{"id":10041,"date":"2007-09-07T12:56:18","date_gmt":"2007-09-07T17:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=10041"},"modified":"2011-08-08T12:59:25","modified_gmt":"2011-08-08T17:59:25","slug":"5811","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/09\/07\/5811\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Church Celebrating 50 Years of Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MACHESNEY PARK, IL (September 7, 2007) \u2013 A banquet on Saturday, October  20, will help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of North  Park Evangelical Covenant Church.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The banquet, which will be held  at a sister church, First Covenant Church at 316 Wood Road in Rockford,  also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the completion of the first  sanctuary for North Park Evangelical Covenant.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, October  21st, the North Park congregation will continue the celebration with a  special worship service of thanksgiving and re-dedication, which will be  conducted in the North Park Evangelical Covenant Church sanctuary at  545 Superior Avenue in Machesney Park.<\/p>\n<p>It was shortly after the  end of World War II (1946) that First Mission Covenant Church in  Rockford had a vision to organize several satellite Sunday school  programs around the outskirts of Rockford, one being in the northern  developing community of North Park. That area already included Harlem  High School, built in 1911, and a few businesses.<\/p>\n<p>The  intersection of North Second Street and Harlem Road was the nucleus of  the community, according to LaVon Reese, a member of the anniversary  committee who supplied historical data for this article. \u201cRadiating out  from this nucleus was the construction of many new homes &#8211; this formed a  community of lower-income families who were struggling to improve life  for their families,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe community was a family with  a heart of caring and helping each other, from watching each others\u2019  children or helping each other in times of illness or emergency, to  borrowing a cup of sugar or a couple slices of bread or helping dig  septic systems, wiring electricity and installing plumbing for new  neighbors. Everyone had the heart of helping each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new  Sunday school program was well received, Reese notes, first meeting in  Lindstrom\u2019s store on the northeast corner of North Second Street and  Harlem Road. By the end of 1946, enrollment was 60. In 1948, the school  was moved to Harmony Grange Hall \u2013 today that site is occupied by First  Baptist Church. In April 1949, George Svenson came to pastor this small  congregation.<\/p>\n<p>Ground was broken for Harlem Chapel on October 29,  1950, at the church\u2019s present location on Superior Avenue. In his 1950  end-of-year report, pastor Svenson wrote of his efforts to raise funds  for the construction, noting, \u201cAnyone who does not see the great need  and opportunity in this particular place is shortsighted. From 3,000  population two years ago, it has grown to 7,000 today and there is no  church yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new building, built with volunteer labor, was  occupied in 1951, and by 1954 the Sunday school enrollment stood at 170,  with a 25-member Chapel Society also in place. A 75th commemorative  booklet produced by First Mission Covenant observes, \u201cHitherto and  henceforth, the sacrifice and persistence of those who made this chapel  possible cannot be measured. The building itself will ever be a monument  and testimony to their willing service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In July of 1955, Pastor  Roy Olund and his wife, Maryann, came to serve in July 1955. Shortly  after their arrival, plans were begun for the building of the upper  sanctuary, with construction beginning in September the following year  and the new space occupied in spring of 1957, just in time to handle a  Sunday school that had now expanded to 300 members. The new facility was  dedicated October 20 that year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday we are your neighborhood church on the corner,\u201d writes Reese, adding, \u201cOur story is still being told.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about the church, its history and celebration plans and its ministries, email either <a href=\"mailto:Merla4119@sbcglobal.net\">LaVon Reese<\/a> or church chair <a href=\"mailto:Arrowheadeagles@aol.com\" target=\"_blank\">Candy Wahlstrom<\/a>. Information also is available on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.northparkcov.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">church website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=10041&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MACHESNEY PARK, IL (September 7, 2007) \u2013 A banquet on Saturday, October 20, will help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of North Park Evangelical Covenant Church. Report This Post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Illinois Church Celebrating 50 Years of Ministry - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/09\/07\/5811\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illinois Church Celebrating 50 Years of Ministry - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MACHESNEY PARK, IL (September 7, 2007) \u2013 A banquet on Saturday, October 20, will help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of North Park Evangelical Covenant Church. 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