NORQUAY, SK (December 29, 2002) – Norquay Covenant Church may not have gotten the deal of the century in purchasing its new church facility, but it’s probably close.
The church bought an 18,000-square-foot school for $1,000 Canadian (about $640 U.S.), giving the congregation of 100 members a chance to transform its ministries to a town of 550 located in the eastern part of Saskatchewan. The old school was vacated after schools in Norquay consolidated, said pastor Arden Gustafson.
The congregation celebrated the recent blessing during a special service. They finished a capital campaign drive in an effort called “Blessed to Serve” that raised $275,000 for renovations to the school to make it more suitable for church ministry.
“It’s exciting to see what God can do here,” said Gustafson, who has been the pastor for six months. “The question is: Are you open to the possibilities? We’ve had well over 50 percent responses so far in our capital campaign drive. And what I sense is that our congregation’s heart is there in reaching their community for Christ. They had a vision for this long before I got here.”
Norquay Covenant Church recently completed a roofing project and is also configuring a new sanctuary within the school building that, along with other on-campus facilities covers a full city block.
Numerous other Covenanters and Covenant congregations are making their marks in their respective churches and communities. The following updates were gleaned from the more than 200 local church newsletters received each month by the Department of Communication of the Evangelical Covenant Church.
CENTRAL
- Elgin, Illinois: Country Evangelical Covenant Church recently had a “Drive By Prayer” outreach to local public schools, with members boarding a school bus after church and stopping for prayer at four sites in Burlington and surrounding communities. Included in the event was a special litany prayer for children, adapted from Guide My Feet by Marian Wright Edelman and a unique version of the children’s song, “The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round.” The church’s outreach committee of Beth Trosper, John Cooms, Dianne Veidel and Mindy Gourley helped organize the event. Veidel had already made inroads with a Bible club in the Burlington School District that had attracted more than 30 children last summer. For more information about the “Drive By Prayer” day, call pastor David Trosper at 847-464-5381.
- Moline, Illinois: The Rotary Club of Moline and School District 40 recognized Elim Covenant Church last month for its after-school ministry to students of a nearby middle school. As part of the Children First breakfast event, Elim Covenant was cited for its beneficial contribution to the community. To learn more about the program, call pastor John Jacobi at 309-764-6920.
- Northbrook, Illinois: Northbrook Covenant Church’s Donna Frownfelter recently received this year’s distinguished alumni award from Northwestern University Medical School’s program in physical therapy. Frownfelter is assistant professor at Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School in North Chicago. Another parishioner, Brett Russell, competed in his first marathon, finishing the October LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in the top third among more than 31,000 competitors
- Oak Lawn, Illinois: Nancy, Joel and Keith Mondry of Trinity Evangelical Covenant Church were featured in a recent Chicago Tribune article that discussed ministry to special needs children during worship services. The Mondrys have helped the church begin a special class for special needs children during morning worship on Sundays
- Rockford, Illinois: Broadway Covenant Church parishioner Sue Nelson was recently named Volunteer of the Year by the Central Conference Camping Ministries Board for her work with Covenant Harbor Bible Camp in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
- Rockford, Illinois: First Covenant Church was a satellite outlet for “The Great Debate,” a December 8 televised broadcast featuring author and pastor Cliffe Knechtle and atheist lawyer Michael Newdow. The event was focused on the question: “Does God Exist?” Rolling Hills Christian Church in El Dorado Hills, California, was the site of the event, which was hosted by atheist-turned-pastor Lee Strobel and Christian author and speaker Mark Mittelberg. First Covenant was one of more than 1,000 churches that had satellite feeds of the debate. As a speaker, Knechtle is known in Christian circles as a highly successful “defender of the faith.” Newdow had made recent headlines by suing public schools in nine western states seeking to remove the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Indianapolis, Indiana: Hope Evangelical Covenant Church parishioners Elizabeth Barge, Debbie Masten and Vania VanKirk performed as part of a living drama called “Bethlehem Village” at a local church this holiday season. Meanwhile, Karen Woods was with the Gregory Hancock Dance Company as they performed “The Nutcracker” at Pike Performing Arts Center earlier this month. The four have danced at Hope Covenant as part of a liturgical dance ministry there.
