Karen Hinz is an ordained Covenant pastor who is serving as solo pastor of Mission Covenant Church in Ishpeming, Michigan, a position she has held for four years. Before that, she was pastor at Covenant Harbor Bible Camp in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for 13 years. She has served on the ACCW board and BGE commission. Her personal life right now is filled with being a wife and mother of two teenagers and still trying to do some reading, scrapbooking, and genealogy.

What are the strengths of the Evangelical Covenant Church? Devotion to Jesus. A straightforward, biblical theology. A generous attitude that trusts people’s faith experiences. An acceptance of mystery and no need to claim to have all the answers. And certainly, an emphasis on being relational.

The relational aspect of the denomination is what replaces edicts with conversations. It is what makes shared ministry a joy rather than an annoyance. And this fits a faith based on a relationship with Jesus. We ought to be people who value relationships and who invest in them. It is out of this desire for relationships that we place emphasis on being together.

The ECC has lots of gatherings: district pastors meet, conferences meet, various churches develop relationships with each other. Our denomination-wide meetings of Midwinter, The Gathering, CHIC, the Feast, and Triennial are key to preserving identity and experiencing diversity. Many would say the “hallway conversations” at our gatherings are at least as important as the sessions with the big-name speakers. And despite the wonders of technology that allow remote-access to gatherings, they can’t get us into the same hallway for relationship-building.

This emphasis on relationships is what keeps us returning to Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In faith, relationships take on a different quality than they do in the world. Paul points to race, economics, and gender as three areas that can be transformed. Areas where inequality has been more the rule than the exception. And the Covenant has grown in the areas of race and gender. There is more work to do, but there have been serious, intentional efforts and much progress made. Continue Reading »

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Mary Peterson is the ACCW liaison for the Pacific Northwest Conference and serves as the Pastor of Children and Family Ministries at Highland Covenant Church in Bellevue, Washington. Mary and her husband, Eric, have two kids- a six year old named Luke and a four year old named Kate. 

I recently came across a homily on the calming of the sea (Matthew 8:23-37) by Peter Chrysologus, the Bishop of Ravenna from about 430-450 AD. I’ve heard this story a million, zillion times, but never have I heard it from this perspective. Here’s a quote:

“When Christ embarked, in the boat of His Church, to cross the sea of the world…the tempests of persecutors, the storm clouds of the mob, and the foggy mists of the devils all descended in fury to make one storm over all the world. The waves of kings were foaming, the billows of the mighty seethed, the rage of subjects resounded, nations swirled like whirlpools, sharp rocks of infidelity came into view, groans resounded from Christian shores, the shipwrecks of the fallen-aways were drifting about, and there was one crisis, one shipwreck of all the world. So the disciples came to the Lord and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing.”

As I have been reflecting on what to write this blog about-what to share about how God has called me to serve him, God has reminded me of the storms I have been through. Storms inside my heart and mind, but also storms that blew in from elsewhere. I started seminary right out of college. I chose the only seminary I knew much about. It was the place my grandfather had studied when he was starting out in ministry. I was sure it was the best seminary I could choose. I was eager to dive into theology, Greek and Hebrew. There was only one glaring problem- my gender. I had no voice. Even after being accepted to the seminary and paying my tuition, there was no room for me at this table. Well, maybe there was room if I was looking to be a pastor’s wife, but I wasn’t. I felt like all of a sudden I was caught in a storm much like the disciples found themselves in. I doubted God. I doubted myself. I doubted the church I was raised in and loved deeply. I doubted denominations. The waves of doubt were crashing in, and I was truly perishing. Continue Reading »

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Dru McLeland navigating the unexpected call of God on her life to the world of “pastordom” which continually surprises her with its supercalifragilisticexpialidociousness.

The call process, a nice way of saying “trying to get a job in ministry,” is an interesting journey. I am currently in “the call process.”  Recently, I was happily surprised that a church actually called me for an interview because they saw my profile on Covconnect.  After the interview they even asked me to come preach!  I began to be cautiously excited about the possibilities.  Of course the time I had for sermon preparation was interrupted by life.  I heard through the grapevine that the church was most likely going to hire someone else.  Saturday I came down with the flu.  Sunday morning thirty minutes before the service started I was told “Oh by the way there’s a youth sermon you’re responsible for and you’re leading the service.”  Of course as a pastor I should know the order of service since the Church has been using the same one for over half a century.  Thanks to God and Dayquil I made it through.  Several people, including members of the search team, said how much they enjoyed the sermon and that I did a great job.  “That was just what we needed to hear!”   After church my husband showed me the grading sheet that was enclosed in each of the bulletins except my copy.  I would give myself a C+.

