GATHER 2024
Theme
Faithfully Forward
One of the key markers of the early church was their unwavering faithfulness. In the book of Acts, we see early believers devote themselves to teaching, fellowship, generosity, community, worshiping together, and giving God all the glory. We recognize the same traits in our churches locally and globally throughout the Covenant. This year’s Gather theme, “Faithfully Forward,” was an invitation to celebrate how God is moving throughout the denomination as we celebrate God’s faithfulness this past year, and we look forward to the future with hope.
Videos
Videos from the 138th Covenant Annual Meeting
138th Covenant Annual Meeting
Presentations & Reports
Gather 2024
Delegate Summary
Gather 2024 was held in a hybrid format with delegates attending online and in person in Covington, Kentucky. A total of 554 delegates were registered and certified, with 360 attending in person and 194 virtually. This summary provides an overview for delegates to share with their congregations.
Who Attends?
The Annual Meeting Is the Highest Legislative Body in The Evangelical Covenant Church
During Gather, the entire Covenant family comes together to worship God; celebrate and participate in God’s work in the world; welcome new churches; ordain, commission, and consecrate ministers and missionaries; and together make important decisions about our shared mission and ministry.
Every congregation is entitled to representation as we worship God and celebrate what God has done. We gather to discern future direction, select leaders, consecrate global personnel, credential and ordain clergy, and encourage one another to greater discipleship. We make determinations around funding the mission, and we hear about the challenges and opportunities in front of us. In it all, we get to meet new friends and strengthen old relationships.
Delegates
These are the official representatives from congregations and other Covenant entities. A delegate is entitled to full voice and vote in the Annual Meeting. Delegates are named by their sending body. Every congregation is entitled to representation.
From the Covenant Bylaws, Article VII, Section 7.4, member congregations shall be entitled to representation as follows (based on data from the Annual Statistical Report from November 2023):
- 0-99 members: 2 delegates
- 100-224 members: 3 delegates
- 225-449 members: 4 delegates
- 450-699 members: 5 delegates
- 700-999 members: 6 delegates
- 1,000 + members: 7 delegates
General Conferees
A general conferee is any adult participant at Gather 2024 who is not an official delegate. General conferees may silently observe the Annual Meeting and may receive handouts during the sessions.
*Please note: Business meetings are closed sessions. Only registered delegates, general conferees, and resource personnel may attend business sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the Annual Meeting. Evening worship sessions are open to the public.
Church Delegate Registration Process
Every congregation is entitled to representation as we worship God and celebrate what God has done. The number of delegates a church can send is determined by their reported membership for 2023.
STEP ONE
Fill out the Annual Statistical Report
Each year all Covenant churches are asked to complete the Annual Statistical Report (ASR) as part of our 3StrandStrong partnership. This simple report gathers critical information from churches such as attendance, membership, baptisms, income, and giving. The ASR gathers information in a two-step process.
- November 2023 | Track and record attendance.
- January 1-March 1, 2024 | Input membership, baptisms, income, giving, and personnel contact information.
Please use the link below to input all your church’s data. Your church’s login credentials for the new ASR portal were mailed out in November 2023, previous credentials will not work on the new portal. The portal allows you to save your answers and return later to complete the form. Simply return to the portal using the link below with your credentials.
If you have technical difficulties or questions regarding any of the data points, please reach out:
- For ASR Portal Technical Support – RJ Gonzales | (773) 596-2406
- For All Other Questions – Daphne Black | (773) 907-3359
STEP TWO
Credentialling Process
Each church delegate to the Annual Meeting shall be a member of the church and can only represent one entity. Please be mindful that in addition to registration, all delegates must also be credentialed by their church. The credential form can be accessed below.
The Church Chair and Church Secretary are the primary credentialling members of the church. If either of those positions are vacant, someone on leadership may sign the credential form as long as they can verify delegates are members of the church and both signatures do not belong to appointed delegates.
The first approver will list all appointed delegates for the church, fill out the FIRST APPROVER section, sign, date, and provide the name and email of the second approver. Click Preview Submission, review, and click Submit at the bottom of the form. Once the form is submitted, it will be sent to the second approver for their signature and approval before submitting the final form.
The second approver, click Preview Submission and scroll down to review the form. Under the SECOND APPROVER section, verify, sign, date, and click submit.
After clicking SUBMIT, be sure you receive a new screen indicating the process is completed. If the form stays open, you may need to go back and click a missed check box or fill in missing information. Click GO BACK to make edits and submit again.
Any questions about the credentialing process should be directed to events@covchurch.org.
NOTE: Assigned Delegates by role in the Annual Meeting and Conference Delegates will be confirmed by governance and do not need to fill out the online credential form.
