Returning to familiar Chicago, the Covenant community came together once again for another Midwinter conference last week. Immediately following the NextGen conference from Saturday to Monday, Midwinter attendees gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont, Illinois, for fellowship, engagement, inspiration, and prayer (and maybe a bit of laughter and fun along the way). This year’s theme was “Immeasurably More,” drawn from the text of Ephesians 3:20 where the apostle Paul gives honor to God “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (NIV).
Monday
The main session Monday evening was a reprise of 2023’s opener. Matt Lundgren and his multicultural band of musicians led the congregation through a series of worship medleys designed to highlight our shared history as Covenanters—hymns, choruses, and praise jams spanning several eras. Where else but Midwinter would you hear from the same stage the placid melody of “Children of the Heavenly Father,” the dad-rock of “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High,” and the up-tempo funk of Kirk Franklin’s “He Reigns”? It was a good time.
Following the worship set, we were blessed by a brief time of performance art and storytelling that referenced the healing power of God as the “stronger stuff” we need to endure through ministry. Additionally, North Park University President Mary Surridge and North Park Theological Seminary Dean Dr. Dennis Edwards came forward to honor Dr. Mae Elise Cannon with the Distinguished Alumni Award for her work in justice and peacemaking in Israel and Palestine. Dr. Cannon delivered her remarks remotely via prerecorded video. “The Lord calls us to be agents of peace,” said Dr. Cannon, “to love across divides, to speak out against injustice, and to be willing to have hard conversations, to walk hand-in-hand without seeing eye-to-eye.” Congregants were invited to consider her words during a brief reception in her honor after the worship service.
Tuesday
After another great worship music set, Tuesday morning’s session featured an update from President Tammy Swanson-Draheim, where she referenced her recent trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. President Swanson-Draheim regaled the assembly with gratitude, reflecting on the 100 years of gospel ministry in the region, and telling a hilarious story about a late-night encounter with a large spider. She also talked about the privilege of being present for the graduation of seminarians at Centro Hispano de Estudio Teológicos (CHET). As part of her update, she featured a current and former student from North Park seminary ministry education cohorts—Tony Waddell from the Equip program in the Midwest Conference (MWC) and associate superintendent Rici Skei, a graduate of the Ignite program in the Pacific Southwest Conference (PSWC). Tony and Rici both shared about the difference it made that they were able to remain in their ministry context while they pursued their seminary education.
At midday Tuesday, there were a variety of hosted lunches and receptions, including a joint reception celebrating the relaunch of Advocates for Covenant Clergy Women (ACCW). Later Tuesday afternoon attendees in the grand ballroom were led through a workshop on mental health and emotional wellness by Sherin Mathew Swift and Kelly Ng. Folks were invited to share their emotions and be heard by the broader collective present in the room, who responded in chorus with the words, “We hear you.”
In addition to more stellar worship music, Tuesday evening’s highlights included a presentation from Grace Shim and Adam Edgerly of Serve Globally and Covenant World Relief and Development, highlighting peacemaking efforts from global personnel across the world, including James Tang in South Sudan and Ethiopia, Katie Isaza in Colombia, and Sam and Seth Jordan in Israel and Palestine. Later in the evening we heard a message from Rev. Eugene Cho of Bread for the World from John 6:1-13. “Jesus cares both about our spiritual flourishing and our physical wellbeing,” said Cho. “He cares about your soul and your body.” He closed his message with a heartrending anecdote about his parents and the love that is expressed when we offer food to one another.
Wednesday
Wednesday morning attendees in the main session were treated to a special worship music set from the collective Common Hymnal, whose music is described as “forward-facing content from the spiritual underground, helping Christ followers grab a hold of the future and drag it into the present.”
After an offering for the Ministers’ Care and Crisis Fund, we heard from Ruth Haley Barton of the Transforming Center in Wheaton, Illinois. Her message focused on the necessity of both weekly and daily rhythms of sabbath, practiced primarily as individuals but also as leaders in community. “We are addicted to control and striving,” said Barton. “To practice sabbath is to work actively and consciously against patterns that are deeply ingrained and unconsciously held in our psyches.” According to Barton, the benefits are manifold. “I’ve experienced rest that turns into delight, delight that turns into gratitude, and gratitude that turns into worship.”
Wednesday afternoon there were a variety of hosted luncheons, including the ethnic associations of the multiethnic mosaic who met jointly for a time of encouragement, fellowship, and prayer. Later in the evening, each association met for a combination of business meeting and dinner together. And Wednesday evening, the main ballroom was the site of a Spanish language worship service hosted by ALIPE (Asociación Latina de la Iglesia del Pacto Evangélico), featuring worship music by Josh Morales and preaching from Rev. Gabriel Salguero.
