Covenant News

Rodney Sawyer Elected New Field Director for ECCAK

EAGLE RIVER, AK (October 21, 2002) - Rodney Sawyer, pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Bethel, Alaska, has been unanimously elected by delegates to be the new field director of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska (ECCAK), replacing Paul Wilson.

Sawyer had been appointed by the ECCAK General Council to serve as part-time ECCAK coordinator until the fall election., said Gary Walter, executive minister of the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Sawyer 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.

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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