Milwaukie Covenant Church History

Written by Adam Wunn with contributions from
Juliane Goley-Wunn, John Moore, Spike Davis, Enid Briggs,
Adele Wilder, and Marcine Richmond

The Preschool history was originally written by Lea Nyberg.

Originally written in 2013,
and updated in 2014, 2017, and 2021
with newer information and corrections.

Milwaukie Covenant Church has worshiped Jesus Christ by serving the community as a sanctuary for worship over the past almost 60 years. During these years, there have been many services, potlucks, concerts, outreach efforts, community volunteer events, and many moments when God showed up in His Glory. It has been an amazing journey for the church, one that has been admittedly difficult at times, but ultimately rewarding.

The legacy of faithfulness this church embodies today is a hallmark of the founding members of this congregation. This was done by their commitment to outreach in the local community and a desire to be supportive of missionary work throughout the world.

This is the story of a church building, its people, and its relationship with its Savior.

Minthorn Community Church

The story of the founding of Milwaukie Covenant Church, and its faithfulness to Jesus Christ, starts not in 1964, but actually more than 90 years ago with the founding of the Minthorn Community Church. In 1927 some members of Milwaukie Evangelical Church felt there was a need to have a church with a Sunday School program located in what was then called the East end of Milwaukie. At the time, the distance to the nearest church was a burden for most families in that area.

At that same time, in another quarter, a similar idea took form. Chris and Emma Hansen, who lived in the Minthorn Addition neighborhood, owned several lots at the intersection of 40th and Llewellyn streets. While they did not have any children of their own, the Hansens were concerned for the children of the neighborhood, and they too wanted to build a church for “East Milwaukie.” Mr. and Mrs. Hansen decided to donate these extra lots to build a church and Sunday School program for all ages.

The beginning of that dream was a Bible study class held in the neighborhood at the spacious home of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Froman. The class grew to the point that a dedicated building would be needed to house the group. The now-teeming group met on September 11, 1929, at the home of J.E. Metzger and formally organized the Minthorn Community Church. The building project began in earnest and construction was conducted throughout the rest of 1929, finishing in the summer of 1930. It was paid for with both pledges of labor and financial donations. Along with visitors and guests, 57 Charter members filled the pews for the dedication service on September 20, 1931.

There is another interesting fact about the property that Minthorn Church stood upon. It was originally platted by Dr. John Henry Minthorn, a prominent Quaker physician and landowner, who had ties to the Milwaukie area. He settled in Newberg, OR in the 1880’s, but later invested in real estate throughout the Willamette Valley, including Milwaukie. In 1885, Dr. Minthorn became the foster parent of one of his sister’s sons, Herbert Hoover, who would later become the 31st President of the United States.

During his youth, Hoover was instructed under the tutelage of his Uncle and Aunt and attended classes at Friends Academy, the institution which later became George Fox University. As a young man, Hoover became his uncle’s office assistant at the Oregon Land Company and was involved in the platting the purchased land in Milwaukie. That land which the locals had been calling Minthorn Hill, became the Minthorn Addition neighborhood.

When Mrs. Hansen donated to build the church, she examined the deeds and to her surprise, she realized the document was signed many years before by Dr. Minthorn and witnessed by none other than Herbert Hoover, the then current President of the United States. In October of 1929, just as the foundation of the church had been laid, she decided to write a letter to President Hoover, to tell him about the new Minthorn church and to ask for a donation. She sent a current photo of the town of Milwaukie, the original deed and a letter. The President was so moved by the act, that he instructed his Secretary, Mr. Lawrence Richey, to write a letter to Mrs. Hansen and the church community, which included a $50 (check as a donation to the building of the church. The money was used to commission the creation of a stained glass window that was installed in during the initial construction of the church. That stained glass window was then later incorporated in the design of the Milwaukie Covenant Church building and today is prominently featured in the narthex. A second stained glass window was commissioned at the end of World War II by the Sunday School program and is also displayed in the narthex of Milwaukie Covenant Church. Both windows were moved to the current church building in 1972.

