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Event to Honor Retirement of Jim Swanson
PLANTATION, FL (May 20, 2003) - Jim Swanson, a chaplain at Covenant Village of
Florida since 1996, will be honored Tuesday (May 27) at an event to
commemorate his retirement from full-time ministry.
Swanson graduated from Chicago's North Park Theological Seminary in 1967
and was ordained by the Covenant a year later. He began continuous
full-time ministry as pastor at what is now Faith Covenant Church in
Farmington Hills. He then served in Kewanee, Illinois, at Calvary Covenant
Church, Cranston, Rhode Island, and Community Covenant Church in
Springfield, Virginia. Following 10 years in Virginia, he served at the
Evangelical Covenant Church in Buffalo, New York, before taking his current
position.
Church ministry isn't the only way Swanson has benefited the Covenant. In
1971, Swanson and his wife, Beverly, had their second of four children,
Karna, who was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Swanson's experience with his
daughter has given him a passion for serving persons with disabilities and
he has done so for many years. He has established special education classes
at the churches, served as an advocate in the
denomination, helped support CHIC high school conferences through his work
with disabled persons and chaired the Commission on Special Human Need for
Covenant Women Ministries.
The Covenant's representative for the Committee on Disabilities-National
Council of Churches of Christ, Swanson, along with that of a former CWM
administrator Doris Johnson and Myrtle Erickson, helped develop Bjorklund
House in Oak Forest, Illinois. The Chicago area facility for disabled
persons is one of many such Covenant Enabling Residences operated under the
auspices of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence.
Swanson's children have also become advocates for disabled persons. Nils
currently works for a Chicago area organization serving disabled persons
and daughter, Erika (a librarian in Iowa), has been an advocate for
disabled persons at recent CHIC events. Another son, Karl, is a real estate
tax accountant in Des Plaines, Illinois. All are graduates of North Park
University.
Covenant Village of Florida is asking for prayers as they search for a
second chaplain, said fellow Covenant Village of Florida chaplain Bob
Tenglin. For more information about the position, call 954-472-2860.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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