Covenant News

Palmberg Calls Church to Remain Faithful to God's Call

KEYSTONE, CO (June 22, 2005) - The opening business sessions of the 120th Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) began by celebrating what the denomination is doing internationally, nationally, and locally.

Attendees were introduced to Jorge Julian Perez, national president of the Colombian Federation of Covenant Churches; heard President Glenn Palmberg share how the ECC continues to build on its rich tradition; welcomed new churches, and heard positive reports on financial and attendance growth. (Accompanying photo shows Perez addressing delegates, flanked by Palmberg and Curt Peterson, executive minister of Covenant World Mission.)

"I am really happy to be here," Perez said as he thanked delegates for the support the ECC has given to the 35 Covenant churches in his country over the past 36 years. Perez has been a part of the Covenant church for 25 years and said, "I've been able to see the Covenant Church is a big, great and nice family around the world."

Perez said the church in Colombia is intent on expanding that family. "In 14 years we will have fifty years," Perez noted. "I want to plant two churches per year and to have Colombian missionaries to Colombia and the world. It's time to go serve others," added Perez, who brought a chuckle from the audience when he added, "no keeping, no keeping."

Perez has been in the country since April 1 as part of the Department of World Mission's Leader in Residence program. He has spoken and taught at a number of churches while in the country. He is scheduled to return to Colombia June 28.

In his remarks to delegates, President Glenn Palmberg said the denomination is geared to continue building on the tradition of 120 years of ministry since the first Annual Meeting. Using a large PowerPoint display showing a photograph of early Covenanters, Palmberg said, "We have a great inheritance and we have a great responsibility to build on that inheritance.

"The challenge is for us to remain the ECC, responding to God's call to retain our unique character," he continued. "My report is about living out the distinctives of the Covenant in a changing world. We are not better than others, but we do celebrate God's goodness to us.

"We are and remain a church focused on bringing people into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ," Palmberg continued. "But, as did early Covenanters, the denomination also continues to focus on issues of compassion and justice." Displaying a photograph of the original Covenant Home of Mercy from the turn of the century, Palmberg observed that "when those people used the word 'mission,' they used it for compassion ministries and they used it for foreign mission."

Noting the importance of our shared Covenant heritage and a history of people being faithful to God's call, Palmberg paid tribute to two individuals in particular. "Paul Larsen (former president of the ECC) introduced diversity as a major focus for the Covenant," the president observed, while John Notehelfer was credited with introducing the "Bringing My World to Christ" initiative. "They built on what went before ... we today continue to build on what has gone before," Palmberg said.

He proceeded to overview numerous Covenant events, ministries and initiatives, including such well-known activities as World Mission (98 career, 7 project and 29 short-term missionaries today), the record-breaking attendance at the last CHIC (5,909, with the next CHIC in 2006), the new China initiative to raise $200,000 a year for five years to support our sister Taiwan Covenant Church in planting churches in China, the Paul Carlson Partnership (seven new or rebuilt bridges, two recently arrived containers of medical supplies), the nearly $1 million contributed by Covenanters to Covenant World Relief to provide relief for tsunami victims, Triennial, Schools of Righteousness and other activities.

In keeping with that tradition of active involvement in ministries of compassion and justice, the denomination and local churches more recently have become engaged with Bread for the World and Call to Renewal, two organizations committed to eradicating hunger and poverty. Palmberg boasted that the 43 Covenanters who recently participated in "One World, Many Voices" conference sponsored by Bread for the World, made it the second most highly represented denomination at the event.

"We are a small denomination, but we are having a big impact on our world," Palmberg said. Noting the many differences that tragically divide many denominations today, Palmberg asked, "Can we be a church that knows how to do it differently? "We inherited a great church, but what will we pass on? My hope is that it will be a church where people come to know Jesus. Where compassion and justice stand alongside evangelism. One where diversity and gender will not be an issue. One where differences are respected and discussion is encouraged."

The president paid tribute to the colleagues with whom he works in Covenant offices – "godly and gifted people" as he describes them, as well as the many people working in conference offices, camps, Covenant institutions and affiliates and ministries of all kinds. He expressed the hope that the denomination will remain focused on building on the best of its tradition.

Diversity within the Covenant continues to increase, observed Dean Lundgren, vice president of finance and Covenant treasurer, in his report. Twenty percent of Covenant churches are now considered ethnic or multiethnic churches, and 35.2 percent of all Covenanters attend churches established within the last 10 years.

Last year was the best year financially and in attendance growth since he began his position 14 years ago, Lundgren noted. In 2004, giving to local churches grew 10.4 percent - $22.6 million – to $240.5 million. Local church giving to the Covenant Coordinated Budget increased 2.5 percent, and the budget finished with a $34,000 operating surplus. It marked the ninth year out of the last 10 in which a modest surplus was achieved.

In 2004, attendance grew 8,528. It was the best year ever for membership growth with 9,797 individuals joining Covenant churches, a 19.1 percent increase over last year.

In reporting on World Mission, Lundgren said there are 1.8 Covenant members in World Mission churches for every member in the United States and Canada, and 2.8 World Mission churches for each domestic church.

Lundgren also said it was the best year ever in the support of compassion efforts throughout the world. Undesignated Covenant World Relief giving, excluding tsunami relief, was $940,012, up $156,907, or 20 percent over last year. Covenanters gave $994,000 to tsunami relief. Nearly $1.8 million was given to the Paul Carlson Partnership.

Noting recent concerns over pension plan stability in other organizations, Lundgren said the Covenant Pension Plan is in "very sound financial condition," with assets modestly above liabilities.

Several delegates raised concerns that small churches are being especially hurt by "extreme financial hardship" in providing health and pension benefits. Lundgren acknowledged the problem, adding, "We do have a medical crisis in this country," but said the denomination was doing everything it could do to hold down costs and had been more successful than many others.

Rounding out the morning session activities was a report that David Kersten was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second four-year term as executive minister of the Department of the Ordered Ministry.

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