Aaron Engler sharing the vision for Highrock Northshore, with Drew Hyun & Stephen Sharkey on-deck (click image for entire Facebook Photo Album)

On Saturday Jan 21, Pastors Drew Hyun, Aaron Engler, and Stephen Sharkey signed their church planter Covenant Agreements at the East Coast Conference Board Meeting. The church planters shared the vision and details for their plants, fielded questions, then enjoyed fellowship and lunch together. Each church plant already has Launch Team gathering underway, with “Grand Opening” slated for early-Fall.

Drew Hyun is planting and pastoring Hope Church NYC in Astoria, NY (www.hopechurchnyc.org). Drew served for 10 years at New Life Fellowship in Queens NY under Peter Scazzero, most recently as their Sr. Teaching Pastor/Executive Pastor. They’ve already passed the early Launch Team benchmark of 30 adults, secured a Sunday worship space, and Drew has done significant fundraising (an expectation for every church planter). Their agreement begins Feb 1, 2012.

Both Aaron & Stephen are planting out of the Highrock family of churches in Greater Boston.

Aaron is planting and pastoring Highrock Northshore in Salem, MA (www.highrocknorthshore.org), with Highrock Arlington serving as “Parent” with both funding and Launch Team members. They’ve already held several vision-casting meetings and Launch Team gatherings, surpassing their early benchmarks. Their agreement begins Feb 1, 2012.

Stephen is planting and pastoring Highrock Quincy in Quincy, MA (www.highrockquincy.org), with both Highrock Arlington and Highrock Brookline serving as “Partners” with both funding and Launch Team members. They’ve already held several vision-casting meetings and Launch Team gatherings, and will soon pass their early benchmarks well ahead of schedule. Their agreement begins May 1, 2012

Please pray for these church planting pastors, their families, and these unique and growing congregations as they powerfully share the Gospel of Jesus right where God has called them!

Click here to download the Superintendents letter to Conference Churches for 2012.

Our  prayer  for  your  congregation  in  2012,  and  for  our  entire  conference  of  churches,  is  that  we  would  advance in bold witness in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Kingdom of God and teach about the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with all  boldness  and  without  hindrance. – Howard Burgoyne

 

JOIN the East Coast Conference Women’s Ministry at Christ Covenant Church

2200 Mainland Rd., Harleysville, PA19438

Saturday, January 21, 2012 from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM

Registration fee: $50.00 (refreshments and lunch included) You must pre-register in order to assure enough training materials. Email Susan Falcetta to get more information: sfalcetta@trinitycovenantchurch.org

How can this training help me?

• It will equip you to come alongside a victim of Domestic Violence or Childhood Sexual Abuse with understanding and support
• It will inform you about the issues in Domestic and Childhood Sexual Abuse
• It will provide you with contextual understanding of the Scriptures that can be misunderstood in dealing with DV or CSA
• It will acquaint you with the issues pertaining to DV and CSA–some sensitive and delicate

The training will be conducted by Colleen Cox, trained and commissioned AVA Regional Coordinator for the East Coast Conference. Colleen has been a social worker for more than 20 years and has focused her attentions on serving oppressed populations. She is a certified Sexual Abuse counselor, certified Domestic Violence counselor, certified Child Welfare caseworker, and certified Child Welfare supervisor.

AVA (Advocacy for Victims of Abuse) is a ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church. The East Coast Conference provides a training experience open to lay persons, clergy, church staff, professionals and volunteers in helping professions, Stephen Ministers or anyone desiring to learn more about how to help those affected by Domestic Violence and Childhood Sexual Abuse–two issues deeply impacting the Church today.

JOIN US at Bethany Covenant Church, 785 Mill St. Berlin, CT 06037
Saturday, October 22, from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM
Registration fee: $50.00 (materials, refreshments and lunch included)

How can this training help me?

