Covenant News

Palmberg Preaches 50th Anniversary Service at Rockford

ROCKFORD, IL (May 22, 2002) - Glenn R. Palmberg, president of the Evangelical Covenant Church, was the guest preacher as nearly 350 attended the worship service last Sunday celebrating the 50th anniversary of Broadway Covenant Church in Rockford.

The congregation began its festivities May 18 with an afternoon slide presentation in the Broadway Covenant Church sanctuary. Later that evening, nearby First Covenant Church helped host Broadway's "Remembering Our Past" celebration dessert. On Sunday, more than 60 members from past choirs, directed by Broadway Covenant's previous choir director Maxine Haney, sang at the worship service. The church hosted a brunch following morning worship.

Broadway Covenant was organized with the help of First Covenant, which developed a significant Sunday school ministry in the Broadway neighborhood. The church was formally established in 1952 with 52 founding members. Under pastor J. Robert Hjelm, the congregation embarked on a building project two years later and, after completing the first phase in 1955, expanded the facility two times during the following 12 years.

Hjelm became a professor at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago and died in April 1999. Hjelm's wife, Marilyn, and two sons and their families attended the weekend events.

Throughout the history of Broadway Covenant, there have been sons and daughters of the church whose spiritual roots thrived in various confirmation, Sunday school and youth programs. Those individuals who went on to become pastors or Covenant administrators include Thomas Anderson, Community Covenant Church in Shawnee, Kansas; Kendall Dahlstrom, Evangelical Covenant Church in South Bend, Indiana; Mark Pearson, Christ Evangelical Covenant Church in Portland, Maine; Don Holmertz, Valley Evangelical Covenant Church in Stillman Valley, Illinois; and Dr. Mary C. Miller, vice president of administration for the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Dick Rasanen is currently the pastor with worship attendance averaging nearly 200. This summer, the church will begin a neighborhood reading program called "Bookin' Through the Summer at Broadway," which will serve grade school children. The Central Conference has given the church some grant money for the endeavor, which will continue for eight consecutive Monday mornings during the summer.

For more information about Broadway Covenant, call pastor Dick Rasanen at 815-399-9296.

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