Covenant News

Triennial Speaker to Focus on Building Unity in Diversity

CHICAGO, IL (June 29, 2004) - Brenda Salter McNeil makes her living helping unite diverse groups of people, so she says the chance to speak at a large gathering of Covenant women is right up her alley.

Salter McNeil, president of Overflow Ministries, Inc. of Chicago, is one of the main speakers at Triennial XI: "Meet Me at the River," August 12-15 in Portland, Oregon. The four-day event is sponsored by Covenant Women Ministries (CWM).

She and CWM executive minister Ruth Hill have worked together before. In recent months, the two convinced two Chicago Covenant churches, Oakdale Covenant and North Park Covenant, to work together on a yearlong effort toward bridging racial differences.

She hopes that her words at Triennial XI can also help unify participants to a common mission of loving others of differing backgrounds and spiritual journeys.

Though she is not a member of a Covenant Church, Salter McNeil says that she supports the church's efforts to promote diversity. "I see Triennial as a way to bring women together from different parts of the country and different ethnic experiences for a common purpose," she said. "I think sometimes when people are taken away for a common experience, there is camaraderie and an intensity (via the event) that allows God to do something that is beyond what we think is possible. A conference allows us to create a sense of expectancy for God to be present. And that something special happens that we can take back to our churches."

Salter McNeil continued, "One of my motivations in being involved with this event is my strong belief in women's ministries and the role of women in the church. Most of our churches are made up of female congregants and it benefits us to strengthen women and resources to empower them in ministry."

Originally from Trenton, New Jersey, Salter McNeil attended Rutgers University and graduated with a degree in Speech Pathology. During her sophomore year, Salter McNeil was led to Christ by a woman in her dorm and became a student leader on campus.

"I had few role models of women preachers and I think that oftentimes we have gifts that lie dormant and we take for granted," said Salter McNeil. "Only after we're given opportunities to exercise those gifts are we able to recognize them. I didn't realize that 'the gift of gab' could actually be something that God could use. But it wasn't just the talking - it was seeing people's lives change. That's what motivated me and led me to seminary."

After spending three years as a public schools speech therapist, Salter McNeil felt called to full-time Christian ministry. She eventually received a scholarship to attend Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, in the summer of 1981. She graduated with a Master of Divinity in 1984. While at Fuller, she met her husband, J. Derek McNeil.

After graduating from seminary, she began working with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF). In 1990, Brenda and her husband moved to Chicago. Brenda served Intervarsity Christian Fellowship as a regional coordinator for multiethnic training, while her husband (who now teaches at Wheaton College) pursued a doctorate degree at Northwestern University in Evanston. She became a popular speaker at Christian colleges on this issue of racial reconciliation on their campuses.

During recent years, Salter McNeil has become even more convinced that her passion for racial reconciliation can help the larger Christian church. Through Overflow Ministries, Inc., she has been helping various Covenant church efforts in that arena, partnering with the Covenant and North Park University leaders like Harold Spooner, Mark Olson, and Rupe Simms to plan a Covenant pastors' Midwinter Conference that dealt more directly with such issues.

Salter McNeil recently promoted curriculum for Schools of Racial Righteousness in the Covenant and has preached at North Park chapel services and at other Covenant events in order to further those efforts. She believes Triennial XI is another strategic arena in which to spread the message.

"I found that many Christians wanted to be more inclusive but didn't know how to do it," she said. "I wanted to develop a model that gave specific strategies to help Christians live out the reality of racial diversity - to change the culture of their churches and implement things to bring structural and institutional change. I believe the Covenant wants to change and I am interested in showing people how to do it."

For more about Overflow Ministries and some of its programs and curriculum, email Salter McNeil at Electlady12@aol.com. The organization's website can be found at: www.overflow-ministries.com.

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