Covenant News

Staff Changes at Pacific Southwest Conference

CONCORD, CA (April 21, 2005) - The Pacific Southwest Conference (PSWC) will experience two major staff changes in the next several months. Brian Wiele, pastor of Escalon Covenant Church since 1985, will fill the new position of director of mission advancement. And Stan White, executive director of Alpine Camp and Conference Center since 1995, has resigned effective June 15 to pursue a long held dream of building a new camp "from the ground up."

Evelyn Johnson, the conference superintendent, praised White, who literally helped Alpine withstand some rough waters this past winter when more than 80 inches of water fell on the camp.

"His leadership during times of crises such as threatening fires, floods and 'diseased trees' has been particularly noteworthy," Johnson says. She also credits White with guiding the once financially strained camp to fiscal stability.

White will work for a not-for-profit foundation that is establishing a Christian camp along the central California coast near Los Robles. "To build a camp from ground zero - this is a dream I've had since I was a sophomore in college," White says.

Leaving Alpine will be bittersweet, White adds, noting, "I've spent a fifth of my life here."

In his new position, Wiele will enlist churches to help plant new congregations as well as help others with revitalization. He will also oversee efforts to increase donor income and will launch a capital fund drive campaign for church planting, development and outreach.

"There's a lot of exciting things happening in the conference," says Wiele, noting that 31 churches have been planted in the Pacific Southwest in the last five years. "There's a lot of desire in the conference to keep the momentum going."

This new position was created when Mike Tamte, the former director of development and finance returned to Minnesota and Dave Hanson was hired as a permanent part-time director of finance. The conference executive board voted last fall to hire a full-time person to help with development and communications with local church leadership.

"Brian's passion and commitment to reaching the unchurched and helping hurting people aligns with the mission of the PSWC," says Evelyn Johnson, the conference superintendent.      

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