Thursday
After another worship music set, attendees Thursday morning were treated to a live recording of the Good Faith podcast from Redeeming Babel, a nonprofit that produces content to promote a reformation in how Christians engage the wider world. Founder and former Covenant pastor Curtis Chang sat down with Emmy-winning producer DT Slouffman to talk about what it means to navigate our politically divided environment.
And then Thursday evening was a treat. After a more subdued, unplugged worship set, we saw a brief video from Bravebird, meditating on the power of music to communicate deeper truths, set to rich, dulcet cello melodies. And then, just when some of us might have been tempted to drift off, Rev. Gabriel Salguero made Covenant history as the first person to preach in both the ALIPE service in Spanish and the main session the following night in English. Rev. Salguero brought a well-needed dose of “Holy Ghost fire,” expounding on the theme of “immeasurably more” from Ephesians 3:20, which he called “the epistle of hyperbole.”
“When things are going badly, you need mystery,” said Salguero. “There are things that only God can do, and the church needs to be reminded that it is not just a cultural institution, it is an organism….The prophetic imagination doesn’t always happen in times of abundance. Often our deepest times of creation come during ineffable, unspeakable reality.” He encouraged the congregation to lean into the mystery that comes with paradigm shifts and to see with eyes of faith not simply the danger of the moment, but its opportunity. “God is able,” Salguero thundered, to shouts and amens all across the room.
Friday
After some a capella worship music led by Rev. Stephen Bjorlin, attendees were led through a series of teachings by a trio of professors from North Park Theological Seminary: Dean and vice president of church relations Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards, along with assistant professor of ministry and the Milton B. Engebretson Chair in Evangelism and Justice Dr. Michelle Dodson and assistant professor of worship at North Park Theological Seminary and pastor of worship and creative arts at Resurrection Covenant Church, Rev. Dr. David Bjorlin. All three taught, in separate movements, reflections on an inverted version of the week’s theme, “immeasurably more with less.”
“Nothing says ‘immeasurably more with less’ than the Friday morning slot at Midwinter,” cracked Dr. Bjorlin.
Dr. Edwards taught from Judges 7, using the story of Gideon and his small group of fighters as an illustration of the ways that God’s abundance transcends the limits of finite human resources. Dr. Dodson shared a testimony about the worship ministry at her church New Community in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, reflecting on its uniquely diverse signature, and later encouraged attendees to share with each other about the ways that God may be inviting us to do more with less. And Dr. Bjorlin shared two original hymns that turn our attention away from the worldly systems of more and toward the mystery of God’s provision.
Finally, before we received a heartfelt goodbye from Director of Events Erik Anderson (and a promo for next year’s Midwinter in Denver), we watched a fun recap video of the week, providing brief snapshots of all that had just transpired.
As I watched the footage, I was struck by the final words of the recap video from an attendee comparing this year’s conference to a Midwinter ten years ago: “All the things that I hoped for, all the things that I prayed about, and all the things I struggled to see the Covenant become…it’s there. We’ve become what I always dreamed we would be.”
I was reminded of my dad, Pastor Henry Greenidge when I heard those words, and not just because the speaker was an African American man who looked to be my elder.
A lot of people know me as someone who loves and practices rap music. I am both young enough to engage in rap music as a form of pastoral worship leading, and old enough to remember a time—perhaps not that long ago—when doing so could get you fired from a church.
So yes, I too enjoyed the worship music, and the dynamic teaching and preaching, the mosaic gatherings, the Thursday night dance party, and so many other Midwinter experiences that have become emblematic of the multiethnic diversity in our denomination.
But I’m keenly aware that these things are not simply the products of prudent event planning or savvy focus grouping. Rather, they are the communal result of thousands of Covenanters across several decades, thinking, envisioning, praying to, and hoping in God for a way of being the church that was radically different from the status quo of the time. People like my dad, who labored in the Covenant during an era when the idea of a multiethnic mosaic was considered by many pastors as less of a foregone conclusion and more of an existential threat.
So I say, let us keep hoping, keep thinking, keep envisioning, and keep praying. Because as much as events like Midwinter may buoy us with encouragement, God is not done using us to change the world or each other. And maybe, if we stay faithful enough to keep what God has deposited in us and flexible enough to allow the Spirit’s movement to change the things we’ve built, we’ll get to hear generations ahead offer that same grateful refrain: “We’ve become what I always dreamed we would be.”
