CHICAGO, IL (April 29, 2013) – Tuesday (tomorrow) is the deadline for early registration to take advantage of discounted rates for the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Detroit, June 27-30.

The early registration rate for delegates represents a 10 percent savings, which not only saves participants money, but also allows event planners to more accurately estimate the number of participants and negotiate the most-cost effective arrangements possible.

The Annual Meeting immediately follows a special three-day event – Covenant Mission Detroit (June 25-27) – that will provide Annual Meeting participants a close-up look at ministries in Detroit as well as hands-on opportunities to join with local Detroit Covenant congregations in helping to make a difference in the lives of the city’s residents. To read just one example of the many initiatives under way to help transform this city, click here.

The Annual Meeting website offers a detailed list of activities, business session schedules, as well as lodging and travel information.

Click here to access more information about the Annual Meeting and click here to complete the online registration form. Online registration ends June 14.

Click here to access more information about Covenant Mission Detroit and click here to complete the online registration form.

An outstanding array of speakers will speak during this year’s Annual Meeting – an overview follows.

Thursday evening – Alex Gee Jr.

Gee is the pastor of Fountain of Life Covenant Church, a multiracial and multigenerational congregation in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1992 he pioneered the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development, a nonprofit organization that develops emerging African American leaders to become partners in revitalizing and transforming community. He is passionate about promoting hope, transformation, and justice for disenfranchised people.

 

Friday morning – J. Kevin Butcher

Butcher is senior pastor of Hope Community Church in Detroit, Michigan. He has served as the senior pastor of churches in Indiana and Michigan. Butcher is passionate about helping believers live in authentic community— across racial, socioeconomic, and all lines of division. He also is passionate about helping believers find freedom from wounds of their childhood that so often keep them trapped, living addictively and dysfunctionally, and unable to experience true freedom in Christ.

 

Friday evening – Noel Castellanos

Castellanos has worked in full-time ministry in Latino, urban communities since 1982. He has served in youth ministry, church planting, advocacy, and community development in San Francisco, San Jose, and Chicago. After serving on the Board of the Christian Community Development Association for many years, he established the CCDA Institute, which equips emerging church leaders.

 

Saturday morning – Janine N. Davis

Called to the ministry of reconciliation through preaching the word of God, community outreach, education, and life-skills training, Davis started The Bridge Covenant Church in Detroit in 2010. She currently serves on the boards of the Great Lakes Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church and the Cody/Rouge Faith Based Alliance in Detroit. Davis was the former director of Urban Center Development for Care Net, supporting a network of more than eight hundred pregnancy centers in the United States and Canada. She also served as pastor at Citadel of Faith Covenant Church in Detroit.

 

Saturday evening – Richard Lucco

Lucco is the executive director for ministry development for the Evangelical Covenant Church. Beginning July 1, he will also be serving as the interim executive minister of church growth and evangelism. Lucco has served as the senior pastor of Covenant churches in Kewanee and Elgin, Illinois; and in Salem, Oregon. He served as superintendent of the Great Lakes Conference from 2002 to 2012. Lucco has also worked as an area director for Young Life and program director for the “I Have a Dream” Foundation.