Covenant News - Pacific Southwest Conference Office to Relocate

Covenant News

Pacific Southwest Conference Office to Relocate

SANTA BARBARA, CA (May 12, 2000) - The Pacific Southwest Conference (PSWC) office is scheduled to relocate to a northern California site, it was announced during the conference annual meeting at Montecito Covenant Church.

The office is now located in LaVerne near Los Angeles. It is expected the new location will be in Contra Costa County, though a specific site is yet to be determined. Some staff changes are also anticipated as part of the move, including addition of a second church planter and a southern California regional administrator.

John Notehelfer and his wife Miriam Theme of the conference was Catch the Next Wave, although the PSWC seems to have already done more than its share of "surfing for souls" in recent years. In 1999, PSWC churches posted an average attendance of 30,730, continuing a steady cycle of growth. More than 1,000 individuals became Christians at recent conference church plants last year, a tribute to the work of outgoing Supt. John Notehelfer, who considers all churches as "mission outposts."

Superintendent-elect Evelyn Johnson encouraged the 182 delegates representing 56 churches to continue the good work of her predecessor as she presented A Vision For Mission: 2001 And Beyond. Notehelfer served 13 years as superintendent, helping the conference grow to 109 churches and nearly double its church attendance. He and wife Miriam (see accompanying photo) were honored at an opening-night worship session with Adam Edgerly, PSWC director of church planting, preaching.

"God has been so good to us in these many years of ministry," Notehelfer said. "I certainly know where the action is – it's where you're sitting – the front lines, the 109 churches of this conference, you who keep lifting up Jesus Christ as the savior of this world. It feels good and right to hand off the baton to Evelyn (Johnson) and the team that is building to catch the next wave."

Six new churches, all in California, were affirmed by the PSWC as they seek membership approval during the 115th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 22-25. They include: Southbay Community Church in Fremont; the Church at Long Beach; Salem Iglesia del Pacto Evangelico in Los Angeles; Emmanual Independent Christian Church in Oakland; The Bridge, located in Riverbank; and Shiloh Community Church in Windsor.

Printable version of this page.