Covenant News

Central Conference Adopts Misconduct Policy

MOLINE, IL (May 10, 2000) - A new conference policy statement addressing issues of sexual misconduct by ministers and staff was adopted by Central Conference delegates during its annual meeting at Elim Covenant Church in Moline, Illinois.

The policy statement entitled Responding to Allegations of Sexual Misconduct by Ministers and Staff was adopted as a working model for one year while the document is edited, according to Associate Supt. Craig Anderson. He said the conference's committee on ministerial care spent 18 months working on the document and that the statement received overwhelming support in principle.

"We needed to have something in hand to use as a guideline," said Anderson. "We needed to put in place certain protocols to have a step-by-step process. This will be a good tool for superintendents."

The conference also voted to transfer ownership and oversight of Covenant Children's Home (CCH) in Princeton, Illinois, from the Central Conference to Covenant Ministries of Benevolence (CMB). With the ownership transfer comes a revised vision for ministry - CCH has announced new plans for a residential program beginning January 1, 2001, for individuals ages 16-20 who are considered at risk. The new program will center on character and spiritual development and life skills training. The current CCH program (which ends June 30) focuses primarily on emotionally disturbed adolescents ages 12 to 18.

Glenn R. Palmberg, Evangelical Covenant Church president, and long-time Covenant pastor Wesley W. Nelson were among the keynote speakers for various events during the meeting. A special presentation of the "Friend to Friend" outreach program, originally used by the Great Lakes Conference, was made by the conference's Commission on Prayer and Evangelism.

The conference honored four retiring clergy members: Deirdre Banks, former executive director of Covenant Women Ministries; Roger Nelson, long-time chaplain at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago; Willie Jemison, pastor at Oakdale Covenant Church in Chicago for three decades; and Everett Wilson, long-time Covenant pastor at numerous Central Conference churches, most recently in Marinette, Wisconsin.

Kenton and Joyce Johnson of Princeton, Illinois, received the David A. Larson Town & Country Award, which honors those working in smaller community ministries. Rev. Bennie and Willa Simmons of Gary, Indiana, received the J. William Fredrickson Urban Ministry Award for their work in their home city. Besides planting a Covenant church in Gary, the couple founded the Youth Family Community Renewal Learning Center and initiated a local economic development program called the "Marshall Plan for Gary."

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