![\"Johnson\"](\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/Mi\/HK\/MiHK5p3HWlr1bgjjjbfZQw\/Johnson.jpg\")
Now after 30 years of heading NCP and a lifetime at Immanuel, he is retiring the end of this month. Johnson and his wife, Jeanne, will move to Knoxville, Tennessee, so they can be closer to other family members.<\/p>\nCHICAGO, IL (June 19, 2007) \u2013 David Johnson has invested his life helping Evangelical Covenant Churches and other denominational ministries. For more than 30 years, as head of National Covenant Properties (NCP) and in earlier roles, he has helped enable these ministries to reach out to people across the country.
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\nFrom birth, Johnson has attended Immanuel Covenant Church, which once served mostly Swedish immigrants on the city\u2019s north side. In recent years, he has helped lead the congregation to welcome the new wave of immigrants moving into the area, which is the most ethnically diverse zip code in the United States.<\/p>\n
Now after 30 years of heading NCP and a lifetime at Immanuel, he is retiring the end of this month. Johnson and his wife, Jeanne, will move to Knoxville, Tennessee, so they can be closer to other family members.<\/p>\n
ECC President Glenn Palmberg describes Johnson\u2019s legacy as a powerful one. \u201cAt the national and local levels, David has shown a profound love for all of God\u2019s people,\u201d he explains. \u201cI am deeply grateful for him. He has been a model for all of us in the church because he has seen his job not just as finance, but as ministry. As a result, we have been able to share God\u2019s great compassion, mercy and justice in ways that otherwise would not have been possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring David\u2019s time at National Covenant Properties, the organization has doubled in size about every five years,\u201d notes Steve Dawson, who will be the new president of NCP. \u201cHis consistent \u2018keep it simple\u2019 leadership style, coupled with his vision for technological changes, have been huge in driving this growth. He has the ability to see the \u2018big picture,\u2019 and so his wisdom was sought by many administrators over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson says his years at NCP \u201chave been more wonderful than I ever could have imagined.\u201d He graduated from North Park University in 1966. After being drafted and serving in the U.S. Army for two years, he returned to Chicago, where he worked for a local energy company and earned his MBA at Loyola University.<\/p>\n
He started with the Covenant in 1975 as its financial controller and executive director of NCP. With his strong commitment to expanding the denomination\u2019s ministry and already living in the neighborhood, \u201cIt seemed like a natural fit,\u201d Johnson says.<\/p>\n
Churches, investors both benefit<\/strong><\/p>\n His job with NCP transitioned to full time, and his title would change to president. The work and mission would remain the same \u2013 \u201cWe facilitate the local church so they can do ministry and make sure investors get a good return for their dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 1975, under Johnson\u2019s guidance, NCP has: Under Johnson\u2019s leadership, the ministry also has experienced a decline – in the waiting period for churches to obtain loans. Due to its increased finances, NCP is able to quickly respond to requests. By contrast, in 1975 Covenant institutions had to wait two years before they could receive any money.<\/p>\n He smiles as he recalls how NCP also helped Covenant Offices enter a new technological era. \u201cWe bought the first PC (personal computer) that came into the building.\u201d<\/p>\n But Johnson is most excited about ministry the loans have made possible. More than 80 percent of churches, camps and other institutions with loans have them through NCP, he says.<\/p>\n NCP works closely with the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism and the regional conferences to carry out an aggressive church-planting strategy. \u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible for startups to get any loan from banks,\u201d Johnson says. Churches and camps also have been able to expand to meet new opportunities because of NCP loans made at relatively low rates.<\/p>\n Helping the institutions has not always been easy, however, when the financial markets are tight. \u201cIt can be a real struggle,\u201d Johnson says.<\/p>\n The hardest days may have been the 1980s, with the prime rate around 21 percent. When churches added to their buildings, they still often were not able to meet their needs because of costs. \u201cThey did what they could do,\u201d Johnson says, still sounding regretful that he wasn\u2019t able to help them more.<\/p>\n When helping Covenant institutions that struggled to pay off their loans, Johnson has approached the situation with pastoral concern. As a result, no church has ever defaulted.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of our financial strength, we can work with these situations,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cWe can come alongside our other partners, including the conferences, to help the churches.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to aiding ministry expansion, Johnson also is charged with increasing the investments of NCP\u2019s investors. By law, all of the investors have to be connected with the denomination. The ministry of NCP works because investors believe in the mission and get a good financial return, Johnson says. \u201cWe try always to be competitive. We can\u2019t just ask the investors to give us money.\u201d<\/p>\n The impressive increase in NCP assets has not been due to large investors. \u201cThis is about the $500, $1,000, and $10,000 investors,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cThat\u2019s our bread and butter.\u201d<\/p>\n NCP has kept its customers happy, having established strong, loyal ties. For example, the ministry offered its first IRA in 1978, Johnson says. \u201cThat person is still with us.\u201d<\/p>\n The loyalty and skills of a small staff also enabled the success of NCP, Johnson says. \u201cThere have been some incredibly talented people here, and it\u2019s been a pleasure to learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson has sought to expand the denomination as a whole, but he has been committed to his local congregation, which his father, a bricklayer, helped build. He has been with the church as it grew, stayed when it did not, and has received people from around the world as they became new residents.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always felt that was where I should be,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cThat\u2019s where I learned about the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n Roughly 80 people attend Immanuel, and 14 different languages are spoken. As one of the church leaders, Johnson has made sure they feel welcome. \u201cIt\u2019s been my church, and I\u2019ve wanted them to feel that it is their church, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is hard to consider that David is leaving,\u201d says the congregation\u2019s pastor, Linnea Carnes. \u201cHe is the last person at Immanuel who was born into this church.\u201d<\/p>\n Carnes says Johnson\u2019s compassionate ministry has strengthened the church and prepared it for the future. \u201cWhen the old leadership was ready to step down, he helped younger members assume leadership and then was there to help them grow and become leaders.\u00a0 David has encouraged people from other ethnicities to step into leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n She adds, \u201cDavid recognized that Immanuel is still the neighborhood church and the immigrant church it was earlier in its history. His wisdom and leadership has been a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0increased its assets from $8 million to more than $260 million
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0always had a positive net income
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0made roughly 1,000 loans to Covenant churches, camps, and other institutions
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0never lost money on a loan<\/p>\n
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\nBelieving in the mission<\/strong><\/p>\n