For hundreds of aspiring ministers, May 17-18, 2019 is a weekend that will complete and begin a challenging journey as they gather for the Ministerial Internship Program (MIP) Commissioning Celebration.
Excitement is building for the 2019 event, which will also mark the 40th anniversary of the MIP. The highlight of the two-day ceremony will be the Commissioning of MIP candidates in the Saturday morning service. Dr. Tim Hill, presiding bishop for the Church of God, will preach in that morning service and then lead church leaders in praying and anointing the candidates to be commissioned into ministry.
The Friday evening service will commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the MIP with testimonies from a number of individuals. Among them will be Dr. John Childers, secretary general for the Church of God, who was one of the first candidates to complete the MIP after it became an official program of the Church of God in the 1970s. Also speaking will be Vaughn Mathews, administrative bishop of the Pacific Northwest Region, who was among the first candidates when the program began as an initiative in Hawaii. Another testimony will come from Lillian Turnipseed, the first female state MIP coordinator, who now serves in the Southern New England region. The final testimony will be delivered by Wade Miller, state MIP coordinator for the Ministry to the Military and a graduate of the MIP. Dr. Michael Reynolds, director of Ministerial Development for the Church of God, will be the keynote speaker in the Friday service.
Earlier on Friday, delegates and their families will register for the weekend and participate in various activities. The Friday evening service begins at 7:00 p.m. and the Saturday morning commissioning begins at 10:00 a.m. Both services will be held at the North Cleveland Church of God.
A greeting and invitation by Dr. David Ramirez, third assistant general overseer for the Church of God and leader of the Division of Education, is available at this link: MIP Message [1]
The services will be livestreamed at North Cleveland’s website, which is: http://nccog.com/media or Facebook site, https://www.facebook.com/NorthClevelandCOG/.