- Stephenson, Michigan: Bethlehem Covenant Church’s remodeling and renovation project has made the news in Upper Michigan as the Menominee County Journal documented a building addition in its November 20 newspaper edition. During the last several months, the church was lifted off its basement and re-lowered to ground level. The renovation included the addition of a fellowship room, kitchen and restrooms on ground level, along with an upgraded entry area. Bethlehem Covenant, which was founded in 1883, is now under the leadership of senior pastor Tom Ervasti. The original church building was constructed in 1889, but was raised from ground level in the early 1900s to allow for the addition of a basement.
EAST COAST
- Granby, Connecticut: Pilgrim Covenant Church parishioner Pat Davis, a flight attendant for American Eagle, was recently honored by the Association of Flight Attendants with the Edith Lauterbach Merit Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a flight attendant. It is presented to those who “exemplify leadership, commitment and dedication to the advancement of their profession.” Davis began her career with Mohawk Airlines in 1965. Four years later, she had to retire from her job due to a rule that flight attendants couldn’t be married and keep their positions. She raised four children during the next two decades, resuming her flight attendant career in 1989. During her career, Davis has served as president of the Master Executive Council and on a variety of committees for the industry, which includes 50,000 members. Another Pilgrim Covenant adult, Keith Bugbee, was honored this fall for his coaching career for the lacrosse program at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Bugbee, now in his 20th year at the school, was inducted into the New England Lacrosse Hall of Fame. An assistant professor of physical education at Springfield College, he also serves as president of the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. Bugbee has compiled a record of 199-91 at the school, winning the 1994 NCAA Division II men’s national championship and earned seven NCAA tournament berths. Last year’s men’s team finished 13-6 overall and won the conference title at the Division III level.
- Boston, Massachusetts: The conference-sponsored New England Seafarers Mission recently received a challenge grant of $18,000 from the Day Foundation to be used for the purchase of foreign language Bibles and Christian literature for seafarers who will visit the facilities in Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island. The Mission must raise $9,000 in additional funds by March to receive the grant. All monies must come from churches. The New England Seafarers Mission was founded in 1880 to minister to Scandinavian seafarers in the Port of Boston. It expanded its ministry to Providence in 1984. Stephen Cushing is executive director and chaplain in Boston while Ashley Peckham is chaplain in Providence.
ECCAK
- Eagle River, Alaska: Community Covenant Church was scheduled to move into a new building December 22. The church will hold a dedication service in January.
GREAT LAKES
- Jamestown, New York: Marshall Dahlin of First Covenant Church was recently honored by the Lucille Ball Little Theater of Jamestown, in the naming of the Dahlin Auditorium in his honor and that of his late wife, Virginia. Dahlin, a member of the board of directors at the theater, has been instrumental in a recent fundraising drive through the Chautauqua County Arts Association, among other things. Another First Covenant parishioner, Mary Ceci, was chosen as head coach for the U.S. Special Olympics Roller Skating team that will compete in the 2003 World Summer Games in Ireland next June.
MIDWEST
- Arvada, Colorado: Former Covenant youth pastor Jason Arneson of Christ Community Covenant Church has used tennis as a tool for bettering his life after being paralyzed in a sledding accident three years ago. In October, he placed second in the “C” Division of the U.S. Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships in San Diego. Arneson began playing wheelchair tennis in June of 2001 after attending a national wheelchair tennis camp in Boulder, Colorado. “I was hooked within the first few minutes of the camp,” he explained in a recent United States Tennis Association news article. On December 30, 1998, Arneson was serving at DeerGrove Covenant in Palatine, Illinois, and taking classes at nearby North Park Theological Seminary. While visiting his in-laws in Nebraska, he suffered spinal cord injuries in a sledding accident, which have kept him immobile from the chest down. Arneson recuperated from the accident in Golden, Colorado, and eventually served on staff at Arvada Covenant Church in Arvada before becoming a programmer for the Indigio Group, Inc., a web development company based in Denver. He also serves as executive director of the Colorado Wheelchair Tennis Foundation.
