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Newsletters Reflect Busy Summer for Covenanters
CHICAGO, IL (July 22, 2002) - Local churches throughout the Evangelical Covenant
Church (ECC) and their members are experiencing a busy summer, as reflected
in excerpts from more than 200 church newsletters received each month by
the Department of Communication, listed by conference.
CENTRAL
- Moline, Illinois: First Covenant Church member Mary Jane Leaf
participated in the 2002 Quad Cities Senior Olympics in Rock Island and won
four gold medals in swimming. Leaf won the 500 freestyle swim in a meet
record time of 13 minutes, 53.43 seconds, and added wins in the 100-meter
backstroke, 100-meter breaststroke and 200-meter freestyle. The Quad Cities
event is one of many affiliated with the National Senior
Games Association (NSGA). A national Senior Olympics competition (for those
50 years of age and older) is held every other year. Competitors qualify
through state and regional competitions. The 2003 Summer National Senior
Games will be held in Hampton Roads, Virginia, from May 27 through June 9.
EAST COAST
- Bowie, Maryland: Mike Wynnyk of Church of the Redeemer was appointed to
be chief of police in nearby University Park. Wynnyk has worked for the
department for 26 years.
GREAT LAKES
- Lansing, Michigan: A prize in the name of Mark Sherman (Bretton Woods
Covenant Church) was established by Indiana University-South Bend (IUSB)
recently to recognize students at the school who are following
non-traditional educational paths and earning academic distinction. Sherman
was working a full-time job in 1987 when he began taking courses at IUSB in
physics. In 1999, he graduated from the school and earned an award for
academic excellence in his major. He did all of this while battling cancer.
Sherman died September 29, 2001.
- Lyndhurst, Ohio: Fridolf Pearson, a member of Bethany Covenant Church,
turned 100 years old on May 16. The congregation celebrated with a special
coffee hour May 19 and planted a tree in his honor. His pastor, Stacey
Littlefield, said Fridolf remains active as an usher at church, with a warm
and friendly manner toward all.
MIDSOUTH
- Rene Gutteridge of Westmoore Community Covenant Church in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, will have her second book, Troubled Waters, released
in January by Bethany House Publishers. Gutteridge, whose husband, Sean, is
worship minister at the church, published a fiction work called Ghost
Writer in 2000. A third novel, Boo, will also be published in
the coming months. Gutteridge earned a mass communications degree from
Oklahoma City University, graduating magna cum laude. She served as the
full-time director of drama for First United Methodist Church in
Oklahoma City for five years, publishing 20 pieces as a playwright. Besides
writing and caring for her son, John Caleb, Gutteridge is an occasional
instructor at writer's conferences and college writing courses.
MIDWEST
- Clyde, Kansas: Brantford Covenant Church parishioner Kent Kalivoda,
assistant high school basketball coach at Washington High School, recently
was honored as an AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year, one of 524
individuals selected from throughout the United States. A farmer, Kalivoda
travels more than 50 miles every day for practice, said the school's head
basketball coach, Dave Bisnette, who nominated Kalivoda for the honor.
Kalivoda is also on the advisory board for the North Central
Kansas Health Care Foundation, based in Belleville. He serves in youth and
music ministries for the church, teaches Sunday school and is an announcer
for the church, which sponsors a radio program each Sunday.
- Lindsborg, Kansas: Leo Opat of the Lindsborg Covenant Church was
honored with a plaque by the Associated Churches of Lindsborg for work at a
local thrift store sponsored by area congregations. During the past two and
a half years, the churches in Lindsborg have given nearly $19,000 to needy
people in the area, much of it coming from funds raised through sales at
the thrift store.
NORTH PACIFIC
- Helena, Montana: Evangelical Covenant Church of Helena's Jim FitzGerald
was appointed executive director of Intermountain Children's Home and
Services in Helena after serving there for 24 years in a variety of roles.
FitzGerald was integral in developing a nationally recognized children's
mental health agency.
NORTHWEST
- Cottage Grove, Minnesota: CrossRoads Church parishioner Ron Simon has
the lead role in a production by a local theater entitled "1940's Radio
Show," which opens later this month. Simon was "discovered" by Prescott
Dinner Theater after he headlined numerous Sunday dramas at the church,
according to a recent church newsletter report. The church recently
received local recognition by placing first in the church division of the
Great Grove Get-Together Parade. CrossRoads volunteers distributed 3,100
bottles of water along the parade route and to those watching the parade
from the church.
- Dawson, Minnesota: A Dawson Covenant Church parishioner was a recent
participant in the Grandma's Marathon, an event in Duluth that attracted
9,432 entrants.
- Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bernie Martinson of Bethlehem Covenant Church
was the Minneapolis Police Department's Investigator of the Year and
received recognition via a Minneapolis Star-Tribune article in May.
Martinson has worked in the sex crimes unit for 13 years.
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST
- Valley Springs, California: Good Samaritan Community Covenant Church's
Joe Brown was nominated as Calaveras County Senior Citizen of the Year for
the many activities he is involved in at church and in the community.
Brown, captain of the local American Legion Post Honor Guard, has worked in
Santa's Express and Senior Lunch service projects at Good Samaritan
Community Covenant. He also regularly volunteers to transport others to
medical appointments and other activities. In June, Brown received his
diploma from Calaveras High School, thanks to a program that awards
diplomas to World War II veterans who dropped out of school to serve their
country. Brown spent a year in Europe during the war. When he returned to
California, he needed to support his family and was unable to return to
high school.
The Department of Communication of the Evangelical Covenant Church is
interested in receiving church newsletters from all Covenant churches. They
can be sent
to Covenant Communications, 5101 North Francisco Avenue, Chicago, IL,
60625. For the latest on what's happening in Covenant ministry throughout
the world, regularly visit the news and feature report on the Covenant
Internet site at www.covchurch.org. To receive a free daily reminder of
stories posted to the news site, subscribe to Covenant Newswire by visiting
the Covenant home page and selecting the Newswire feature.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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