5, 2027.

Need help with registration? Call Jill Ulven at (773) 299-7274.

Registration Opens Oct. 5

Scholarships

Financial Support Is Available

Scholarships are available for credentialed, active Covenant pastors, global personnel, and chaplains (military and institutional) in good standing, as well as retired Covenant pastors not actively serving in a paid ministry position.

  • All applicants pay a nonrefundable $100 deposit.
  • Primary/Additional registrants who apply and register by November 20 pay only the deposit; after that date, pay the full amount and receive reimbursement (minus $100) if approved.
  • Special registrants pay the full amount and receive reimbursement (minus $100) if approved.
Apply for a Scholarship ↗

Deadlines

General applications are due to your conference superintendent by December 4, 2026. Full-time military chaplains submit online by December 11, 2026.

Scholarships cover the remaining balance of your Midwinter registration. Additional monies are mailed after Midwinter.

Questions: contact the Ordered Ministry.

Policies

Cancellation Policy

Please email events@covchurch.org to submit any cancellation requests; cancellations cannot be accepted over the phone. Registrations that have only paid the $100 deposit will not be refunded. Registrations with a balance paid in full, cancelled before January 8, will be charged a $50 cancellation fee. After January 8, a $100 fee applies. Exceptions may be made on an individual basis.

Substitutions

Substitutions are accepted from the same church or institution, provided the registration and fee paid are the same for the new registrant as the original registrant. To make a substitution, email events@covchurch.org with the name, address, telephone number, and email address of the substitute.

Image Policy

Your participation at Midwinter implies permission for the Covenant to reproduce your image, likeness, or voice in connection with any recorded display or reproduction of Midwinter in post-event publicity and publicity for other Covenant-sponsored events.

Lina Sánchez-Herrera

Chicago West Suburbs, Illinois

ECC Conference: Central
Gender: Female

AVAILABILITY

Receiving New Directees: Yes
Directing Clergy: Yes
Client Genders: Both men and women
Skype or Facetime: Yes
Languages: English, Spanish
Retreat/Workshop Leader: Yes

CERTIFICATION FROM

C. John Weborg Center for Spiritual Direction, North Park Theological Seminary

AREAS OF INTEREST

Pastors/Church Leadership, Missionaries, University Students, Discernment Process, Transitions, Multi-Ethnic Issues, Second Half of Life, Prayer, Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

Prior to moving to the USA, I was a professor at the National University of Colombia and served with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in Colombia for 16 years. Starting in 2001, I served as InterVarsity National Staff in the USA. I have a master’s degree in Christian Ministries, and I serve in Spiritual Direction to those who want to be fully present and available to God and receive His grace over them. My joy is to see professors and college students coming to know Jesus and being transformed into people that bring the good news of righteousness and justice to others.