Minthorn or Minthorne?

To “E” or not to “E” is the question that seems to have bedeviled many of this Church’s writers over the years. In researching this project, the Minthorn name came up spelled with an “E” on the end of the name just about as much of the time as it was written without the letter. Upon further inspection of documents belonging to and related to Dr. John Henry Minthorn and looking over deeds and the vast majority of Minthorn Church documents such as photos, letterhead, bulletins, correspondence, contracts, receipts, and other items, it is clear that the Minthorn name is spelled without the “E” tacked on the end. It seems to be that newspapers, the public, and people not associated with the area tend to add an “E” to the end of the name.

Minthorn Pastors Quick Overview

Minthorn Community Church called its first full-time permanent pastor in 1931. Rev. H.S. Wiley served until October 25, 1933. He was replaced by Rev. Ralph Geil, who served 15 years before retiring due to health concerns. Rev. Geil was much beloved by the congregation, and his retirement brought great sadness upon the group. Don Wheeler, a former intern for Rev. Geil, served for about three years as an interim pastor. He had been hired by Rev. Geil while still a student at Multnomah Bible College, prior to his retirement, to help out. Mr. Wheeler graciously agreed to stay on until it was time for him to start seminary. Pastor Elmer Wilder, of Imperial Valley, CA, was called next and served from 1951 to 1955. In July of 1955, Rev. John Tuckness was called and served until about 1959. Rev. Steenson served from 1959-1962. In 1963, Rev. Cecil Stuurman was called. It was his suggestion to change the name of the church to Minthorn Bible Church. Later, he was the pastor who oversaw the transition to Milwaukie Covenant Church.

Milwaukie Prayer Fellowship and the Merger

In the early 1960’s, a group of seven Milwaukie families attending First Covenant Church, desired to have a Covenant Church located in Milwaukie. They began to meet in homes in the Milwaukie area in 1962 with Pastor Ed Larson of First Covenant Church leading the group in a study of Nehemiah. They subsequently named themselves The Milwaukie Prayer Fellowship. On April 20, 1963, the group formally decided to embark on a concentrated effort to found a formal church body. A committee was formed and named ”Committee on Outreach for Milwaukie." With a plan in place, they started looking for an existing church body in the community to merge with, and thereby create a Covenant presence in the Milwaukie area. God provided just such an opportunity in short order.

The Minthorn church was facing declining membership, and it was increasingly difficult to find a non-denominational pastor. After many months these two groups came together through God’s leading. In February of 1964, the pastor of Powell Valley Covenant Church, Cabot Johnson, knew that Minthorn was looking for a denomination to join. He alerted Ed Larson at First Covenant Church to the possibility, and after some phone calls, discussions, and prayer, a regular breakfast meeting of the leadership of both groups was agreed upon. That then led to negotiations for a merger between the two groups.

On March 14, 1964, the members of Minthorn Bible Church met to discuss the proposed merger and voted to move forward with the marriage of the two groups. On April 6th, 1964, the members of the Milwaukie Prayer Fellowship and the congregation of Minthorn Bible Church met and agreed together to form one body known as Milwaukie Covenant Church. There were 68 members who signed the charter that evening. It is fitting that Milwaukie Covenant Church celebrated the 50th Anniversary exactly 50 years to the day of the charter signing on April 6, 2013.

