By Erik Cave, Director of NextGen Ministries, PacNWC
The 128th Annual Meeting was attended by over 150 delegates and general conferees. This Annual Meeting featured an online bilingual Annual Meeting Report. We were blessed by the hospitality of Newport Covenant Church.
Superintendent Greg Yee’s report covered many topics as he encouraged us to Spring Forth in fruitfulness in our challenging times be having deep roots in Christ. He split the details of the report around our mission priorities: Start Churches, Strengthen Churches, Support Pastors.
- We have 13,040 people in average attendance in our churches. Giving is up 1% overall. Please consider increasing your giving by 1/2% this year.
- We honored Don and Judy Robinson who have served our conference since 1996 and is retiring at the end of 2018. Don served under three different superintendents.
- Our staff team continues to grow: Greg Yee (Superintendent), Don Robinson (Associate Superintendent | Director of Congregational Vitality), Cris Back, (Director of Ministries), Keith Tungseth (Coordinator for Latino Ministries), Dawn Taloyo (Director of Pastoral and Congregational Care), Erik Cave (Director of NextGen Ministries), Peter Sung (Conference Coach). These are supplemented by Church Planting Coaches Russ Blake, Esau Del Arca and Mark Meredith.
- Peter Sung shared about church planting focusing in on Culture & Society, the End Picture, the church planter and three focuses; planting, credentialing and organization.
- Keith Tungseth shared about Latino Ministries and the Latino & Non Latino Summit on May 12th. Pastor Rosy Segura shared about her Covenant Orientation experience.
- Dawn Taloyo shared about caring for clergy including the Cultivating Faithfulness Cohort.
- Please help connect people in your church to the “Pacific Northwest Conference” Facebook page and/or subscribe to our months e-newsletter called The Catch.
Elections for new members of the Executive Board, Youth Commission, and Nominating Commission were held. All elections were unanimously approved. For a list of boards and commissions go to pacnwc.org and click on 2018 Annual Meeting.
Updates from the Evangelical Covenant Church were more plentiful than ever.
- Gary Walter, President, brought a report. He shared that ours is one of the top 11 favorite conferences. He brought greetings from the denomination and expressed gratitude for our conferences ministry and mission. He emphasized, 3 Strand Strong, focusing the relationship between Covenant, Conference and Church.
- Sammi Mccubbins, Liaison, Crescendo, shared about ministry to the fastest growing demographic in our church. She emphasized their desire to mobilize boomers for mission.
- Tim Hedberg reported from Covenant Trust Company.
- Peter Hedstrom reported from National Covenant Properties.
- Amy Oxendale-Imig reported from North Park Theological Seminary. She is excited about the announcement of the new president, Mary Karsten Surridge.
- Deb Masten , Director of Missionary Personnel, Serve Globally, brought a report on our missions activities all over the world.
- Nancy Jo Hoover, Consultant, MENA shared about this ministry to the Middle East/North Africa, part of Serve Globally. Greg Yee announced the PacNWC will sponsor MENA for 3 years and encouraged churches to do the same.
Updates from Pacific Northwest Conference Ministries were helpful and inspiring.
- Mark Novak and Rob Mohrweis from Cascades Camp & Conference Center shared a report about their summer programs and conference activities. They gave an update on the search process for a new Executive Director and Operations Manager. They are asking for prayer on Friday nights during summer camps which is when most commitments are made.
- Joe Wolfe from Women Ministries reported on their retreats, and Faith and Outreach Grants
- Jim Milton from Covenant Men highlighted their support of Cascades Camp and Alaska missions.
- Dan MeyerPeter from the Youth Commission reported about plans to accommodate growth in our retreats, that we have 11 new PacNWC churches going to CHIC and a new Youth and Children’s Ministry Professional Development Cohort.
- Katey Hage from the Special Commission for Children’s Ministry reported on the formation of this new commission along with plans for supporting children’s ministry in the PacNWC.
- Erik Cave reported on new initiatives for Emerge Young Adult Ministry.
Thomas Robinson proposed a revised budget for 2018 of $1,038,740 and $916,763 for 2019 that were
both unanimously approved.
Greg Yee, Don Robinson and Gail Ohta were elected as delegates and Dawn Taloyo as the alternate delegate to the ECC Annual Meeting in June 21 – 23, 2018, Minneapolis, MN.
Representative from West Hills Covenant Church extended invitation to the 129th Annual Meeting April 26th – 27th 2019, Portland, OR.
[Click Here] to see the full Annual Report and much more
Highlights from the Ministerial Association Meeting
Our Ministerial Association met in the afternoon of April 27th to cover business in supporting our pastors, staff and their families. Four candidates for ordination were approved for recommendation at the ECC Annual Meeting in June.
John Bangs, Highland Covenant, Bellevue, WA
Katey Hage, Quest Church, Seattle, WA
Sung (Derek) Hwang, Disciple Community Covenant Church, Bellevue, WA
Bob Zurinsky, Emmanuel Bible Church, Seattle, WA
Highlights from the Worship Service
Rev. Gary Walter, ECC President, shared from Matthew 11:20-30 on the topic “The Invitation of Jesus.” We welcomed new member church Disciple Community Covenant Church. The offering went to the Ministers Crisis Care Fund.