November 4, 2021
The following letter from Covenant Executive Board Chair Jon Bonkoski gives an update on the Strategic Alignment Team recommendation the Covenant Executive Board presented to the 135th Covenant Annual Meeting.
Dear Covenanters,
The Covenant Executive Board, in concurrence with Covenant Offices Leadership Team, has voted to withdraw the Strategic Alignment Team (SAT) recommendation from further consideration, including all the bylaw and constitutional amendments presented at the 135th Annual Meeting this past June.
In 2020, the Evangelical Covenant Church embarked on a journey to listen, learn, and discern how the denominational team could build on its service to our church family. This endeavor was led by a group of Covenanters called the Strategic Alignment Team, which sunsetted in March 2021. After pensive research and engagement across our denomination, this group put forward a proposed recommendation regarding the realignment of leadership and a fresh staffing model that would help strengthen the denominational team’s ability to continue to live out the purpose of our unchanging shared mission: We join God in God’s mission to see more disciples among more populations, in a more caring and just world. The SAT’s recommendation was presented at our most recent Annual Meeting last June, with the intent that it would be voted upon at the 136th Annual Meeting in June 2022.
This next year, the Presidential Nominating Committee will recommend to the 136th Annual Meeting a nominee to serve a four-year term as the 11th president of the Evangelical Covenant Church. According to our bylaws, the newly elected president will first and foremost provide pastoral leadership to the Covenant and will also provide general direction for ministry and business-related matters for the denomination. Due to the strategic direction the president provides, and after prayerful discussion and discernment, the Covenant Executive Board has decided to withdraw the SAT recommendation. This will allow the denomination to lead well in this current season, focus on the presidential nominating process, and better enable the newly elected president to collaborate with the Covenant Offices Leadership Team on how to best engage the denominational team in our shared mission.
The Covenant Executive Board is appreciative of the in-depth work completed by the SAT, as many of the learnings from their engagement are already being applied and implemented to strengthen leadership and streamline processes and workflows within our denominational team. The information and research gathered by the SAT will be available to the newly elected president and leaders who will have the opportunity to speak into how we structure and organize our denominational team.
In Gratefulness for Your Partnership in the Gospel,
Jon Bonkoski, Chair
Covenant Executive Board
