You are invited to submit comments, edits, resources, and thoughts regarding the draft resolution to the Christian Action Commission (CAC) now through October 15, 2013. This draft will also be presented to the 2013 Annual Meeting delegates in June for discussion and to gather additional input and edits. This input will be helpful to the CAC in preparing the final resolution for the 2014 Annual Meeting.

The CAC encourages churches to spend some time reflecting on the resolution and learning about the topic addressed. A resource sheet has been provided by the CAC for church, small group, or individual use to help begin exploration of the topic. Thanks for joining the conversation and sharing (below) with the rest of the church your thoughts and resources on this important topic.

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Background on this Resolution

The Christian Action Commission (CAC) writes resolutions on issues of public discipleship for the church to consider and vote on at denominational Annual Meetings. Since 2009, the CAC has adopted a new format for some topics that are more complex and require lengthier resolutions. These resolutions may be presented in draft format for the church to review over the first year, and subsequently adopt in its final format at the following year’s Annual Meeting. The year-long review process for resolutions is intended to help create time and space for engaging dialogue within the church, resulting in greater awareness, reflection, and education throughout the wider church on the topic addressed in a resolution, as well as provide opportunity for churches and individuals to submit comments or edits. The CAC has partnered with the Department of Compassion, Mercy, and Justice and related partners on this resolution and thanks all who have already contributed.

WHEREAS, God created women and men in the image of God, equal in dignity, worth, rights, and authority, and sin has distorted God’s created order (Genesis 1:26-27; Galatians 3:28);

WHEREAS, domestic violence includes all forms of physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, verbal, spiritual, and financial abuse, including what is often a pattern of battering, threats, intimidation, isolation, and economic coercion, used by one person to exert power and/or control over another person in the context of intimate, dating, family, or household relationships;

WHEREAS, the epidemic of domestic violence is found in all types of communities and family structures, and devastates young and old women, children, and men;

WHEREAS, those experiencing domestic violence often suffer in silence and feel deep and misplaced shame and stigma because of their abuser’s choices;

WHEREAS, domestic violence is present in our churches, and abusers, victims and survivors alike are often our brothers and sisters in Christ; and while God calls the church to expose violence and injustice, the church has too often remained silent and failed to speak out about domestic violence or encourage those who are experiencing it to ask for help (Prov. 31:8-9);

WHEREAS, scripture teaches that human relationships should be characterized by mutual respect and kindness (Colossians 3:19; Mark 12:31); using power and control is explicitly censured in stories like that of Amnon and Tamar (2 Samuel 13); and because domestic violence is never acceptable, appropriate, or biblically defensible, scripture should never be used to minimize or justify domestic violence;

WHEREAS, Christ longs to free, protect, empower, and heal all experiencing domestic violence, and calls abusers to repentance and transformation (Psalm 82:3-4; Matt. 11:28-30); and Christ calls the church to be a safe haven of truth, hope, healing, peace, protection and restoration (if possible), for those impacted by domestic violence, to victims first, but also to abusers;

WHEREAS, the Covenant ministry, Advocacy for Victims of Abuse (AVA) , is an accessible resource to help churches and individuals respond holistically to abuse in all its forms through education, awareness, training, and support for victims, as well as primary responders.

THEREFORE, as Covenant individuals and congregations, we RESOLVE to:
1. Move beyond denial and disbelief and break the silence on domestic violence by acknowledging through teaching, preaching, and leadership the existence of domestic violence that occurs within our society and churches, and by encouraging victims and survivors to seek help and healing;
2. Address domestic violence within our congregations and create a safe place for victims/survivors;
3. Refuse to tolerate or defend instances of domestic violence and create systems for reporting abuse;
4. Educate ourselves about the signs of domestic violence and services available in the community;
5. Prevent domestic violence by mentoring and educating youth and young adults;
6. Equip pastors and leaders to be informed advocates, able to provide safety, encouragement, and community support by using the AVA Online Tutorial (ava-online.org/index) and availing ourselves of trained AVA coordinators at the local and conference level;
7. Make available the “Mending the Soul” Bible Study to those experiencing or recovering from domestic violence; and
8. Establish local AVA advocates in our congregations.

The Resolution on Criminal Justice highlights injustice within the U.S. criminal justice system and invites Christians, Covenant churches, and the Evangelical Covenant Church to a Christ-like response. As we seek God’s kingdom in this world, God gives us a passion to seek justice and fair treatment for all our neighbors.

