{"id":7843,"date":"2006-04-27T17:06:30","date_gmt":"2006-04-27T22:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=7843"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:31:26","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:31:26","slug":"4871","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/04\/27\/4871\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific Southwest Welcomes Eight New Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

MODESTO, CA (April 27, 2006) – The welcoming of eight new congregations highlighted the Pacific Southwest Conference’s three-day Celebration 2006 Annual Meeting at Modesto Covenant Church.<\/p>\n

Recommended to the Evangelical Covenant Church Annual Meeting for membership were seven California churches and one in Hawaii: Bayside of South Sacramento in Sacramento, Canto Nuevo Covenant Church in Walnut Creek, La Vina Covenant Church in Kerman, Life Covenant Church in Torrance, Nueva Vision Covenant Church in Canoga Park, Rock Harbor in Rocklin, Vision Covenant in Azusa, and Puna Congregational Christian Covenant Church, Keaau, Hawaii.<\/p>\n

Recognition plaques were given to 14 churches that entered into partnership agreements with church plants in 2005. Certificates also were handed out to three churches for specific church planting gifts.<\/p>\n

Two pastors and their spouses were consecrated to serve as project missionaries for the Covenant: Wainer and Magui Guimaraes to Brazil, and Brad and Cheryl Boydston to Guam.<\/p>\n

Luis Cortez, president of Esperanza, a Christian Hispanic organization, preached and spoke on two other occasions about immigration reform. He discussed the issues with a gathering of pastors during the lunch break of the Ministerium meeting and a general gathering, both of which attracted intense interest.<\/p>\n

Don Johnson, pastor of Montecito Covenant Church in Santa Barbara, says he was impressed with the presentation as well as the “very frank” discussion. “It wasn’t a monologue that we were all nodding our heads.”<\/p>\n

Johnson supports immigration reform outlined by Esperanza, noting that many Covenant churches already minister to undocumented immigrants. “What drives my heart is that these are my brothers and sisters,” Johnson says. “They are Covenanters.”<\/p>\n

The Conference also distributed Esperanza’s Open Letter to Evangelicals to all of the delegates. Superintendent Evelyn M.R. Johnson says the discussions are important. “We want to keep people informed.”<\/p>\n

Officers in the Hispanic ministries organization of the Evangelical Covenant Church have endorsed the letter, which calls for immigration reform that includes securing borders and giving current undocumented workers the opportunity to apply for citizenship. To read an earlier story concerning the endorsement, please see Open Letter.<\/a> To read the open letter and the guiding principles, visit the Esperanza website at Esperanza<\/a> and select the “Faith in Action” link to see the desired documents.<\/p>\n

Other Covenant conferences also held annual meetings recently, with others scheduled for this weekend:<\/p>\n

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