Covenant News

San Francisco's First Covenant Marks 125 Years of Ministry

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 24, 2002) - First Covenant Church in San Francisco hosted a 125th anniversary weekend October 18-20 with David Larsen, a previous pastor at the church, preaching on Saturday and Sunday.

More than 400 attended the weekend activities, some coming from as far as Florida and Pennsylvania, said pastor Dennis Anderson. Other special guests included Pacific Southwest Conference Supt. Evelyn M.R. Johnson, as well as previous pastors Bryan Jeffrey Leech, Elmer Pearson and Mike Ryan.

The church hosted a grand concert and reception last Friday to begin the anniversary weekend. On Saturday, Larsen spoke at the congregation's grand banquet at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Union Square and then again at the church's 11 a.m. Sunday morning worship service. The congregation closed out the weekend with an evening songfest as members and previous members shared their memories of the church.

First Covenant is the oldest church in the Pacific Southwest Conference, which celebrated its 100th anniversary as a conference in 2002. It was one of six Covenant churches in California to start what is now the Pacific Southwest Conference. Representatives from San Francisco, Oakland, Fresno, Los Angeles, San Jose and Kingsburg met in Kingsburg in 1902 for the first conference meeting.

Allen and Marvel Johnson wrote a history of the church, reporting that the church officially began in October of 1877 as the Swedish Tabernacle of San Francisco. Rev. Carl Anderson became the first full-time pastor in 1886 and helped start an extensive home group ministry. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 destroyed the "Swedish Tabernacle" and one year later the congregation's members, with little resources, constructed their current facility.

For more information about First Covenant, call pastor Anderson at 415-431-8755 or email him at sf1stcov@aol.com.

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