Ministries Award One Highlight of Central Conference Meeting

WILMETTE, IL (May 8, 2002) - Phil Keillor of Arbor Covenant Church in Madison, Wisconsin, received the J. William Fredrickson Urban Ministries Award last Saturday during the Central Conference Annual Meeting May 2-4 at Winnetka Covenant Church.

A day earlier, Jolene Bergstrom Carlson was installed as associate superintendent of the conference.

Keillor was honored as part of an awards luncheon last Saturday, along with two retired pastors with lengthy service records in the Central Conference. Keillor has been a notable community leader in Madison, particularly in the area of homeless ministry. He founded Transitional Housing in Madison, a multi-organizational network that began in 1984 as a wintertime homeless shelter for men. The organization now includes a daytime hospitality center, a job referral service and a network to find permanent housing. Keillor currently serves as chair of the board's operations committee.

Besides his work with Transitional Housing, Keillor has served on the Central Conference Commission on Church and Society for the past six years. He is known in his community as "a voice for the voiceless," serving in annual celebrations for Martin Luther King Day in Madison along with significant service to his church.

The J. William Fredrickson Urban Ministries Award is named for Dr. J. William Fredrickson, a longtime professor at North Park College in Chicago and one of the founders of the North River Commission. It is awarded every other year by the conference to a lay leader who has given exceptional service to the church and community in an urban setting.

Also during Saturday's luncheon, The Covenant Award for Retiring Clergy was given to Rev. Melvin Dillard and retired associate superintendent Craig Anderson, both of Chicago.

Dillard retired last December after a lengthy ministry at Atonement Covenant. Dillard has done short-term mission work in Zaire and served pastorates in Waukegan, Illinois; North Miami, Florida, and at Oakdale Covenant Church in Chicago. Dillard played football at PurdueUniversity in West Lafayette, Indiana, but passed up an opportunity to pursue a professional football career in order to become a schoolteacher. He eventually felt called to ministry after a long teaching career.

Anderson had been in pastoral ministry more than two decades before becoming associate superintendent of the Central Conference. He served as pastor at Edgebrook Covenant Church in Chicago (four years); Berkeley Covenant Church in Berkeley, California, (10 years); the Evangelical Covenant Church in Menominee, Michigan (four years), and Oakdale Covenant (three years).

David Auker was approved by delegates as executive director of Covenant Harbor Bible Camp and Conference Center in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He was recommended by the Harbor/Point Ministries board. Auker has been at Covenant Harbor for four years as director of development. He replaces Peter Heintzelman, who left that position to serve with Covenant Trust Company in Chicago. Besides his work at Covenant Harbor, Auker is past chair of Christian Camping International-USA. His service to the overall Christian camping committee has been notable, according to HarborPoint Ministry administration.

In other annual meeting news:

• The conference approved a three-part plan for ministry in the conference, including a proposal by the executive board to make the ministry of Chicago's Douglas Park Covenant Church into a mission work. As a result, funds from the conference and local churches can be integrated into continuing support for that ministry. Grant funds will also be sought.
• Delegates were presented with the conference's goals for the Churches Planting Ministries initiative, which include the founding of 20 ministries during the next three years. Presenter Jerome Nelson will be the conference liaison for the initiative. The conference has set a goal of planting six new congregations in the next three years.
• Leadership seminars were presented on Friday, including sessions on understanding the Islamic faith, community ministry and a Christian response to war. Presentations on the new Covenant WorshipStudio software for worship planning and the revised Rules for the Ordered Ministry also were made. On Saturday, the conference provided leadership development sessions on youth, community and holistic ministries as well as fundraising.
• Karen Hinz, chaplain at Covenant Harbor, was elected treasurer of the Central Conference Ministerium during its annual meeting last Thursday. Luis Retamal, pastor of Iglesia del Pacto Grace in Chicago, was elected to the Committee on Ministerial Standing.
• Art Nelson, pastor at North Park Covenant Church in Chicago, was the keynote speaker for the worship service Friday night. Daniel Meyers, pastor at Christ Church of Oakbrook, Illinois, was the guest preacher for the Thursday night ministerium service.

For more information on the Central Conference and its annual meeting, call Kirsten Nelson at 773-267-3060.

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