Background on this Resolution:

At the 2009 Annual Meeting, the Christian Action Commission (CAC) presented a Resolution on Criminal Justice to the delegates. That year the CAC also proposed a new format for reviewing/adopting resolutions; a resolution will be presented in draft format for the church to review and adopted in its final format at the following year’s Annual Meeting. The year-long review process for resolutions is intended to help create time and space for greater awareness, reflection, and education throughout the wider church on the topic addressed in a resolution, as well as keep the draft open for churches and individuals to submit comments or edits.

The CAC encourages churches to spend some time reflecting on the resolution and learning about the topic addressed. A one-page resource sheet and discussion guide have been provided by the CAC for church, small group, or individual use to help begin exploration of the topic.

Introduction

WHEREAS, in 1995 the Evangelical Covenant Church Annual Meeting adopted a Resolution on Racial Reconciliation;

WHEREAS, in 2008 the Evangelical Covenant Church Annual Meeting seeks to strengthen our commitment to racial reconciliation by emphasizing the need for racial righteousness;

WHEREAS, the word of God teaches us that:

1) All people are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Christ died for all people (1 Peter 3:18). All people have eternal worth and are called to be co-heirs of the kingdom of God (Galatians 3:28-29). However, our perception of the image of God in others has often been deeply distorted by divisions between people along racial, ethnic, socio-economic, and cultural lines (Acts 6:1, Ephesians 2:13). Our world is a place of deep injustice that is perpetrated and perpetuated along the lines of race and the divisions that accompany race in our world.

2) God reconciled us through Christ and gave us, as Christ’s ambassadors, the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18, 20). Reconciliation is a comprehensive ministry through which God appeals to us to pursue righteousness (Psalm 34:14; Proverbs 12:28; Hosea 10:12-13; Matthew 5:6; Romans 14:19; 1 Timothy 6:11-12). Jesus spoke of righteousness in terms of the weightier aspects of the law: justice, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23).

3) Pursuing righteousness is about truth-telling (Proverbs 12:17-22); it is about acknowledging and challenging systemic and individual sins that cause or lead to oppression (Isaiah 1:12-17; 58:6-9; Micah 6:8; Amos 5:21-24); it is about speaking for the voiceless (Proverbs 31:8); it is about defending the rights of the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:9); it is about faithfulness to God (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; 5:18; 10:4; Ephesians 6:14) and just relationships with our neighbors across racial lines (Luke 10:25-37). Pursuing righteousness is about seeking change and advocating for change, participating with God in our own transformation and joining with God in the transformation of our world.

4) Pursuing just relationships with all our neighbors encompasses more than asking God to forgive us our sins; it calls us to deeply repent and actively seek to heal our broken relationships (Psalm 32:3-5; Matthew 3:1-3; Acts 2:32-42; 1 Peter 2:24). John the Baptist called all who seek God to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Luke 3:8). The Apostle John reminds us that when we claim to walk in fellowship with God, and yet refuse to see the sin in our own lives and the world, we walk in darkness and do not practice the truth. But when we walk in the light, we have fellowship with each other and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:6-7). Pursuing just relationships is a radical living out of Jesus command to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:29).

5) God alone knows what full reconciliation looks like, when every nation, tribe, people, and language will worship before the Lamb (Revelation 7:9-10). Even as we await the fulfillment of this promise, we journey toward reconciliation. Therefore, we are called to righteousness and to join in God’s work to establish the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

We thank God that the Evangelical Covenant Church has been an effective instrument of God in mission, evangelism, and ministries of compassion and justice. We are grateful for God’s grace that is moving us toward becoming a multiethnic faith family. However, our progress has given us a deeper sensitivity to our failures, both past and present. We therefore resolve the following:

Worship

• Because God’s work of creation and redemption includes righteous, or just, relationships between our brothers and sisters in Christ, and because worship forms the center of our identity in Christ, we resolve to:

—Celebrate our unity in Christ through worship, with an emphasis on baptism and communion as foundational to this unity.
—Confess, corporately and individually, sins of racial unrighteousness in worship.
—Be intentional about the planning and content of our worship as it forms us to bear the fruits of deep repentance, such as recognizing our participation in sin, speaking truthfully, and seeking justice and right relationships with our brothers and sisters of other races and ethnicities.
—Continue to include and incorporate the worship styles of the diversity of racial and ethnic groups that are represented in the ECC in our worship resources, such as The Covenant Hymnal: A Worshipbook and The Covenant Book of Worship.