I am coming to believe that it is a miracle that any church actually hires a pastor and that any pastor actually agrees to be hired.  I say this a little bit tongue in cheek.   Churches seem to be looking for Mary Poppins who is “practically perfect in every way.”  She comes with all the right accoutrements in her bag.  The pastor will come to save the day!  The magic bullet!  If they can just get the right pastor all will be well.  The church will grow.  Young people will come in droves.  The finances will be flush.  You name it. The right pastor will make it happen.

But of course pastors are looking for the perfect church.  People who are “sold out” for God, 100% and 100% of the time.  People who will embrace the glorious vision of the future and readily accept the changes and new trajectories necessary for a healthy missional church.  A church that will invite and welcome the visitor and show the seeker the way, care for the poor and the powerless…  The list is long.

Guess what?  There are no perfect churches.  There are no perfect pastors.  We are all dependent on God’s grace, mercy, love and faithfulness.  After all, this about God, not us.  There’s only one Mary Poppins and she’s fictional.  However, it never hurts to tuck a bottle of Dayquil in your bag just in case…

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Rev. Mary Putera is an Ordained ECC pastor currently serving as the interim pastor for Sunset Covenant Church in Beaverton Oregon. Mary has served in the ECC for many years as a facilitator of the I2RR and Sankofa journey, as a board member of ACCW and Women’s Ministries and in various pastoral positions in four conferences. She is currently working to complete her PhD in the Theology of Beauty and Community Art practice for social transformation.

As a Maltese-Italian American woman, I am called and gifted by God to serve God’s “kingdom coming” in the vocational role of pastor. I cannot deny it, avoid it, walk away from it or even dislike that which God has brought forth in me, no matter the pain of the struggle. And amidst the joy filled days and holy moments of pastoring, there is pain involved, simply because I am a woman, increased because I am a light brown woman, because I am from the poor, the economically disadvantaged. There is no economic change in my circumstances that can wring out of me the times when electricity, phone, food and heat were scarce or non-existent. There is no economic gain that can erase my experiences as a teen who couch surfed for two years, living on the dangerous margins. There is no avoiding the fact that to be called to pastor by God as a woman in the ECC has its difficulties. And it is good, because I experience deeply, God’s presence and care for me in these places. There is no place I can go where I can leave behind me the 50 years of being, living with, working amongst, standing with and advocating amidst humanity living in the pain of an unjust world. Jesus is the Messiah! Where else is there to go?

As this same woman, I am called to bring forth fearlessly, even if quite imperfectly, the fearfully, wonderfully, uniquely beautiful woman God formed me to be. This for me has been, not a call to subversive ways, but bold, prophetic words, actions, and embodied activities that invite God to form me as God’s living artistry, with all my cracks and scars and hard spots; publicly, for the sake of Christ. If I refuse, then however will God work through weaknesses to bring forth strength in me and in the church and communities I am called to live in? If I give up the truth that I am messy, if I behave in public differently, adopting a cultural polish of adaptation to a mask of privilege, what heart and activity of Jesus forming me, Jesus being seen in me, can ever be witnessed? Continue Reading »

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Jo Ann Deasy is a Covenant pastor who has served in a variety of ministerial roles including Youth Intern, Minister of Christian Education, Dean of Students, and Solo Pastor.  She is currently serving as Director, Institutional Initiatives and Student Research at the Association of Theological Schools in Pittsburgh.

How do I begin to write this blog post?  I’m afraid that after the first few words you’ll stop reading, deem me a heretic, assume that I am just not biblically literate enough.  But here goes…  I don’t feel the need to prove that women can be pastors to anyone who asks.  I probably could prove biblically that I believe women can be pastors, but it would take some work.  To be honest, my head isn’t filled with those few passages that appear to deny women the right to preach and bear rule in the church.  I know roughly where they are.  I know their content.  I know the basic arguments located in each of them.  But I am not an expert on those passages.  I can’t quote all the latest scholarship.  I don’t spend hours studying them.  I don’t have debates and positions memorized and ready to whip out on a moments notice to any stranger or student who challenges my role.  To be honest, I just don’t have time for it.  There are so many other things to think about, to argue about, to be concerned about.

