Covenanter - March 2012 by East Coast Covenanter

MARCH 2012 A T R I A N N U A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E E A S T C O A S T C O N F E R E N C E O F T H E E VA N G E L I C A L C O V E N A N T C H U R C H

[ the justice & evangelism issue ]

WHERE DO JUSTICE & EVANGELISM MEET?

BY HOWARD K. BURGOYNE SUPERINTENDENT - EAST COAST CONFERENCE

Over the last year I’ve been reading, reflecting and writing about the lives of Abraham and Sarah, through whom God determined to bless the entire world.

In the Hebrew language “righteousness and justice” are a figure of speech in which two words connected by a conjunction (and) express a single complex idea. In modern parlance, it equates to “social justice.” In the Hebrew Scriptures this phrase appears thirty one times, as well as twenty three times in poetic parallelism, and another thirty two where they are paired together. A well known example is Amos 5:24: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” It appears that God intends for the nations to be blessed through Abraham’s descendants by their commitment to restore social justice, which is the means and meaning of keeping “the way of the Lord.” God intended for his salvation to transform the whole of human culture and global nurture. His salvation would be mediated through the authentic witness, in word and deed, of Abraham’s seed. In the fullness of time this intersects in Christ Jesus, and through him expands again to engage the whole world, in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Some politicians, keen to divide and conquer the religious sensitivities of American voters, strategize to divide “righteousness” (a personal and private matter) from “justice”

WANT TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS? HAVE QUESTIONS?

Contact Howard at howard@eastcoastconf.org

(a public and communal matter). If the “left” and the “right” will focus on fighting and devouring one another, no vision of righteousness and justice will prevail. As a second wave of the Reformations’ renewal movement, Covenanters have always, at their best, understood that “righteousness and justice” are not two opposites, but a single complex mandate. The spiritual and social, verbal and behavioral, personal and communal, religious and secular spheres must cohere. The “good news” and the “good life” are to be mediated through God’s people. As spiritual descendants of Abraham and disciples of Jesus we are called, through Word and Sacrament, to be and make disciples who become observant of everything Jesus commanded his disciples. Where do the practices of justice and evangelism meet in your life, and that of your community of faith? Here in the pages of the East Coast Covenanter we introduce you to a few examples. I invite you to register for our upcoming Conference Annual Meeting, where this theme will be our banner, and worship, preaching and workshops will expand on this theme as we gather in Easton, CT April 20 and 21.

in this issue  MARCH 2012

The full impact of Abraham’s selection becomes apparent in the famous dialogue between Abraham and God in Genesis 18:23-33, regarding the pending visit of God to Sodom and Gomorrah. God had come in response to the outcry of the oppressed there. The culture of these cities was marked by rampant pride, gluttony, avarice, deviancy, and disregard for the poor (Ezekiel 16:49). In his own pondering, God muses whether, in view of Abraham’s mission of blessing to all nations, he ought to hide from Abraham his plan to execute justice on these towns. He answers in the negative, “For I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice (Gen. 18:19).

u BEAUTIFUL EYES 02 u ECC CONFERENCE CHURCH PLANTS 03 u EL AMOR DE DIOS 04 OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN & SERVE: u u u

EXPLORING PATHWAYS TO GROWTH 06 SCIENCE WITH A MISSION 07 WORD & DEED NETWORK 08

u Transitions 08

BEAUTIFUL EYES MY GRANDFATHER USED TO TELL ME, “SONNY BOY, THE DEVIL IS NOT VERY SMART, JUST MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT DUMBER THAN HE IS.” Those words have always stuck with me. Recently when it was fashionable to wear a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) wrist bracelet, I resisted, not because it was an objectionable idea, but because the answers seemed somewhat beyond me. Rather, I often ask myself the question: “What Would the Devil Do?” Maybe that is why I have always been drawn to politics. I’ve never shared this rather uninspiring mantra until now, because it was only recently that I saw the wisdom in it. Having written a book about sex and contemporary culture, I now get invited to speak at various conferences under the assumption I understand the topic. Since I like to get out from time to time, I say yes and try to learn something wherever I go. Sometimes I learn what not to say. Sometimes I learn what not to eat. But last month in Baltimore I learned about the devil’s IQ. I was speaking at Convergence, which is a gathering focused on understanding the impact of pornography, the sex-trade and sex trafficking in the United States. Convergence could be summed up as a conference that redefined for me the meaning of evil. I knew all of the above were bad, but I didn’t know the extent of bad. Why? For me personally, ignorance, denial, and the lack of a human face contributed to my not understanding the gravity of it all. Statistics are not much use to me. To tell me that 300,000 young American women are caught up in sex trafficking every year doesn’t mean a lot – apart from the fact that I am in denial that sex trafficking is an American issue. These 300,000 women are merely statistics, rather than someone’s daughter.