The Biblical Foundation

God’s passion for justice is clear throughout Scripture: God loves justice and hates injustice (Isaiah 61:8; Psalm 11:7); God has compassion on all who suffer injustice (Exodus 3:7-8, 22:26-27; Hosea 14:3; 2 Corinthians 1:3); God judges those who perpetrate injustice and holds them accountable (Psalm 10:15, 11:56; Malachi 3:5; Amos 2:67); and God intervenes to seek rescue for the victims of injustice (Psalm 72:12-14; Jeremiah 20:13; Gary A. Haugen, Good News about Injustice). These truths only outline God’s heart for justice.

Actively seeking justice on behalf of the weak and victims of oppression is one of God’s highest priorities and commands. The Hebrew prophets tell us that God requires us “to do justice” (Micah 6:8) and to “seek justice, rescue the oppressed” (Isaiah 1:17). Jesus calls “justice” one of “the more important matters of the law” (Matthew 23:23) and says that “proclaiming freedom for prisoners and releasing the oppressed” is central to God’s mission (Luke 4:18-19). God calls all of us as co-laborers to accomplish God’s bold purposes on earth. Therefore, as we face the reality of global slavery and human trafficking, we should not ask, “Where is God?” (Malachi 2:17), but rather, “Where are God’s people—where are we?” (Isaiah 59:15-16; Ezekiel 22:25-30). And instead of despairing, we should find hope in the God of justice who has overcome the world (John 16:33).

The Present Reality

More people are held in slavery today than at any other time in history. In fact, globally almost 27 million men, women, and children are literally enslaved and daily exploited in the commercial sex industry, domestic servitude, armed conflict, agricultural labor, garment and household goods industry, and forced labor in mines, rock quarries, brick factories, and rice mills. One form of slavery is bonded labor, where young children and whole families are forced to work to pay off a debt they can never pay off because of exorbitant interest rates. Another kind of slavery is human trafficking, where people are coerced or forced to provide labor or services often after being trafficked to unfamiliar locations. According to the U.S. State Department, 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders worldwide every year. More than half of these people are children, almost 80 percent are female, and the majority are trafficked for sexual exploitation, including forced prostitution and child pornography. Children overseas are kidnapped, sold, or coerced; economically desperate women respond to seemingly legitimate advertisements for modeling, domestic, hotel, or restaurant work—only to discover the employment agency is really a trafficking syndicate, and only to be drugged and beaten into submission. Modern-day slaveholders and traffickers physically confine and hide people against their will, beat or kill victims for trying to escape, and threaten to kill victims’ family members if they tell anyone of their plight.

Even in the United States, in our own communities, slavery and trafficking abound: forced slave labor exists in at least ninety U.S. cities; human trafficking cases have opened in almost every U.S. state; almost 18,000 people are trafficked every year into the U.S. from Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America; and the U.S. is one of the largest importers of sex slaves. Preying on the weakest and most vulnerable members of society, traffickers in the U.S. enslave and exploit people in the commercial sex industry, domestic servitude, and farm labor, among other forms of forced labor. Pimps exploit the fear and vulnerability of runaway or neglected youth. Some labor contractors and employers of immigrant and/or migrant workers exploit the economic desperation and/or geographical unfamiliarity of domestic workers and farm laborers. Movies like the Lifetime miniseries, Human Trafficking, and the major motion picture, Trade, graphically and realistically portray the all-too-real horrors of the $12 billion a year global industry of rape for profit.

Beyond the U.S., human trafficking flourishes in countries where the Evangelical Covenant Church is present and active through indigenous congregations, especially in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, India, and Thailand. Today, throughout our world, modern-day slavery perpetuates the devaluing of human beings, especially women and children, by turning people into products to be sold and used, and resold and abused. But, there is hope.

A New Reality

God calls and empowers us to join in creating a new reality here on earth for the hurting and the oppressed. When we as God’s servants meaningfully respond to the needs of modern-day slaves and human trafficking victims, we manifest Christ’s love for them in the most tangible ways possible (1 John 3:18). Jesus’ sacrificial love compels us to respond to global slavery by drawing near to victims through thought and prayer and by bringing them Christ’s freedom, justice, and healing. Practically speaking, we can do this through the following actions: 1) intervening and facilitating their rescue, 2) seeking justice by holding their perpetrators accountable in courts of law, 3) providing redemptive and holistic aftercare, and 4) preventing slavery through effective law enforcement and systemic change (Psalm 82:34; Proverbs 29:7; Isaiah 58:67; Jeremiah 21:12, 22:15-16).

