Covenant News

Generations Covenant Grand Opening April 18

TORRANCE, CA (March 8, 2004) - A former police officer, a Baptist congregation and the Pacific Southwest Conference (PSWC) have combined resources to start a church plant in southern California.

The former police officer is Lon Murata, the pastor at Generations Covenant Church, a multiethnic congregation in the Los Angeles area. Generations Covenant started preview services last October and began weekly services February 1 with 67 in attendance. The church's grand opening service is scheduled for April 18 at North High School.

The Baptist congregation, Cerritos Baptist Church, was Murata's home church in recent years. Cerritos Baptist Church is a pan-Asian (Chinese, Philippine and Japanese) congregation of more than 500 near Los Angeles. Murata served as a church plant intern for nearly three years, hosting a Generation X postmodern evening worship service called Nexus. Murata made contact with the Evangelical Covenant Church through a friend at the school he attended, Joe Handley, who serves at Rolling Hills Covenant Church in Rolling Hills Estates.

Generations Covenant has a core group of 10, including a number of individuals from Murata's previous church. However, Murata's former congregation has done more than send people to assist a church plant. Cerritos Baptist committed $80,000 over three years to help Murata develop a strong congregation.

"Although our church is affiliated with the Baptists, they have a Kingdom mindset -reaching people for Christ across denominational lines," said Murata, who served as a police officer for three years in nearby Inglewood. "It wasn't a major deal for the church (to help another denomination's church plant); the pastors wanted church planters out there reaching the lost. But the biggest blessing is that individual donors from the Baptist church have also supported me."

Although about half of Murata's congregation is Asian American, he stated that the church is located in a multiethnic community and his congregation wants to reflect that diversity. It might be said that the congregation is "multi-teacher" as well. More than half a dozen parishioners are educators in the community and their relationships with the schools have led to various ministry ventures.

Murata's wife, Jenna, is a teacher at North High School and has a heart to reach co-workers and students alike. The congregation's core team assisted the school during a campus Beautification Day and Murata has spoken at the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle group. Other teachers at North High now attend the church. Another teacher is serving at a local elementary school and the church has adopted that school for ministry opportunities.

A teacher who attends the church also made the initial connections to a local hospital, Harbor UCLA Hospital, in the city's South Bay area. As a result, parishioners started an outreach ministry in the pediatrics ward - parishioners visit the unit each month. A Christmas party reached more than 70 children and their families. Another contingent went on a mission trip to Machida, Japan, last summer and the church hopes to continue that relationship with a non-denominational church there.

"We want to minister to people with needs and meet them where they're at," Murata said. "And in turn God wants us to share His ministry and grace. We're trying to get involved in the local community, showing them the abundance of God's love and generosity."

For more information about the church and its ministries, call 310-371-0327 or email Murata at lonmurata@generationscovenant.org. The church website is at www.generationscovenant.org.

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