Covenant News

Rodney Sawyer Nominated for ECCAK Position

EAGLE RIVER, AK (July 18, 2002) - Rodney Sawyer, pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Bethel, Alaska, has been nominated by the Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska (ECCAK) Search Committee to replace Paul Wilson as region field director.

Delegates will meet in October in Anchorage to vote on Sawyer's nomination, according to Gary Walter, executive minister of the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Sawyer has been appointed by the ECCAK General Council to serve as part-time ECCAK coordinator until the fall election. The accompanying photo shows Sawyer illustrating one of the attractions for which the Alaskan region is well-known.

Sawyer has served as Bethel's pastor during a five-year period of considerable growth for the congregation, leading the effort to purchase a former Alaska Airlines terminal building for ministry purposes.

Bethel is a community of 7,000 that serves as a cultural bridge between village churches and communities in and around the city of Anchorage. The community of Bethel is also a medical and transportation hub for western Alaska.

A member of the ECCAK General Council, Sawyer was a pastor in Beloit, Wisconsin, for two decades before heading to Alaska and becoming part of the Covenant. He and his wife, Nancy, have two grown children.

"Rodney is a wise leader with a servant's heart," Walter said. "He is respected by pastors and lay people alike for his commitment to Christ's work and the issues in the state of Alaska."

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