• It will equip you to come alongside a victim of Domestic Violence or Childhood Sexual Abuse with understanding and support
• It will inform you about the issues in Domestic and Childhood Sexual Abuse
• It will provide you with contextual understanding of the Scriptures that can be misunderstood in dealing with DV or CSA
• It will acquaint you with the issues pertaining to DV and CSA–some sensitive and delicate

The training will be conducted by Colleen Cox, trained and commissioned AVA Regional Coordinator for the East Coast Conference. Colleen has been a social worker for more than 20 years, and has focused her attentions on serving oppressed populations. She is a certified Sexual Abuse counselor, certified Domestic Violence counselor, certified Child Welfare caseworker, and certified Child Welfare supervisor.
More about A.V.A.

The AVA (Advocates for Victims of Abuse) initiative was launched in 2004 by the Department of Women Ministries, as a call to action for the crises occurring in our churches. AVA works by training folks in your churches who can mentor and guide victims who seek help for these devastating issues.

About Domestic Violence and Childhood Sexual Abuse


There is an epidemic affecting one out of every four women and one in six men. They suffer behind closed doors, most often concealing their pain, fearful of those on both sides of the door. These are the victims of abuse. They are neighbors, co-workers, friends, and loved ones. Victims of abuse come from all walks of life, and this epidemic knows no boundaries. While the secular world can offer protection and advice, it cannot provide the one thing most needed: Jesus’s healing touch that brings renewal and hope.

Therefore, the church must respond to abuse as a matter of justice and righteousness. The church has been called by Christ to serve as his body, to care for those who are marginalized and oppressed, to bring about hope and healing to broken lives and broken relationships, and to speak boldly against the injustice of violence against women, children, and men while working to heal its effects. The church is also called to minister to all individuals whose lives are broken by sin, including the perpetrators of injustice, by calling them to repentance and guiding them to work toward the restoration of their victims. 

Note: For those who have been personally affected by the experience of Domestic Violence and/or Childhood Sexual Abuse, this training could potentially trigger difficult emotions. 


The link for accessing the event registration is: http://ava2011.eventbrite.com

Brother E (as he’s also known) and the folks at Elements Church have already established a strong initial ministry presence with hip-hop-styled worship, relational evangelism, and engaging preaching. We trust that even greater kingdom impact is in store with this beautiful new partnership with the ECConf and the Covenant.

“I’m SO excited y’all to be a part of Covenant. When we went to assessment Erika and I looked at each other and said, ‘We’re already Covenant. It’s just not official.’ Meaning…the heart of ECC was already in our hearts! Today is a huge day and I look forward to what God has planned for us!  We really feel like we’re home!”

- Pastor Efrain Alicea

Pray for Efrain and Erika, the young congregation (now “launch team 2.0!”) at Elements Church, and the furthering of Jesus’ good news for the Bronx!

Starting in July 2011 we’re launching our new Regional Cohorts! This new approach to regularly gathering and resourcing our church planters across the East Coast Conference is just one piece of our overall vision to see,

“every church planter encouraged, equipped, and multiplied for a sustaining church planting movement.”

Here’s a brief overview of what the Regional Cohorts will look like:

General Structure:

NY/NJ Metro Cohort

• Regional Coaches
  • Peter Ahn, Metro (Englewood NJ)
  • Michael Carrion, Promised Land (Bronx NY)

• Current Church Plants
  • Life Covenant, Derrick Jackson (Holmdel NJ)
  • Metro Hope, Jose Humphreys (Harlem NY)
  • Promised Land, Michael Carrion (Bronx NY)
  • Queenswest, James Kim (Queens NY)

• Upcoming Church Plants
  • Elements, Efrain Alicea (Bronx NY)
  • plus 2-4 others currently in the works!

Greater Boston/New England Cohort

• Regional Coach: Josh Throneburg
• Current Church Plants
  • Evergreen, Frank Catalano (Sanford ME)
  • Highrock Brookline, Josh Throneburg (Brookline MA)
  • Sudanese ECC, Monyroor Teng (Manchester NH)
  • Worship Frontier, Kiho Lee (Brookline MA)

• Upcoming Church Plants
  • 2-3 others currently in the works! (more details will come as we get closer to signing church planter agreements)

D.C./Baltimore Cohort

• This will be a newly developing cohort (lots of potential for growth in this region)
• Current Church Plant: Riverside, Peter Chin (D.C.)
• Upcoming Church Plants: a couple others currently in the works!