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A REFLECTION BY REV. DALE KUEHNE

Everything changed at Convergence, because it was there that I met the devil. He was a pimp, who explained how easy it was to get young women into the sex trade and keep them as long as they had financial value. It seems my grandfather was right. The devil isn’t very smart. He doesn’t have to be. All he needs to do is to go to shopping malls around 1:00 p.m. on school days. When he sees a young woman by herself, he can rightly assume she is relationally disconnected and looking for love on the shelves. His approach is the same each time. He goes up to her and starts a conversation by saying, “You have beautiful eyes.” If she leaves, he lets her go. If she stays, he knows he has her. All he has to do is slowly romance her over the next few days or weeks. Buy her nice things. Constantly reinforce how special she is and how beautiful she is. He merely has to do what her father never did. As soon as she emotionally attaches to him, the pimp seals the deal by making her so aware of the threat to her life and to those she loves should she abandon him, that he has her for as long as needed. Even if arrested, she will come back again, and again and again... As I listened to the pimp speak, I could hear my grandfather’s voice: “Don’t be dumber than the devil.” The only reason the devil gets his way; the only reason the pimp gets the girl; the only reason the man has a prostitute to buy is because the rest of us are acting dumber than the devil. How could this multi-million dollar industry be undermined even if men continue to listen to the devil, and seek to buy what should never be bought? Simple. Have fathers let their daughters know in hundreds of ways the beauty of their eyes. And for those young women that don’t have that?

We merely need to get together a team of people who will go to America’s shopping malls for a few minutes each day at 12:45 p.m. They simply search for the girls who are alone, walk up to them and tell them, “You have beautiful eyes. God loves you. You are lovable. Come with us and find the love that cannot be found on the shelves.” We just have to find them before the pimps do. What’s better is that the devil has already given us the name for this new movement: “Beautiful Eyes.” It’s a movement that only requires us to be a little smarter than the devil. The devil has even given us the introductory line; we just need to provide a different dialogue. As Bono sings in U2’s City of Blinding Lights, “You don’t know how beautiful you are.” Indeed. There are thousands of young women who don’t know. We can do something about that. “Beautiful Eyes” is a song we can sing in shopping malls across America, and beat the devil. It won’t be hard. He’s not that smart.

REV. DALE S. KUEHNE, PH.D. IS THE AUTHOR OF “SEX AND THE IWORLD. RETHINKING

RELATIONSHIP

BEYOND

THE AGE OF INDIVIDUALISM.” HE IS THE RICHARD L. BREADY CHAIR OF ETHICS, ECONOMICS, AND THE COMMON GOOD AND FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE

INSTITUTE

AT SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE.

POLITICS HE HAS

SERVED AS PASTOR OF EMMANUEL COVENANT CHURCH IN NASHUA, NH AND IS A REGULAR SHAREWIK.COM COLUMNIST.

ON THE ONE HAND, WE ARE CALLED TO PLAY THE GOOD SAMARITAN ON LIFE’S ROADSIDE, BUT THAT WILL BE ONLY AN INITIAL ACT. ONE DAY WE MUST COME TO SEE THAT THE WHOLE JERICHO ROAD MUST BE TRANSFORMED SO THAT MEN AND WOMEN WILL NOT BE CONSTANTLY BEATEN AND ROBBED AS THEY MAKE THEIR JOURNEY ON LIFE’S HIGHWAY. TRUE COMPASSION IS MORE THAN FLINGING A COIN TO A BEGGAR. IT COMES TO SEE THAT AN EDIFICE WHICH PRODUCES BEGGARS NEEDS RESTRUCTURING.”

~ MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

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PRAY FOR THE FIFTEEN CONFERENCE CHURCH PLANTS...

MAR 2012

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Metro Hope Community New York, NY

metrohopenyc.org Jose (& Myra) Humphreys

jhumphreys@aol.com | 646-684-2825

Highrock Brookline Brookline, MA

highrockbrookline.org Josh (& Minhee) Throneburg joshua@highrockbrookline.org | 978-473-6496

Evergreen Covenant Sanford, ME

evergreencovchurch.org Frank (& Austin) Catalano evergreencov@live.com | 207-423-3342

Worship Frontier Lexington, MA

worshipfrontier.org Kiho (& Sungseong) Lee kiholee@mac.com | 978-578-7151

Christ the Cornerstone White Plains, NY

cornerstonenewyork.org Nathaniel Perez

nathanielbperez@gmail.com | 914-318-7671

Life Covenant Morganville, NJ.

lifecovenantchurch.org Derrick (& Linda) Jackson

djacks01@gmail.com | 732-895-3381

Promised Land Covenant Church Bronx, NY

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promisedlandcovenantchurch.org Michael (& Liz) Carrion

revmichaelcarrion@gmail.com | 323-356-4266

Sudanese Evangelical Cov’t Church Manchester, NH

sudanesechurch.com Monyroor (& Amou) Teng

kuecuk@yahoo.com | 603-264-3428

10 9 7 D 1

Elements Church Bronx, NY

elementsbx.org Efrain Alicea

efrainalicea@yahoo.com | 718-670-3288

New Season Church Bronx, NY Phil Bonano

phil@newseasonchurch.cc | 347-577-5877

Highrock Quincy, Quincy MA

Highrock Salem, Salem MA

Stephen Sharkey (Q2 2012 start) B

Aaron Engler (Q2 2012 start) CHURCH PLANTS COMING IN 2012

New Vision, Flushing, NY

Martin Chang (adopting 6/2012)

Hope Church, Astoria, NY Drew Hyun (2/2012 start)

Sanctuary Providence, Providence RI Andrew Mook (Q1 2012 start)

For a list of ALL ECC churches, visit:

http://eastcoastconf.org/churches

“THERE CAN BE NO REDEMPTION UNLESS THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WORLD IS TOLD AND JUSTICE IS DONE. TO TREAT SIN AS IF IT WERE NOT THERE, WHEN IN FACT IT IS THERE, AMOUNTS TO LIVING AS IF THE WORLD WERE REDEEMED WHEN IT IN FACT IS NOT…SINCE THE NEW WORLD HAS BECOME REALITY IN THE CRUCIFIED AND RESURRECTED CHRIST (2 CORIN 5:17) IT IS POSSIBLE TO LIVE THE NEW WORLD IN THE MIDST OF THE OLD IN AN ACT OF GRATUITOUS FORGIVENESS WITHOUT GIVING UP THE STRUGGLE FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE.” ~ MIROSLOV VOLF

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EL AMOR DE DIOS TRINITY COVENANT CHURCH

A MISSIONS RECAP BY PHILLIP BEATTY

A GROUP OF YOUNG ADULTS FROM TRINITY COVENANT CHURCH IN MANCHESTER, CONNECTICUT RECENTLY RETURNED FROM A CROSS-CULTURAL TRIP TO SAN MIGUEL, EL SALVADOR. This adventure was the third time that a group from Trinity went to El Salvador to work with an organization called REMAR. REMAR exists to reach the marginalized people of society. A Christian couple from Spain founded the ministry in the 1980’s with a heart to help orphans, addicts, and the elderly. REMAR establishes homes that provide food, shelter, Bible study, clothes, schooling, and social services for these three groups of people. REMAR is now in over 60 countries around the world.

