Pastors Challenged With Call to Discipleship

ROSEMONT, IL (February 3, 2004) - A tribute to a missionary martyr and a Covenant-wide call to discipleship marked Monday evening's opening worship service as part of "Crossing Generations," the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) pastor's Midwinter Conference.

President Glenn R. Palmberg presented a video documenting the life of Dr. Paul Carlson, a Covenant medical missionary whose murder by Congo rebel forces on November 24, 1964, made international headlines. A copy of the video presentation, Monganga, was given to pastors as one means of helping them spark interest with their respective congregations in participating in this year's Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, which will begin June 20.

Along with honoring Carlson's sacrifice 40 years ago, the ECC also is remembering the sacrifices of other Covenant missionaries, including martyrs from China in the 1940s, following the theme "Bearing the Marks: A Call to Discipleship." It is hoped that the emphasis will stimulate a renewed and ongoing commitment to support ministry throughout the world, particularly in Congo, where the Congo Covenant Church (CEUM) has remained faithful despite ongoing political and civil strife for more than a decade.

Palmberg and Covenant World Mission Executive Minister Curt Peterson traveled to Congo last November. They visited Carlson's gravesite and accepted thanks from the Congolese for what Carlson's legacy had meant to those whose lives he touched. Palmberg recalled unpacking some of his father's memorabilia in his home and finding a LIFE magazine with Carlson featured on the cover. The discovery reminded Palmberg of how Carlson's death touched so many Covenanters during the 1960s. His hope is that the current generation of Covenanters will be inspired to do more for the Kingdom through learning more about Carlson.

Before giving the benediction to close Monday's service, Peterson asked past and present Congo missionaries to stand and be recognized. Peterson shared a message from the CEUM, observing that the estimated 178,000 believers who worship in CEUM churches are the fruits of the ministry of so many who have served as Covenant missionaries in Congo.

Noted author and worship renewal expert Robert Webber, the Myers Professor of Ministry at Northern Baptist Seminary in Lombard, Illinois, was the guest speaker at Monday's worship service. He discussed "Ancient Future Worship: The Shape of Things To Come," emphasizing that transforming the next generation through the worship experience will require an understanding that "all of life is an extension of worship" and a realization that "worship without justice isn't worship."

Webber focused his remarks on reaching the "20-something" age group and "the what he calls the ancient future church. "As a group, millenials are different than any other generation," he said, adding that their focus on teamwork, achievement, modesty and good conduct will . . . "entirely recast youth from downbeat and alienated to engaged with making cosmic consequences . . . " However, Webber warned that they will not settle for the kind of contemporary "entertainment worship" that is being thrust upon them by well-meaning churches. He believes this generation wants "an encounter with God" that includes more contemplative and spiritual depth in worship, a connection with the early Christian church and the roots of one's own denominational roots and more frequent Eucharist, among other things.

"Worship is the key to the door that opens the church," said Webber as he described theological characteristics of the ancient future church. "And true worship that tells the story, that proclaims the meaning of the world . . . that it is a recovered and redeemed world . . . and that we can do acts of justice to redeem the created world."

In welcoming pastors to the Midwinter, ECC Executive Vice President Donn Engebretson related a story told by his wife, Sally, a high school English teacher. She told of a boy who attended a Roman Catholic worship service and began to understand the story of Jesus by studying the stained glass windows depicting Christ's life, death and resurrection. His hope was that this week's participants will find Christ in such a powerful way that the story will seem as new and as exciting as it did for the teen in his wife's class.

A multifaceted blend of worship helped bring energy to the opening half of Monday's service as Covenant pastors Paul Lessard and Henry Greenidge led a worship team that included Natalie Rivera, Adrienne Reedy, Jelani and Paul Greenidge, Shawn Sommer, Randall Wilkens, Matt Lundgren and Andy Barefoot. The North Park University Concert Choir, directed by Dr. Rollo Dilworth, also participated, as did Eugene Cho, and Doreen Olson, executive minister of the Department of Christian Formation.

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