Covenant News - Peterson Approved as World Mission Head

Covenant News

Peterson Approved as World Mission Head

ROSEMONT, IL (June 27, 2003) - Delegates at the Thursday afternoon business session of the 118th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church approved the 2004 Coordinated Budget and approved Curt Peterson as the new executive minister of the Department of World Mission.

Peterson, who has served more than 23 years as pastor of Montecito Covenant Church in Santa Barbara, will begin his new duties in September, replacing interim executive minister of World Mission John Notehelfer.

Catherine Gilliard of the Covenant's Executive Board spoke on behalf of Peterson, lauding his work as a pastor and his vision to mobilize mission works, among other things. "He will listen, he will learn, he will love and he will lead," said Gilliard in explaining why the World Mission Committee unanimously supported Peterson.

Peterson said he will continue the faithful work of former executive minister Jim Gustafson and Notehelfer. He said he will be especially attentive to the missionaries. "It is all under the context of furthering Jesus Christ in this world . . . I am looking forward to being an encourager, an influencer in this world. It is my joy and privilege to enter into this."

The 2004 Coordinated Budget of $12,623,213 was approved - local Covenant churches will be asked to contribute $8.9 million. Individual budgeted amounts include:

World Mission, $4,707,634
Church Growth and Evangelism, $2,912,869
Christian Formation, $853,584
Ordered Ministry, $538,151
Communication, $523,386
General administration, $2,023,589
North Park University (including North Park Theological Seminary), $1,064,000.

Controller Elliott Johnson reported that there are no foreseeable cuts in staffing in World Mission based on budget figures. Only one delegate spoke about the budget during a question-and-answer period, asking whether the portion budgeted for World Mission will ensure that there will be no cuts in staffing. Johnson stated that there are no foreseeable cuts due to budget constraints and moments later delegates voted overwhelmingly to approve the coordinated budget.

While Peterson was named executive minister for his first term, Gary Walter, executive minister of the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism, and Ruth Hill, executive minister of Covenant Women Ministries, were re-elected for second terms.

Walter said that it was a difficult struggle for him as he discussed with his wife, Nancy, the possibility of returning to local pastoral ministry. Walter had been an associate pastor at Newport Covenant Church in Bellevue, Washington, and was senior pastor at Clairemont Covenant Church in San Diego, California, before serving eight years as the director of new church development.

"It just didn't feel like the job was done," said Walter as he expressed why he was excited about serving a second term in Church Growth and Evangelism. "We feel like there have been many bright days and we feel like there are many brighter days ahead."

For Hill, the idea of serving a second term for Covenant Women Ministries (CWM) was a great challenge because her organization is transforming itself. Hill stated in her CWM report to delegates earlier in the afternoon that CWM will have a new name - Women Ministries of the ECC - if it receives approval at CWM's annual meeting on Friday afternoon. Hill had been nominated by the CWM board, which noted her work in racial reconciliation in exhorting others to service through various CWM mission projects, and through her enthusiasm for the ministry.

The Thursday afternoon business meeting opened with a Good News story as Dr. Kathleen Kleinert of Messiah Church in Detroit, Michigan, spoke about a medical clinic that is being opened with help from Covenant and local church ministries. Kleinert stated that a primary care clinic will open on Monday near Messiah Church. The primary care clinic building once served as a funeral home. It is hoped that a dental care office will be added before year's end. Kleinert met with Harold Spooner of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence (CMB) nearly four years ago about starting a clinic. Along with receiving funding through CMB assistance, some Detroit suburb Covenant churches have given resources. While waiting for the new clinic to open, Kleinert has been seeing patients during the past three years at her private practice. She said that last year she saw 600 patients and had already seen 600 patients in 2003 as she and other staffers waited for the new facility to open.

In other news, Paul Erickson was recognized by ECC president and friend Glenn R. Palmberg for eight years of service as outgoing superintendent of the Northwest Conference. Palmberg and Notehelfer also honored Richard and Marlys Johnson, who served 26 years as Covenant missionaries (primarily in Colombia) before retiring last December. More about Erickson and the Johnsons can be found in separate articles on www.covchurch.org.

Editor's note: for a pictorial look at today's meeting, visit Thursday moments

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