God’s connections Trinity’s youth pastor, Phillip Beatty, was introduced to REMAR by a long time friend and mentor living in Rosamond, California. Her name is Carmen Chavez, and she is originally from El Salvador. She and her family came to the United States during the Civil War of the 1980’s, and settled in the high desert of Southern California. Pastor Phillip began his full time youth ministry career in San Diego, CA in 1992. Having been introduced by a mutual friend, Carmen and her daughters began serving as interpreters for youth group trips to Mexico. Her family and many others from this small desert community have continued to interpret for ministry teams led by Phillip over the last 20 years. Three years ago, Carmen called Phillip and asked if he would consider bringing a team to work with REMAR in El Salvador. After a successful vision trip, two different groups of young adults have had the privilege of serving alongside the wonderful people of REMAR in El Salvador.

Global engagement Many people in the church are increasingly aware that young people are graduating from high school and leaving the church in large numbers. With the high school group already involved in yearly projects in the cities of Hartford, CT, and Tijuana, Mexico; Phillip thought that this trip could be a way to engage the college age students and young adults who had previously been a part of the youth ministry at Trinity Covenant Church. With a heart for missions and to serve God in third world countries, many students

expressed an interest is this endeavor. This trip is designed to be incarnational. Teams live with and among the people at REMAR. The main home that Trinity works with is a home for girls in San Miguel. Girls come from families that are too poor to care for them, abusive situations, parents with substance abuse issues and some who literally have no family left alive and nowhere else to go. The team provides encouragement and ministers through music, English lessons, Bible lessons, testimonies, and recreational opportunities. There is also a home for men who are in drug and alcohol recovery. Trinity is beginning to explore the opportunities for ministry at this home as well. REMAR also has a church called Cuerpo de Christo or the Body of Christ. Ministry teams share in expressing God’s love at worship and prayer services throughout the week.

Justice and Evangelism REMAR is an excellent example of a ministry where these two ideas walk hand in hand. In seeking to help the marginalized of society, REMAR is a voice and a haven for the poor and the oppressed. The girls at REMAR have hope for a new future because of this ministry. Many would have ended up too poor to go to school, or caught in a cycle of abuse that they could not escape. REMAR gives them the structure, discipline, and love of a Christcentered home. They provide for their schooling and teach them

“I THINK EACH VILLAGE WAS MEANT TO FEEL PITY FOR ITS OWN SICK AND POOR WHOM IT CAN HELP AND I DOUBT IF IT IS THE DUTY OF ANY PRIVATE PERSON TO FIX HIS MIND ON ILLS WHICH HE CANNOT HELP. THIS MAY EVEN BECOME AN ESCAPE FROM THE WORKS OF CHARITY WE REALLY CAN DO TO THOSE WE KNOW. GOD MAY CALL ANY ONE OF US TO RESPOND TO SOME FAR AWAY PROBLEM OR SUPPORT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SO CALLED. BUT WE ARE FINITE AND HE WILL NOT CALL US EVERYWHERE OR TO SUPPORT EVERY WORTHY CAUSE. AND REAL NEEDS ARE NOT FAR FROM US.” C.S. LEWIS

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[ the justice & evangelism issue ]

the Word of God. One of the most amazing displays of Christ’s sacrificial love is that no worker, leader, or pastor with REMAR takes any salary. They simply live with the people they serve and trust God for donations and also engage in small business enterprises of selling goods, food, and agricultural projects. All money and donations are used for the expenses of each home. In addition to living by faith for the provision of daily needs, God’s healing power is on display at REMAR. While most of the girls suffered abuse, neglect, and abandonment, they are happy, loving, and eager to share God’s love with others. They receive counseling and physical protection, but they also are filled with the Holy Spirit. Perhaps a story will help illustrate how justice and evangelism flowed together on the most recent trip. On Friday, January 13th, the group from Trinity Covenant Church took on the task of painting the outside wall of the girl’s home and church. Thirteen people worked from 9 am to 6 pm with energy and enthusiasm. A man sitting across the street was watching our work from a comfortable spot in the shade. Carmen went over to talk to him and he shared how he has been drinking every day since his mother died 10 years ago when he was only 14 years old. By the end of the afternoon, the team was taking him to the men’s home and he checked himself into recovery. After some dinner and showers, the men from the home joined the girls and the team from Trinity for a prayer service that lasted from 8:30 pm to 2:30am. Fortunately there was a midnight breakfast to keep everyone going! God’s love was sung and preached and shared as the sanctuary was filled with His presence. It was a full day and night of meeting physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

