Of that aggregate, 38 were approved for ordination of word and sacrament and 26 were approved for ordination to specialized ministry under a new categorization of ordination approved at last year's Annual Meeting. Brad Boydston, pastor of Cornerstone Covenant Church in Turlock, California, was installed as president of the Ministerium. Tom Ek, pastor of The Covenant Church of Galesburg, Illinois, was installed as treasurer. Both are installed for three-year terms.

Boydston has been acting president of the Ministerium for one year and finished the term for David Kersten, who had to give up his position as president of the Ministerium when he became executive minister of the Department of the Ordered Ministry.

Much discussion was generated as the Ministerium voted overwhelmingly to oppose a resolution that is being brought by Graham Evangelical Covenant Church in Graham, Washington, to this year's Annual Meeting of the ECC. The Graham resolution states in part that "the ECC has had a long tradition of cherishing freedom, which allows for differences of opinion in matters of interpretation, doctrine and practice within the context of biblical guidelines and historical Christianity (taken from Covenant Affirmations). Therefore be it resolved . . . that conformity to a particular view of women in ministry within these biblical guidelines shall not be grounds for exclusion of any church, new or existing, from association with the ECC or exclusion of any qualified applicant for ministerial license, ordination or commissioning."

Jonathan Wilson, pastor of Cuyler Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois, led the motion that was carried to oppose the Graham resolution. Pastor Alan Eagle of Graham Covenant Church stated that, while he affirmed women in ministry, he and his church should have the freedom to oppose women in ministry and still be part of the larger body of the Covenant.

Herb Hedstrom, parliamentarian for this year's Annual Meeting of the Ministerium, stated that the Covenant's constitution makes it clear that - in accordance with the ECC's constitution - that individual congregations need to support denominational mandates. The Covenant's constitution in Article 4, section 4.3 states, "member congregations pledge mutually to support the principles, policies, programs and institutions of the ECC . . . the constitution and bylaws of ECC congregations shall be in essential agreement with the constitution and bylaws of the ECC . . . "

In Article 13, section 13.3, it adds, "that all members of the Covenant Ministerium shall abide by the principles, policies and decisions of the ECC and shall support its mission, programs and institutions . . . "

This was the second time that a Covenant ministerial body had voted to oppose the Graham resolution. The North Pacific Conference Ministerial Association also voted to oppose the Graham resolution last April.

Earlier on Wednesday, Kersten announced an initiative that has been developed to honor the work of significant pastors and to provide additional pastoral care at North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) in Chicago. The Good Shepherd Chair will honor pastors who have made significant contributions in pastoral care. The first honoree will be named in 2005 with the nomination process starting following the 2003 Annual Meeting of the ECC - the total cost of endowing the chair is $1.2 million.

The Good Shepherd Chair of Pastoral Care was not named after a specific pastor, states the initiative, but instead honors the example of Jesus, the good shepherd. However, specific pastors will be honored every two years at the denomination's annual meeting and will receive an actual chair (Kersten suggested a rocking chair for the gift) in recognition of their specific work in pastoral care. It is hoped that $100,000 will be raised in recognition of each honoree within each two-year period.

According to the initiative, pastors are nominated as charter members of the Good Shepherd Chair. In order to be considered as a charter member, the nomination must include a description of the pastor's ministry and a plan to raise $15,000 in that pastor's name for the endowment fund.

To nominate someone as a Good Shepherd honoree or charter member, please call NPTS at 773-244-6210 to receive the proper paperwork.

In other news:

• Glenn R. Palmberg, president of the ECC, gave a greeting to the Ministerium and discussed an upcoming celebration of the 40th anniversary of the death of Paul Carlson, a Covenant missionary who was martyred in Congo in 1964. The event will occur on Sunday, June 20, as part of the 2004 Annual Meeting of the ECC in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It will honor the many martyrs of the faith and the sacrifice of missionaries during the Covenant's history.
• The Ministerium remembered the pastors, missionaries and spouses of pastors who died during the period between last year's and this year's Annual Meetings. They also remembered the work of 25 ministers who retired during the past year, the work of Kersten, the Department of the Ordered Ministry and the Board of the Ordered Ministry, along with outgoing Ministerium treasurer Sandy Anderson. Participants approved the proposed budget - $48,800 - for 2003-2004 Ministerium efforts.
• The Ministerium announced the dates of next year's annual Covenant Midwinter Conference, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois, from February 2-6, 2004. Plenary session speakers include Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, assistant professor of religious education at Claremont School of Theology in southern California; Brian McLaren, senior pastor, Cedar Ridge Community Church, Spencerville, Maryland; Klyne Snodgrass, Paul Brandel professor of New Testament Studies at NPTS; and Robert Webber, Myers professor of ministry, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. A new feature will be a Children Adult and Family Ministry Connection during the Midwinter Conference. Three other Connection events - Worship, Youth Workers and Church Planters - will occur before the Midwinter event. The first two will occur from January 31 through February 2. The third will occur February 1-2.