Curtis Ivanoff talks about our long history in Alaska, where the Covenant has been engaged since our very earliest days when the church in Sweden sent people to share the gospel of Jesus. It’s a complicated story that Curtis engages with compassion and generosity as he unpacks our identity as Indigenous Mission Friends ..read more

THE HOLY INVITATION OF A LOUD AND MESSY WELCOME I was born into a house of welcome. On the day my parents brought me home from the hospital in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, I was welcomed by my two older brothers, Terry and Doug, and nine additional children who lived in our house. Six teenage girls and three elementary-age boys also called 1011 Miss Belle Street home because my parents fostered children. If you’ve already done the math, your calculation of 14 human beings living under one ranch-style roof would be correct. We added my little sister, Tami, to the mix four years later. The bes ..read more

A Conversation with Mark Knight, Covenant pastor and author of Non-Anxious Churches Reviewed by Jill Riley |  March 22, 2022 In Non-Anxious Churches: Finding the Way of Jesus for Pastors and Churches Today (with a foreword from Covenant pastor Mark Novak), Mark Knight addresses our anxious approach to church. Knight, who serves as pastor of Praise Covenant Church in Tacoma, Washington, examines church systems and offers some best practices for healthy church leadership. Recently Companion writer Jill Riley sat down over Zoom with Knight to talk about what a non-anxious church ..read more

Donald Earl Lindman, retired Covenant pastor, passed away in Batavia, Illinois, on January 29. He was 89. He was born to parents Emanuel Carl “E.C.” and Ellen Lindman in Highland Park, Michigan, on October 24, 1933. He attended North Park Junior College in 1953 and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1955. He married Joanne Strickland on June 18, 1955. Lindman also pursued graduated studies at Wayne State University before graduating from North Park Theological Seminary in 1960. He was ordained by the Evangelical Covenant Church on June 25, 1961. He served as a youth pastor for the ..read more

by EJ Ravago Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Third Sunday in Lent Sunday, March 20 Psalm 102:11-12, 18-22 Three Little Words Put the news on, and it won’t be long until you are weighed down by current world events. When that burden is coupled with our own personal struggles, we may become overwhelmed and struggle to find the strength to carry on. Sometimes we lose hope. What this perfect storm brings to the front and center is the reality of our frailty and the temporal nature of our humanness. While that may cause despair, it also gives us an oppor ..read more

The C. John Weborg Center for Spiritual Direction is accepting applications for its next cohort, which will hold its in-person summer intensive in Chicago July 25–31. The deadline to apply is March 31. The program combines theory and practice as participants make their way through five courses, receive spiritual direction, meet with supervisors, and participate in peer-supervision groups. A blend of online learning throughout the year and in-person intensive courses during the summer enables students to continue working or serving in their current context while they study. “Spiritual direct ..read more

  Recently after I had cataract surgery, my friend brought me home and sat with me for a while. Without any prompting, except perhaps lingering sedation, I began to tell him about the farmhouse I grew up in. I remembered it as very small for our family of eight. I told him about the outhouse and the day we got a functioning indoor toilet. A particularly vivid memory of the house was its siding made of lumber salvaged from a wooden railroad box car. It had been painted bright green, but the railroad symbols were still visible. Growing up, I thought the “box car look” was both special and ..read more

THE CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION OF WORSHIP IN LIMINAL TIMES One of the subplots of Finding Nemo involves some fish in the tank of a dentist’s office who are trying to escape. The post-credits scene depicts the end of their long-awaited successful escape attempt and, as the last one plops into the freedom of the ocean, they all cheer. Then, an awkward pause. And one fish says, “Now what?” If any phrase describes the place at which we currently find ourselves, it’s that question: Now what? There’s been a pandemic—now what? Lots of people won’t come to worship in person—now what? I don’t have eno ..read more

Talking Back to Purity Culture: Rediscovering Faithful Christian Sexuality (IVP, 216 pages) Reviewed by Steve Norman  |  March 14, 2022 I remember attending a wedding for a colleague’s son when the officiant made a statement at one point in the ceremony, presumably in an attempt to celebrate the couple’s commitment to premarital sexual purity: “These two have done it right!” While I appreciate the intent of his comment, I couldn’t help but wonder how it was received by anyone in the chapel who had done purity “wrong.” Conversely, my wife and I were doing premarital counse ..read more

by Sarah Hammersborg Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Second Sunday in Lent Sunday, March 13 Psalm 27:1-7 God Is with You A few years ago, I served as a chaperone for a youth group outing to the Ape Cave in southwest Washington. The Ape Cave is a one and a half-mile lava tube that you can hike through from one end to the other. When we went down into the cave, it was pitch black inside! I was so thankful for the flashlight I carried to help illuminate the way, reveal the boulders and other obstacles, so I could navigate the long way through the cave ..read more