Answering the Call As the team returned to the United States they had a renewed sense of calling and purpose. Some are studying for full time ministry and mission, some are involved in campus ministries, some are now giving more finances to the work of God around the world, some are exploring how their chosen career can work for God’s vision for his kingdom here on earth, and all are recommitting themselves to a life of sacrificial love. Jesus calls all of us to come and follow Him. Traveling to another country can show us what that call looks like, inspire us and help us have a bigger picture of the one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.

“WHEN WE ATTEND TO THE NEEDS OF THOSE IN WANT, WE GIVE THEM WHAT IS THEIRS, NOT OURS. MORE THAN PERFORMING WORKS OF MERCY, WE ARE PAYING A DEBT OF JUSTICE.” ST. GREGORY THE GREAT

MAR 2012

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OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN & SERVE: I. EXPLORING PATHWAYS TO GROWTH Exploring Pathways to Growth A Christian Formation Conference

May 19, 2012 9am-4pm Covenant Congregational Church 455 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

This coming May, the Covenant Congregational Church in Jamaica Plain (Boston), MA, will be hosting a Christian Formation Conference entitled “Exploring Pathways to Growth.” Professor Teri Elliott-Hart, one of the speakers of the conference, says that her hope is that it serves as “an opportunity for people who are serving in adult ministries to be able to talk together about what is going well and what the struggles are for people on the pathway of intimacy with God.” The plenary topic for the conference: Cultivating Healthy Missional People for a Healthy Missional Church; fleshing out part of the vision for the Covenant Church in the coming decade. The event also fits the “E” (Empowering Leaders) section of the Conference’s M.O.V.E. acronym. The day’s schedule will center around small group conversations around topics related to Christian Formation, ranging from inner healing to how adults learn to social justice and personal transformation. “We value conversation in how we learn, so we want to bring together lay, clergy, practitioners of spiritual disciplines, academic voices to be a peer learning community,” noted Elliott-Hart. “My personal academic work is at the theological intersection of faith and culture; including how we understand the interrelatedness of living out kingdom ethics of justice and compassion with personal growth in discipleship,” added Elliott-Hart. “One is not prior to the other, our spiritual growth and living out our faith as people who ‘seek the good of the city’ (Jeremiah) feed each other. This will be explored in a plenary and a workshop.”

Other sessions that are being developed include:  “Growing healthy missional people for a missional church”  “Spiritual Direction and the life of the congregation”  “Out of the ivory tower: making theology accessible for adult education”  “Inner healing and authentic discipleship”  “Intimacy and action: where social justice and spiritual reflection mix”

 REGISTRATION Registration will be available online at:

http://eastcoastconf.org/conferences as well as via paper form to be distributed to all churches.

CONTACT & PRE-REGISTER To pre-register or for more information on the conference, please contact Teri Elliott-Hart via email: elliottharts@verizon.net

FEATURED CONFERENCE SPEAKERS Michelle Sanchez is the Associate Pastor of Christian Formation at Highrock Arlington with extensive experience in areas of evangelism & spiritual direction. She is married to Mickey, who works with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; and together they have one son, Seth. Cheryl Lavornia is the Associate Pastor of Christian Formation at Christ Church in E. Greenwich, RI. She desires to develop people as they learn how God designed them and they use their passions to further the Kingdom of God. Cheryl is married to Dean, and together they have two children- Brittany & Benjamin. Teri Elliott-Hart, a member of Boston’s Covenant Congregational Church, has held teaching positions at Harvard Divinity School, Boston College, and Gordon College as Professor of Theology & Christian Formation. She is married to Fred and is the mother to three children, Dylan, Paul, and Sadie.

