Pastor's Perspective  

Don't miss out on learning, connections at Annual Meeting

By David Hugare, Lead Pastor, Zion Covenant Church, Ellsworth, WI

As is the case for many of us, having another meeting on our schedule is not always a welcomed event. But, as strange as this may sound, the 2013 NWC Annual Meeting had an impact on me and my ministry during this past year.

Of the many benefits of the Annual Meeting, one of the highlights for me was when fellow pastor, Brad Kindall of The Gallery Covenant Church in St. Paul, and I headed out for lunch. We drove to the Ugly Catfish Cafe and Bike Shop. Our time together wasn't necessarily about the coffee or the cool bikes, but rather about connecting with each other; something that isn't always possible on a regular basis. These moments of connecting with others can be so meaningful and valuable, even if it happens when you are trying out a new bike or enjoying a great cup of coffee!

In addition, at last year's meeting, I was excited to hear Kara Powell speak about "Sticky Faith.". Her teaching made quite an impact on our church. We are now seeing "Sticky Faith" ideas bubbling up in our church all the time. The Annual Meeting planted seeds for our staff and volunteers, and we are now seeing some benefits in our ministry at Zion.

Finally, last year we intentionally invited our staff, leaders and ministry volunteers. By involving a variety of individuals, everyone was able to connect and experience life together. It gave us an opportunity as a team of leaders to learn, discuss and dream about what God was calling Zion to become in the years ahead.

2014 Annual Meeting  

Register now for the 2014 NWC Annual Meeting in Rochester, MN 

The 2014 NWC Annual Meeting will take place May 1-3 at Rochester Covenant Church, Rochester, MN. We've got great speakers and events lined up this year! Here's a few highlights:

Theme

The Northwest Conference is on the move! And part of that movement involves planting new churches as an expression of our desire to advance the Kingdom of God, as well as reflect our love for both God and those for whom Christ died and rose again.

It is also a reflection of our willingness to live in obedience to our Lord's admonition to share His love in both word and deed. More will be shared at the Annual Meeting on how we intend to do just that ...

Speaker

John Teter is the Church Planting Team Leader for the Evangelical Covenant Church. Teter also serves as Senior Pastor of Fountain of Life Covenant Church in Long Beach, CA, which he and his wife, Becky, planted in 2007.

A Bible expositor, Teter has written two books, "Get the Word Out" and "Jesus & the Hip Hop Prophets," co-authored with Alex Gee.

Ministry Fair

The Friday Business Session will conclude with the "Celebration of Mission" Ministry Fair. Delegates and attendees will have an opportunity to learn about and interact with a whole host of conference-related ministries including representatives from our camps, Women Ministries, Town & Country Ministries, Covenant Trust Company, CHET and many more.

For more details as they become available, and to register online, visit our 2014 Annual Meeting page.

2014 Annual Meeting  

Worship service offering to benefit CHET Northwest Conference 

The offering at the 2014 NWC Annual Meeting is for our local satellite campus of CHET (Centro Hispano de Educación Teológico), the Covenant Spanish-language theology school in the Northwest Conference. It is now entering its fourth year of classes; operating on Monday evenings at Minnehaha Academy.  

Currently, the program is comprised of approximately 50 students and course offerings are intended to prepare lay leaders for service within the local church. Students completing all six semesters of classes, which center on the life of Jesus, earn a certificate of theological studies.

On Friday, Jan. 10, 2014 we celebrated the graduation of our inaugural CHET class in the NWC! The 22 graduates will now serve in their local congregations, many of which are new churches, by leading Bible studies, spearheading new ministries of outreach, and even serving as tutors for future students in the CHET program. It was moving to see the students come forward, as it was the first graduation in which a number of the students had ever participated. Their pride of accomplishment, mingled with gratitude for such an opportunity, was beautiful and humbling to behold. We would invite you to view photos from the graduation ceremony on our Facebook page . We think you will be blessed.

In time, it is also our intent to offer ministerial-level classes locally, preparing pastors for ordination within the Evangelical Covenant Church. This, in turn, will further bolster the ministry of our current Hispanic congregations and allow us to plant even more churches among the ever-growing Spanish speaking population within the NWC. In short, the effectiveness of CHET will allow us to extend the gospel in new and fresh ways within our mission region; something we all want to do ... something we must do.

The NWC has been blessed to have a small team of extremely dedicated pastors, teachers and leaders serving as team members and volunteer instructors. Additionally, Minnehaha Academy has generously donated classroom space, keeping our overhead costs very low. Nevertheless, many of our students have limited incomes and have great difficulty navigating the costs of tuition and books. Further, in recent months, the central office for CHET in Los Angeles raised the cost of tuition over 20%. This has become an additional hardship for a number of our students.

As a result, our local CHET Leadership Team is attempting to raise funds to provide limited scholarships in order to make up the difference between actual costs and what some of our local students can afford to pay. Therefore, our Friday evening offering at the 2014 NWC Annual Meeting will be used to do just that. Will you help?

Checks should be made payable to the Northwest Conference and include a designation for CHET. If you are unable to give at the worship service, contributions can also be sent directly to the NWC office.

Thank you in advance for your generosity to this important work. What a blessing it is to work together, witnessing the advancement of God's kingdom among the burgeoning Spanish speaking population in the Northwest Conference!

MOVE 2014 registration is open! 

Friday, April 4 to Saturday, April 5 @ First Covenant Church in Minneapolis

Whether your group is one student or 100 students, join us for this annual high school service and mission weekend. It's a great experience for students who are looking to put their faith into action.  

MOVE is not about entertainment. It's about having your worldview expanded, to be inspired as God's Kingdom workforce in the world, and to have the opportunity to extend the hope and love of Christ with those experiencing unmet needs.

The theme is "Lose Yourself." Our speaker is Tim King. Tim's the chief strategy officer at Sojourners and a former Covenant youth group guy and North Park University graduate. There also will be multi-sensory creative worship experience designed by Lilly Lewin. She's designed space at the National Youth Workers Conventions and Wild Goose festival and is the author, along with Dan Kimball, of "Sacred Space: A Hands-On Guide to Creating Multi-sensory Worship Experiences."

Adventures in Leadership promo materials available online