Hello ECO Community! Hope you enjoy this month's newsletter! Make sure not to miss the end! Click on the blue link at the very bottom of this email that says "View entire message"!
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A message from Dana Allin, Synod Executive
Our plans are well underway for our 2022 National Gathering in Dallas! I am thankful for the opportunity to gather with those who are comfortable, and to have an online option for those who are uncomfortable with groups at this time or not able to attend in person. Our speakers this year are incredible and I think will speak to where we are personally as disciples, as leaders, and as congregations.
I remember a pastor telling me once that when someone shakes his hand (in pre-COVID days!) after a church service and says, “Great sermon pastor”, he says, “We will see.” Meaning that the message is powerful only as we apply it to our lives. I think we will have a great opportunity to not just hear some powerful teaching, but if we apply it, we will truly be enriched. Here is why I think our three speakers will hit our points of need.
I know many are still drained emotionally, physically and spiritually from this season. Rich Villodas is so great at speaking to the health of our souls.
The need to “nurture missional living” and help our people plant the gospel in the places they live, work, and play is now of even greater urgency than in recent history. I have heard Danielle Strickland speak multiple times. She is passionate, inspiring and practical in helping us take the gospel into our contexts.
There are new challenges associated with being an “evangelical” in America. Our speaker Walter Kim is the new president of the National Association of Evangelicals. I have been in NAE board meetings where Walter has spoken and he has an amazing pulse on various aspects of culture. He is able to speak to the evangelical church with grace and truth and help us live out the true meaning of that word in our lives and churches.
As we put together the National Gathering, we get similar comments, questions, and pushback that you get in your local congregation about... Read Entire Article
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Make sure to register before October 31 to save $50 with early bird pricing!
If you are hesitant to register due to Covid concerns, we get that! Know that we are committed to having the safest and healthiest event possible and will be following all guidelines for gathering. We also have a generous cancellation policy if you want to register now. If you feel most comfortable viewing from home, we have a digital livestream option for the main sessions. We are always happy to help with your registration, cancellation, or any questions and may be reached at nationalgathering@eco-pres.org.
If you are a Synod commissioner, please note that our standing rules do not allow for a virtual business meeting and we are therefore not able to have a virtual voting option. If you have specific questions about the Synod meeting or serving as a commissioner, please contact Maja Greig at maja@eco-pres.org. Thank you!
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Speaker Spotlight:
We are so excited to welcome Walter Kim, President of the National Association of Evangelicals, as a National Gathering speaker!
Read more about Walter Kim here!
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National Association of Evangelicals
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Did you know ECO is part of the National Association of Evangelicals? Get to know them here: www.nae.org.
You will find many great resources, relevant podcasts, and magazine articles. Check it out!
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ECO WOMEN PASTORS AND CANDIDATES |
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Women Pastors and Ordination Candidates - Save the date! |
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ECO Women Pastors Retreat - a time for gentle soul care and connection with each other and Jesus |
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When: September 21-23, 2022
Where: T Bar M Camp
New Braunfels, TX
More info to come!
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Join the ECO Women in Leadership Facebook group to stay updated and connect! |
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Also! - All ECO women in vocational ministry - plan to join us at the National Gathering! It’s a busy week, but a great time to connect and grow together. We’re planning to gather for breakfast on Wednesday, Feb 2 during the gathering. Details to come!
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ECO CHURCHES - FLOURISHING STORIES |
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God’s Leading and Calling:
A New Chapter
By Lisa Madison, Lay Pastor of Family Ministry, Living Hope Community Church, Old Greenwich, CT
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In 2017, I found out my husband of 30 years had been having an affair with someone at his work. The line from the musical Hamilton came to mind; “my world was turned upside down.” My former husband did not want to seek counseling, so our marriage ended. I was reminded of Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” The following is part of my spiritual autobiography written for the ECO ordination process:
Prior to my divorce, I began to have this desire to study His Word and I wanted to learn more and more. I started listening to Pastor Chuck Smith, the pastor I grew up with, as he taught through all the books of the Bible. I was spiritually hungry and I would listen most days to try to get a better understanding of His Word. This desire to learn more had me contemplating seminary. I looked into a few in California, but had no idea what major I wanted.
The following prophetic word/picture was given to me in the Spring of 2018 by a trusted sister in Christ: “I was on a road in a car and the road came to a slow end. I got out of the car and made a left turn.” Indeed, I was at a crossroads in my life and thought this might be an opportunity to attend seminary; my marriage broke up, my house needed to be sold and both my kids were now not living at home.
So, I either gave away or sold what was left in my home leaving the door open for God to take me wherever He wanted. Over the years, I have seen the enemy remove strategic people from our church so I really wanted the Lord’s leading for the next steps in my life.
On December 1, 2018, I began fasting so I would hear clearly from the Lord. I had received that prophetic word/picture; however, I wasn’t clear as to its application. Suddenly the ECO-CLP came across my pastor’s desk and he sent it to me. He said, “What do you think of this?” For some reason he had never seen the program and he realized the applications were due the next day. I said, “Well I need time to pray about that.”
