MINNEAPOLIS, MN (February 8, 2010) – The Northwest Conference’s Founder’s Day worship service will be held at 6 p.m. February 21 at First Covenant Church. The evening’s theme is “Growing together in mercy,” and the service will have a special emphasis on responding with prayer and giving to the people of Haiti.

Evangelical Covenant Church President Gary Walter will be the guest speaker. The First Covenant Worship Arts Team will supply music, and the special musical guest will be the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir.

Registration Deadline for Sankofa Trip Extended

CHICAGO, IL (February 8, 2010) – The registration deadline has been extended for the Sankofa journey scheduled for March 4-7.

Sankofa is a West African word meaning “looking backward to move forward.” During the four-day bus journey, participants are paired with someone of another race and travel through historic sites of importance to the civil rights movement, such as the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama; the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma Alabama; and the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Click on the links to see additional photos of the church and park.

Cost is $425 for participants in Covenant churches and $475 for people who do not attend a Covenant congregation. For more information, email Chrissy Palmerlee.

“Preach Jesus, Not Oprah” Topic of Lectures at Seminary

CHICAGO, IL (February 8, 2010) – The topic for this year’s A. Eldon Palmquist Lectureship in Preaching at North Park Theological Seminary will be “Preach Jesus, Not Oprah: Reclaiming Christ as Savior.”

Craig Satterlee, dean of the Doctor of Ministry program for the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), will deliver the two lectures March 3. The first lecture will be at 9 a.m., and the second will start at 10:45 a.m.

In addition to his work with the ACTS, Satterlee also is associate professor at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, where he holds the Axel Jacob and Gerda Maria (Swanson) Carlson Chair in Homiletics. He has written several books including, When God Speaks through Change: Preaching in Times of Congregational Transition; When God Speaks through You: How Faith Convictions shape Preaching and Mission; and When God Speaks through Worship: Stories Congregations Live By.

Satterlee, who is legally blind, has a passion for ministry to persons with disabilities, and he presents a unique perspective on the faith, church, and world. The lectures are free and open to the public.