“IT IS NOT ENOUGH FOR THE CHURCH TO BE ENGAGED WITH THE STATE IN HEALING SOCIAL ILLS, THOUGH THIS IS IMPORTANT AT TIMES. BUT WHEN THE WORLD CAN TURN AROUND AND SEE A GROUP OF GOD’S PEOPLE EXHIBITING SUBSTANTIAL HEALING IN THE AREA OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS IN THEIR PRESENT LIFE, THEN THE WORLD WILL TAKE NOTICE. EACH GROUP OF CHRISTIANS IS, AS IT WERE, A PILOT PLANT, SHOWING THAT SOMETHING CAN BE DONE IN THE PRESENT SITUATION, IF ONLY WE BEGIN IN THE RIGHT WAY.” ~ FRANCIS SCHAEFFER, FROM “THE GOD WHO IS THERE”

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[ the justice & evangelism issue ]

OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN & SERVE: II. SCIENCE WITH A MISSION Science With a Mission, Inc. A non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to producing diagnostics for developing countries.

www.sciencewithamission.org 602 Massapoag Ave, Sharon, MA 02067

Every week, because of the ministry of Alynne MacLean’s Science With a Mission, Inc., the lives of thousands upon thousands of people in developing countries all around the globe are being saved. Based some twenty-five miles south of Boston in the town of Sharon, MacLean and volunteers from her home church, Covenant Congregational in North Easton - along with others from ECC churches all over the New England area - assemble simple diagnostic tests on a weekly basis for shipment overseas. These diagnostic tools allow indigenous medical professionals to accurately diagnose and treat those afflicted - testing for a wide-range of ailments, from malaria, to HIV, to STDs, to typhoid. What makes these tests, called enzyme immunoassays (EIA), so remarkable is that no electricity is needed to use them - allowing even the remotest village access to medical diagnosis, where the nearest hospital or clinic is simply not accessible. Moreover, these tests give results rapidly, allowing medical personnel to treat people in a timely fashion, and are amenable to mass screenings. The story behind Science With a Mission is as remarkable as the tests themselves. “It’s all God’s fault,” MacLean jokingly states, reflecting on the path her life and career have taken. Knowing from the fifth grade that she wanted to be a scientist, MacLean struggled to see how God could use her passion for science to further His kingdom or care for His people in the poorest places of the world.

Her compassion for the least of these started with a missions trip to Costa Rica while pursuing undergraduate studies at Gordon College. “But I didn’t know how a degree in chemistry could be of any help. I asked God, if He showed me, I’ll do it!” she remembers. Of course, God answered her petition when she discovered the world of immunoassays while in graduate school. She saw this technology as the way to integrate her passion and expertise in chemistry to help people in developing countries, and decided to specialize in EIAs. Following school and while working in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry for a while, she thought that she could use her knowledge of EIAs to help other charity organizations utilize them. Unfortunately, no opportunities presented themselves, and so - taking another leap of faith in 2001, she founded Science With a Mission Inc. As of December 2011, nearly 200,000 diagnostics from Science With a Mission have been used in some of the neediest parts of the world! And so, on any given week, you will find MacLean and volunteers assembling and packaging the tests - in a process that is simple, great for small (or large) groups, and directly impacts the “least of these.” Matt and Lisa Onsum, two regular volunteers from Highrock Brookline who make the drive down to Sharon from Boston, raved about the ministry. “We are so grateful to have met Alynne, and for the opportunity to serve with her at Science with a Mission,” they noted. “Not only are people overseas benefiting from the diagnostic tests, but non-Christians here in the U.S. are also being ministered to when they join us as volunteers. Invariably they ask Alynne why she left her career in biotech to begin this ministry, and through her story, they hear about how God called her to use her scientific gifts to help the developing world.”

CONTACT & MORE INFORMATION To learn more about Science With a Mission or to contact Alynne MacLean about helping out, please visit their website: sciencewithamission.org or send her an email at alynne@sciencewithamission.org.

