Covenant News
Growth is Recurrent Theme During Midsouth Meeting
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (April 30, 2003) - The rapid growth of congregations and the birth of another congregation are among the bright spots for the Midsouth Conference, said Supt. Garth Bolinder as he reported to delegates at last weekend's annual meeting at Westmoore Community Church.Bolinder stated that based on statistics from November 2002 average weekly worship attendance, the combined weekly worship in the Midsouth increased from 8,186 to 10,089 in the past year, a 23 percent increase. Three Oklahoma congregations embarked on major building projects to accommodate growth in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Edmond. A congregation in Norman is also considering how to accommodate its rapid attendance increase and one church in Oklahoma City moved into another building recently after meeting in a local movie theater in recent years.
The annual meeting's host church, Westmoore Community, is a case in point for what's happening in the Midsouth. It has grown from an average attendance of 500 to 1,400 during the past 19 months under senior pastor Paul Cunningham. Known locally as "The Flock That Rocks," the nine-year-old congregation moved into a 21,000-square-foot facility from a location in a local shopping center two years ago. Now, after hosting 2,400 for Easter services, the church has decided to expand its building another 28,000 square feet (increasing its sanctuary and adding a gymnasium and children's multipurpose room). The church is beginning a capital campaign entitled "The Journey Continues" to help finance the multi-million-dollar project.
"I'm very grateful for what God is doing in the Midsouth Conference," said Bolinder about his diverse and ministry-minded group of churches. "We've got wonderfully gifted pastors and enthusiastically youthful congregations. The big challenge is to create a sense of camaraderie throughout the larger conference."
In other news at Saturday's business meeting:
- Ron Alfson and Paul Cunningham were named to the Midsouth's Executive Board
- Bolinder stated that one church plant is taking place in Oklahoma City this spring under the leadership of Greg and Tricia Coates and two others are in the works
- Two congregations - Central Covenant Church in Oklahoma City and Cedar Heights Covenant Church in Tulsa - recently concluded their ministries and delegates accepted the closings
- Delegates approved the appropriation of $5,000 for a high school youth ministry event yet to be determined
- Camp Board chair Nancy Dieckow discussed the annual summer camp held in Grapevine, Texas, in August and thanked churches for their efforts to improve training for staff. She also acknowledged the work of Merge Ministries' Dale Lusk, who has led recent camps.
Guests at the Midsouth annual meeting included Mary Miller, vice president of administration for the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC); Art Greco, director of evangelism and prayer for the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism and Rose Cornelious, coordinator of church relations-east from the Department of World Mission. Miller and Greco spoke at a Friday evening worship service and Westmoore's Sean Gutteridge led worship services on both Friday evening and Saturday morning.
The Midsouth Conference, which originally founded churches at the regional level in 1985, covers five states with 13 congregations in place as of the annual meeting. However, congregations existed in the Midsouth decades earlier under the auspices of Covenant World Mission. More information about the conference can be found by calling Bolinder at 918-481-9097 or visiting the conference's new web page at www.midsouthcovenant.net.
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