Covenant News
Dassel (MN) to Celebrate 125th Anniversary
DASSEL, MN (June 3, 2004) - Two August events highlight the 125th anniversary celebration for the Evangelical Covenant Church of Dassel.The church will host a Heritage Sunday on August 8 and will have a variety of events August 28-29 as part of its Homecoming weekend, said a church representative. Donn Engebretson, executive vice president of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), will preach during the 10 a.m. Sunday worship service on August 29 and Northwest Conference administrators will also be special guests. The congregation will host a 4 p.m. barbeque on August 28.
A total of 20 members were part of the official founding of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Dassel on August 15, 1879, according to church records. Pastor J.G. Sjoquist was instrumental in helping the church get started as he led service one Sunday per month as part of a "circuit preaching" ministry. The church built its first building in 1881 and joined the ECC (then known as the Swedish Mission Covenant Church of America) in 1895. Sjoquist was a pastor at the church until 1902 and also served a church in nearby South Kingston.
Some of the early church's pastors went on to serve in other ministerial roles as Rev. C. Elwin Anderson (1935-42) became a chaplain in the U.S. Army during World War II and his replacement, Sigfrid Carlson, later became superintendent of the Upper Michigan Conference (which later became part of the Great Lakes Conference).
Clifford Bjorklund was pastor while the church embarked on a new building project that was dedicated on the church's 75th anniversary in 1954 and finished two years later - by then the church was known as Mission Covenant Church. He later became secretary of the ECC. A key pastor during the 1960s was Wallace Pratt, who had served as chaplain at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis. Pratt helped the church grow into a multi-staff ministry during more than a decade of ministry.
The Evangelical Covenant Church of Dassel currently has an average worship attendance of 206 under pastor Keith Carlson. For more information about the church and its anniversary celebration, call 320-275-3315.
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