Today, Christian organizations and churches around the world are beginning to respond to global slavery in all these ways. As Evangelical Covenant Church congregations and members, and as members of the worldwide body of Christ, we are empowered by God’s grace to end modern-day slavery and manifest Christ’s response of compassion and justice to its victims. The words of the contemporary abolitionist Gary Haugen, founder of International Justice Mission, challenge us to action: “When our grandchildren ask us where we were when the weak and the voiceless and the vulnerable of our era needed a leader of compassion and purpose and hope—I hope we can say that we showed up, and that we showed up on time.” May we, may you, “show up” for today’s weak and voiceless and vulnerable—today’s modern-day slaves.

Our Response

Therefore, be it RESOLVED that the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination calls on:

1) Covenant congregations and members to pray for the abolition of global slavery and human trafficking and for the equality of all humanity;

2) Covenant congregations and members to partner with and support Women Ministries of the ECC; the Department of Compassion, Mercy, and Justice; the Department of World Mission; and Covenant World Relief in their collaborative efforts to biblically respond to modern-day slavery;

3) Covenant congregations and members to raise awareness about global slavery and raise money to support local, national, and international organizations that rescue slaves, provide holistic victim aftercare, hold perpetrators accountable by helping governments enforce anti-slavery laws, and/or work on prevention and advocacy measures;

4) Covenant congregations and members to explore local opportunities to serve victims of slavery and trafficking, either separately or in partnership with government agencies and non-governmental organizations, by providing social services, counseling, shelter, job training, and legal and language services;

5) Covenant pastors and lay leaders to educate our congregations, especially our youth, through justice-based curriculum about the reality of modern-day slavery and the available avenues for response and action, and to challenge Christians to answer God’s call to seek justice and rescue the oppressed in real and tangible ways;

6) Covenant members to communicate to their elected officials in Congress that the effective enforcement of both the domestic and international provisions of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act are of paramount importance to you as Christian constituents, and to challenge their respective state legislature to vigorously enforce, or enact, anti-human trafficking legislation; and

7) Covenant congregations and members to use the Covenant’s human trafficking area of the website in order to prayerfully discern ways to engage this injustice and to participate in the collaborative work of the denomination towards addressing modern-day slavery.

Context for Concern

We live amidst an explosion of pornography. It is pervasive: what was once limited to magazines and movies is now proffered on cable and satellite TV, the Internet, satellite radio, videotapes and DVDs, and through strip clubs and sex tourism. It is aggressive: what was once hidden and hard to find is now widely advertised, from ubiquitous billboards to endless email solicitations. It is treated as legitimate: what was once taboo is now celebrated in culture, given product placement in television and movies, and included in the portfolio of mainstream media corporations.

Despite attempts to repackage pornography as essentially harmless “adult entertainment,” the truth remains: pornography hurts women, children, and men. It exploits those involved in making it, whether their participation is voluntary or coerced. Under the guise of sexual liberation, pornography enslaves many of its users and produces patterns of addiction, deception, and despair. Pornography and its supporting culture show no mercy to innocence or to the innocent among us. It directly or indirectly encourages sexual violence, abuse, obsessions, broken trust, and even the global market of trafficking and enslaving human beings.

In addition to its effects on individuals, pornography damages society by spreading deception, confusion, and callousness. Pornography distorts and devalues God’s gift of sexuality, even as it feeds on feelings of insecurity and alienation between men and women. By offering a false semblance of intimacy, pornography undermines relationships in marriage, family, friendship, and the church. Pornography also coarsens our society as indecency, immodesty, disrespect, and even sexual exploitation come to be seen as acceptable.

The church has not been immune to the epidemic of pornography. Pornography has ensnared many laypersons and pastors with devastating results. Virtually every congregation is touched in some way. While we have known that pornography is sin, this knowledge alone has not protected us. Too often we have been silent, fostering an atmosphere that invites secrecy and promotes shame. Our unwillingness to speak clearly about pornography means, further, that we fail to offer an appropriate context for repentance and a network of support and accountability. And so we remain prey to pornography.

