In Brief: Covenanters Making News

Post a Comment » Written on September 30th, 2008     
Filed under: News
NEWPORT, RI (September 30, 2008) – U.S. Navy Cdr. Mil A. Yi, an ordained Evangelical Covenant Church minister, has begun his commission as executive officer overseeing the teaching division of the Naval Chaplains School.

The school provides basic and advanced instruction, as well as other professional development opportunities, to military chaplains. Yi oversees all aspects of the teaching division.

His father, retired pastor Chun Sam Yi, established the Korean-American Covenant Church in Marina, California. The younger Yi eventually became assistant pastor of the church.

It was there that his interest in military chaplaincy was sparked. Many Navy and Army families attended and he became aware of the special needs of military families. Yi wanted more opportunity to minister to the families.

“I felt a calling into the service,” Yi says. “To this day, I feel strongly that this is where God wants me to be.”

Race Not Only Area Where Reconciliation is Needed

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Churches should work for reconciliation among class as well as racial groups, Evangelical Covenant Church pastor Efrem Smith writes in an article published in Catalyst, an online magazine targeting church leaders under the age of 40.

Much of the article focuses on the need for racial reconciliation. But more is needed, according to Smith.

“The church . . . is not just divided by race, but also by class,” Smith writes. “Within Black America, we (see) this through the division between the ‘black elites’ and the black youth culture of hip-hop. The Bill Cosbys have been pitted against the Kanye Wests of African-American culture.

“A church which purposely lives within institutional race and class segregation misses not only the beauty of living in the Christ-centered community, which is the beloved church, but also limits their ability as the body of Christ to engage culture in a way that brings about the beloved community,” Smith adds.

“The beloved church, a Christ-centered and multi-ethnic community, can be a force of reconciliation and righteousness in a diverse world in need of an authentic picture of the Kingdom of God. A church which embraces reconciliation, compassion, mercy, and justice positions itself to be a prophetic voice and a socially innovative movement.”

Smith is pastor of Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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