Covenant News

Lake Geneva Church Holds Grand Opening Worship Service

LAKE GENEVA, WI (December 9, 2003) - Anchor Covenant Church hosted its grand opening worship service last Sunday at the YMCA of Lake Geneva as 87 attended, including Central Conference associate superintendent Jolene Bergstrom Carlson.

Pastor Ryan Eikenbary-Barber said that the church has coordinated a house-to-house mailing for 15,000 households in the area and 200 handwritten invitations were sent out to friends and neighbors by parishioners. Eikenbary-Barber has been the senior pastor at the church since March - he was previously associate pastor at Bethlehem Evangelical Covenant Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"I've enjoyed it, it's been a great ministry," said Eikenbary-Barber of his initial months at Anchor Covenant. "I've learned this ministry demands an absolute and utter dependence on God, but it's been wonderful."

The church of 50 has tried to get the word out about upcoming activities via a church newsletter during the past two years as it has grown from a Bible study group into a congregation. Karen Hinz, the chaplain at nearby Covenant Harbor Bible Camp, was an integral part of the beginning stages of the church plant.

Anchor Covenant had a float in the Lake Geneva Christmas Parade on December 6 as a way to provide last minute information about the new congregation, said a recent church newsletter. Preview services and summer Sunday morning services at Covenant Harbor also attracted as many as 120, said Eikenbary-Barber. The congregation will focus on small group ministry in the coming months, he added.

The church will host a 7 p.m. Christmas Eve candlelight worship service at the YMCA, located at 203 Wells Street in Lake Geneva. For more information, call Eikenbary-Barber at 262-907-6888 or check the church's website at www.anchorcovenant.org.

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