Biblical Basis for Our Response

We affirm sexuality as God’s gift, to be used in accordance with God’s will (Genesis 1:27-28). Being called to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40), we cannot accept an enterprise that dishonors God, wrongs our neighbor, and wages war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11). Accordingly, as Christians we reject pornography.

The Bible recognizes that the battle against any sexual sin is difficult, because human sexual brokenness runs deep. Genesis tells us that in the garden, the man and the woman are naked together without shame—a beautiful description of “one flesh” union within the goodness of marriage (Genesis 2:24-25). But when Adam and Eve fall into sin, they also fall into shame; they become alienated from their bodies and from one another, and in turn flee from God’s presence (Genesis 3:7-10). This cycle of sin, shame, and avoidance is not a cycle we can escape on our own. The Bible does not single out sexual sin as worse than other sin in God’s eyes (James 2:10), but clearly warns against its self-destructive effects. These are compared to playing with fire (Proverbs 6:27-28) or being caught in a deadly trap (Proverbs 7:22-23), wreaking harm the Bible describes as sin against one’s own body (1 Corinthians 6:18).

The good news is that sin does not have the last word. God’s gracious purpose is to remove our shame and restore our freedom by recreating us in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). This redemption includes our bodies, as well as our minds and spirits (1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Romans 6:12-14). We put off our old nature, corrupted by deceitful lusts, and put on a new nature reflecting God’s righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24). Whether we have been harmed by our own sin or victimized by the sin of others, Christ offers us new life and complete freedom from condemnation, as the Spirit indwells us (Romans 8:1-2 and Ephesians 3:14-19).

God also provides for our healing and restoration through the body of Christ, the church. As members of one another within that body, we care for one another, knowing that when one part suffers, all suffer (1 Corinthians 12:25-26). Serving one another in all humility (Mark 10:44 and John 13:14), followers of Christ are called to extend the same forgiveness to others that we have received from the Lord (Colossians 3:13). This means addressing sin in our midst, not with fear, denial, or condemnation but with a gentle boldness grounded in prayer (1 John 5:16) and the awareness that we all need grace (Galatians 6:1). “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16).

Knowing the goodness in which we are created and the holiness to which we are called, we are filled with hope that our congregations can become bodies where God’s covering grace, Christ’s forgiving love, and the Spirit’s transforming power will truly make us whole. To that end, we call for the following from the church.

The Call

To break free, we must break silence. As with all sin, silence is a barrier to restoration and grace. It is imperative that we identify and confess the instances where pornography has ensnared and compromised our lives. By naming, confessing, and seeking help, we receive the grace, healing, and restoration of Christ within the community of faith. We call on Covenant churches to break the silence in which pornography finds its strength, replacing silence and avoidance with a culture of speaking to this issue in truth and love.

Action Items

We call on all Covenanters to use and share resources available for prevention, healing, and deliverance from pornography, including support groups for individuals and families, counselors, accountability relationships, and Internet ministries. Possible venues for this can include: men’s groups, women’s groups, confirmation, youth camps, Christian formation classes, and ministers’ meetings at the denominational and conference
level.

We will encourage each other toward healthy media habits, setting positive examples for our children and each other.

We accept our responsibility as a church to teach our children, youth, and adults a positive, biblical vision of human sexuality and relationships. We recognize and support the key role of parents and families in protecting children and youth from pornographic material, equipping them to respond to pressures and temptations, and modeling healthy sexual expression within the context of marriage.

Recognizing God’s promises to forgive and deliver from sin, and to heal our brokenness, we encourage pastors and leaders to integrate the following forms of prayer into the worship life of the church, as well as settings of pastoral care:

• confession, naming pornography as a sin that afflicts the body both individually and corporately,
• petition for the cleansing, healing, and recreating work of the Holy Spirit,
• healing prayer, including anointing (a practice used throughout Scripture),
• prayer for deliverance from powers that seek to dominate or defile individuals, families, and congregations, and
• celebration of God’s gift of forgiveness, healing and hope through Christ.

We accept responsibility to speak out against pornography in our global society, and to encourage legal and economic strategies to expose and oppose the human misery caused by pornography. We also call on all Covenanters to examine critically any economic relationships to companies that produce or distribute pornography.

