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Pastor: From Heritage to Outreach – Focus Must Shift
By Craig Pinley
TUCSON, AZ (July 26, 2004) - The first time Dan Johnson served as an
Evangelical Covenant Church pastor in Tucson, Arizona, he was planting
Grace Community Covenant Church in the mid-1980s.
Johnson's second time doing ministry in Tucson is a different story.
Last November, Johnson became pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church
of Tucson, a 39-year-old congregation desiring to broaden the impact of
its ministry to its community. So far, Johnson says he has enjoyed the
challenge.
A recent Friend to Friend Sunday worship service drew 159 people,
tripling the congregation's average attendance. The Evangelical Covenant
Church of Tucson
hopes to officially rename itself in the coming months, but the remaking
of the church seems to have already begun.
"One of the things we have to shift is our emphasis from heritage to
outreach and service," said Johnson as he assessed the future of his new
congregation. "We
need to think about the past, but when we think about it, we often don't
think about the right things. Our Covenant forebearers were profoundly
evangelistic and mission-minded. We need to remember the continuation of
the (original) call. We have about 40 to 50 people, and two-thirds are
over 70 years old. But it's exciting – they're willing to try things –
and we have changed some things here."
The Evangelical Covenant Church of Tucson has recently tried community
building projects to improve its visibility in the neighborhood, Johnson
said. The "Passion of the Christ" movie last spring helped serve as a
catalyst for a six-week outreach-based sermon
series. A mailing was sent to 5,000 homes as a precursor to the event.
Later, the church hosted a few service projects, including breakfast for
100 students at the nearby high school during finals week. The church
also gave out free water and parking to those
using the church's parking lot for the local high school's graduation
event. "A shift in the culture of the church has pervaded the
congregation and we're trying to see the assets of the church as
something to give away," Johnson said.
After beginning his pastoral ministry at Stoneridge Covenant Church in
Allison Park, Pennsylvania, Johnson became a church planter in Tucson at
Grace Community Covenant Church, beginning in 1985. He left in 1992 to
pastor Hope Evangelical Covenant Church in Indianapolis, a congregation
of more than 150 that recently helped plant a Hispanic church. Last year
Johnson took a sabbatical – an extended mission trip in Latin America -
and reassessed his call to ministry. He and his wife, Susan (a
school teacher), have enjoyed being back in Tucson and seeing the older
Tucson congregation re-energize.
The process has not translated into a "rags to riches" megachurch, but a
handful of people will be part of membership classes and the church is
considering adopting a new constitution, along with changing its name.
Some positive changes have already occurred and the church has benefited
from some new and established personnel and tools,
including:
- A group of talented high school students that play trumpet and
baritone as they participate in Sunday morning worship
- PowerPoint slides used for sermons, prayer times and song-leading
during worship services
- The 25-year-old Sunshine preschool and childcare program under
director Cathy Wysopal that currently serves around 100 people
- A youth ministry under Jal Atkielski that has attracted many teens
through FOG (Followers of God), a Wednesday afternoon high school
ministry that meets in the
youth room (Atkielski also leads a young adult discipleship group on
Monday nights and has been organizing sports programs for area junior
high students)
- Church chair Bob Lofgren, who is among many longtime members giving
of themselves to others in practical ways
Johnson said that valuable help from outside the congregation has also
been integral to the church's evolution. Doug Stevens of the
California-based Renewal Project (an organization often used by the
Pacific Southwest Conference) visited the church two summers ago and
helped the congregation assess whether a turnaround would be
possible.
John Reed, a longtime military chaplain, served as interim pastor for a
time and challenged the church to begin the process of reforming itself.
Johnson said that the efforts of Stevens, Reed and other interim pastors
readied the congregation for changes he has attempted to implement.
"That outside consultation and help has made a huge difference," says
Johnson. "Some churches are too proud to go outside the church and make
an honest assessment because it's a massive dose of reality humility. I
give this church a lot of credit for doing this."
Grace Community Covenant Church under pastor Scot Gillan has also been a
valuable ally. The congregation of more than 200 has supplied resources,
particularly in
morning worship. Charlie Lehardy, who also has assisted with sound
system technology, and Adele Lindquist and Jack Chittum have used their
musical skills in morning worship at Johnson's church. Johnson hopes
that the momentum built in the past seven months
will continue to excite the congregation as it readies for its 40th
anniversary celebration November 7 and in the months thereafter.
"In Nehemiah 2:18 it says, 'Let us start rebuilding,' and we have a
banner in our church with those words," said Johnson as he assessed
another type of rebuilding taking place in the church. "But it's only
God that can do this and I'm hopeful He can. The church is needed in
this community. Only the church deals with heart transformation. And the
church has to have the conviction that 'my church must flourish - and
God wants my church to flourish,' because only the church makes
disciples. Only the church can take people who are bored and broken and
turn them into saints and stewards and workers and worshipers."
The Evangelical Covenant Church of Tucson will host its second Friend to
Friend Sunday on September 12 as it builds toward its 40th anniversary.
For more about
the church and its ministries, call Johnson at 520-885-3192.
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