{"id":7560,"date":"2006-06-15T15:10:13","date_gmt":"2006-06-15T20:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=7560"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:32:39","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:32:39","slug":"4953","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/06\/15\/4953\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-Five Churches Welcomed into Membership"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (June 15, 2006) – Welcoming new churches into membership of the Evangelical Covenant Church always is a highlight at the annual meetings, and this year was no exception during the denomination’s 121st Annual Meeting. <\/p>\n

Delegates welcomed 25 churches with a cumulative approximate membership of 1,570 and cumulative average attendance of 4,347.<\/p>\n

Several of the churches are adoptions into the denomination. These include St. Paul’s (Wolf’s) Church of York, Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1763 and formerly was a member of the United Church of Christ; Four Rivers Church of Paducah, Kentucky; Cornerstone Church of Boston, Massachusetts; Community Evangelical Covenant Church of Chicago, Illinois; Puna Congregational Covenant Church of Kea’au, Hawaii; and New Jerusalem Covenant Church of Chicago.<\/p>\n

\"New Several of the new churches continue to represent ethnic diversity, as 55 percent of them minister to congregations of color. These ethnic and multi-ethnic congregations include Community Evangelical Covenant Church of Chicago, a first-generation Filipino congregation; and QueensWest Covenant Church, with a large Asian population; a largely African-American congregation.<\/p>\n

The churches also are varied in their worship styles and ministries. The House Covenant Church of Chicago has a hip-hop service that reaches approximately 500 youth and young adults each week. Artisan Covenant Church offers a variety of worship styles to reach a postmodern generation. Lifehouse Covenant Church has a strong recovery ministry. Metro Community Covenant Church of Fort Lee, New Jersey, meets in a Jewish community center and has a ministry called Justice, Advocacy and Compassion that has organized homeless dinners and ministers to illiterate children and single mothers.<\/p>\n

Several churches were launched with the help of other Covenant churches. A cluster of Covenant churches supported the pioneer ministry of Hope Covenant Church in El Dorado, Kansas. First Covenant Church of Portland, Oregon, sponsored Vibrant Covenant Church.<\/p>\n

Following is the list of new churches, grouped by conference, with average membership and attendance figures following each church’s name:<\/p>\n

Central Conference<\/strong><\/p>\n