Covenant News
Kansas Church Holds First 'Preview' Service
EL DORADO, KS (June 15, 2004) - Hope Covenant Church held the first of three "summer previews" on Sunday at the El Dorado Civic Center with 76 participating in the worship service.Pastor Brian Johnson had previously served at Cornerstone Covenant Church in Turlock, California, as a church planter, followed by three years at Riverwood Covenant Church in Rockford, Minnesota. He and his wife, Cheryl, have been in El Dorado since October, building a core support group. Six families gathered together for the core group's initial Bible study in January. The church also conducted two sneak preview services in the spring.
Most of the 15 families currently involved in the core group of Hope Covenant were not active with a local congregation prior to coming to the church. The congregation has provided a family atmosphere that has been welcomed by many, the pastor notes.
"We've been going door-to-door and have found that there are a lot of newcomers to the area," said Cheryl. "They were looking for something in a church that they hadn't previously found - many had been either unchurched or had been 'burned' by the church. And when we talked to some who weren't coming to church, they said that they wanted to find a church where everyone was treated equally, whether they were insiders or not. I think that's a positive thing about church plants - everyone's a newcomer."
The two additional summer preview services will be conducted on July 11 and August 15 with plans calling for weekly worship services to begin September 19. In addition, the church is hosting weekly Bible studies along with its "vision and planning" meetings this summer.
Hope Covenant is located in a community of 17,000 about 20 miles northeast of Wichita. The congregation has received assistance from some of the central Kansas Covenant churches.
To learn more about Hope Covenant and its ministries, call the Johnsons at 316-322-7352 or email them at bcjohn@usfamily.net.
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