CHICAGO, IL (April 14, 2011) – Meagan Gillan has been nominated to replace Ruth Hill as executive minister of the Department of Women Ministries when Hill completes her term this summer.
Gillan will stand for election during the 126th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) in Estes Park, Colorado, in June.
“Meagan brings a breadth and depth of experience that will serve Women Ministries well,” says ECC President Gary Walter of her selection. “She also brings a deep love for Christ and a passion for ministry that will help propel our larger mission as a Church forward.”
A graduate of Wheaton College with a degree in sociology, she has served alongside her pastor husband, Scot, at Covenant churches in Kansas, Massachusetts, Arizona and currently in Naperville, Illinois.
Gillan’s diverse work history includes positions as senior account manager for a marketing company, account coordinator, copy editor, administrative church staff member, and operations manager for a conference center.
She also served as executive editor of the Presidential Prayer Team (PPT) website. In that role, Gillan worked with the White House Liaison Office to arrange a meeting of the Presidential Prayer Team Board of Directors and the executive editor with President Bush, one of the President’s last meeting appointments before he left office.
Gillan served on the Triennial VII (1993) and Triennial XI (2004) steering committees for Women Ministries, pioneering the first online event registration for a major denominational event. Her passion for youth inspired the introduction of Triennial tours designed to attract new and younger women to the gatherings, as well as helping develop a skate park for the 1997 CHIC event recruiting staff and implementing a successful weeklong feature serving several hundred CHIC students. She continued this ministry at the 2000 and 2003 events.
She has served on the Pacific Southwest Conference executive board, as president of PSWC Women Ministries, on the ECC Women Ministries executive board, and as a member of the former Board of Christian Education and Discipleship. Gillan currently serves on the board of directors of the Wheaton College Alumni Association.
“Meagan’s deep faith and dependence on God was evident to the search team,” said search committee chair Toni Schwabe of Gillan’s selection. “Her varied experiences in the business world, involvement in several Covenant departments, passion for women of all ages, vision for use of technology to enhance communication, excitement for ministry, and desire to connect women and equip them to serve were all taken into consideration as the search committee nominated her for the position.”
“I’m humbled and thrilled to be called to serve the marvelous, multi-cultural, multi-generational mosaic that is the women of our denomination,” Gillan said in accepting the nomination. “I am counting on women to step up, speak up and speak into the next chapter of our vital ministry together. As we build on the incredible foundation of the past, we will seek God together for the exciting new things he wants to do. I cherish your prayers as I ramp up to this awesome responsibility.”
