Covenant News

Minneapolis Church Plant to Begin Services in Spring

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (March 11, 2003) - The Sanctuary Covenant Church, a new church plant, will begin preview services in the spring with hopes of beginning weekly services later this summer in North Minneapolis.

The new church, under pastor Efrem Smith, is a collaborative effort through the Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism, Twin Cities Covenant congregations and several non-Covenant churches that see the need for urban ministry in the area.

Smith was an associate pastor at Park Avenue Methodist Church and executive director of Park Avenue Foundation, a community development initiative based out of the church. Smith, a former youth pastor, is also a national speaker for Youth Specialties, based in El Cajon, California. Mark Stromberg, director of church development for the Northwest Conference, and Don Davenport, associate director of Church Planting for Church Growth and Evangelism, began in earnest to discuss a church plant last fall.

Both Efrem Smith and his wife, Donecia, have a heart for urban ministry, having grown up in Minneapolis. They hope to reach a younger generation of unchurched people while being relevant to the ethnic diversity of the city. Smith began his work with the church plant in January with core development work, said Stromberg. It is hoped that a grand opening service will be ready in the fall at a local middle school or high school. Prayer meetings and social events are already being coordinated.

"The purpose of this new church plant is to reconcile the people of the city to God and to one another," Stromberg said. "The vision (for The Sanctuary Covenant Church) is to be an African American led, multi-ethnic and holistic church with the capacity to address the issues, barriers and challenges of the city, specifically in the African American community. Please join with us in prayer as the development of this much-needed ministry in the city of Minneapolis takes shape."

For more information about The Sanctuary Covenant Church and its ministry vision, call Smith at 612-730-1668 or Stromberg at 612-721-4893. The church website is www.sanctuarycovenant.org.

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