The awards are among a total of six given by the association during each two-year period. Recipients of the 2008 awards will be honored during a special reception as part of the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Green Lake, Wisconsin.
The three awards include the following:
Victoria Welter Scholarship – This $300 scholarship (for books or class credit) is awarded to a female seminarian who is a member of an Evangelical Covenant Church and is enrolled as a full-time student at North Park Theological Seminary, pursuing a master’s degree in ministry. The award was created in honor of Victoria Welter, the first female student to graduate from the seminary.
Phoebe Church Planter’s Grant – This $1,000 award was created to highlight the work of a female church planter who is currently involved in full-time church planting ministry and remains in good standing with the Covenant Ministerium. The award was created to honor Phoebe of Cenchrea, who was sent by the Apostle Paul to deliver his letter to the church in Rome.
Evelyn M.R. Johnson Leadership Award – This $500 award (including a plaque) was created to honor a female minister in an Evangelical Covenant Church setting (administrators, teachers, pastors, missionaries, others) who has demonstrated excellence in ministry based on character, ministerial identity, contribution to the Covenant and faithfulness to call. The award honors Johnson, who serves as superintendent of the Pacific Southwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church and who previously served in a number of pastoral and administrative roles.
Online nomination forms are available on CovChurch.org. The forms may be returned either by email or by regular mail to Catherine Gilliard, P.O. Box 847, Pine Lake, GA, 30072. Nominations must be received no later than April 30, 2008 (mailed forms also must be postmarked no later than April 30, 2008).
Recipients of the other three awards given earlier this at the Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon, include the following:
Anderson/Norlund Missionary Scholarship – The award was given to Karen Groot, who serves as a Covenant economic development specialist in Thailand. It was created to honor the first female Covenant martyrs – missionaries Martha Anderson and Esther Nordlund – who were murdered by bandits in China in 1949.
Priscilla Pastorate Grant – The award was given to Covenant pastor Karen Brewer of The Atonement Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois. It was created to honor Priscilla from the book of Romans, who pastored a church in her home.
Mordecai Award for Outstanding Partnership – The award was given to Covenant pastor Herbert Freedholm, now retired as superintendent of the Central Conference. It was created to recognize a nominated male minister in an Evangelical Covenant Church setting (administrators, teachers, pastors, missionaries, others) who has demonstrated active support of women in ministry, through providing advocacy, resources, support and dialogue on behalf of all women in ministry.
The ACCW became an awarding association in 2006 in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the Covenant decision to ordain women. To learn more about the association, visit CovChurch.org.
