Last summer, together with his partner, Troy, the Rev. Brian Ellison, executive director of Covenant Network of Presbyterians, crossed three countries off his bucket list with a visit to the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In Latvia’s capital, Riga, they visited the new Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, which “tells the story of a healthy functioning democracy” in a country that was occupied from 1939–89 by first the Soviets, then the Germans and then the Soviets again.
The three presbyteries in Oklahoma — Indian Nations, Cimarron and Eastern Oklahoma — are partnering with Covenant Network of Presbyterians to hold a Covenant Conversation on Aug. 27 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. That event, set for 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. Central Time, will be held both in person and online and features a plenary by the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Rigby, the W.C. Brown Professor of Theology at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
It was the summer of 1997 when founding co-moderators John Buchanan and Robert W. Bohl, a committed board of respected church leaders, and Covenant Network of Presbyterians’ founding executive director, Pam McLucas Byers, united Presbyterians from all theological backgrounds to pursue justice for LGBTQIA+ Presbyterians.
Together with its partners, Covenant Network of Presbyterians re-launched its Covenant Conversation series Saturday with worship, workshops and a panel stocked with thoughtful and passionate Christians.
Most churches in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) proclaim welcome to anyone attending worship for the first time, whether worship is occurring in person or online. Why welcome matters and how much impact welcome can have were among the topics explored Saturday by Trinity Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Missouri, which welcomed the Rev. Brian Ellison, executive director of Covenant Network of Presbyterians, to both speak to and listen to a welcoming congregation. Watch the 75-minute event here.
While the Rev. Brian Ellison didn’t realize it at the time, umpiring T-ball games as a youth can be job training for work as a stated clerk, which Ellison does for both the Synod of Mid-America and Heartland Presbytery.
This Easter season, one of the ways Covenant Network of Presbyterians is furthering its mission is to offer Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) preachers a week off from filling their virtual pulpit on April 11, the Sunday after Easter.
