Covenant News

Dynamic Growth Reported by SE Conference

TAMARAC, FL (May, 2000) - A doubling in the number of conference churches and an increase of 1,500 in attendance were two pieces of good news gleaned at the recent Southeast Conference annual meeting, according to Supt. Kurt Miericke.

More than 4,000 individuals worship in 42 Southeast Conference member churches on a typical Sunday, it was reported. By contrast, in 1991 there were just 20 churches and total attendance averaged 2,500. "The center of gravity in the country has gone to the southeast," Miericke observed.

Miericke credited the effective work of Richard Berry, associate superintendent specializing in urban church expansion, for much of the expansion. Eleven churches in the conference are predominantly Haitian or African-American, with a Haitian church in West Palm Beach, Florida, awaiting approval at the 115th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) in St. Paul in June. Miericke said plans are being considered for a church start in the Bahamas.

Robert Owens, pastor of New Life Covenant Church in Atlanta, was elected chair of the Southeast Conference. In that new role he will conduct the conference annual meeting and oversee the work of the executive board.

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