{"id":2423,"date":"2008-09-10T21:53:21","date_gmt":"2008-09-10T21:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=2423"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:21:45","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:21:45","slug":"6570","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/","title":{"rendered":"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Don Meyer<\/p>\n

MUNDELEIN, IL (September 10, 2008) \u2013 It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows Gary Walter that the first official gathering of leaders since he assumed the presidency of the Evangelical Covenant Church would focus on the \u201chow\u201d of doing mission and ministry together as much as the \u201cwhat\u201d of a strategic plan for the future.
\n
\n\"DeanSeventy-five individuals completed a two-day leadership focus Monday afternoon at a retreat center here, designed to coincide with the transition of leadership in the office of president – Walter assumed his new position September 1.<\/p>\n

The Council of Superintendents and Council of Administrators, which have met in joint session on alternating years, were scheduled to meet this fall. Walter asked each of them to invite their directors and associate superintendents to encompass more of the leadership community of the Covenant.<\/p>\n

The overarching \u201cIn It Together\u201d theme woven throughout embodied a challenge to participants to strive to be servants of character, competence and collegiality. A key, perhaps historic document emerged from the two-day process – the In It Together Covenant<\/em><\/a> – that was signed by participants during a closing communion service.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeadership is not ownership \u2013 it\u2019s stewardship,\u201d Walter said in his opening remarks Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"Rodney\"Following a brief review of significant growth and diversification trends in the Covenant, challenges that grow out of that growth, and core spiritual strengths reflected in our shared mission and ministry initiatives that can serve us well into the future, Walter shared seven commitments he makes in assuming the role as president:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elevate spiritual identity in everything we do
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Develop a cohesive leadership culture at all levels
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Work across departments to bring better mission and ministry alignments
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evaluate stressed centers of activity in search of strategic productivity
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lead the way \u2013 and get out of the way
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shore up funding and support for mission and ministry
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Continue the respect and collegiality of affiliated Covenant institutions<\/p>\n

The event was facilitated by Covenant pastor Randy Furushima, who is part of the pastoral staff of Wellspring Covenant Church in Honolulu, Hawaii, in partnership with Evelyn M.R. Johnson, superintendent of the Pacific Southwest Conference. Matt Lundgren led times of worship both days.<\/p>\n

The first two sessions focused on a biblical reflections of leadership, a comprehensive overview of existing mission and ministry efforts involving denominational, conference and affiliated institutional offices, and Walter\u2019s personal reflections on qualities of leadership and how that influences future directions.<\/p>\n

\"Team\"A third session used small groups to explore what it means to live out ministry in the context of a \u201cIn It Together\u201d kind of collegiality \u2013 observations surfaced during those discussions formed the basis of the \u201cIn It Together Covenant\u201d that will help shape future collegial interactions.<\/p>\n

The final session borrowed from the ongoing work of the \u201cECC in 2020\u201d planning initiative in stimulating open-ended brainstorming around 10 key emerging topics using a modified \u201cworld caf\u00e9\u201d approach.<\/p>\n

Prior to the closing communion service, participants were asked to find secluded areas on the retreat center campus for a time of personal reflection and prayer around four focus areas: lessons to be learned from the apostle Paul\u2019s reflections in Colossians 1:24-29; reflections on one\u2019s personal leadership style in terms of character, competence and collegiality; formation of a personal prayer that complements the \u201cIn It Together\u201d theme; and drafting of a prayer on behalf of the Covenant as a larger family (many of those prayers were shared during closing worship).<\/p>\n

Editor’s note: The top photo shows treasurer Dean Lundgren conversing with colleagues (from left) Marisol Medina, Anita Eyer, Steve Burger and Robert Owens, while Alaska Region director Rodney Sawyer and Debbie Blue participate in a leadership qualities identification exercise. the lower photo shows (from left) Furushima, Walter and Johnson. To learn more about Walter\u2019s passion and vision for the Covenant, please see a special section of the Covenant website, Meet the New President<\/a>. To view additional photos, please see Leadership Retreat<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MUNDELEIN, IL (September 10, 2008) \u2013 It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows Gary Walter that the first official gathering of leaders since he assumed the presidency of the Evangelical Covenant Church would focus on the \u201chow\u201d of doing mission and ministry together as much as the \u201cwhat\u201d of a strategic plan for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHow We Do Ministry Is Important, Too - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MUNDELEIN, IL (September 10, 2008) \u2013 It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows Gary Walter that the first official gathering of leaders since he assumed the presidency of the Evangelical Covenant Church would focus on the \u201chow\u201d of doing mission and ministry together as much as the \u201cwhat\u201d of a strategic plan for the future.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-09-10T21:53:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-22T17:21:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/99\/bq\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\/Dean-group.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"headline\":\"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-10T21:53:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:21:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":659,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/99\\\/bq\\\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\\\/Dean-group.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/\",\"name\":\"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too - Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/99\\\/bq\\\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\\\/Dean-group.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-10T21:53:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:21:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/99\\\/bq\\\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\\\/Dean-group.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/99\\\/bq\\\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\\\/Dean-group.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/09\\\/10\\\/6570\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\",\"name\":\"Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"description\":\"Evangelical Covenant Church\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/author\\\/covwebster\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too - Covenant Newswire Archives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too - Covenant Newswire Archives","og_description":"MUNDELEIN, IL (September 10, 2008) \u2013 It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows Gary Walter that the first official gathering of leaders since he assumed the presidency of the Evangelical Covenant Church would focus on the \u201chow\u201d of doing mission and ministry together as much as the \u201cwhat\u201d of a strategic plan for the future.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/","og_site_name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","article_published_time":"2008-09-10T21:53:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-12-22T17:21:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/99\/bq\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\/Dean-group.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"headline":"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too","datePublished":"2008-09-10T21:53:21+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:21:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/"},"wordCount":659,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/99\/bq\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\/Dean-group.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/","name":"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too - Covenant Newswire Archives","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/99\/bq\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\/Dean-group.jpg","datePublished":"2008-09-10T21:53:21+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:21:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/99\/bq\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\/Dean-group.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/99\/bq\/99bq9n-RZCHS3b2EmYB_Gg\/Dean-group.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/09\/10\/6570\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How We Do Ministry Is Important, Too"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/","name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","description":"Evangelical Covenant Church","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/author\/covwebster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2423"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5251,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2423\/revisions\/5251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}