Covenant News - North Pacific Approves Four Commissions, Four Churches

Covenant News

North Pacific Approves Four Commissions, Four Churches

McMINNVILLE, OR (May 6, 2004) - Four new churches were recommended for membership in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) during the North Pacific Conference Annual Meeting last Saturday at McMinnville Covenant Church.

A total of 107 delegates from 48 congregations (172 people in all) attended the annual meeting, approving a new constitution and bylaws, among other things. The new constitution includes the creation of four commissions in the conference: Congregational Life and Leadership, Cross-cultural Ministry and Mission, Ministry Resource, and Communications. Delegates and others had an opportunity to learn more about the functions of the proposed commissions at an information session Friday afternoon led by Beth Stordahl, chair of the conference executive board and Constitution Review Committee.

Of the four new churches recommended for ECC membership, one congregation is being adopted while three others are church plants.

Arlington United Church in Arlington, Washington, is under the leadership of pastor Deena Jones. The congregation left the United Church of Christ and has had affiliation with the United Methodist Church.

Cascade Covenant Church in Bend, Oregon, is a church of nearly 150 attendees in a southern Oregon city of about 50,000. Alan Petrich is the senior pastor and Scott Johnson is an associate. The congregation is planning to assist the planting of another Covenant church in the area.

Quest Ministries, under pastor Eugene Cho, is a multi-ethnic congregation that meets on the campus of Interbay Covenant Church in Seattle. The church has utilized a trendy café as a catalyst for building relationships with the local community.

Crossroads Community Covenant Church in Yelm, Washington, has received sponsorship from both River Ridge Covenant Church in Lacey and nearby Grace Covenant Church in Olympia. Russ Blake is the pastor of the congregation of 300, which has been in existence for one year.

Along with the established churches being planted, plans are being made to plant congregations in Corvallis, Oregon, and Spokane and east King County in Washington. Two church planters - C.V. Hartline and Moises Garcia - were commissioned by the conference. They will serve as pastors at Vibrant Covenant Church in Portland, Oregon, and Mosaic Covenant Church in Renton, Washington.

Tapestry Covenant Church in Tacoma, Washington, a church that officially joined the Covenant last year, provided leadership for the Friday evening worship service. Conference Supt. Mark Novak preached on the theme "The Texture of Change" at the service, which followed a banquet at McMinnville Covenant. The service had a profound impact on at least one individual in attendance, according to Associate Supt. Don Robinson, as a woman attending her first annual meeting came to know Jesus Christ as savior.

Robinson characterized Tapestry's energetic congregation as a microcosm of the greater growth in the conference. He reported that the North Pacific Conference has had a 61 percent growth in attendance over the past decade, spurred on by a variety of church plants. The church plants that have been planted in the past five years have accounted for 12 percent of conference giving and 12 percent of conference's average worship attendance.

In other news:

Bruce Shellhammer, pastor of Crossroads Covenant Church in Burlington, Washington, shared how his church plant has been aided by funding from a Churches Planting Ministries grant from the conference and denomination. He showed a video clip of some of the ministries being offered by the congregation, including a cafe and a Basics for Babies program.
McMinnville Chief of Police Wayne McFarland was the guest speaker at the conference's annual Covenant Men's breakfast on Saturday morning at the church.
The conference hosted "Training For Impact" seminars on Friday afternoon. Topics and speakers included "Debt Free Living" by Larry Bennett, "Church Computer Communications For Dummies" by conference church planter Andrew Thompson, "The Changing Face of Women Ministries in the Church" by conference Covenant Women Ministries chair Vivian Kampf, and "Shedding God's Light on Victims of Abuse" by Amanda Strawser.
Chitra Hanstad of Emerald City Bible Fellowship Church in Seattle was the keynote speaker for the 84th annual Covenant Women Ministries conference meeting and luncheon on Friday.
Brett Eastman of Saddleback Valley Community Church in California was the guest speaker at the North Pacific Conference ministerial association meeting Thursday, focusing on leadership issues and small group strategies that transform churches.

To learn more about the recent conference annual meeting and new commissions, call Krisann Jarvis Foss in the conference office at 206-275-3903. Information also is available on the conference website at www.covchurch-npc.org.

Printable version of this page.