As we recognize the enormity of pornography, it is right to grieve and natural to feel discouraged. Yet we remain confident in Christ’s power to transform individuals, congregations, and cultures. It is Christ who says, “Take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Overview

There has never been a moment in human history in which we have not been intrinsically connected to and reliant upon all of God’s creation. Recently, this interconnection has received heightened publicity, political debate, and biblical/theological study as we are becoming more and more aware of our effect on the global environment. There is an urgency for improvement and change in how we practice creation-care for the air we breathe, the oceans we fish, the land we cultivate, and the water we drink so that we and the generations to come might live in sustainable and productive relationships with all of creation and fulfill our call to be good stewards. Therefore, the Young Pietists recommend that the 2007 Annual Meeting of the ECC resolves to encourage The Covenant to practice good stewardship of God’s creation, and provide education and advocacy to this end.

Biblical Understanding

In Genesis we read that God created the heavens and the earth and all that fills them. God delighted in creation and called it “good.” God also gave dominion over this good creation to humanity. As Christians we affirm that this world is not our possession; it belongs to God. While we have been given dominion, as stewards, we have the responsibility to discern between good dominion and bad dominion. Psalm 24:1-2 proclaims, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.”

As we continue to understand what it means to practice creation care and good dominion, we must recognize that we are the voice that speaks for creation when it is not heard, and that part of creation care is to affirm its worth and protect its beauty even beyond its usefulness for human sustenance. For we read in Psalm 19:1-4 that, “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words. Their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” All of God’s creation reveals and worships its creator; and our stewardship is an act of glorifying God.

Thus creation’s witness to the glory of God is marred by poor stewardship. Bad dominion resulting from the fall causes deprivation and suffering for all of God’s creatures, including our fellow human beings. Careless dominion robs both humans and non-humans of God’s promise of abundant life. Paul writes in Romans 8:21-23, “that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” Destruction of ecosystems, extinction of species, alteration of the atmosphere, and unsustainable agriculture practices mean that all of creation, non-human and human, cry out for the redemption of God.

As Christians we await the second coming of Christ, God’s final redemption, and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1). However, we do not passively await the coming kingdom of God; we actively seek it and work with God toward it during our lives on earth. We show our faith in the coming kingdom by participating in its reality now. As people who are charged by God to care for creation, we are to do so in such a way that it can continue to sustain human life and proclaim the glory of God. As people who pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” we join creation in actively preparing for the newness to come.

Declaration

This is a biblical issue, and part of the tradition of our denomination.

In a 1992 resolution on the environment, the Covenant resolved that: “this Annual Meeting call upon our denominational, conference, institutional, and local church constituencies to become more aware and involved in sound environmental practices; and be it further

“RESOLVED, that each Covenanter examine his or her personal environmental stewardship; and be it further

“RESOLVED, that this Annual Meeting commend Covenant churches and institutions that are studying and practicing environmental conservation; and be it further

“RESOLVED, that we encourage churches to teach environmental awareness from a Christian perspective.”

Our Covenant leaders have sought to fulfill this resolution in varying ways. Recently our President, Glenn Palmberg, co-authored an article entitled, “Animals and Ecosystems Deserve Protection.” The article calls for a financial commitment from the wealthiest nations to combat global warming, and for Christians to be committed to preserving species in the spirit of God’s covenant with Noah so that our practice of stewardship of creation might be “the modern-day equivalent of the ark.”

Response

As care for the creation is biblical, part of the tradition of our denomination, promoted by our current leaders, and a pressing global justice issue, we ask each Covenanter to proclaim the Christian witness of creation-care in thought, word, and deed.

To this end we encourage:

• the continued practice of recycling, and furthermore a practice of conservation and reduction of consumption.
• heightened awareness of the processing and disposal of our garbage.
• use of carpools, public transportation, and non-polluting forms of travel where available.
• advocacy for God’s creation in the pulpit, workplace, local, state and national governments, as well as other social settings.
• congregational and household support and use of local, sustainable food, and products purchased at a fair and livable price.
• calling upon groups and institutions such as appropriate ECC departments and commissions, conference offices, Young Pietists, congregations, and local interest groups to develop and make available more educational resources.

May we all respond to God’s call to exercise good dominion over the non-human creation with ever more urgency, stewardship, and care.