New Church Building

In 1966, the Milwaukie Covenant Church congregation realized that the Minthorn building would not be a good long-term home. The congregation was bursting at the seams, with almost 100 members, and the upkeep of the building was becoming difficult. This was reinforced every time it rained and inevitably flooded the basement. On January 1st, 1966, the church began a formal process to find a new site and build a church building. That process moved along at a good pace, but it was 1969 before a suitable property was found and the purchase was made. There was a hitch though; the owner of the property wanted to sell the entire parcel which included a mess of muddy bogs, blackberry vines, and brush. The National Covenant Properties fund helped the church purchase the full 8 acres and then sold off all but 3.2 acres to another buyer. The following year, 1970, was full of many challenges to overcome in order to begin the construction at the future site. There was a solemn meeting at which there was much discussion, prayer, and seeking for the will of the Holy Spirit to make sure everyone was in agreement before the construction commenced.

In the early summer of 1971, clearing began at the site and an excited congregation held a meeting there to look it over. Pastor Howard Johnson drove a stake in the ground at the exact corner of the building in a symbolic gesture of laying the cornerstone. As a symbolic gesture, each member was given a nail to commemorate the event. Groundbreaking occurred on August 8th and construction continued throughout the rest of the year and into 1972. Some work was done by a contractor and crew, but a very significant portion was done by the congregation itself, under the direction of the contractor, Mike Gibson, and Ben Schellenberg. Many people showed up and were put to work on task after task. Barb Gibson and Bev Olsen stained many of the beams used in the fellowship hall and sanctuary. Even the youth group helped nail down boards in the Sanctuary. The construction finished just in time for the first service to be held at the new building on Mother’s Day of 1972. The congregation met at Minthorn Church for one last farewell and then caravanned over to the new building. The short service at Minthorn was a standing only affair since the pews had already been moved to the new church building. The new construction drew interest from the community and many articles appeared in local newspapers. On Sunday, May 21st, 1972, the church was dedicated in two services. Pastor Howard Johnson invited former pastors Cecil Stuurman and Frank Poole to come preach and participate in the service. Rev. Paul W. Anderson, the Secretary of Covenant Home Missions, participated, along with Rev. Robert Hansen of Covenant Home Properties, and Ralph P. Hansen, the Superintendent of the North Pacific Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

The Cross

The cross was installed in the church at the very end of the construction process. It had to be brought in through the front doors in sections. Its installation even seemed to be newsworthy to the local press. According to a local newspaper report, the cross weighed 400 lbs, and Mike Gibson says it took between six and eight men to install it in the Sanctuary.

The Bell Tower

The distinctive Bell Tower that stands beside the entrance to the church was a part of the original design of the building, but because of finances was not included in the original construction. However, God had a plan to make sure the Tower was added to the structure in a very timely manner. Donald Glivinski had inherited some unexpected money from his aunt in July of 1973, and he and his wife, Shirley, decided to donate the money to build the tower. The tower was sourced and built in Eugene early in August of that year and installed later in the month. This happened just before the very first wedding was to be held in the new church building. It was apropos that the first wedding was for the Glivinski’s daughter, Cheryl.

Shirley Glivinski reports that she and Bob Jones were witnesses of the installation of the Tower. She remembers the day vividly: beautiful, sunny weather with a deep blue sky. She said that the heavy structure was delivered on a very large flatbed truck and a crane was used to move the tower structure into place. Donald Glivinski was able to slip away from work and witness the final stage of the installation. Shirley said there was not a dry eye to be had by any of the witnesses. Years later, Pastor Roland Boyce decided the Tower should become the logo for the church and that design stands to this day.

The bell in the tower has a much longer history than Milwaukie Covenant Church or even the Minthorn Church. According to Enid Brigg’s research, the bell belonged to the Milwaukie School District and was used in the former second Milwaukie School building that sat on the property of the current City Hall. The school was constructed in 1893 and torn down in 1936 to make way for the current City Hall building. At that time, the School District’s Board voted to donate the bell along with an old gas range for the kitchen to the Minthorn Community Church. The bell was installed in the Minthorn Bell Tower and became a clarion beacon for the neighborhood. When the church building on Linwood was constructed, the bell was moved to be incorporated into the present Bell Tower.

