We completed our trip to Chicago on Monday afternoon. Total mileage for the two days was 1001. We were all thankful to be out of the car. After checking in to our room we got registered for the conference and settled in.
There were two things for us last night. They began with a worship service and then it was followed by a newcomers reception. Ephrem Smith was a particularly engaging preacher from the inner city of Minneapolis. He got the crowd riled up.
There were several emphases that caught my attention. First the Covenant Church is committed to scripture as authoritative. And while they hold scripture in high regard they allow for differences in the understandings and interpretations of the scripture.
Second, it was quite obvious that the denomination is committed to egalitarianism among the leadership at all levels. This was illustrated through the use of a female and a male pastor as the keynote speakers. It was also talked about directly by both during their sermons.
Another thing that was evident was the work being done to become multi-ethnic. One stat I heard was that the membership of the denomination is now at 27 percent multi-ethnic and increasing one percent per year. This is quite impressive given their history of being mainly Swedish.
The final thing that stood out to me after the first night was a commitment to interdependence. They seem to really value relationships - particularly peer relationships. The denomination seems to want to assist and equip pastors and churches rather than throw down a list of guidelines to follow.
At the end of the night Allison and I got a few minutes to ourselves (while Alvin was sleeping) to figure out a plan for the week. It should be a valuable and full week here.
Comments