Pitezel may not be familiar to many members of the Evangelical Covenant Church, but her work on the details of Midwinter has impacted pastors as well as their congregations. This week, the coordinator of the Midwinter Conference celebrates her fortieth anniversary at Covenant offices.
“Carolyn is a person who always does in Dorothy Sayers wonderful phrase, ‘good work for God’s work,’ ” says Donn Engebretson, the Covenant’s executive vice- president. “Carolyn’s passion for Christ and for Christ’s work through the Covenant and in particular in these last number of years her passion for the ministry of the Midwinter Conference has had a huge impact on the trajectory of our shared ministry. There is no one who has a great heart for the Midwinter than Carolyn, who wants to make sure that pastors are ministered to.”
“The Midwinter is much of the glue that keeps the Covenant together,” Pitezel says. “Over and over the pastors give us the feedback that the workshops are important but that the fellowship is even more important.”
Pitezel began work at Covenant offices when Engebretson’s father, former Covenant President Milton Engebretson, hired her in 1966. She was a secretary at Edgebrook Covenant Church at the time.
“I almost didn’t take the job because I was afraid I wouldn’t have contact with people,” Pitezel says, “but I certainly found that to be an incorrect assumption. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many wonderful people. To not take this job would have been a big mistake.” She adds, though, “I never had any intention of remaining here for 40 years,” Pitezel says.
Along with Midwinter, Pitezel at times was responsible for planning the Annual Meeting, as well as working with Covenant World Relief, and the Board of Administrators—some of them at the same time.
These days, the papers spread across Pitezel’s desk are filled with a dizzying array of items that must be dealt with in preparation for the 2007 Midwinter Conference, to be held in Denver, Colorado. She also has already begun working on the 2008 and 2009 meetings.
“The sheer size of the conference and our needs requires that you start early,” she says.
The Midwinter Conference, which began in 1939, has grown from being primarily a meeting for administrators to being the second largest Covenant gathering, second only to CHIC.
“Carolyn represents the very highest level of servant leadership in the life of the Church,” Engebretson says. “Her diligence, excellence and attention to detail and to the needs of the people with whom she works sets Carolyn off as a choice servant of God.” Her work has even been noted by other denominations seeking to improve the excellence of their own meeting, he adds.
Pitezel is quick to deflect praise that would highlight her accomplishments. “I’ve worked with so many wonderful people. None of this would have happened without them.”
She lists as mentors: Erma Chinander, Muriel Rocene, Jerry Johnson, Evelyn Johnson, and Cliff Bjorklund, for whom she worked at Edgebrook and later at Covenant offices.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