- Manson, Iowa: Twin Lakes Christian Center will be adding a special building on its campus this summer as the Charles Knapp round barn will be transported two miles to Twin Lakes in July, said program director David Wenell. According to a recent Fort Dodge Messenger article, the barn is one of only four known domed-roof barns in Iowa and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The barn, built in 1920, stands 65 feet high and has a diameter of 60 feet. It is not the first time a building has been moved to Twin Lakes. The Swede Bend Covenant Church building that is considered the first Covenant church in the Evangelical Covenant Church (1868) was moved 50 miles to its current site in 1976. The camp recently hosted its annual Swede Bend Christmas on December 7, a day that included traditional Swedish fare, a concert and other events for about 200 visitors.
- Clyde, Kansas: Robert and Donna Brown received recognition as Beekeeper of the Year during the Kansas Honey Producer Association’s recent banquet. Brown’s Honey Farms will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2003, pollinating crops in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and California and producing “Grandma B’s Honey” for local businesses. Beekeeping is a Brown family tradition as son Jerry is co-owner and general manager of Brown’s Honey Farms and daughter, Cheri Miller, co-owns a family bee products company in Illinois with her husband, Bill. Donna’s parents, Vernon and Mae Adee, encouraged the Browns to become beekeepers and taught Robert the business.
- Omaha, Nebraska: First Covenant Church parishioners Bill Freeman and Bonny Swaggard have coordinated an audiocassette service for the visually impaired that allows others to receive tapes of recent issues of The Covenant Companion. Each issue is recorded on two 90-minute audiocassettes. According to Swaggard, a previous pastor at First Covenant, Norbert Johnson, introduced the idea of audiocassette tapes of the Companion two decades ago. Two others, Bob Olson and Charles Peterson, were also key members of the ministry. Freeman and Swaggard have coordinated the taping for nearly two years with duplication technology provided by First Covenant and the Department of Communication. Others that have been involved in recent years include Ginger Peterson, Jan Swanson, Merrill Carlson, Darle Erickson and Dale Shallberg. Swaggard is interested in feedback concerning the service. She can be contacted by regular mail at 1537 Pinewood Drive, Omaha, NE, 68144-1443.
NORTH PACIFIC
- Bellevue, Washington: Iglesia Latinoamerican, the lone Hispanic/Latino Iglesia del Pacto in the conference, performed “A Living Chris tmas Tree” for the community December 13 and 14 and had a third performance during its morning worship service on December 15. Under pastor Jorge Gutierrez, Iglesia Latinoamerican has grown to 80 in average worship attendance while serving parishioners from 18 different countries. The church, founded in 1986 by Sharon Gradin, a missionary from Bolivia, shares its facilities with Highland Covenant Church. The conference has assisted the Hispanic congregation financially in recent years. Both congregations meet in separate portios of the building on Sunday mornings. Highland Covenant Church pastor Jim DeGrado said the two congregations meet occasionally for worship and other events.
NORTHWEST
- Dawson, Minnesota: Lyle Torstenson of Dawson Covenant Church was recently featured in a trade publication, Farm Show Magazine, for a homemade two-wheeled, scaffold trailer he created. He also created the “tip down” television antennae that can easily be repaired and is more accessible than other models.
- Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bill Hunstock of Bethlehem Covenant Church recently coached an amateur football team to the national championship in Boston.
- Warren, Minnesota: Edith Johnson of the ECC of Warren celebrated her 100th birthday on December 7 in nearby Good Samaritan Center. Daughter June Myller of Apple Valley and son Warren Strandell of East Grand Forks attended their mother’s party. Edith Johnson was born December 7, 1902, the fourth of nine children. The family owned a farm in rural Minnesota. Edith left home at age 17 and worked as a nurse’s aid for a time. She married Harry Strandell in 1927 and they moved back to the family farm. After Harry died in 1947, Edith returned to work as a nurse’s aid, this time at Warren Hospital. She later married Jerry Johnson, a builder, in 1953 and they were faithful parishioners at the ECC of Warren until Jerry’s death in 1990. Though legally blind for many years, Edith maneuvered around her home easily before she moved to Good Samaritan Center just over a year ago, said a member of the church.