However, that is not the whole story. Also according to Enid Briggs and from the fog of history, we are told by some "old timers" that the Bell was possibly installed in the very first Milwaukie School building sometime after 1849 when it was taken out of service on a ship that used to visit Milwaukie regularly. There is even a story that the bell originally came around Cape Horn, the southern route to the West Coast of the United States on a sailing vessel. The route goes around the tip of Tierra del Fuego archipelago of Chile, which is at the terminus of South America, and at the time was the only route to travel from East to West by water up until the opening of the Panama Canal. If this is the case, the bell in the tower could be more than 150 years old.

After the construction…

After the dust settled from the construction, the church settled into their new home and then ventured out into the neighborhood to get to know the people. The church turned to programs and outreach to serve the community and make an impact. From that effort came new members who did not have a history with either of the founding groups of the church. This influx of new members signaled the beginning of the second era of Milwaukie Covenant Church. In 1975, Howard Johnson was called to another church and Roland Boyce, a first-time pastor and long-time local Christian youth program director, became the next pastor of the church. It was this era that saw the church grow in size dramatically. The church was abuzz with activity and community outreach. There were many mission trips to a number of locales, including Hawaii and Mexico. This included the fateful mission trip in 1986 to Alaska, where Jennifer Braun was taken by the Lord in a lightning storm, and Angie Nyberg was injured, but ultimately survived. There were also many charter members who were promoted to glory during that time, including Earl Burdick, Rachel Briggs, Emile and John Pauli, John and Zuby Fletcher, and Dorothy Fields.

It was also a time of change and reflection for the direction of the church. There were proposals to build a primary Christian school and later a retirement home. Some of the other ideas included expanding the church building to include additional space for meetings and the addition of a gymnasium. Sometime in the late 70’s or early 80’s, Boy Scout Troop 453 moved into the church building; a number of boys in the church were members. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, under the direction of Marge Schellenberg, saw attendance of 70-150 student athletes and coaches at their meetings. The Strawberry Socials also became a Milwaukie-wide event and helped to pay for many church needs, including kitchen appliances. Later, proceeds were donated to the mission field. In 1980, a group of mothers started Tuesday Fellowship, which over the course of 30+ years, has become an institution in the church. The interdenominational women’s group has served upward of 70 women and 30 children at any given time in a weekly Bible study with child care provided.

There were also a number of beach “Getaways” that served as a church vacation for the members to play, worship, and experience God together. Some of the activities at the event were the Un-talent Shows with goofy displays of un-talent and talent and the resulting good-natured laughter. Perry Hughes is remembered for his amazing performance as The Lizard. His performance was always a crowd favorite along with then little Derek Cox singing the national anthem with all of his heart and soul. In later years, the church camping trips to Mayfield Lake replaced the Getaways. Those trips were never complete without lakeside worship, baptisms, and an occasional flyby of a certain majestic eagle who would uncannily appear during prayer time. In more recent years, the congregation had camping adventures on the property of the NorthWest Pacific Conference’s Cascades Camp and Conference Center in Yelm, Washington. Some of the other events of that time were Greens Nights in December, dramas, cantatas, women’s retreats, men’s retreats, and the singles group which resulted in several marriages, including long-time members Doug and Kathy Brown.

In 1988, the church had its official 25th Anniversary celebration and followed up in 1994 with a 30th Anniversary celebration. In September of 1990, a Western Evangelical Seminary student by the name of William Nylund served his pastoral internship at Milwaukie Covenant without knowing that God’s plan would be for him to return to become the Senior Pastor only 9 years later. Finally the church paid off its mortgage in 1997, which was celebrated by burning the document in a coffee can in the parking lot with lots of cheering from the congregation.

Preschool

In 1976, church members Lea Nyberg and Bunny Clevenger founded the Milwaukie Covenant Preschool to serve a need in the community. The idea came to fruition over dinner one night and was then quickly approved by then Pastor Roland Boyce. The school opened with a half-day program and a 15 student capacity. Space was tight the first few years, as the preschool class shared space at the East end of the Fellowship hall with the Sunday School program. In the beginning, teachers were paid a $150. monthly salary and parents paid $15. a month for their child. The entire program had a $300. monthly budget.

