Baptisms Mark First Anniversary of Spanish Congregation
MALAGA, SPAIN (September 11, 2013) — A church plant, Iglesia de Filadelfia La Cala el Moral (Church of Philadelphia La Cala El Moral) celebrated its one-year anniversary of ministry among Roma people with a large baptismal service in the Mediterranean Sea.
“Praise God there has been a revival among Roma people in our neighborhood,” said Covenant Missionary Eugenio Restrepo. Roma—or Gypsies—are often looked down upon by the rest of society.
Eugenio and his wife, Pia, have focused much of their recent ministry on developing Roma leaders. “We feel privileged to train people for ministry, particularly those without opportunities, like the Gypsy pastors who are coming with excitement to the Leadership Training Center,” Eugenio said earlier this year.
The training has included working in community development, Bible and theology, health care, education, and racial reconciliation.
The Restrepos will formally begin serving as the Evangelical Covenant Church’s new regional coordinators for Latin America and the Caribbean in January 2014.
Shelton Chosen Grand Marshal for Kerman Festival
KERMAN, CA (September 11, 2013) — In honor of his spirit of volunteerism and ongoing community support, Kerman pastor Dan Shelton will serve as Grand Marshal of the 2013 Kerman Harvest Festival, which runs Friday through Sunday.
Shelton has served as pastor of Kerman Covenant Church since June 2003.
Linda Geringer, Chamber of Commerce executive director, said, “Pastor Dan has a presence of support and calmness in our community.”
She cited several reasons Shelton was chosen. Among them were his taking the initiative for “Save Kerman Day” and serving as founding board chair for the Turning Point Care Center. The center provides parenting classes, maternity clothes and infant supplies, physician referral, peer counseling, pregnancy tests, as well as other services. Clients range from teen girls to homeless women.
Tract Society Publishes Covenanter’s Poem for Halloween
MERCER ISLAND, WA (September 11, 2013) — The International Tract Society has published Covenant minister Greg Asimakoupoulos’s poem “Our Trick, God’s Treat” as its tract for Halloween.
Asimakoupoulos says the tract is designed for children and would be ideal for harvest festivals or outreaches during Halloween, such as the increasingly popular Trunk or Treat events. For more information, visit the organization’s website.
Asimakoupoulos is chaplain at Covenant Shores Retirement Community.
Carroll, Trebilco to Speak at NPTS Lund Lectures
CHICAGO, IL (September 11, 2013) — The Nils W. Lund Memorial Lectures will be presented Wednesday and Thursday, September 25 and 26, in Isaacson Chapel at North Park Theological Seminary. Lectures both days will occur at 9 a.m. and at 10:45 a.m.
Lecturers will be Paul Trebilco, of Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand; and M. Daniel Carroll R., of Denver Seminary, as they explore the historical context and theological implications of Old and New Testament Scripture.
Paul Trebilco is professor of New Testament. He studied chemistry at the University of Canterbury and completed his PhD in New Testament in 1987 at the University of Durham.
He has published work on the Jewish and Greco-Roman backgrounds to the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostle Paul, early Christians in Ephesus, the relationship of Scripture and church tradition, and the self-designations used by the earliest Christians in the New Testament.
Carroll preached at the Covenant Midwinter Conference for the denomination’s pastors last January.
Carroll currently serves as the Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Denver Seminary. Prior to his appointment to the seminary, he was professor of Old Testament and ethics and director of graduate studies at El Seminario Teológico Centroamericano in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
