Pastor John Martz will officiate with other former colleagues also participating. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the church. Sustad died Sunday evening.

"He visited people every day in the hospital or at their homes if they couldn't get out," says Julie Braden, the church receptionist. "He was a wonderful, wonderful man." Sustad was senior pastor of Arvada Covenant for 17 years from 1966 to 1983. He left to serve First Covenant Church in San Jose, California, before retiring in 1989. Although retired, he returned to Arvada that year to be pastor of visitation, where he continued to serve until his death. He was visiting church members last Thursday before entering the hospital on Friday.

"His gifts were in pastoral care and evangelism," says Martz. "The congregation just loved him. He personified integrity, faithfulness and a joyful heart."

Over the years, Sustad served churches in Winthrop, Minnesota; Garyton, Indiana; and Northridge, California. He served on the Board of Ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church from 1978 to 1983, including one year as its chairperson. He also was secretary of the national Covenant Ministerium and served on the Home Mission Board, the executive boards of the Midwest and Pacific Southwest conferences and the Christian Education Board of the Midwest Conference.

Sustad earned degrees from Valparaiso University and North Park Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1953.