WHEREAS, the government of Sudan has engaged in a policy of genocide against its own black African population in Darfur through use of its military and through sponsorship of attacks by armed Islamic militias known as the janjaweed; such crimes against their own people continue and have caused over 400,000 people to be killed, and 2.5 million to be displaced, and

WHEREAS Khartoum has funneled the vast majority of direct foreign investment into military expenditures used to perpetuate the genocide while neglecting needed development projects in the Darfur region; and these international companies, by conducting business operations in Sudan, bring direct foreign investment dollars to Khartoum and provide both moral and political cover to the Sudanese regime; which has led faith groups, universities, several states to adopt divestment strategies to bring economic pressure on the Khartoum government, and

WHEREAS, the Evangelical Covenant Church has numerous connections with Sudanese Christians both in Africa and here in North America; and recognizes that whole life stewardship means that all monies belong to God, and also has by resolution of this body acted to divest its holdings from companies which are engaged in harmful and/or immoral products and endeavors, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Central Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church call upon the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) to affirm and commend the very significant compassion and mercy ministries which have been undertaken on behalf of the Sudanese people by the president of the Covenant, Covenant World Relief, the Department of World Missions, and Various Congregations; be it further

RESOLVED, that the Central Conference of the ECC call upon the Annual Meeting of the ECC to engage in the following justice action: to direct the Covenant’s institutions and agencies (including but not limited to its member schools and benevolent organizations) with investments operating in the Republic of Sudan to divest of all stocks, securities or other obligations (including endowment and retirement programs) from those companies as determined inappropriate according to the screening tool on the website www.sudandivestment.org or other appropriate resource or resources determined to be reliable and reasonably impartial. This divestment should occur within six months of adoption of this resolution, with a report of any action taken made to the Executive Board of the ECC. Moreover, such institutional and agency investment managers are not to make further investments in such companies until the Sudanese government stops its military and militia forces from committing genocide as indicated by either the International Association of Genocide Scholars or the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience; be it further

RESOLVED, that member churches and individuals of the ECC be encouraged to conduct a social audit of personal holdings and investments with information provided on the ECC website directing how this may be accomplished.

Overview

From the mother of Moses to Mary the Mother of Jesus, from Deborah leading the armies of Israel to victory, to Priscilla who worked by the side of the Apostle Paul, from the beginning, women have had a central role in God’s plan for the salvation of the world. In 2006, the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) celebrates the 90th anniversary of Women Ministries and the 30th anniversary of the denomination’s decision to go on record as affirming the ordination of women. It is the joint recommendation of the ECC Christian Action Commission and the ECC Commission on Biblical Gender Equality to fully affirm Christ’s call to all women to present, share, and use all their gifts to further his kingdom.

Biblical Understanding

Whether ordained or not, women are co-laborers for Christ (Romans 16:1-6). Service to Christ presupposes unity and giftedness, and God has been faithful to provide these. All of us as God’s children are accountable to God to affirm and use these gifts. Furthermore, God calls us to open ourselves to receive the ministry of women who are gifted and called by God.

1) Unity. We have all been made God’s children, and heirs through faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26-29). “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). God has united us by making us one body, giving us one Spirit and one Lord. He has called us to keep a peaceful, gentle and humble unity, bearing with one another in love. God has also acted in Jesus Christ to “destroy the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14). The barriers that limited the service of some of God’s people have been removed. “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16). Therefore, Christ has opened the door for us to live in unity, knit together in his body, affirming and releasing one another to service in Jesus’ name.

2) Gifts. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13). This passage teaches that gifts are not self-generated but received from Christ himself. We are faithful to the Lord when we recognize and use these gifts as he intended.

Declaration

“The Evangelical Covenant Church affirms women in all ministry and leadership positions within the church, both lay and clergy. We believe that the biblical basis for service in the body of Christ is giftedness, a call from God, and godly character—not gender.”¹

We commend women as co-laborers for Christ, and give thanks for those who have faithfully heard, accepted and responded to God’s call. Many have shared their God-given gifts with the church and their community at great personal cost. We give thanks as well for those in the body who have encouraged women to share their gifts, and who have received these women and their gifts with joy.

Response

Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has given us a new way of relating to one another, as well as to God. Therefore, we ask each man and woman to listen for God’s call, and to accept and act on his and her giftedness, in order to fulfill God’s purpose for his or her life. We also ask each congregation to welcome and provide opportunities for the cultivation of each man’s and woman’s gifts, so that the body might grow into the fullness of Christ.

To this end, we call on all members and friends of the Evangelical Covenant Church to welcome:

• women and men as senior pastors, associate pastors and staff ministers;
• women and men candidates equally by all pastoral search committees;
• women and men to preach;
• women and men lead worship services, including prayer;
• women and men serve communion;
• women and men serve on church councils and boards;
• women and men serve as church chairpersons, elders, overseers, and deacons;
• women and men teach all ages and sexes;
• women and men into opportunities to use their gifts as they explore God’s call in their lives.

