140th Annual Meeting of the Covenant Church
At the end of June I traveled to Orlando, Florida to take part in the 140th Annual Meeting of the Covenant Church. We were honored to welcome 17 national leaders and their spouses from our global Covenant family. Throughout the week we were encouraged and challenged as they preached, shared in panel discussions, and interacted with delegates around the theme “Follow Me.” Through the witness of our brothers and sisters from around the globe we were reminded that this invitation crosses borders, languages and cultures and draws us together as one people united Christ.
One of the stories that stands out was shared by Rev. Matthew Jock Moses, former president of the Evangelical Covenant of South Sudan. Speaking around the theme of following Jesus through seeking peace and reconciliation, he described his church’s efforts to provide care and hospitality to people fleeing war in Sudan. He said, “at first our people resisted receiving refugees from the north because of their memory of the terrible things that were done to them in war by the same people that were now coming to seek refuge among us.” As a leadership team they recognized the past hurt and trauma, and at the same time invited people to remember the reconciling work of Christ and his call on his followers to be his ambassadors. He went on to share, “our people are now welcoming refugees from the north, even though its hard, through this ministry of hospitality and forgiveness people are experiencing the reconciling power of Christ in their communities.”
As Matthew shared I could feel the Spirit moving in our midst inviting us to reflect on what it means for us personally and as a church to follow Jesus in seeking peace and healing in our own context.
Reflecting back on this week I feel that my hope in God was refreshed and encouraged. I believe this was because we all experienced a glimpse of the greatness of God, who is at work all around the world through faithful people who simply say “yes” to Christ’s invitation to follow him right where they are. It opened up a bigger perspective that though there is so much pain and trauma in our world, God is at work, and God is bringing about his healing and reconciling purposes to fulfillment one person, and one community at a time.
Panel discussion with leaders from Chile, Sweden, India, and Mozambique.
At the opening session of the meeting, all the international guests were welcomed and received gifts. (left) I was companion to Niklas Piensoho, Vice President of the Uniting church in Sweden and enjoyed deepening this friendship and the ties between ECC and Sweden. (second from left) An African choir from a Covenant Church in the Midwest shared in amazing music and dance that inspired to the whole meeting joining in. It was special to sing “Children of the Heavenly Father” in Swedish, with Siri Iversen, General Secrecary of the Norwegian Mission Covenant to close the gathering.