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Grand Rapids (MI) Church Celebrates 125 Years
GRAND RAPIDS, MI (June 16, 2005) - First Covenant Church celebrated its
125-year anniversary Sunday with a drama re-enacting the signing of the
charter of the Svenska Missions Friends Church.
Several members portrayed the founders and how they met in their homes
for five years before signing the charter. Five years later, in 1885,
the church became one of the initial congregations to comprise the
Evangelical Covenant Church.
The congregation supports 44 full-time Covenant missionaries in addition
to many short-term missionaries and 14 local outreach ministries. The
congregation also has helped to plant three churches in the Grand Rapids
area: Thornapple, Redeemer and Fellowship. Cumulative attendance of the
four churches is more than 1,500.
The church has refocused ministry several times. The congregation moved
to the northwest side of town in the 1960s. The church also helped found
Portage Lake Covenant Bible Camp. In the 1970s, as racial tensions
escalated at Union High School, across the street from the church, the
congregation started "Bridge," a ministry that saw many teens come to
Christ and serve as peacemakers in the school.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
