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Palmberg to Speak During College Center's 50th Anniversary
SAN DIEGO, CA (September 1, 2002) - College Center Covenant Church will celebrate
its 50th anniversary November 2 with a dinner at the church. Gary Walter,
executive minister of the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism of the
Evangelical Covenant Church, will speak November 3 during the morning
worship service.
President Glenn R. Palmberg will be the guest speaker for morning worship
service November 10 as the church celebration continues.
A congregation in East San Diego County, College Center Covenant has an
average worship attendance of 136, according to Covenant Yearbook
statistics. Marc Bellaart has been the pastor at College Center Covenant
Church during the past 10 years. The church has become involved in various
urban ministry ventures and has helped a Sudanese contingent integrate into
East San Diego as well.
College Center Covenant was officially organized and incorporated as an
independent church November 11, 1952, with 102 charter members. Its first
worship service was held exactly one year earlier in the basement of the
church (stage one of a multi-phase building project). A sanctuary was built
for $80,000 with help from a Frontier Friends
campaign and the congregation held its first worship service there in May
1956.
First Covenant Church of San Diego had bought a lot in East San Diego in
August 1950 for the facility and Frank Poole was called to pastor the new
church plant four months later. Two charter members, Virginia Carlson and
Sara Wittman, are still active in the church's ministries. Sara's son,
Dale, has served as a choir director for many years and has held numerous
board positions. Virginia's son, Kenneth, is superintendent of the Midwest
Conference while another son, Russell, is pastor of Forest Park Covenant
Church in Muskegon, Michigan.
A strong Sunday school helped give the church energy as more than 300
individuals were involved in activities in the early years. Children's
ministries continued to thrive, thanks to a strong bus ministry to bring
kids from the neighborhood.
The church's creativity in ministry was evident in other ways. In 1963, a
group from the congregation conducted a Christmas service aboard the
aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga. A year later another College Center
Covenant contingent spent Christmas Eve leading worship aboard the USS Bon
Homme Richard.
Strong lay leadership has been a cornerstone of the congregation - numerous
people have made an impact on the church and the immediate neighborhood. A
prime example was Dr. Russell Zetterlund, longtime church chairman and
board member who set up his medical practice just a few blocks from the
church and earned community trust both for his competence and his Christian
witness.
For more information about the church, its 50th anniversary celebration and
its ministries, call Bellaart at 619-582-0226.
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