|
Home
Sports Opened Door to Life-Changing Moment
ROCKLIN, CA (December 15, 2004) - Youth ministry offerings are an important
part of the process of planting a church, but one church planting pastor
discovered that relationship building cannot be overestimated as
congregations consider various programming needs.
Greg Krieger, church planter at Rock Harbor in Northern California, has
been a volunteer coach for a Pee Wee football team this fall as he
sought to get to know his neighbors. One of his players was Taylor, the
only girl competing in the league. Krieger admitted
that he was unsure how the girl would fit in with his other players, but
the 10-year-old finished the season and was intrigued by her coach and
his full-time job. The on-the-field interaction has led to something off
the field that has been life changing.
"Recently, on a Sunday morning, the phone rang at 9 a.m.," said Krieger
in a recent article on the Pacific Southwest Conference (PSWC) web page.
"It was Taylor with the question, 'Coach Krieger, how do I get to
church?' She had her mom drop her off later. That morning, Taylor was
one of 13 or 14 people who raised their hands indicating they had
committed to follow Christ - just as the jailor in the morning scripture
and message had done. Taylor came back the following week with three
friends!
"Honestly, I didn't know what to think about a girl playing tackle
football on the team
this year," Krieger continued. "God got in my grill and let me know . .
. there was a lot more than football going on out there."
Youth and young adults are important to ministries throughout the
Evangelical Covenant Church, as evidenced by the activities reflected in
the more than 250 local church newsletters received each month by
Covenant Communications. The following news notes are presented by
conference and region.
CENTRAL
- Chicago, Illinois: Edgebrook Covenant Church's Desiree Baaken of
Maine South High School in Park Ridge was part of a concert tour through
her school that performed in New York this fall. Meanwhile, Lane Tech
High School's Stephanie Hughes finished 10th in the regionally known
Sean Earl Loyola Invitational girls high school cross country event in
Chicago. She later qualified for the Illinois State Class AA girls cross
country championships and finished 32nd overall.
- Chicago, Illinois: Ravenswood Evangelical Covenant Church's Meghan
Hodgkinson was named Most Valuable Player for her Von Steuben High
School girls
volleyball team.
- Stillman Valley, Illinois: Valley Covenant Church students Scott
Adams, Travis Bond, Thomas Debnam, Jim Feimster, Matt Flowers, Angie
Huber, Joey Smith,
Courtney Bond, Bill Clift, Aaron Deets, John Feimster, Sarah Hillis,
Carla Huber and Nicole Stukenberg were on the first quarter honor roll
at Byron High School. Another student, Bradley Allen Pierson, was
presented with his Eagle Scout award as the Boy Scouts of America's
highest honor in November.
- Green Lake, Wisconsin: Around 500 high school students from the
Central Conference gathered at an event called "Rise Up – Jesustyle
2004" from November 5-7.
The speaker for the retreat was Steve Gerali and he told about teenagers
in the Bible such as Mary, David and Daniel. Seth Lindberg helped
provide worship leading with help from a multitalented band.
ECCAK
- Eagle River, Alaska: Community Covenant Church's Club 56 (fifth and
sixth grade) youth group purchased 10 turkeys and collected enough food
in less than two hours to donate eight Thanksgiving meals to the needy.
Others donated more food and eventually 13 food baskets were delivered
to families in the area.
- Soldotna, Alaska: Alaska Christian College (ACC) reported in a
recent email update that the school's first official college graduate
recently finished his education at North Park University in Chicago and
had his commencement ceremony on December 10. Adam London of Arvada
Covenant Church in Colorado was a Youth Ministry major at North Park
after receiving the Student of the Year Award in the first ACC graduating
class 2002. London is set to begin an extended internship back at ACC
during the school's winter term, serving at ACC's admissions office. In
other news, ACC president Keith Hamilton said that ACC will be
increasing the number of faculty with master's
degrees. He asked for prayer that two teachers needing additional
schooling will be able to find the means to do this over the course of
the next three years. ACC is also looking for someone who can assist
with summer food service needs. "Eight teams have committed to
volunteering for a week or more this summer. We also need a full team of
people to host the visiting groups. Pray for our remaining weeks to be
filled with teams," added Hamilton. "We have written a grant to expand
our library as it is necessary that we have up to 15,000 volumes by
2007, which requires us to expand our current library by up to 2,000
square feet. Our dining hall project is on schedule and some building is
being done off site even this winter in preparation for teams this
summer. We now have 10
buildings on our campus since our original purchase of that first
building almost four years ago."
