Covenant News

New Covenant Institute Focuses on Community Transformation

ENCINO, CA (August 15, 2002) - More than 70 Evangelical Covenant Church pastors, administrators and lay leaders, including President Glenn R. Palmberg, met at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino last week for the first Covenant Institute for Community Transformation.

Compassion and Justice Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), under the auspices of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence (CMB), sponsored the event in partnership with the Pacific Southwest Conference. Superintendent Evelyn M.R. Johnson attended as did other conference staff members.

Henry Greenidge, pastor of Irvington Covenant Church in Portland, Oregon, led worship and gave a presentation at the event. Jim Sundholm of Covenant World Relief delivered the opening worship service sermon. Rudy Carrasco, associate director of Harambe Family Ministries in Pasadena, California, was a keynote speaker.

Among those teaching seminars at the event were Max Lopez-Cepero, the ECC's director of Compassion and Justice Ministries; Ed Delgado, academic dean of Centro Hispanico Estudios Teologicos (CHET) in southern California; Nancy Jo Hoover, facilitator of International Holistic Ministries; and Covenant pastor Harvey Drake of Seattle, Washington, who also is founder of Emerald City Outreach Ministries, which provides crisis assistance, educational programs and economic and leadership development training. The accompanying photo shows Lopez-Cepero (left) and Drake.

"It was a really good experience," said Harold Spooner, executive vice president of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence (CMB). "The gathering of like minds brought some tremendous energy, which will be the impetus for really igniting the denomination for doing ministries of compassion and justice."

Two strategic initiatives emerged during this gathering of ministry and outreach-minded leaders, said Churches Planting Ministries communications coordinator Liz VerHage. An association of Covenant-based Community Development Corporations is being created to increase the effectiveness of existing and new community development projects. A Center for Community Transformation also is being developed to sponsor continuing education for churches involved in community development work.

Feedback from those attending the event was reported to be positive, including short-term missionaries Erika and Nils Clauson. The Clausons are headed to language school in the fall to prepare for a community transformation ministry in Mexican border towns. They said they especially appreciated a seminar on community organizing presented by Kazi Joshua, the newly appointed director of Justice Ministries for North Park University in Chicago.

"The best part of the whole event was connecting with other people who are passionate about Compassion and Justice Ministries and learning about what the Covenant is already doing in this area," said Erika Clauson. "Just putting a vocabulary to the type of ministry we want to do was important," Nils Clauson added.

For more information about Churches Planting Ministries, call VerHage at 773-907-3311 or email her at liz.verhage@covchurch.org. The organization's web site can be found by visiting the Covenant's home page at www.covchurch.org and selecting the drop-down menu at the upper right of the screen for the Churches Planting Ministries link.

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