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ECCAK Annual Meeting Honors Field Director Paul Wilson
BETHEL, AK (April 17, 2002) - Delegates discussed a future replacement for
outgoing field director Paul Wilson during the annual meeting of the
Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska (ECCAK) April 10-14.
The regional annual meeting, held at Evangelical Covenant Church of Bethel,
also included a party for Wilson and his wife, Kathy. Wilson will conclude
his service as field director July 1. Prior to the business portion of the
annual meeting, Dr. Larry Severson led a two-day training session to help
leaders deal with abuse inside and outside of
the church.
Although a clear-cut candidate to replace Wilson has not been found, a
10-person field director search committee is in place, according to a
progress report given at the annual meeting. If a candidate is found before
July 1, a special meeting will be called to approve the candidate and funds
will be made available to have complete church representation. If no
candidate emerges before Wilson's term ends, the region's General Council
will appoint an interim ECCAK coordinator to give administrative support
until a field director is found.
Wilson described his eight years as field director "a wonderful honor." He
thanked co-directors Wassilie Mute, Nathan Toots and Curtis Ivanoff for
their service to the region. He said he had been blessed to watch the
ministry team staff in the region's churches rise from 15 to 50 during his
tenure and rise up in its service to God and the region.
"I have never seen such sacrifice," said Wilson in his written report to
delegates. "I have never seen such commitment to mission. I have never seen
such unity in the Spirit. I have never experienced so much camaraderie. For
the balance of my life, I will be deeply grateful for having served with
such a team."
Wilson also praised the upgraded educational opportunities for young people
in Alaska. A new ECCAK-sponsored Alaska Christian College will have its
first graduation ceremonies May 5 with 18 students from four states and 11
ethnic groups finishing a year of Bible education. The school has been
further strengthened by the recent addition of Dr. Cheryl Davis as director
of advancement and academic dean.
At the graduate level, Regent College has partnered with ECCAK to provide
20 Covenanters with Masters degree courses in theology. The classes are
offered at Community Covenant Church in Eagle River.
The ECCAK annual meeting celebrated four special guests from Greenland who
visited Alaska with Danish Covenant Church (DCC) mission board member
Freddy Mortenson. The Greenland contingent included Josef Moerch, Nikoline
Moerch, Kristian Henningsen and Bertheline Henningsen.
ECCAK team members Nathan Toots, Jeff Siemers, Eva Oyoumick and Tom Mute
went to Greenland and Denmark last spring to learn about the Eskimos in
Greenland and ministries occurring there. It is hoped that increased
mission work in Greenland (which began in 1981) will include a combination
of ECCAK and DCC workers.
"During the visit in Greenland it was obvious that there are a lot of
similarities between the cultures in Greenland and the Eskimo cultures of
Alaska," said Mortenson, who visited the group in Ilulissat, the original
site of Greenland mission work by the DCC. "The languages are different but
the language structures are alike, and we found out that a
lot of words are the same."
In other news from the region:
- Phil and Jonna Axelson announced he will resign from First Evangelical
Covenant Church in Anchorage for family reasons. Phil Axelson has been
senior pastor at the church since 1994 and has been in ministry for more
than 40 years. Jonna Axelson, the Covenant Women Ministries president of
ECCAK, has served as music director at the church.
- Kalskag Bible Chapel, which serves the Upper and Lower Kalskag villages
in the Kuskokwim district of southwest Alaska, was accepted by ECCAK
delegates as a new Covenant church. The congregation will officially become
part of the denomination by vote of delegates at the denomination's June
Annual Meeting in Keystone, Colorado. If approved, Kalskag Bible Church
would be the 19th congregation in the ECCAK region.
- Golovin Covenant Church is remodeling its previous parsonage as part of
a Native American Construction Apprentice program. The Kowarek Corporation
uses the project as a tool for apprentices, giving the church a refurbished
building to use for a minimal construction cost. Three other churches -
First Evangelical Covenant in Anchorage, Hooper Bay Covenant in Hooper Bay
and Community Covenant in Eagle River - are
also engaged in building projects.
- A college ministry called "Quest" has been implemented by New Song
Covenant Church in Anchorage as a way to reach students at the University
of Alaska-Anchorage. Developed with the aid of youth pastor T.J. Smith of
the Covenant Youth of Alaska ministry team, Quest has been helped by a
local InterVarsity Christian Fellowship group. More about Quest can be
found by viewing the ECCAK website at www.alaska.net/~eccak.
For more information about the ECCAK annual meeting or other ECCAK
ministries, call staff at 907-694-6348 or email the regional office at
eccak@alaska.net.
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