During the Executive Board meeting this morning, three retiring members were honored for their service. Members and the committees on which they served during their tenure include:

• Catherine Gilliard, who served as board chair and vice chair; World Mission, Communications and Finance committees.
• Stanley Long, Church Growth and Evangelism and Communication committees.
• Elizabeth Sandell, who served as board secretary and vice secretary; Christian Formation and World Mission committees.

Covenant pastors were scheduled to participate in a continuing education training program on the Advocacy for Victims of Abuse (AVA) project, led by director Aleese Moore-Orbih, with the Covenant Ministerium scheduled to meet this afternoon.

New delegate orientation and the seventh annual banquet to honor retiring clergy will complete the day's activities prior to the worship service.

The evening worship service will be broadcast live over the Internet through the Covenant website. To log onto the broadcast, visit Live Broadcasts, select the broadcast link and follow the instructions. The broadcast signal will begin approximately five minutes prior to the scheduled start of the service at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

News stories and photographs covering the business sessions, worship services and other activities will be posted to this online Covenant news report beginning with tonight's worship service and continuing throughout each day through the conclusion of activities on Saturday afternoon.