Please don’t take this to mean that I don’t care what the Bible says.  I care deeply about the scripture.  It is the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct.  It is the authority that guides my life and my work.  I wouldn’t be a woman pastor if I didn’t feel it was biblical.  I struggled for many years with my call to ministry.  I came to faith in a fairly conservative church and went to a seminary that was deeply divided over the issue.  I spent the early years of my faith in communities that endlessly debated the role of women in the family, in society, in the church.  I spent my early years being presented with amazingly brilliant biblical scholars proving points that were in exact opposition to one another, not just about women, but about a myriad of topics.  How could I, as a relatively new Christian, ever hope to prove my own position when those I respected could not agree on anything? Continue Reading »

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Evelmyn Ivens was born in Mexico and moved to the United States during her teenage years. She graduated from North Park Theological Seminary in 2013 with a MA in Theological Studies and is currently a Curriculum & Resource Development intern at the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) in Chicago. Evelmyn has lived in Los Angeles, CA, Washington, DC, and Chicago, IL, enjoys traveling and learning about other cultures. She is passionate about issues of immigration, hunger, poverty, and human trafficking.

Early this month I went to Mexico to attend the wedding of my cousin Cynthia. She and I grew up together, we are like sisters, and it was an event that I couldn’t miss! The last time I was in Mexico prior to this, was in December 2012, so as you can imagine I was very excited to not only attend the wedding, see family, but most of all being able to give my mother a hug. Being back in Mexico means going back to my mexicanidad and everything that it entails (loosely translated as the meaning of being Mexican: culture, religion, tradition, history, family, etc.). But once I come back to the U.S., I go back to the ongoing tension about my own identity. So last year when I was working on my thesis for my seminary degree I went through a very personal process of discovery on how I want to be identified on this side of the border. In Mexico, I’m Mexican, but here it’s a different story.

When I first arrived in 1997 I used to say, “I am Mexican”, I was new to this country and that was the experience I had. Then as I was learning about U.S. culture and terminology when it comes to race and ethnicity (in my case being Hispanic and/or Latino), I decided to identify as Hispanic and for a while that was the term I preferred. However, lately, I have been using Latina. As I reflect on this, I can see how my personal preferences changed, first as a new immigrant, then as I was trying to assimilate and using the term used in the Census, which is Hispanic. However, now as I am trying to understand and define my own identity. As someone of the 1.5 generation, I’m coming to the realization that I’m still Mexican with my language, culture, and Roman Catholic influence. But at the same time I am American, not only because I hold a U.S. passport, but also because I have been educated in this country and understand its social and political dynamics. Also I have been influenced by American Protestantism and am a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church so the term Latina embraces all of that. Continue Reading »

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Corrie Gustafson is an ordained Covenant pastor and the Pacific Southwest liaison for Advocates for Covenant Clergy Women. She currently serves as the K-5 chaplain at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. She blogs regularly at http://pastorwithapurse.com

My friend John (not his real name) is the lead pastor of a small church. One day, as we talked ministry over coffee, John said, “Women aren’t gifted preachers.” His manner was as startling to me as his message. He spoke casually and with assurance, like this was an indisputable fact. I asked John how many women he’d heard preach in his life. He said three. One was during summer camp, the other two during chapel services at Bible college.

In 2011, a Covenant church hired me as their interim associate pastor. Preaching and teaching were part of the job description. A married couple in the church believed so strongly that women should not preach, that they left the church shortly after I was hired. They’d never heard my testimony, heard me preach nor seen any of my gifts in action. All they needed to know was that the new pastor was a woman.

Many Christians form negative conclusions about women preaching with a simple reading of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12. Sincere, devoted followers of Jesus, some of them my family and friends, believe that women who preach are sinning. But for those of us who’ve been called to ministry, and for the men that advocate for us, it’s not that easy. We believe these seemingly prohibitive passages – like all scripture – must be examined, interpreted and applied under the light of the full gospel. We believe these verses must be reconciled with passages like Galatians 3 and Ephesians 2:14 and 4:16.

I think this debate often comes down to a matter of authority. I can’t speak for all women, but I certainly didn’t go to seminary, become a pastor or get ordained to get attention and status. Not a step of my spiritual journey has been motivated by the desire to have spiritual authority over others. I wanted to serve God, the church and the world in love. More than anything, I minister out of obedience to God. Continue Reading »

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Rev. Rebecca Poor (Becky) is ordained to Word and Sacrament, has an MDiv from North Park Theological Seminary, and is the Senior Pastor at Saranac Community Church, a small rural town in western Michigan. Becky is the Great Lakes Conference Liaison for Advocates for Covenant Clergy Women (ACCW) and has a passion for sharing Christ’s love and hope with our hurting world!

