LOS ANGELES, CA (July 13, 2015) — Christians for Biblical Equality International (CBE) will honor the Evangelical Covenant Church with its Lifetime Achievement Award later this month, the first time a denomination has received the recognition.

The award will be presented at the organization’s annual conference held July 24–26 at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport Hotel. The theme for the conference is “Becoming New: Man and Woman Together in Christ.”

“We greatly desire others to know more about your work,” said CBE president Mimi Haddad.

Haddad lauded the Covenant’s longtime commitment to pursuing gender equality, but “It was the Deborah Project that captured our imagination most profoundly along with the ECC’s tenacious support theologically and vocationally,” she said.

The Covenant’s Commission on Biblical Gender Equality (BGE), which was formed in 2002, launched the Deborah Project last year. The project encourages churches to identify gifted women and girls in their congregation, youth ministry, or campus, and actively assist them to grow in their abilities and to live out their call to serve. A downloadable brochure, “Develop a Deborah,” highlighting the themes is available online.

“This is exactly the thing the church needs to do—to say we are squandering the gifts that God gives the church by not empowering women,” Haddad said. “And here’s this steady, quiet, self-effacing denomination that year after year does its utmost to support the leadership of women—not perfectly because there are no perfect groups—but it certainly lives with a stellar tenacity that we would like to acknowledge,” Haddad said.

The Deborah Project was highlighted in the February 2015 issue of the Companion.

Brian Wiele, pastor of River Ridge Covenant Church in Olympia, Washington, and chair of the BGE, said the award “validates all the work that has been done since the Covenant first ordained women in 1976 to make a reality the biblical mandate that ‘all God’s children are called and gifted.’ ”

The award will be presented at the dinner and awards ceremony, Saturday, July 25.

The international conference will feature 20 workshop sessions in addition to the plenary sessions.

There are several registration rates and scholarships. One-day rates are $145 using the code LASAT15, and $45 to attend only the banquet using the code LADINNER15.

“I do hope people will come for the whole conference,” Haddad said. “It is going to be a powerful time.”

BGE offers multiple resources for promoting women in ministry here.