GREAT LAKES
- Jamestown, New York: First Covenant Church youth pastor Dan
Soderberg stated that a youth ministry to schools called "Impact" has
been active in seven local campuses, including five high schools and a
pair of middle schools. Dan Nikolich of Zion Covenant Church has been a
youth leader heavily involved with the ministry. Soderberg said the
groups gather to pray, read scripture and even spend time in worship.
Local pastors have also visited campus to speak and service projects
have been offered to students. About 300 students are attending and
Soderberg added that about one-third have no church affiliation.
Students at First Covenant serving as chapter leaders include Courtney
Charles, Zach Hnatyszyn, Heather Soderberg and Luke Alport-Cohoon.
MIDSOUTH
- Tulsa, Oklahoma: Redeemer Covenant Church's John Clark is a starting
forward on the Bucknell men's basketball team, which has a 5-4 record
after nine games. Clark
recently scored 11 points in a win over Yale University. John's sister
Christy was a middle hitter on the University of North Carolina's
women's volleyball team this fall.
MIDWEST
- Mason City, Iowa: First Covenant Church's Noelle Peterson is a
reserve forward for the Truman State University women's basketball team,
which plays in the NCAA's Division II classification and is located in
Kirksville, Missouri.
- Salina, Kansas: Sean Pietrzyk was a starting defensive player for
the Salina South High School football team that recently won the Kansas
High School State High School Class 5A football title in Topeka. His
team defeated two unbeaten teams en route to the
championship. They finished 10-3 overall.
NORTH PACIFIC
- Seattle, Washington: First Covenant Church youth coordinator Kirsten
Bengston wrote that more than 200 students were part of a North Pacific
junior high retreat this fall. The event included games, devotions and a
talent show, among other things. The youth group has worked on a
modern-day version of the Genesis story of Joseph and his brothers.
- Yakima, Washington: Jan Carlson of Wiley Heights Covenant Church was
recently accepted to the Yakima Symphony Chorus, singing in performances
in November
and December at the Capitol Theatre.
NORTHWEST
- Mankato, Minnesota: The Evangelical Covenant Church of Mankato
recently was part of a junior high fall weekend retreat that included
helping an organization called "Kids Against Hunger" serve meals to feed
7,000 children. The group also went to a Friday night concert. Youth
(more than 30 people in all) also participated in its annual "Rake the
Town" event, raking leaves for their neighbors on a rainy day. The
senior high students also participated in a short mission trip to
Chicago, learning about different
religious groups, social systems and how to evangelize to
non-Christians, among other things. They also helped people in a
homeless shelter.
- Minneapolis, Minnesota: Meta Swanson of Bethlehem Covenant Church
was awarded a role with the Lakeville City Ballet's 2004 version of
"Nutcracker," a
traditional Christmas performance held in November. She was part of the
Spanish dance ensemble, said a recent newsletter note.
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST
- Tucson, Arizona: Jai Atkielski, youth pastor at the Evangelical
Covenant Church of Tucson, stated that youth from his church – along
with help from Cheri Fagan and Bill Foster - fed the homeless during
Thanksgiving season and the group is hosting students
from a local high school for a Free Finals Food (FFF) breakfast in
December. A building project on the property for an athletic facility
includes a volleyball pit and refurbished basketball court.
- San Jose, California: The First Covenant Church Youth Volleyball
League has been a strong outreach to the local community, said associate
pastor Jeff Budd as the most recent season included 60 participants and
12 leaders. Currently, the participant total doubles what it was in the
spring of 2003. The church recently had a barbecue meal for students and
their families after church
- Santa Barbara, California: Montecito Covenant Church's Andy Aijian,
a senior at Bishop Diego High School, was one of 34,000 students
nationwide to be named a
National Merit Commended Scholar by the 2005 National Merit Scholarship
Program. Students receive the honor by scoring in the top five percent
on the Pre-Scholastic Achievement Test, which is taken during the fall
of one's junior year of high school.
To learn more about Covenant youth and youth programs throughout the
Covenant, regularly visit this Covenant online news report at
www.covchurch.org. To send information for consideration in this report,
email Covenant Communications at newsdesk@covchurch.org.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
|
|
|
