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Sunday Concert to Benefit Covenant Pastor
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (August 18, 2004) - Sunday evening, a group of Evangelical
Covenant churches will demonstrate just how much they care for one of
their beloved citizens as they present a benefit concert to help
underwrite the cost of medical care for that individual.
The concert, dubbed "Putting on the Ritz for Carleton," will be
presented at 6 p.m. at Minnehaha Academy and will benefit Carleton
Peterson, an ordained Covenant pastor who was diagnosed with
adnocarcinoma in February. It is only one of many ways that Peterson has
felt the support of those around him, although the community's latest
effort is pretty special.
"I'm sort of in awe of the whole thing," said the 61-year-old Peterson,
who attends Excelsior Covenant Church with his wife, Judy (the
children's minister) and family. "It's humbling as can be and it's the
way the church ought to be. It's the church being the church. Two weeks
ago, I was leaving for church and the police called asking if I'd do a
death notification, so I didn't go to my church. I went to a Lutheran
church instead. It was the middle of the service and they were praying
for me. I've also heard about other churches that are praying for me.
I've heard this has been going on all over, including from missionaries
throughout the world."
Peterson has been an ordained pastor since 1970. He served 14 years at a
Covenant church in Bellingham, Washington, before planting Eagan
Evangelical Covenant Church in the mid-1980s. He was there for 12 years
and also served as a police chaplain in town. Since 1997, he's been in
corporate and professional coaching, working primarily with executives
and leaders focusing on issues pertaining to individual and team
excellence in
the workplace. He's also served as an interim pastor in the Twin Cities
and has become involved in prison ministry. His service to the Twin
Cities and beyond has been noticed.
Life hasn't been easy for the pastor/consultant. His wife, Beverly, died
of cancer in 1980 and cancer has taken its toll on his body, too.
Following the original diagnosis (he had first discovered a small lump
under his chin last fall), Peterson has been through three surgeries and
35 days of radiation. He's due for another surgery next month. However,
Peterson says he has been getting great reports from doctors and says
the support he has experienced throughout the past seven months is the
silver lining on the recent dark cloud of suffering.
Carleton has written a journal of his experiences that can be found
online at www.caringbridge.org/mn/carletonp. The site has received more
than 12,000 hits and the notes of encouragement have truly been healing,
he says, as has the wonderful gesture by the community, though he admits
agreeing to the benefit concert felt awkward at first. "Early on, I said
that if anyone was interested in journeying through this disease with
me, that I'd welcome it," said Peterson about why he began writing his
online journal. "I also wanted to maximize my ability to heal – I've
been fascinated by the church and healing for 25 years (he started a
healing ministry in Bellingham that is still blessing parishioners). I
was driven into it because my wife, Beverly, died from cancer . . . and
it just seems to me that the church ought to have those healing gifts
used somewhere. One of the circles I run in is with the Unidos en Cristo
(a renewal movement started by the Catholic Church that has become an
ecumenical ministry in the Twin Cities). Six people from that group
asked if they could do a benefit for me. I told them that I was doing
fine, but how can you say to people that they can't be generous and kind?"
Minnehaha Academy is located at 3100 W. River Parkway in Minneapolis.
Performers at the event will include Covenanters Bob Stromberg, who
co-stars in the nationally known comedy Triple Espresso, and Paul
and Tim Frantzich and their band Pardoned.
To learn more about the concert and Peterson's story, call Excelsior
Covenant Church at
952-474-2537, extension 3.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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