Reverend Gary B. Walter was recognized with an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree during the Seminary Commencement Convocation in May.
Walter, who has served as President of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) since 2008, will be retiring this summer. John Wenrich, 56, the executive minister of the ECC’s Start and Strengthen Churches mission priority, was recently elected President at the ECC’s Annual Meeting in June.
During Walter’s tenure, the ECC continued to be a growing, multi-generational, multiethnic fellowship of churches, which now includes 850 congregations in the United States and Canada, with ministry partnerships in dozens of countries worldwide.
Walter received his Master of Divinity degree from North Park Seminary. Walter and his wife Nancy are founding members of DeerGrove Covenant Church in Palatine, Ill. Wenrich helped develop the congregational vitality certificate for North Park Seminary, which allows pastors from all denominations to develop a biblical, theological, and historical perspective on congregational development.
Wenrich earned a Master of Divinity degree from Denver Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Seminary. He has pastored churches in Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; and in the Middle East. Wenrich and his wife, Julie, are members of Hope Covenant Church in Crystal Lake, Ill.