He called Lisa Johnson, ECO’s Director of Leadership Development, and told me to call her the next day. I spoke to Lisa and when I told her that this had come about suddenly she said, “that must have been a real ‘left turn.’ Wow, did she just use the same phrase from that prophetic word? I got off the phone dumbfounded.
I called my mom and told her all about it. She said, “Why don’t you apply already?” I said, “I was waiting for a big billboard.” As I said that, I was reminded of a scene from the movie Bruce Almighty when he is asking for a sign from God. God was there but in the small signs.
I remembered seeking a Christian counselor’s advice; she told me seminary would be a great hiding place in the midst of everything going on in my life. The second sign was from a young woman I met who was in seminary. She said, “You are doing everything I would want to be doing, you are in ministry.” The third sign was the prophetic word which was confirmed by Lisa Johnson when she said, “That must have been a real left turn.”
I applied that very day for the CLP course. Our elders met the following Tuesday and signed the papers and I was accepted the following week. God swung open a door so wide I was able to walk right through.
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This February I will begin my last semester at Gordon-Conwell and I hope to graduate in May. I am currently going through the ECO ordination process which was never my intention until one of my professors prompted me. The ECO-CLP/Gordon classes have been abundantly more than I ever imagined. As I have walked through the classes and have been in ministry, I have seen how practical and life giving they have been to me, and I believe to the church as well. I have been able to implement what I have learned in Evangelism, Discipleship, Leadership, ECO polity and Spiritual formation…..every class has been beneficial. I feel as if my faith has grown in leaps and bounds as I have gone deeper into His Word.
Since I began on the CLP road, I have gone from being the church admin to Lay Pastor of Family Ministry. But probably the most important thing I have learned is to trust the Lord and let Him lead. I have been equipped by the classes but everything has been about God’s leading through the Holy Spirit. Every class was at the perfect time. I have been blessed to meet future leaders and present leaders in our Presbytery and I have been blessed through each encounter.
We are grateful for Lisa and people like her in ECO who listen to God’s call! We have many resources to help you along that journey. Here are two of them:
Learn more about ECO’s Commissioned Lay Pastor training here.
Learn more about ECO’s Ordination process here.
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Youth Confirmation & ECO’s Core Competencies at Cornerstone Presbyterian in Minot, ND
By Steve Oster, Associate Pastor, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, Minot, ND
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For years I have found myself asking the question, why do people wait until later in life to become pastors? According to Barna, 55% of pastors have ministry as a second career. The alarming part of that statistic to me is that most of them admit they felt the call to full time ministry as a teenager or young adult. So, I started thinking about two things: what’s the disconnect and how do we change the culture? I vividly remember sitting at my first National Gathering and hearing Dana say, “we are not here just to die more slowly”. Finally, I am with my people ready to train and equip young leaders to carry the Banner of Christ, but how?
We as a church had to start seeing things in a different light, and I wanted to make a major shift in our confirmation classes. The main catalyst of change for our young students was the Intro to the Core Competencies. Let me pause this story for a second and share my heart. If you and your church leaders have not gone through the core competencies, head over to www.flourishmovement.org and do so right away. Alright, now that my shameless plug for the amazing materials ECO supplies us with is over, let’s get back to confirmation. Through this process we have seen young people taking seriously the call of God on their lives. Some are now leading Bible Studies with their friends, others are sharing the Gospel with their teammates, others are still wrestling with God about the call on their lives, but they are hungry and ready to serve.
We also couple this with a spiritual gift assessment. I assure you I have heard all the reasons why teens are too young and are dealing with too much mentally for an accurate result, but I will simply quote the Samaritan woman at the well. “Come and see”! In my experience, what we have seen is teens who are looking deeper and asking different questions. My favorite question I have ever heard was a student who said, “So its ok if I hardly ever think about or pray for our church because I am always praying and thinking about the lost in our city”? This kid has a heart of evangelism, his next deeper question was, “Steve-O, can I go out in the neighborhood and witness to people?”
I believe the church universal is at a crossroad. If we do not train up, equip, and release young leaders, we will always be looking at the statistic that almost all pastors can retire at any given time. Let us continue to be a movement that uses all of our resources to raise up young leaders and carry the mantel to the next generation.
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By Andrea Messinger, ECO National Flourishing Liaison
At the heart of our movement is the call to be about “Building Flourishing Churches That Make Disciples of Jesus Christ.” One of the ways we seek to live into this reality is through our Core Value to “Mutually Spur” one another on. As a movement that is low bureaucracy and high trust, we have a vision that each church would have a Flourishing Liaison to partner with the leadership in ministry. This would be a partner that would come alongside to encourage, pray with and for, and to be a resource on ways to flourish and not atrophy.
Below is a letter to the Ministry Partnership Team (MPT) of Presbytery of the South from a Flourishing Liaison sharing his feedback about a meeting with First Presbytrian Church, Douglasville, GA.
God is good and He is working in powerful ways in this movement He has raised up. May you be spurred on by this testimony! If you would like to know more about connecting with your presbytery’s Flourishing Liaison, email andrea@eco-pres.org.
