Covenant News
Kingdom Builders-Frontier Friends to Mark 50 Years
CHICAGO, IL (September 18, 2002) - Kingdom Builders-Frontier Friends will celebrate its 50 years of ministry with a sponsorship drive to coincide with Kingdom Builders-Frontier Friends Sunday on January 19.Since 1952, Kingdom Builders-Frontier Friends (previously known as Frontier Friends) has raised approximately $6,575,000 to help Covenant churches and special projects of the Covenant further God's kingdom in their community. The average grant for recent projects is $25,000.
The Department of Church Growth and Evangelism's Kingdom Builders -Frontier Friends coordinator, Rob Hall, is hoping to increase its 6,000-unit base of support by another 411 in the coming months - one for each building appeal made during the past 50 years.
"When I speak about the program, I stress that it is the Covenant family helping each other," said Hall. "Most Kingdom Builders-Frontier Friends never even see the church that they are supporting, but they give to help a family member to witness to the gospel." Approved at the June 1951 Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church, Frontier Friends was founded in May 1952 through the denomination's Department of Home Missions (now the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism). Its fundraising drive began in September of that year. Eldon Palmquist served as the chairman of the initial Frontier Friends committee meeting while F. Burton Nelson served as secretary.
The first Frontier Friends fundraising project was earmarked for Mission Covenant Church in Billings, Montana, in November 1952. The second appeal went for the Evangelical Covenant Church of Hastings, Nebraska, a month later.
The original goal for Frontier Friends was to enlist 5,000 Covenanters to help finance a number of building projects. After a year, the committee hoped to have 10,000 enlisted. Supporters were asked to give at least one dollar for each appeal made during a year (the maximum number of appeals annually was 12). It became obvious after a short time that the project would receive plenty of help from Covenanters.
In a Covenant Weekly newspaper article dated September 5, 1952, incoming committee Chair Emil R. Bolin noted the rapid growth of support for the new organization, stating that 6,000 enrollments were made in the first few months of fundraising. The support was significant. By the close of 1953, 10 appeals had been made with Frontier Friends contributions averaging $7,448 per church. A total of 8,349 supporting units contributed.
During recent years, two Covenant congregations - Hallelujah Covenant Church in Des Plaines, Illinois, and Biwabik, Minnesota - have benefited greatly from Kingdom Builders-Frontier Friends. The Biwabik congregation has used funding to rebuild its facility after an arson fire destroyed the previous church building four years ago. Hallelujah Covenant was able to buy a new building for its growing congregation, increasing its ministry potential in the Chicagoland area.
For more information about Kingdom Builders-Frontier Friends and its anniversary events, call Hall at 773-907-3341 or email him at kingdombuilders@covchurch.org. The program's web site can be accessed at www.covchurch.org under Kingdom Builders on the pull-down menu on the home page.
Printable version of this page.