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST
- Tucson, Arizona: DeLon Thompson of the ECC of Tucson has been using his musical gifts as a country singer during recent years, recently putting together his second album. Thompson was a full-time auto sales executive when he began pursuing a music ministry in 1998. He has performed nearly 100 shows this year, many in and around Tucson. One of his songs, “When I Moved Out of Tulsa,” won acclaim in Europe on its country radio hit lists. For more about Thompson and his music, check www.godschildrecords.com and producer John Rees.
- Arnold, California: Chapel of the Pines parishioner Warren Camp created and presented seminars called “House Doctor” and a series including videotape and PowerPoint presentations, along with hands-on applications and quizzes. Camp had been a technical consultant for a San Francisco-based ABC television station for 10 years. The seminars included clips from previously televised weekly shows hosted by Ron Hazleton (now on Good Morning America). Camp completed his first year of the seminar series, which lasted from August through November. Camp stated that he would do a similar seminar tape format next year. Chapel of the Pines used the seminars to organize project sharing events and parties – the homeowner bought food and drinks and volunteers would provide home repair help – as a way to do community outreach.
- Granite Bay, California: Ray Johnston, Bayside Covenant Church’s lead pastor was the recipient of the Azusa Pacific University (APU) 2002 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award. The award was presented during APU’s scholarship fundraiser dinner. The award is given annually to the alumnus who best exemplifies in his/her life the four cornerstones on which Azusa Pacific University was built – Christ, Scholarship, Community and Service. Johnston was known for Covenant youth ministry efforts at Marin Covenant Church in San Rafael, California, after beginning pastoral ministry in Duarte. He was professor of youth ministry at North Park University (then College) and at North Park Theological Seminary. He wrote three youth ministry books and led hundreds of seminars for nationally known Youth Specialties of El Cajon, California, in the 1980s and early 1990s. Since helping plant Bayside Covenant in 1995, Johnston’s enthusiasm and creativity has been integral in that congregation growing to more than 5,000 in average worship attendance.
- Hilmar, California: Hilmar Covenant Church parishioner Marianne Oates was recognized by the Turlock division of the Salvation Army as one of its Volunteers of the Year last month.
- Redwood City, California: On December 7, Peninsula Covenant Church celebrated the second anniversary of a skateboard ministry started by Chris Probasco. Probasco reported that more than 700 have heard the gospel message since the beginning of the program, known as SkateChurch.
- Valley Springs, California: Dean LaManna of Good Samaritan Community Covenant Church helped fix the STS-113 space shuttle Endeavor in November, allowing it to make a recent journey into space. LaManna is an employee at AASC, an aerospace structural engineering and manufacturing company in Stockton. AASC has manufactured materials for various parts of the space shuttle, including the robotic arm (RMS) that helps the shuttle perform maintenance work in space. The robotic arm was damaged when workers were trying to fix a leak in the shuttle’s oxygen line in November. LaManna traveled to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to help fix the robotic arm.
SOUTHEAST
- DeLand, Florida: A new church, Covenant Community Church, will offer its first preview service January 12, thanks to the help of one of the largest congregations in the state. Dave Shaw, an associate at Northland Community Church (whose main campus is in Longwood), decided to attempt the church planting effort and Northland Community has blessed the effort by assisting financially and providing other help. Leadership at the church of 6,500 stated that the partnership with the Evangelical Covenant Church was based on similar views in mission and vision, according to a recent Northland Community newsletter article. For more information about the new congregation in DeLand, call Southeast Conference Supt. Kurt Miericke at 407-977-8009 or email him at Kmiericke@aol.com.
To keep current with developments throughout the Evangelical Covenant Church, regularly visit the Covenant home page at www.covchurch.org or sign up for the free headline news subscription service Covenant Newswire by visiting the Newswire link on the home page. To send information to the Department of Communication, email the information to newsdesk@covchurch.org or call 773-907-8333. Church newsletters can be sent to Covenant Communications, 5101 N. Francisco Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60625.
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