PORTLAND, OR (June 25, 2007) – Delegates to the 122nd Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church approved resolutions that would mandate denominational\u00a0 divestment from companies doing business in Sudan. Delegates also approved a resolution on care for creation.
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\nDuring discussion of the \u201cResolution on Divestment from Sudan,\u201d Emily Montfort, a delegate from Church of the Redeemer Covenant Church in Bowie, Maryland, expressed concern that \u201cit is very difficult to do something like this and not have unintended consequences.\u201d Globalization has made discerning which companies to divest from an uncertain task, because all companies in some respect will have some connection to Sudan, she added.<\/p>\n
Under the initial resolution, denomination officials would use a list of companies on a particular website to guide their decisions. A successful amendment introduced by Neil Wolf, a delegate from First Covenant Church in Cadillac, Michigan, added that denomination officials also could consult \u201cother appropriate resources or resources determined to be reliable and reasonably impartial\u201d in making their decisions. Wolf and other delegates were wary of depending on a single source of information, adding that the website originally cited in the resolution might cease to exist or at some future point incorporate criteria that could be in conflict with Covenant ethics.<\/p>\n
The resolution cannot mandate Covenant institutions to divest from particular companies if doing so would be harmful to fiduciary obligations, observed Herbert Hedstrom, the 2007 Annual Meeting moderator. Leaders must act in good faith, however, he added.<\/p>\n
Also approved was a \u201cResolution on Creation-Care\u201d calling on churches and individuals to examine their environmental practices, for denominational organizations and groups to publish educational resources, and that Covenanters publicly advocate on behalf of environmental stewardship.<\/p>\n