Covenant News

Harbert (MI) Church Marks 75 Years of Ministry

HARBERT, MI (March 18, 2003) - Harbert Community Church began its celebration of 75 years of ministry with a special worship service last Sunday. Guests included Dick Lucco, superintendent of the Great Lake Conference, who gave the morning sermon, according to pastor Joel Kruggel.

Harbert Community Church, an Evangelical Covenant Church, evolved as Swedish workers in the Chicago area spent summers in small towns off Lake Michigan in Michigan and had weekend tabernacle services. Strong local women's groups and Sunday schools in the 1920s helped lead the way for the fledgling congregation.

Numerous Covenant pastors served the church over the years with Harbert Community Covenant joining the Covenant in 1981 with a membership of 204 under pastor Ron Magnuson. The current membership is 220.

Kruggel said the church will use the year-long 75th anniversary celebration as a community builder in April. A Palm Sunday service on April 13 and the Easter service on April 20 will focus on reaching the surrounding area.

A Swedish pancake breakfast and silent auction in early May will benefit students heading to the Covenant's high school conference (CHIC2K3) this summer. A June 14 banquet will be held at the church and a day later Evangelical Covenant Church President Glenn R. Palmberg will be the guest preacher. Three former pastors - Ron Magnuson, Nathan Pawl and Arnie Bolin - will also speak in the coming months as the celebration continues.

In recent months, the church has run a thriving Alpha program and Kruggel said that a large contingent of senior adults have aided the community in various ways from tutoring children to building a local school to serving an AIDS orphanage near Nairobi, Kenya. One parishioner has made 12 mission trips to Jamaica.

For more information about the church and its upcoming events, call Kruggel at 269-426-4321.

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