CHICAGO, IL (May 5, 2009) \u2013 The Evangelical Covenant Church Commission on Town and Country Ministries honored graduating North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) student Dan Larson with its Dusty Larson Award recently.
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\nThe award provides $10,000 in four installments over several years to help defray costs for NPTS graduates going into town and country ministry. The award is distributed as long as the pastor continues to serve in the setting.<\/p>\n
![\"NPTS\"](\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/0a\/5F\/0a5F_RYkWvoUUTVj93Nnyg\/NPTS.jpg\")
\u201cI feel very humbled to receive this award,\u201d said Larson, who is no relation to Quentin \u201cDusty\u201d Larson. \u201cWith all the questions of how one will be able to pay loans in a rural community, I feel this will help a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larson will begin serving his pastorate at the Norquay Covenant Church in Norquay, Saskatchewan, on June 28.<\/p>\n
Larson was raised in a town and country community and looks forward to serving in that context. Rural communities give the opportunity for more relational ministry, he said.<\/p>\n
The Dusty Larson Memorial Fund was established in 1997. Dusty Larson was a rural pastor and former chair of the Evangelical Covenant Church\u2019s town and country commission.<\/p>\n
In the accompanying photo, surrounding Dan Larson and his fianc\u00e9e, Sally Carlson, in the front-center are (from left) commission members Jodi D. Moore of Ceresco, Nebraska; Sharon Johnson of Red Oak, Iowa; Brad Shannon of Twig, Minnesota; John Wenrich, of the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism; and Dan Olson of Breton, Alberta.<\/p>\n