New Laotian Church Being Planted in Minnesota

The church will be called the Laotian Covenant Church of Brooklyn Center, according to Mark Stromberg, the director of church development for the Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Brookdale Covenant is converting its former youth room to a parsonage for a Laotian pastor, Soudinh Penkhay, who brought a core group of Laotians to Brookdale Covenant in August 1998. Penkhay and his new ministry will be financed in cooperation with the church and the Northwest Conference. Most of the Laotians speak their native language, but the children use English as their first language, said Brookdale Covenant pastor Timothy Johnson.

"We believe the establishment of this core group as a new church will allow the group to be more focused in its outreach ministry to other Laotian people in the north metro area of the Twin Cities, of which there are many," said Stromberg. "It will also provide the necessary funding and resourcing to allow Pastor Penkhay to minister full-time as he seeks to lead this congregation."

Penkhay had previously been in ministry in Thailand and then (after arriving in the United States in 1987) in California before leading a Laotian Baptist congregation in the Twin Cities. He has been working full-time outside of ministry recently while serving as president of the Lao Association of Churches of Minnesota.

"I believe that the Lord has spoken to me regarding my decision to serve Him among the Laotian people here," said Penkhay. "I feel peace and encouragement unlike anything I have experienced in the past."

Brookdale Covenant was organized in 1899 as the Camden Covenant Church, according to statistics taken from the Covenant Yearbook. The church has a membership of around 300 and averages 250 in worship attendance. Career missionaries Jody LeVahn and Harry Westberg grew up in the church and the congregation has kept a mission mindset throughout its history, said Johnson.

"One of the things it's done is help the church come to terms with what Brooklyn Center is - a population that is heavily Asian and African (primarily from Liberia)," said Johnson. "We already have seven Liberians who are members and another four or five who attend church. Brookdale Covenant has always been globally minded and there has been a big commitment to World Mission.

"I think that same commitment is being structurally changed because people from Asia and Africa are coming to Brooklyn Center," Johnson continued. "We're poised for a very interesting ministry here and we have a unique opportunity to be multi-ethnic and multigenerational."

For more information on the church and its new Laotian congregation, call Brookdale Covenant at 763-535-6305.

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