Conference administrators say they were nervous about how the format would be received. The experiment worked. “They absolutely loved it,” says conference Supt. Dick Lucco. “They want to do something like this again next year.”
“They came back from the experience really changed,” says Bob Hoey, pastor of Messiah Covenant Church in Detroit. He noted, for example, that volunteers who worked as classroom assistants for a local Detroit public school were impressed by the dedication of the school’s teachers and developed a better understanding of the challenges they face.
Roughly 100 individuals divided into groups to work or interact with others at the sites, which offered a variety of experiences:
• Covenant Community Care – built shelves and a storage area (lower photo).
• Central Detroit Christian and Citadel of Faith Covenant Church – worked as classroom assistants for a local Detroit public school.
• Hope Community Church – went door-to-door to invite the community to a free lunch at the church and a clothing give away.
• Connexions Covenant Church – delivered meals to senior citizens and helped clean homes and do minor repairs.
• Angel House – the area Christian ministry led an immersion experience into Middle Eastern culture that included visiting a mosque where they observed prayer and spoke with the Imam; they also participated in a walking tour of the Southend Islamic community and participated in an Arabic lunch.
• Church tour – visited several local Covenant congregations and made financial donations to help with the other projects.
Three hundred individuals responded to the barbecue invitation at Hope, says pastor Kevin Butcher, who was amazed by the large turnout. Days later, several of the people attended the church’s Sunday service for the first time.
Also impressed by the weekend activities were members from Federated Covenant Church in Dowagiac, Michigan, which is being adopted into the denomination. Interim pastor Beth Ernest emailed Hoey about what happened when the representatives from her church returned to the congregation on Sunday.
“My six people gave detailed and enthusiastic reports during worship on Sunday – in fact, they ‘hijacked’ worship before their scheduled report and began greeting people enthusiastically up and down the pews, reminiscent of how they felt greeted by Covenanters,” Ernest wrote. One delegate contrasted this meeting with those of the church’s former denomination. “He was stunned that Covenanters stop to pray at the drop of a hat (see top photo taken during business session), that conversions are celebrated, that an award was given to a woman who prays, and that the whole flavor was not of a meeting, but of a family reunion.”
The new Covenanters immediately were made to feel a vital part of the reunion, Ernest wrote, adding that one delegate told of sitting with a family from another church at the Friday night dinner. “This family welcomed them into the conversation – a conversation that was not superficial, but had great depth. When the wife in the family later realized that our church was just joining the Covenant, she came looking for our people and made a point to welcome them.”
The conference also presented several awards:
• Lois Johnson of First Covenant Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, received the Arv Anderson Award in Church Planting.
• Steve Armfield, pastor of Thornapple Covenant Church in Grand Rapids, received the Dave Dahlberg Award in Church Development.
• Keystone Covenant Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Stone Ridge Covenant Church in Allison Park, Pennsylvania, received the Dave and Beth Chilcoat Award in Church Outreach for their partnering work. To read a previous Covenant news story about the churches, see Two Dreams.
During the business sessions:
• Delegates approved a budget of $775,864
• Three incumbents and three new people were elected to the executive board. Incumbents are chair Dan Wolter of Faith Covenant Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan; secretary Janet Swanson of Messiah Covenant; and vice-chair Beth Ernest. Newly elected members are treasurer Virgil Biggs of Saranac Community Church in Saranac, Michigan; Yolanda Ivens of Esperanza Covenant Church in Grand Rapids; and Janine Simpson of Citadel of Faith.
• Three churches were welcomed into membership by adoption: Federated Covenant; Austintown Community Evangelical Covenant Church in Austintown, Ohio (Duffy Roberts, senior pastor); and New Harvest Christian Covenant Church in Oregon, Ohio (Mike Przybylski, senior pastor).