“THERE ARE THINGS FOR WHICH AN UNCOMPROMISING STAND IS WORTHWHILE. AND IT SEEMS TO ME THAT PEACE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, OR CHRIST HIMSELF, ARE SUCH THINGS..” ~ DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

MAR 2012

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OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN & SERVE: III. WORD & DEED NETWORK

CONFERENCE TRANSITIONS

EVANGELICALS FOR SOCIAL ACTION 6 E. Lancaster Ave, Wynnewood, PA 19096

www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org

Paul Guiliano from Chicago, IL (NPTS); to Thomasville, PA (Pastor); 11/11

Susan Knight from Cromwell, CT (CVOC-Chaplain) to Retirement; 1/12

Andrew Mook to Providence, RI (Church Planter); 1/12

Aaron Engler from Arlington, MA (Staff) to Salem, MA (Highrock - Church Planter); 1/12

Phil Bonano to Bronx, NY (New Seasons - Church Planter); 1/12

T.C. Moore to Arlington, MA & Cambridge, MA (Church Planting Residency); 1/12

John Mury to Arlington, MA (Young Adults Pastor); 2/12

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

The Word & Deed Network (WDN) - a wing of Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA) - is an important means by which churches can learn and develop a more holistic ministry for their congregations. WDN employs five interconnected aspects to achieve success: Geographical, Denominational, and Urban-Suburban, Global, and Organizational Partnerships. “Many churches feel lopsided in their mission,” noted Al Tizon, Director of WDN, and an Associate Professor of Holistic Ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University. “While they might be strong in evangelism, they’re not as good with compassion or justice ministries - or vice versa.”

“Our goal at WDN is to bring churches together,” Tizon adds, “with an emphasis on how partnerships are necessary to do holistic ministries well - whereby you have 10-30 churches cultivating a kingdom vision for a neighborhood or city. The sort of community transformation that is too big for solo churches to try doing alone.” Several years ago, Tizon fondly recalls working with Joel Anderle (Community Covenant Church) in gathering about 10 Covenant pastors for a discussion on missional preaching - what it means to preach in a way that inspires compassionate justice and evangelism. He is excited about what the future brings as more churches engage with WDN to become better holistic ministries.

Drew Hyun to Astoria, NY (Hope Church NYC, Church Planter); 2/12

AL TIZON is Associate Professor of Holistic Ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University and the director of Word & Deed Network of the Evangelicals for Social Action both in Wynnewood, PA. Father of four, Al resides in Upper Darby, PA with his wife Janice and their one remaining school-age child, (17). Their three older children—Candace (27), Christian (24) and Corrie (20)—are pursuing their studies and/or careers in CA and PA.

Clayton Chan to Fort Lee, NJ (Youth Pastor); 2/12

Mary Miller from Berlin, CT (Interim) to Cromwell, CT (CVOC - Chaplain); 3/12

Christopher Ek from Batavia, IL to Berlin, CT (Senior Pastor); 4/12

Stephen Sharkey



The complete yearly East Coast Conference calendar can be viewed online at eastcoastconf.org/calendar

from Arlington, MA (Staff) to Quincy, MA (Highrock - Church Planter); 5/12

 CONTACT THE COVENANTER:

Ryan Yi

THE EAST COAST COVENANTER is the triannual publication of the East Coast Conference (eastcoastconf.org)

from Arlington, MA (Staff) to Quincy, MA (Highrock - Church Plant Staff); 5/12

of the Evangelical Covenant Church (covchurch.org).

SUPERINTENDENT:

Craig Carlson

Howard K. Burgoyne

EDITOR/WRITER/GRAPHIC DESIGNER:

from Easton, CT (Senior Pastor) to Retirement; 7/12

Rebecca Mansea-Barnett to Arlington, MA (Pastor to Children & Families); 7/12

Matthew Kim from Denver, CO (Logos Chapel) to Gordon-Conwell Seminary; 7/12

THE EAST COAST COVENANTER

ASSOCIATE SUPERINTENDENT:

EAST COAST CONFERENCE 52 Missionary Road Cromwell, CT 06416 PHONE: (860) 635-2691

www.eastcoastconf.org visit the newly updated website!

Jason Condon

Paul W. Kahn EDITORS:

Alicia Sturdy

Howard K. Burgoyne Alicia Sturdy

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE:

CONTACT:

OFFICE MANAGER:

Karen Manlove

eastcoastcovenanter@gmail.com

 To adjust the number of copies your church receives, contact Alicia Sturdy at: office@eastcoastconf.org

THE E AST COAST COVENANTER