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Pennsylvania Church Turns 125
KANE, PA (July 7, 2003) - Emmanuel Mission Church celebrated 125 years of
ministry on Sunday June 29 as Richard Carlson, professor of ministries
and director of field education at North Park Theological Seminary,
preached at the morning worship service. .
Gordon Anderson and Tom Grisham, two former pastors, were among the
guests at Sunday's worship service. The son, grandson, and great
grandchildren of one of the church's early pastors, Peter V. Joneson,
also attended the event. The words of a building dedication song from
100 years earlier were read during the service, said pastor Becky
Erickson. Rev. Ferdinand Scholander, the pastor of the church in 1903,
wrote the words for a song arranged by John T. Erickson. The song was
created for the 1903 dedication of the church's present building. Carol
Noren translated the words for last Sunday's event.
After church, the congregation hosted a dinner and served more than 90.
That evening, Rev. Eldon Johnson (a retired Covenant pastor) and his
wife Rosemary led a "Brown Hymnal" hymn sing. "It was amazing how many
people who had lived in Kane came back," Erickson said.
Emmanuel Mission Church was founded as the Free Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Kanesholm on April 15, 1878, thirteen years after the village
of Kane had been founded. A 1877 revival led by A.J. Nelson of
Jamestown, New York, and Charles Peterson of Knoxville, Illinois, was
the catalyst for the founding of the new church, which had 28 charter
members. Peterson became the initial pastor for the congregation.
The current ministry of Emmanuel Mission has been active as men's and
women's Bible studies have grown and a praise band has energized Sunday
worship. The church also planted a memorial garden that has attracted
local attention.
Emmanuel's congregation has also ministered to youth on weekends,
hosting a community youth program the first and third Saturday of each
month at the town's community center, said Erickson. Children from
grades 6-12 also meet at the church for fellowship on the second and
fourth Saturdays, making a meal and using a converted youth room to
relax and watch videos and television and play board games or make
crafts. It is hoped that area children who don't regularly attend church
would be attracted to a new Sunday school program at Emmanuel Mission
Church that is helping make the Bible more relevant to kids.
"The youth we have been reaching are primarily unchurched and come from
broken homes," Erickson said. "This ministry has enabled us to begin
reaching their parents and grandparents, as well. The Sunday-school
classes for children are all being taught from the Bible series called
Creation to Christ. We hope to give every young person a firm
understanding of how God has worked in history to redeem his people. We
desire that the stories of the Bible will not be disconnected tales for
them but a unified picture of the work of God brought to glory in Christ."
For more information about Emmanuel Mission Church, call Erickson at
814-837-8760.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
