DUNDEE, OR (February 17, 2010) – Nearly 120 people celebrated the first anniversary of the Dundee Covenant Church’s launch service on Sunday.

Volunteers from the founding church, Countryside Covenant Church in nearby Sherwood, Oregon, covered children’s education duties so that everyone could attend the celebration. Countryside’s senior pastor, Paul Duppenthaler, also preached at the service.

The congregation took a “family picture” as part of the celebration.

Dundee Covenant, in the heart of Oregon wine country, cues on its location and John 15:5 for its mission statement: “Rooted, growing and producing fruit in God’s vineyard.”

Dundee is a community of 3,000 people with towns of 20,000 on each side of it. The church planter is Art Matheny.
Young Church Receives Its First Members

TAVARES, FL – Bridges Covenant Church recently welcomed the first 55 people to go through the congregation’s membership process.

The church, which has an average attendance of just more than 100, conducted its first regular service January 20, 2008. The congregation meets in a building that once was used by Asbury Covenant Church, which ceased its own ministry as it supported the new work.

Watching the line of members stretch across the front of the building during the February 7 service was an encouragement to everyone involved with the young plant. “It was an incredible day,” says Pastor Mark Andrews.

Haddad, Heltzel to Give Nyvall Lectures at Seminary

CHICAGO, IL – Mimi Haddad and Peter Goodwin Heltzel will deliver the Nyvall Lectures April 15 at North Park Theological Seminary.

Haddad will speak at 9 a.m. and Heltzel will speak at 10:45 a.m. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Haddad is president of Christians for Biblical Equality and is a founding member of the Evangelicals and Gender Study Group at the Evangelical Theological Society. She also served as convener of the Issue Group 24 for the 2004 Lausanne III Committee for World Evangelization.

Peter Goodwin Heltzel is associate professor of theology at New York Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He is the author of Jesus and Justice: Evangelicals, Race and American Politics.