Grandby (CT) to Celebrate Centennial in October

East Coast Conference Supt. Robert C. Dvorak will be part of the morning worship service October 6.

The church is planning a meal where all will dress in period costume of the Granby farmers and villagers of 1902. After the dinner, there will be a variety show similar to a "Prairie Home Companion" format. There will also be outdoor games from the 1902 era for children and adults. Previous pastors and youth pastors from the church are being invited as special guests.

Pilgrim Covenant, located in a town of 9,000 in north central Connecticut, has already been highlighting several "Centennial Moments" during the worship services throughout 2002. The church will has also produced a rotating Centennial display in the church foyer.

Swedish settlers helped found Pilgrim Covenant, getting assistance from what is now a Covenant church in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts. The church was founded in 1902 as the Swedish Christians of North Granby and its first pastor, John Thunberg, arrived in 1903. Services were conducted in Swedish until 1932. The church became an official Covenant congregation at the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1965.

Pilgrim Covenant had a significant growth in numbers during the 1970s and 1980s, more than doubling its worship attendance. The current congregation averages about 150 in worship attendance under interim Pastor Robert McNaughton.

For more information about Pilgrim Covenant and its fall centennial event, call the church at 860-653-3800.

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