We call on all members and friends of the Evangelical Covenant Church to affirm the work of Women Ministries in:

• development of leaders who cultivate the spiritual formation of women;
• ministries of compassion, mercy and justice relating to advocacy for women and children at home and abroad;
• regional and denominational inspirational conferences for women in the Covenant;
• Women’s History Commission to record contributions of women in the Covenant.

We also call on all members and friends of the Evangelical Covenant Church to support the Association for Covenant Clergy Women in its support and advocacy for women serving God through the Ordered Ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

May we all respond to God’s call on our lives to use our gifts to do “kingdom work” together.

1. Called and Gifted, (Chicago: Covenant Publications, 2004), 2.

Resources:

Called and Gifted This booklet can be downloaded or ordered online through Covenant Bookstore. Additionally, you can purchase the video through the bookstore or watch it online here.

Resoluciones sobre la emigracion espanol (pdf)
Resoluciones sobre la emigracion inglés (pdf)

La Base Bíblica de Nuestro llamado
Como gente en el Camino tenemos una experiencia con el Dios Trinitario—buscando seguir su voluntad. Nuestros antepasados en la fe, Abraham y Sara eran nómadas arameos quienes por medio de la fe se convirtieron en una “gran nación” (Deuteronomio 26:5).

Aunque hoy en día vivimos en un contexto cultural diferente, todavía vivimos de acuerdo a la ética del reino de Dios que es la de “amar al viajero como a nosotros mismos”, porque el pueblo de Dios fue una vez viajero en la tierra de Egipto (Levítico 19:34; cf. Éxodo 23:9).

Caminamos con Jesús quien era un Galileo transeúnte, un emigrante que muchas veces no tenía donde refugiarse ni donde asentar la cabeza. Siendo fieles cristianos tenemos que dar la bienvenida a los extraños entre nosotros, (Mateo 25:35) y brindar nuestra hospitalidad (Romanos 12:13), porque nosotros, como la iglesia también lo es, somos peregrinos, extranjeros y exiliados en este mundo (1 Pedro 2:11). Al practicar esto, nosotros estamos sirviendo a Cristo.

El Llamado

Hemos sido llamados, a toda hora y en todos los lugares a amar a Dios con todo nuestro corazón, toda nuestra alma y con todas nuestras fuerzas y también a amar a nuestros prójimos como a nosotros mismos (Lucas 10:27).

El Pacto, con la gran tradición de ser una iglesia de emigrantes, arraigada en el movimiento histórico de los pietistas suecos, nosotros compartimos la historia y el viaje de los emigrantes contemporáneos. Nosotros escuchamos el llamado de Dios para estar junto a ellos, muchos de los cuales están en nuestras iglesias y a los que les reconocemos como nuestros hermanos y hermanas.

No podemos quedarnos callados o quietos en este tiempo en el que nuestros propios hermanos y hermanas son insultados o amenazados, porque, “como un miembro del cuerpo de Cristo sufre, todos nosotros sufrimos” (1 Corintios 12:26).

La Respuesta

La Reunión Anual de la Iglesia Del Pacto Evangélico busca dar la bienvenida a los emigrantes, que tienen documentos y a los que no tienen documentos, con el amor y la paz de Cristo como también ser solidarios como gente que trae buenas nuevas en pensamientos, palabras y hechos. Las puertas de nuestras iglesias deben mantenerse abiertas a todos aquellos que vayan a recibir la Palabra de Salvación de nuestro Dios.

Humildemente nos arrepentimos de cualquier acción que no haya seguido esta ética cristiana y pedimos perdón. Siendo una asamblea de iglesias en varios contextos tanto rurales, urbanos, y suburbano, nosotros vamos a tratar de responder de manera fiel y apropiada.

Como iglesias locales extenderemos compasión, misericordia y justicia a los emigrantes necesitados, como lo hemos hecho durante nuestra historia. Aún más, trataremos de encontrar formas creativas para trabajar con centros de trabajo de emigrantes, grupos de entrenamiento de ciudadanía, y otras organizaciones de la iglesia y paraeclesiásticas en nuestras comunidades. Nosotros afirmamos a todos aquellos que viven en paz y para el bien común.