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INICIO-HOME
Covenant Orientarion
FOR HISPANIC PASTORS FROM THE EVANGELICAL COVENANT CHURCH The Orientation Program for Hispanic pastors is an adaptation of the Orientation Program required by the Covenant Church approved by the annual assembly of 1996. It is designed for Hispanic pastors who have not graduated from North Park Theological Seminary or from CHET. Those who start this program should be able to finish it in three years, unless they apply for a special extention not to exceed six years. The candidates should have graduated from a Theological Seminary or a Bible Institute of the same academic level as CHET. Everyone will take a standardized test from the Hispanic Association of Theological Education (AHET) about the Bible, church history, and theology. They must pass with at least 75%. The required courses for the Orientation Program are: * H-213-The Covenant Church’s History and Theology * C-213-(Seccion A) Debates in the Hispanic Covenant Churches * C-213-(Seccion B) Women in God’s Mission * Vocational Excellence in the Hispanic Covenant Church Context * Distinctives of The Evangelical Covenant Church * An additional course (in agreement with the CHET dean and conference Superintendents).
Participation in the life of the Covenant Church should include six of the following experiences (some can be repeated twice): * Attendance: Covenant Annual Meeting and Ministerium. * Attendance at the Mid-Winter Pastor’s Conference * Attendance at the Conference’s Annual Meeting and regional Ministerium gathering. * Attendance at your conference’s Ministerium annual retreat. * Participation as a committee member of a Covenant commission/task force of your conference. * Visit to a Covenant missionary fields * Participation for one or more weeks as a “Minister in Residence” at the CHET Bell Garden site to study, to research or teach.
A supervision time is required under the supervision of a mentor selected by the candidate for Ordination. The Board of Ordered Ministry makes the final recommendation. 
Commissioning and Ministry Licenses -[Licencias Ministeriales]Description of Credential
Webster’s dictionary defines the word commission as “an authorization to perform certain duties or tasks or to take on certain powers.” To commission is to “send with a mandate or authority; to empower; to delegate.” In the Evangelical Covenant Church, we commission individuals called to a particular area of expertise to perform those duties within the context of the larger church. This call is seen as a long-term commitment to an area of staff ministry. The focus is primarily on their specialty, giving them a single purpose rather than broad-based contribution to the life of the church. The church recognizes these individuals as qualified in their particular task and sends them out to serve in this role. A commissioned person understands the parameters and limitations of the call and recognizes that it is always done “standing with” an ordained person. There is a co-mission aspect to the call necessitating this relationship with a team leader. The normative threshold of education is a bachelor’s degree with additional academic work in theology at the graduate level. Those seeking commissioning normally hold a Ministry License while working toward this credential.Who is eligible for the credential?Those who seek commissioning are called to staff ministry, have bachelor’s-level training in an area of specialization, and do not wish to pursue a master’s degree. Candidates must meet the following requirements in order to be commissioned: - Be engaged in full-time staff ministry. The candidate serving in a non-ministry position shall demonstrate its relationship to a local ECC congregation.
- Hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college, including 13 semester hours in an area of specialization (submit transcripts).
- Be a member of an ECC congregation.
What are the requirements of the credential? - Complete five years of successful full-time staff ministry prior to commissioning, three years of which must be in an ECC congregation or institution.
- Take additional graduate-level courses from a seminary accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. This coursework must include survey courses in systematic theology, Old Testament, New Testament, and church history. Each course must be 3 semester hours or equivalent. (North Park Theological Seminary offers a package deal on these courses. Click here for details.)
- Complete a year of residency at North Park Theological Seminary or complete Covenant Orientation.
- Candidates preparing for ministry primarily in the Hispanic community, and for whom Spanish is the primary language, may receive their training from CHET.
- Spend two years in a mentoring relationship approved by the Board.
- Participate in the pension plan of the ECC.
- Submit a completed minister’s profile form, signed baptism statement and background check, and criminal record screening.
Detailed Procedure Once the candidate has completed the above requirements, he/she notifies the Department of the Ordered Ministry and is placed on the commissioning candidate list at a June meeting of the Board of the Ordered Ministry. If you would like to verify if your name is on the list of potential candidates, please email the Department of the Ordered Ministry. Note that the commissioning process takes about a year and always culminates with the Service of Ordination, Commissioning, and Consecration at the Covenant Annual Meeting in June. Therefore, if a candidate wishes to be commissioned in any given June, he or she must enter into the process no later than July 15 of the previous year. - The Department of the Ordered Ministry sends all potential candidates a letter in June asking if they wish to be commissioned at next year’s Annual Meeting.
- The candidate responds to the letter before July 15.
- The Department of the Ordered Ministry sends all candidates an application for commissioning, and questions for the final ordination/commissioning/transfer paper.
- The candidate sends the completed commissioning application (including recommendation of Covenant church where membership is held) and commissioning paper to conference office by September 1.
- The Conference committee on ministerial standing interviews the candidate based on the commissioning paper. The committee makes its recommendation and may require the candidate to rewrite sections of the paper.
- The Conference committee on ministerial standing sends its written report on the interviews to the Department of the Ordered Ministry.
- The Board of the Ordered Ministry interviews the candidate at its Midwinter meeting and makes a recommendation.
- The candidate must receive a favorable recommendation from the Board of the Ordered Ministry, a favorable recommendation from the regional conference ministerial association at its annual meeting, approval of the Covenant Ministerium, and approval of the Covenant Annual Meeting.
The candidate must participate in the service of ordination, commissioning, and consecration at the Covenant Annual Meeting.
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