When I graduated from North Park Theological Seminary in May of 2011 the keynote speaker, Rev. Dr. Isolde Anderson, reflected upon her graduation from NPTS in the 1980’s. At that time there were only a few female graduates, and they were worried that a motion might be passed in the ECC to rescind the ordination of women. Rev. Dr. Anderson expressed how difficult it was to receive an initial call into pastoral ministry because very few churches were willing to consider a female candidate, and those who were open to this had very limited resources. Rev. Anderson’s first church was so small (only 25 people) that they couldn’t afford to fly her out for an interview.

The Covenant Church has come a long way in 30 years! The Covenant has made a strong commitment to affirming and supporting God’s call to women in ministry. In our class of 2011 half of the North Park Theological Seminary graduates were women! It’s exciting to see an increasing number of women entering seminary, pastoring churches, and serving in leadership positions in the denomination as well! However, we still have a way to go before there is a more balanced representation of women in ministry in the ECC; particularly in senior pastoral roles in larger churches. It’s interesting to note that while 23 of the 46 graduates in my class were women, the distribution of male/female balance was less equal in specific degree areas: 7 of the 10 MACF graduates were women, while only 13 of 34 of the MDiv graduates were women. Why this difference? Continue Reading »

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Brian Wiele is Lead Pastor at River Ridge Covenant Church in Olympia, Washington, and serves as Chair of the Commission for Biblical Gender Equality for the Evangelical Covenant Church, which exists to equip the church to articulate the truth about Biblical equality regarding gender; and to advocate for women in ministry and leadership in all possible venues within the church. The following was first posted at The Junia Project (click here to visit site). It is re-posted today with their permission.

“… no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say.” Luke 5:39 NLT

You Drink What The Host Is Pouring

I’m not much of a wine drinker, and will admit to being a lousy judge of quality.  But I do know that you drink what the host is pouring. To politely refuse what is provided is reasonably understandable.  But to insist on being served a different blend – one that you prefer, and definitely aged longer – would be incredibly rude.

Yet that’s exactly what the church has done and continues to do to Jesus, the host of the table where believers sit which we commonly call the Kingdom of God.

A Familiar Parable

The parable from which Jesus’ statement comes is familiar fare. In response to a question about fasting, Jesus spoke of the folly of putting an unshrunk patch of cloth on an old garment.   Carrying the illustration further, he added that new wine must be poured into new wineskins; the fermenting process of a new spirit would cause an old leather wineskin to break apart.  Only in Luke’s version do we have his added statement about the tendency to reject the new wine over one that is well aged.

We’ve generally interpreted the parable to refer to religious actions such as fasting, Sabbath observances, or acceptable foods. But there are many ways in which Jesus was pouring a new spirit into the wineskin of his church. One of those areas has to do with power and position. Continue Reading »

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Danais is originally from Vieques, Puerto Rico. She currently studies Speech and Language Pathology at the graduate level. Her passions include linking the emerging research of the human microbiome and communicative disorders, as well as honoring God’s perfect design through gardening, creation care, and a great appreciation for whole foods. She recharges by hugging and kissing her toddler, spending time with her husband, reading, dancing and watching series on Netflix

It has long been my contention that the Church is the only place that can simultaneously hurt me and heal me. As someone who grew up in Vieques Puerto Rico, I longed for the church to be a sanctuary, a safe haven where we could discuss and counteract the injustices my community witnessed: racism, classism, environmental exploitation and the confiscation of our land. All of these injustices resulted in many deaths, including two of my family members’. In my most vulnerable moments, I oftentimes find myself wondering if my being a female Puerto Rican hurt my chances of recruiting church allies for my family and homeland. What if I were a man? What if I were a United States American, as opposed to a Puerto Rican with U.S. citizenship? Would Christian, justice-oriented evangelicals, have been enamored with my male eloquence (what if I were eloquent?) in a way that mobilized them around these causes? Would my voice have been heard and respected in a way that would have prompted a great multitude to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Vieques?

It took me a long time to reconcile the fact that the same place that prevented me from standing up and raising my voice against oppression became the place that taught me how to boldly proclaim that we worship a God who hates injustice. However, the restoration that I found within the church, did not occur before the church broke me. I left, yet I found myself back in the one place where I later found genuine healing. Continue Reading »

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