HILMAR, CA (December 18, 2001) – Hilmar Covenant Church will celebrate 100th anniversary events in January, the first of six centennials in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) in 2002, according to statistics contained in the Covenant Yearbook.
Other congregations celebrating 100th anniversaries include: Evangelical Covenant Church in Silverhill, Alabama; Lewis Lake Covenant Church in Ogilvie, Minnesota; Oakdale Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois; Pilgrim Covenant Church in Granby, Connecticut; and Turlock Covenant Church in Turlock, California.
Jim Hawkinson, longtime ECC executive secretary of publications, will discuss Hilmar Covenant’s history in a series of lectures January 26-27. Hawkinson was pastor at Hilmar Covenant for three years before moving to Chicago to take over what is now known as the Department of Communication of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Hawkinson’s ties to the church run even deeper as both of his parents grew up in Hilmar.
Hilmar Covenant Church is located in central California, about 100 miles east of San Francisco. It has an average worship attendance of 300 and a pastoral staff with considerable longevity in the denomination. Senior pastor Bruce Metcalf has been with the church 20 years and associate Dan Johnson has been at Hilmar Covenant for 22 years.
In March, the church will produce an Easter season play – “The Promise” – a musical drama involving 120 people in the church. In November next year, the congregation will celebrate a centennial pageant for two days, using multimedia, drama and music to document the church’s history.
Hilmar Covenant is celebrating its centennial under the theme “Building for Christ: The Next 100 Years.” The congregation seems to be doing just that, launching a building program in 2002. They’ll get a lot of use from the new facility, too. The church already provides childcare five days per week, serving 140 children throughout the community of 4,000.
“I’m so excited about what is happening I could hardly think of leaving,” Metcalf said about the energy generated by his congregation. For more information about centennial events, call Metcalf at 209-668-0400.
The Silverhill, Alabama, Covenant Church congregation will celebrate its centennial October 19-20 beginning with a banquet October 19. The church will invite former pastors, members and friends of the congregation to the banquet and the October 20 worship service. For more information, call pastor Jesse Adams at 334-945-5143.
Lewis Lake Covenant will celebrate its centennial July 13-14 with Jim Sundholm, director of Covenant World Relief, as the guest speaker. For more information, call pastor Robert DeYoung at 320-396-3326 or email the staff at llake@ncis.com. The church website is www.forministry.com/56358LLCC.
Six other congregations will celebrate 125th anniversary events. They include First Covenant Church in San Francisco, California; Lanyon Evangelical Covenant Church in Harcourt, Iowa; Moses Hill Covenant Church in Loomis, Nebraska; Salem Evangelical Covenant Church in Oakland, Nebraska; Scandia Evangelical Covenant Church in Russell, Pennsylvania; and Swedona Evangelical Covenant Church in Brandon, South Dakota.
At Salem Covenant in Nebraska, pastor Mike Gillett said that a homecoming weekend is scheduled for April 20-21 at the church. Rick Mylander, associate superintendent of the Midwest Conference, will be the guest speaker. For more information about Salem’s plans, call the church at 402-685-6111.
Lanyon Covenant will host its anniversary event September 5-8 with ECC President Glenn R. Palmberg as the guest speaker. Call pastor Eric Marx at 515-879-2414 for more details.
First Covenant has scheduled a 125th anniversary dinner October 18. Call pastor Dennis Anderson at 415-431-8755 for more information about the dinner and other events that are scheduled.
Keep abreast of all Covenant anniversary events by regularly visiting the denominational website at www.covchurch.org.
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