Covenant News

Event to Honor Retirement of Jim Swanson

PLANTATION, FL (May 20, 2003) - Jim Swanson, a chaplain at Covenant Village of Florida since 1996, will be honored Tuesday (May 27) at an event to commemorate his retirement from full-time ministry.

Swanson graduated from Chicago's North Park Theological Seminary in 1967 and was ordained by the Covenant a year later. He began continuous full-time ministry as pastor at what is now Faith Covenant Church in Farmington Hills. He then served in Kewanee, Illinois, at Calvary Covenant Church, Cranston, Rhode Island, and Community Covenant Church in Springfield, Virginia. Following 10 years in Virginia, he served at the Evangelical Covenant Church in Buffalo, New York, before taking his current position.

Church ministry isn't the only way Swanson has benefited the Covenant. In 1971, Swanson and his wife, Beverly, had their second of four children, Karna, who was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Swanson's experience with his daughter has given him a passion for serving persons with disabilities and he has done so for many years. He has established special education classes at the churches, served as an advocate in the denomination, helped support CHIC high school conferences through his work with disabled persons and chaired the Commission on Special Human Need for Covenant Women Ministries.

The Covenant's representative for the Committee on Disabilities-National Council of Churches of Christ, Swanson, along with that of a former CWM administrator Doris Johnson and Myrtle Erickson, helped develop Bjorklund House in Oak Forest, Illinois. The Chicago area facility for disabled persons is one of many such Covenant Enabling Residences operated under the auspices of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence.

Swanson's children have also become advocates for disabled persons. Nils currently works for a Chicago area organization serving disabled persons and daughter, Erika (a librarian in Iowa), has been an advocate for disabled persons at recent CHIC events. Another son, Karl, is a real estate tax accountant in Des Plaines, Illinois. All are graduates of North Park University.

Covenant Village of Florida is asking for prayers as they search for a second chaplain, said fellow Covenant Village of Florida chaplain Bob Tenglin. For more information about the position, call 954-472-2860.

Printable version of this page.