The work of the church is sometimes exciting and sometimes routine. The same is true of the work of the national executive board of CBC. Working for the Lord is not always preaching great sermons to eager listeners or traveling to some corner of the world bringing desperately needed relief. Much of the time it is meetings and during a time of Covid some of those meetings are not even in person but via ZOOM, as in the case of the most recent Executive Board meeting on November 15th.

After the board joined the virtual meeting Larry Dentler opened the meeting with prayer. And yes, God hears through a computer screen. Many reports were given including the condition of the denominational finances and recommendations to approve the addition of 4 new churches and 2 new pastors to the Covenant Family. The approved churches and pastors were:

  • Sunnybrook Congregation in Bristol, TN
  • Clifton Mills, Hazelton and Shady Grove congregations near Bruceton Mills, WV
  • Pastor Carroll Junkins from Petersburg, WV
  • Pastor Mark Murchie from Windber, PA

This brings our CBC Membership to 51 congregations and 91 pastors with more continuing to inquire weekly.

Updates to the denominational directory sent out and the continuing need for informative communication and transparency was made clear. To aid in this, the board members will take turns doing regular devotional articles, sending out one per week to lift up and encourage the membership.

One of the sad events that took place within the last year was the loss of Fred Roy, a man that had been a powerful force for prayer and served on the Prayer Committee since its inception. Fred is greatly missed but his vacant position needed to be filled. George Bowers was elected to fill that spot, and with a spirit of humility he recognized that he had big shoes to fill.

Continued regional development was a pressing topic, specifically, how regions will be structured. A regional structural plan was put forth to serve as a template while giving freedom to each region to adopt only as much of it as is needed for that region.

A great deal of time was spent discussing the need for an Executive Director including what that person’s role would be and how soon we should seek to fill that position. It was decided that the position would be filled by a person gifted as a “spiritual administrator”. This is not seeking someone to be a pastor to the pastors or lead minister but someone spiritually minded, with good people skills, who can administrate the work of the denomination and oversee future staff as that need grows.

Other reports were then given ranging from the ongoing work in the development of a ministry training program, to continued inquiries from churches in Africa about their desire to join CBC. It was reported that more churches are going through the process of leaving the Church of the Brethren, most intending to join CBC. There was even an inquiry from a number of individuals wanting to discuss the possibility of a church plant in the area of the New England area.

Some things exciting and some routine, but all needed work, addressed by the Executive Board.

Craig Howard – Publications and News Articles Committee Chair