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Newest East Coast Conference Church Also the Oldest
SPRINGFIELD, MA (May 4, 2006) - The newest Evangelical Covenant church in the
East Coast Conference is also the oldest.
St. Paul's Wolf's Covenant Church in York, Pennsylvania, was adopted and
received into membership during the conference's Annual Meeting last
weekend. German immigrants formed the congregation in 1763. The church
formerly was a member of the United Church of Christ. "It has a lot of
history, a lot of energy, and a warm embrace," says retiring Conference
Supt. Robert Dvorak.
At the conference, delegates also received four other churches, elected
Howard K. Burgoyne to be its new superintendent, and celebrated Dvorak's
ministry.
The Covenant planted three of the new churches:
- Queenswest Covenant Church is located in Long Island, New York. The
church launched in 2004 and has an average attendance of 100. Peter Sung
is the pastor. Queenswest meets at a local high school.
- Metro Community Church is located in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and was
launched in 2004. Establishment of the new congregation came about
through a partnership of the East Coast Conference, the Department of
Church Growth and Evangelism, and NewSong Covenant Church in Irvine,
California. The new church has an average attendance of 140. The church
meets at the Jewish Community Center. Peter Ahn is the pastor.
- Brooklyn Covenant Ministries is located in Brooklyn, New York, and
has an average attendance of 55. Conway Boyce is the pastor.
In addition to St. Paul's, the other adoption was Cornerstone Church of
Boston, which launched in 2004 as an independent congregation. About 230
attend worship services each week. It currently rents space from The
Church of the Covenant, a landmark building that is more than 200 years
old.
Dvorak says he is excited that the three plants are multi-cultural
congregations. Two of them, Metro Community and Queenswest, have a large
Asian population. Cornerstone has large student and Asian American
populations.
Burgoyne will begin his duties September 1. Conference participants
feted Dvorak during a dinner on Friday night. "I've meet such wonderful
people," says Dvorak of his tenure. "I love the churches. This is the
conference for me."
However, "it's time for me to go," he quickly adds. "The conference is
going to do well with new energy."
Ninety-three delegates represented 47 churches.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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