MUUUCE 2015

Aug. 6-8, Crossroads Church, Woodbury, MN

Registration is open! This amazing three-day event is for middle schoolers and jr. highers and is being designed by the incredible MUUUCE team at Crossroads Church (Woodbury).

Key Learning and Discussion Opportunity   

NWC to host gathering for pastors and ministry staff members    

The Northwest Conference leadership is cognizant of the need for more intentional resourcing on the topic of human sexuality for both pastors and congregations in our region. Thus, we are committed to providing opportunities for conversation and learning for those interested in participating, as we continue to share both life and ministry together in these challenging days.

In the months ahead, we plan to provide a number of such opportunities for interaction on this potentially volatile and pastorally complex issue. There will be different facilitators, but our focus will be on honest dialogue, with an eye toward how we can best minister from within the position of the Evangelical Covenant Church on sexuality, particularly related to the current climate within our culture and issues surrounding the Church and the LGBTQ community.

Bill Henson / Wednesday, May 27

10 a.m.-3 p.m. / Maple Grove Covenant Church 

The NWC will host a gathering open to all pastors and ministry staff members with Bill Henson, president of an organization called Lead Them Home. Mr. Henson states that he founded this ministry in 2005 after receiving a powerful call from God a few years earlier. In this ministry he consults church leaders on building a biblically orthodox, missiological framework for church mission and ministry with LGBTQ persons, with a specialization in sharing Christ with non-heterosexual persons.

Further, Mr. Henson has developed a framework for conversation and learning, which has become a national model reaching over 5,000 church leaders in recent years. His work has been featured in Leadership Journal and it has been incorporated as teaching curricula at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Gordon College. The board of trustees of Lead Them Home is chaired by Dr. Raymond Pendleton, professor of pastoral psychology, at Gordon-Conwell.

Additionally, the organization expects to train an additional 5,000 church leaders in 2015 alone! Working with national and regional teams, pastors, and local church leadership teams, this approach ensures that church leaders can assess the training prior to expanding this ministry model to a wider circle of people within a local congregation.

Depending on the response of NWC pastors to this May event, there is also a possibility that Mr. Henson will return in November to facilitate a day-long Saturday workshop for both NWC pastors and lay leaders.

Registration and Address 

RSVP to jessa@northwestconference.org or call 612.721.4893 by Friday, May 22.

Maple Grove Covenant Church
9350 Upland Lane N
Maple Grove, MN  55369  

Minnehaha Academy breaks ground on new STEM Research and Design Center at Upper School 

Minnehaha Academy recently secured its building permit and work has begun on the new STEM Research and Design Center at the Upper School. The new STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Lab will be approximately 3,000 sq. feet of space that will enhance many science offerings in grades 9-12. 

"This is such an exciting time for the school," said Sara Stone Jacobson, MA Executive Director of Institutional Advancement.  

CHET Northwest Conference  

Make & Deepen Disciples' Herrera led workshops at Verbo en Accion   

J. Wilson Herrera, head of Make & Deepen Disciples Hispanic Ministries for the Evangelical Covenant Church, led two workshops for 38 students of CHET Northwest Conference at Crosstown Covenant Church in Minneapolis, May 1-3. Herrera also had the opportunity to preach and teach Sunday School classes at Verbo en Accion on Sunday, May 3.

"Thanks for  your support in prayer and your willingness to help the Hispanic community," Herrera said. 

Below there are some of the many testimonies people expressed about both teachings.

On Stewardship workshop people said: 

• "God opened my eyes to see about what I couldn't understand because my lack of interest on stewardship."
• "The Lord weights our hearts and He wants us to be more like Him. He wants that we can give our tithes and offerings with a thankful heart."

On Vida Nueva people said: 

• "It was a very clear and simple word, and at the same time very deep. A very direct word to the soul given with a lot of love and surrender."
• "The teaching helped me to know how to disciple to a new believer without desperation, comprehending the spiritual warfare people face daily."
• "The teaching came to my life at the right time. It removed and changed my way of thinking. God touched my life. Thanks." 

Covenant World Relief  

Special Disaster Relief Fund for Nepal established   

Local partners in Nepal already are using funds from Covenant World Relief to provide assistance to survivors of the earthquake that has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 people so far.

A special CWR disaster relief fund for Nepal has been set up. Executive director Dave Husby said this morning that he already has had churches contact him about how to give. 

"In these first two days after the earthquake in Nepal, I have been amazed at the response of Covenant churches and individuals who want to contribute to the relief work," he said. "I'm very grateful to be a part of a church denomination that cares so deeply for the suffering."

Click to read the full story on Covenant Newswire