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Nearly 200 Join in Covenant Point's 75th Anniversary Event
IRON RIVER, MI (July 12, 2001) - By Beth Fredrickson
Nearly 200 people shared in the celebration of Covenant Point Bible Camp's 75th anniversary during festivities this past weekend, with the morning worship service providing one of the highlights of the event.
Lon Allison, director of evangelism for the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton, Illinois, challenged his listeners to take hold of the "grand idea" that is Jesus Christ and to make him known in special places like Covenant Point, but also in the familiar everyday places like home, work and school.
Allison, formerly associated with the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism of the Evangelical Covenant Church, was the speaker during the previous week's senior high camp. A total of 115 students participated in that program, making it Covenant Point's largest-ever senior high camp. At the Thursday evening campfire service, 15 students made first-time commitments of faith in Jesus Christ and 75 rededicated their lives to discipleship.
The celebration service also featured an historical remembrance by Alan Bjorkman, the camp's first full-time director and currently associate professor of biology at North Park University in Chicago. Bjorkman, who served as camp director for 16 years, recalled the drive into camp for his first day of work April 1, 1975. He found the camp van with four flat tires and no gas cap setting in the middle of the parking lot, surrounded by 13 inches of snow.
"It was not a great beginning," he said, "but it was the start of 16 wonderful years." He said he considered the land, buildings and property simply as tools to further a greater end, which was "affecting people's lives here, now and for all eternity." He chronicled the camp's origin and
expansion and praised its current staff for strong leadership and vision.
Current Executive Director Chuck Frasier welcomed worshippers and invited them to participate in the many activities. Craig Anderson, associate superintendent of the Central Conference, brought greetings from the 103 conference churches. He expressed gratitude for the camp's sound, expanding ministry and promised the conference's continued support in the future. The praise band from Community Covenant Church in Carlshend, Michigan, led the music.
A baptismal service held in Hagerman Lake, a feast of roast pork, games, swimming, banana boat rides, tours of the camp's facilities, an old-fashioned hymn sing, a look at photos collected since the camp's founding in 1926, and cake and ice cream filled out the day. Warm fellowship characterized each moment as former campers, volunteers, current and former staff and faithful
supporters greeted one another under sunny blue skies.
Covenant Point was founded by the Young People's Association of the Great Lakes District in 1926. Summer tent meetings comprised its first years of ministry, giving way to weeklong summer camping programs in the 1930s. Over the years, as the camp has acquired additional property and expanded its facilities, staff and programs, it has blossomed into a year-round Christian camp and retreat center. Almost 3,000 people annually participate in a camping, retreat, outdoor education or other learning program.
Covenant Point is one of two camps owned and operated by the churches of the Central Conference. Its sister camp, Covenant Harbor, is located in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Together, the camps minister to nearly 25,000 people each year.
For more information about Covenant Point, visit the camp's web site at www.cpbc.com or call
906-265-2117.
(Editor's note: Fredrickson, who was vice moderator at this year's 116th Annual Meeting, is the editor of the "Central Conference Covenanter.")
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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