Suggested Rhythm:

Monthly Gatherings for Equipping & Encouraging

• Frequency: Monthly Gatherings 9x/year
• Pattern: 3-Month Repeating Cycle
  • Month 1:
    • Gathered: Entire Regional Cohort with Director of Church Planting and Coaches
    • Focus: Vision-casting and Big Picture issues for training, support, and collaboration
  • Month 2:
    • Gathered: Entire Regional Cohort gathers (with or without DCP)
    • Focus: Peer-led teaching and equipping, sharing best practices, encouragement, collaborations. Sometimes from Regional Coaches, sometimes from other church planters
  • Month 3:
    • Gathered: More localized clusters of 3-4 church planters (occasionally include DCP or Coach)
    • Focus: Encouragement and support for Spiritual, Emotional, and Physical Health, as well as more localized collaboration opportunities
  • Repeat, with breaks for holiday season, Midwinter, ECConf Church Planters Retreat, etc.

The morning opened with a continental breakfast during registration, which offered everyone a chance to catch their breath from their travels and meet and greet. Courtney Crowder, a member of the WM Conference Leadership Team, drew us together in worship and praise. Susan Falcetta, co-leader of the Conference Leadership Team, introduced the other members of the team and indicated their responsibilities. After a brief recap of conference Women Ministries business for the year (which was also recorded in the ECC Conference Annual Report distributed to every church), she introduced the Conference AVA Coordinator, Colleen Cox, and presented her with a gift of the Walk in Her Shoes kit, an interactive exercise that helps participants experience what it’s like to be in an abusive situation, which she will use in awareness events around the conference.

Yvonne and Karen jointly led the group in an exercise to explore preferred teamwork styles using the Leadership Compass model. After self – identifying preferred approaches to working on projects in groups, participants learned each style has unique strengths and potential problems. But healthy teams need all styles.

Linda Munsch, a Chef instructor at Chariho Culinary Arts School, whose students had prepared the food, served a delightful light lunch. During the meal, Yvonne gave a brief overview of the history and purpose of the AVA effort. She reminded us that 1 in 3 woman, 1 in 6 men have been abused, and 1 in 4 girls will be sexually assaulted before their 18th birthday. The shocking statistics were made real when one attendee shared the personal story of the attack and ongoing recovery of her college- age daughter. She showed a copy of a drawing the daughter had made attempting to deal with the shattering darkness she felt and distributed a copy of a poem her daughter had written, which is posted on the denominational AVA website. In a choked voice she reiterated how essential the resources of AVA are to the ongoing work of compassion, mercy and justice to the victims and their families.

In the afternoon, Yvonne led the group through the exercise A Walk In Her Shoes in the sanctuary, which was hung with T-shirts prepared by victims and their family members as part of their healing process. After a break, Karen Hearl invited us to identify “what women need.” We learned that the 3 categories that evolved: emotional and relational needs, spiritual or religious needs, and physical needs (like chocolate) are typical in any group. With the background of what women want, Karen then helped us explore how to “Cultivate a thriving mosaic” in our women’s groups and churches. Of particular note was review of the women of different gifts and life circumstances who were instrumental in the life of Paul and his ministry to the Gentiles. The meeting closed with prayer and an offering to support the work of the two speakers.

Many thanks to our guest speakers and the volunteers from Christ Church: Terry Thurber and Linda Anderson for coordinating use of the building, Jeffrey Bonderew for the technical AV help, Linda Munsch for the catering.

The Annual Celebration is a mini retreat and seminar held every spring in various locations to recap Conference Women Ministries business from the past year and revitalize East Coast women for the coming year. Retreat Packets with brochures and posters were distributed to each church that attended. Others will be mailed. Details of upcoming retreats (there are only two this year; one at Pilgrim Pines and one at Black Rock Conference Center in PA) are posted to the East Coast WM website.

Documents are being posted as of 4/25 through the week as reports and information are being finalized.

Click here for access to all Annual Meeting Documents