Covenant News - October Newsletters Reflect Lots of Covenant Activity

Covenant News

October Newsletters Reflect Lots of Covenant Activity

CHICAGO, IL (October 1, 2003) - Covenant pastor Janet Lundblad has been named coordinator for the Spiritual Services Department at West Lake Hospital in Melrose Park, Illinois.

Lundblad, who has been involved with the Association of Covenant Clergy Women (ACCW) of the Evangelical Covenant Church, works for one of eight hospitals that comprise the Resurrection Health Care System. Lundblad was an associate pastor for Christian education at North Park Covenant Church in Chicago before taking two years for chaplaincy training at Elmhurst Hospital and Lutheran General Hospital in Chicago's suburbs. She is now a Board Certified Chaplain (BCC) by the Association of Professional Chaplains.

Along with her chaplaincy and pastoral work, Lundblad was a member of the Covenant hymnal revision commission and served on the former Covenant Board of Publications. Born in the Congo as the child of Covenant missionaries Arthur and Florence Lundblad, Janet served in Congo for four years as a short-term missionary (1972-76) before attending North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. She is currently in the midst of a two-year program at the Institute of Spiritual Companionship (based in Evanston) that will allow her to serve as a spiritual director.

Lundblad is one of many Covenanters involved in various ministries inside and outside the church. The following news items were gleaned from the more than 250 local church newsletters received each month by the Department of Communication. The information is listed by conference and region.

CENTRAL

Chicago, Illinois: Edgebrook Covenant Church is honoring two faithful servants of the congregation during the fall. Randall Nelson has been the church's music director for 20 years while Michael Doucette has been a sexton for 15 years. Nelson will be honored at a coffee hour on October 12 following the morning worship service and Doucette will be recognized on November 9.
Iron River, Michigan: The recent 19th annual Dusty Larson golf tournament raised a record $3,054 to benefit Covenant Point Bible Camp and Town and Country Ministries in the Covenant. The foursome of Dan Colman, Anders and Ed Lindwall and Nathan Troost totaled a score of 63 for 18 holes, besting the 64 posted by the foursome of Bob Wirzer, Len Bietila, Tim Smith and Rich Henrion. The Dusty Larson tournament honors longtime Covenant pastor Quentin "Dusty" Larson, who advocated for town and country churches while serving in those congregations during his years of ministry. The Dusty Larson Memorial Fund assists North Park Theological Seminary pastors who graduate and accept a call to a town and country church. The award dates back to 1997. For more information about the Larson Memorial Fund and Town and Country Ministries in the denomination, call Rob Hall, Town and Country Commission liaison for the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism at 773-907-3341.

ECCAK

Soldotna, Alaska: Alaska Christian College (ACC) has begun New Hope Counseling Center on campus, thanks to a $200,000 grant from U.S. Government appropriations. The seed grant money has been used for startup costs in the center, an alcohol and drug treatment center run by licensed professional counselor Debbie Hamilton. The center also offers general counseling. The one-year Bible college has also received a grant to help build a dormitory and another grant may become available to extend the construction project in the near future, according to ACC president Keith Hamilton.

GREAT LAKES

Saranac, Michigan: Saranac Community Church parishioner Claire Vogelzang ran a 50-mile race in the Manistee National Forest on September 20, finishing the event in 9 hours, 59.28 minutes, said pastor John Madvig. Vogelzang raised $520 for church mission work. In the past, Vogelzang has run in other distance races and raised money for various causes. She has qualified for the Boston Marathon and has finished six marathons despite never running for a high school or collegiate team.
Jamestown, New York: First Covenant Church parishioner Scott Kindberg received a first place award from Associated Press in New York for a recent article he wrote for the Jamestown Post-Journal where he is the assistant sports editor.

MIDWEST

Omaha, Nebraska: Pastor John Peterson of Bensonvale Covenant Church recently had a book published about the Kansas Athletics (now in Oakland) professional baseball team. The 346-page book is expected to be out in stores this month. Peterson grew up watching the Kansas City A's before the franchise moved to Oakland in 1955. He began writing the book in the mid-1980s and while it was rejected by many publishers, he re-considered submitting the manuscript again a few years ago and McFarland Publishing in Jefferson, North Carolina, (which primarily publishes sports books) accepted the idea.

NORTH PACIFIC

Olympia, Washington: Grace Community Covenant Church sent a mission team to Mongolia from August 31 through September 16 as the group helped run medical and dental clinics, medical ethics seminars and children's leadership training events in two cities. Team members included pastor Randy Thyberg, George Gundersen, Drew and Autumn Stevick, Ray Lance, Jack Berdstedt, Ronda Watson and Liz and Jim Sedore.

NORTHWEST

Edina, Minnesota: Pastor Nelson Anderson of Edina Covenant Church has captured the attention of the art world in the Twin Cities as his works were featured in the September edition of Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine (pages 88-89). Anderson stated that he uses oil paints on canvas as his primary artistic medium. He added that his artistic passions were piqued while he was a student at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago during the mid 1990s.

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST

Santa Barbara, California: Montecito Covenant Church's Das Williams is a candidate for the Santa Barbara City Council this fall as Election Day is November 4. According to his church, Williams is known for his environmental work, including procuring funds for creek restoration and ocean pollution mitigation, writing a law that requires pipelining of oil and substantial efforts to preserve open space.
Spring Valley, California: David Boldt, a resident of Mount Miguel Covenant Village, recently finished a "walk around the world," a journey he began May 16, 1987. After suffering from asthma and hay fever for years and after taking numerous medications, his wife, Darlene, suggested he try walking to better his health. He was walking seven miles per day within six months of starting his new regimen and decided to walk the distance of the world in his lifetime. As it turns out, he has walked even further than that because when he began his trip he was under the assumption that the world was 26,280 miles in circumference - it is actually 24,901 miles. For the record, he has worn out 26 pairs of shoes on the journey.

SOUTHEAST

Atlanta, Georgia: New Life Covenant Church, an inner city mission church in Atlanta, recently sent 11 men and women on a mission trip to Guatemala tomorrow. The team assisted in the construction of an orphanage for street children during their week in Latin America.
Greensboro, North Carolina: Retired Covenant missionary Donna Larson is still passionate about service ministries as her upcoming venture will attest. She's headed to Honduras in mid October with a group of people that will help with everything from bread making and canning vegetables, to sewing, teaching Bible studies and offering a variety of medical helps. The trip is the third annual "Celebration Maria/Marta" and money raised to pay for this endeavor began with a 57-cent donation from a pastor. Larson also reported in a rece nt newsletter to friends and family that she has been working with several African immigrants since moving to North Carolina in April.

To learn more about Covenant ministry worldwide, regularly visit this Covenant news site at www.covchurch.org. Send information for consideration in this report to Covenant Communications at 5101 N. Francisco Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60625. Information also may be sent by email to newsdesk@covchurch.org or by telephone at 773-907-8333.

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