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Paxton (IL) Celebrates 125th Anniversary
PAXTON, IL (June 26, 2003) - The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) of Paxton
commemorated 125 years of ministry with the first of two large celebratory
events last weekend.
On Sunday, Jim Hawkinson, former executive director of the former Covenant
Publications department, was the guest speaker during the church's
confirmation reunion. Hawkinson reported that confirmands from as far back
as 1917 were part of the event, which included a potluck lunch following
morning worship. On Saturday evening,
the church hosted a concert and coffee hour. Hawkinson added that about 400
were part of the two events combined.
Paxton's Covenant congregation got its start as a result of evangelism
meetings led by Eric August Skogsberg. Not long after that, a group of
people left the local Augustana Lutheran congregation and officially
organized their own church in November 1878 as the Swedish Evangelical
Lutheran Mission Church of Paxton under pastor P.A. Palmquist. The
congregation's initial business meeting was held December 18, 1878. The
church built its first building a year later. After joining the
denomination in 1885, the church continued to grow and had more than 500
involved in church by 1896, according to congregational records.
Known for many years as Mission Covenant Church, the Paxton congregation
saw previous pastors and laypersons move on to help the denomination in a
variety of ways. Besides Hawkinson, notable pastors that served the church
were Harry Swanson, who later was superintendent of the Great Lakes
Conference, and Elmer Fondell, a former missionary who became professor of
missions at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. Longtime
missionaries in South American, Dean and Donna Erickson, also
were sent from the congregation.
The Evangelical Covenant Church of Paxton will continue its 125th
anniversary celebration later this fall with a November 8 banquet. For more
information, call the church at 217-379-3554.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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