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Hey Jim,
I wanted to let you know that I had a delightful meeting with James Harper Tuesday, September 7th. James just returned from Egypt and had a great visit with our ECO partners.
James was very happy that MPT wants to have a meaningful and encouraging relationship with each church in our presbytery.
First Presbyterian Church Douglasville has been a part of the Paul Borden cohort. They have followed the prescriptives and reduced the session from 21 to 9. They have evaluated each ministry of the church in terms of making disciples. They also are aiming for the congregation to reflect the Douglasville community - in terms of bringing in people of color.
With the timing of the changes and the national events such as the death of George Floyd and the January 6th Capitol protests - there has been much tension and some have left the church. James and the leadership continue to seek God about the numerous people that are leaving Douglas county. Many say they are leaving for better schools. Others are retiring and moving closer to their children, but the loss of members and their generous giving has impacted the church.
However, the leadership has been very busy - finding ways to connect with the community and serve the kingdom of God. They are creating a partnership to bring a counseling center to help those in need of help in creating and maintaining relationships. (this is a natural step from their Embrace Grace ministry helping women in the community with unplanned pregnancies). They are also looking at a program to help those who need help in breaking the cycle of poverty called “Circles”. Instead of the traditional VBS this year - they had family activities called Summer Palooza and had a great community turn out and much fun. I am amazed at the many ways this church reaches out to the community. From helping at the local food banks, adopting a school in a low income area of Douglasville, prayer walks through the community, soccer games for the men of the church, July 4th fest to host bands and games for the kids, food trucks and giving a setting for folks to watch the local fireworks. All this in addition to maintaining 3 worship services each Sunday and various activities for the children and youth during the week.
As a presbytery - we need to continue to pray for them - as they do the hard work of building the kingdom of God. They continue to seek God's wisdom in making often tough decisions concerning God’s call for this church.
Blessings,
Jan
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Calling ECO Authors!
Once again we are highlighting the work of ECO authors at the National Gathering. If you are an author and committed to ECO who writes for the edification of the church, we’d love to host your work at our book table. Volunteer table hosts needed as well.
For more information get in touch with ECO’s Theology Coordinator and author, Greg Wagenfuhr (greg@eco-pres.org).
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Buffalo Hart
Presbyterian Church
Buffalo Hart, Illinois
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NEW COHORTS, WEBINARS, AND RESOURCES! |
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Flourish Institute
We are excited for this new endeavor and believe that this step to starting the Flourish Institute is crucial to planting new churches, to preparing pastors for post-Christian ministry, and to train lay, bi-vocational, co-vocational, and vocational leaders. It will allow us to more faithfully reach the increasing diversity of our country, and to build greater partnerships with Reformed denominations throughout the world.
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Did you miss the live webinar? Watch the recording!
In case you missed it, here is the link to the webinar we had earlier this week with Dana Allin and Mark Patterson explaining the Flourish Institute further and answering questions.
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ECO’s partnership with Axis keeps getting better! |
ECO Churches may now extend the
free membership to their families!
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ECO has partnered with Axis again, offering free membership to ECO families!
The Axis Membership delivers trustworthy, gospel-centered resources on the topics that make parenting such a challenge in this smartphone, social media world.
Culture, technology, faith, identity, and hundreds of other challenging topics are covered through a Gospel-centered lens, making life’s tough conversations just a bit easier.
Register your family for your Axis Membership today!
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Coach Training at the 2022 National Gathering for ECO Pastors, Presbytery Leaders, Elders and Certified Transitional Pastors
When:
Thursday, Feb. 3rd from 1pm - 5:30 (after the National Gathering ends)
& Friday, Feb. 4th from 9am - 4pm
Having a coach can be a powerful asset in ministry and discipleship. Because of our commitment to equip leaders and provide resources that nurture flourishing ministry within ECO, we will offer a 2-day Coach Training certification process after the 2022 National Gathering. Our training is in partnership with CoachNet International.
More and more, pastors and leaders recognize the value of a quality coach to equip them to cultivate skills, lead staff, mentor young leaders, mobilize volunteers and teams more strategically, and improve as a counselor. This training helps develop and deploy your coaching as a leader in all areas of your life, both personally and professionally.
Coach Training is a worthwhile investment at any level of ministry. Some of you have begun the process with us some time ago, for some of you this may be something new for 2022! Come learn more about how to encourage others in what God is doing in the lives of those around you through the ministry of coaching.
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Connecting Missions Leaders Conference |
Virtual Connecting Mission Leaders
Oct 14, 2021 12:00 PM-1:15 PM Central Time
With the CML conference postponed, we wanted to be sure to create an opportunity to connect. Zoom just isn’t the same, but it’s something we can do! Isn’t that the story of the past 18 months?!?!
Join with us as several ECO mission leaders share creative ways their churches have pivoted their mission engagement during the pandemic, and what that might mean for the future of mission for local churches. We’ll include time for live Q &A and plan for those last 15 minutes to pray together.
Register in advance for this meeting:
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After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. This live Zoom meeting will be recorded for those who cannot attend.
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ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians | eco-pres.org
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