Covenant Churches in Southern CA Report on Fires

As of Monday at noon (CDT), none of the physical structures of Covenant churches or retirement facilities had been directly affected. That includes Oak Hills Covenant Church of Vista; Community Covenant Church, El Cajon; Clairemont Covenant Church, Canyon Springs Covenant Church and College Center Covenant Church, San Diego; Rancho Vista Covenant Church, Chula Vista; Grace Covenant Church, Spring Valley, and Mt. Miguel Retirement Village, Spring Valley. However, families from various churches have already felt the effects of the fires.

Here is information from some of those locales:

• Jack Hawkins, pastor of Canyon Springs Covenant Church, says that the fires have cut right through the area near their church. He isn't able to return to his home. The church of 500 canceled Sunday services at a local elementary school. "At 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, a guy told me that he had to grab the shirt off his back because the flames were coming over his house. We prayed, we packed up and went home and we canceled the second service. We're meeting at 5 p.m. (PST) today to pray," Hawkins says.
• Youth pastor Eric Johnson of Oak Hills Covenant says that the local schools have been evacuated because of the poor air quality in San Diego's North County.
• Marc Bellaart, associate pastor at Community Covenant Church in El Cajon, says that the East County fire is within two miles from the church as of Monday morning. Many families in the area are being evacuated.
• Pastor Greg West at Clairemont Covenant Church states that many people who attend the church have had to evacuate their homes.
• Pastor Mike Wilson of Grace Covenant says, "It's almost like living on another planet. The sun is completely hidden from all of the smoke and ash. Pretty much everything in San Diego County has been shut down."
• Pastor John Rose of Rancho Vista Covenant reports that parishioners from his congregation have had their homes saved for now by the fact that there are lakes near their residences.
• Kathleen Jenkins, from the Covenant Retirement Communities office in Chicago, reports that the Mt. Miguel campus is not in immediate danger, with the closest fire about five miles from them. But the residents and staff are staying indoors and wearing masks, activities and events have been canceled, off-campus transportation has been limited to emergencies, and everything outdoors is being covered with white ash. Many staff members have had to evacuate their homes, and others are unable to get to them because of road closures.

According to a Monday story by the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, this is the largest fire in San Diego County in 33 years - it has swept across nearly 200 square miles.

Flames have forced entire communities to evacuate and shut down several major highways, leaving the region virtually paralyzed. Mild winds on Monday have helped calm things a bit, but many San Diego County cities have evacuated voluntarily.

Fires have gotten so bad that the San Diego Chargers professional football team has offered the use of Qualcomm Stadium as an emergency site for those who have been evacuated from their homes. The team's Monday night game against the Miami Dolphins has been moved from San Diego to Tempe, Arizona, (where the Arizona Cardinals play) after San Diego's Mayor Dick Murphy urged the National Football League to move or postpone the contest.

Earlier in the weekend, fires hit San Bernardino County, near where Alpine Covenant Camp is located in Lake Arrowhead. According to Wilson, Alpine officials evacuated the camp and have told others not to drive up in that area.

At the Evangelical Covenant Church of Simi Valley, located in Ventura County, the fires have not burned homes or affected the physical properties of parishioners. However, many attendees are firefighters and police officers and they have been extremely busy. The church conducted worship services but associate pastor Bruce Bruns shortened the service and had an open prayer time for the church to minister to each other. Fires are more concentrated on the east end of Simi Valley, a city of more than 100,000, said parishioner Arvid Krueger.

More about the fires and their effects on Covenant congregations can be found by checking www.covchurch.org.

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