Bunny Clevenger was not able to teach for very long, because her husband took a job that required them to move out of state. Lea Nyberg then drafted Joanne Campbell to replace Bunny for the rest of the year. During the second year of operation, Lea taught a second class of children, and Joanne became the first formal director of the preschool. Lea credits Joanne’s gift of administration and organization for giving the school a good foundation to grow. Later Marty Herdner started teaching a class of 3 year olds, and then in 1978, both Nancy Flechtner and Missy Moore joined the program. Missy served as the director for many years and retired in 2016. Nancy took a break when her daughter Amy was born, but returned years later and taught until 2009. In 1979 Marge Schellenberg joined the school and she taught until 1994. Other teachers included Karen Strejc, Sharon Olivares, Ellen Hinds, Karen Haggart, Donna Rice, Laura Clark, and later Hillary Boswell and Tammy Totten. Mary Robles is the current director of the school.

In 1979, an addition was built the church to house Sunday School classrooms and add to space for the growing Preschool. This was an exciting time for the program. They finally had the specialized space needed, and enough capacity to serve a much larger student population. By that time, the school served 96 students. It was a big success.

Later in 1997, the school added a kindergarten program that was taught by Lea Nyberg until she retired in 2007.

Children came from many different backgrounds. Some of them had never learned about Jesus Christ before, so the program not only served an educational and physical need, but also created a spiritual awareness that many would not have otherwise experienced. Some of those men and women who attended the preschool over the years now bring their children, making the school a multi-generational success. The school has been in continuous operation for over 45 years.

Drama

In 1977 The Milwaukie Covenant Players were organized, under the direction of Shirley Glivinski, as a drama troupe for the benefit of glorifying God through plays, skits, dinners, and cantatas. The first play was performed in 1977, and major productions were staged annually for many years. In more recent times the plays have been infrequent, but also cherished and memorable. Many of the productions used over the years have been licensed, but all of them have been wisely edited by Shirley and her team to shape the material to better fit the needs of the church. These productions showcased the vast talent gifted by God to His people, and was used to spread the gospel to the world. Many people would be involved with the productions beyond the actors and the director. This included set builders, sound and lighting engineers, organizers, makeup staff, support personnel, management, promotion, ushering, and most importantly a dedicated team focused on prayer support.

Some of the productions over the years included A Third Day’s Morning, Daybreak, The Alabaster Jar, Reflections, The Symbol of a Cross, The Vision, and Even Unto Death. Shirley stated that she especially loved The Christmas Kid performed in 2005, and Portrait of Miracles. Portrait was written by Shirley Glivinski and fellow church member Lois Dickey and performed in December of 2001. It was an epic retelling of Christ’s life told from the end back to the beginning, and involved such a large cast and crew, that practically everyone in the church was involved.

Even after many years, you still hear long time members saying “remember when?” about many of the productions. Being involved with the productions were both an honor and a pleasure, and many cherish those memories greatly.

Organ and Piano

The piano and the organ that the church enjoys every Sunday and at special events, were not originally part of the church building or plans. When the church was built in 1972, the existing Wurlitzer organ was moved from the old Minthorn Church building to serve the needs of the congregation. A few years later, a member of the congregation donated another organ that was more full featured, but the instrument was a challenge to play. The musicians felt there was definitely room for improvement.

In 1979, the estate of long-time beloved members John and Zuby Fletcher, offered to donate around $4,000 dollars toward a new organ. Galvanized by the donation, the church body started a giving campaign to collect donations from the members to cover the rest of the cost of the organ. Shirley Glivinski remembers the excitement of everyone at the prospect of having an instrument that better suited the needs of the church. The campaign's progress was regularly reported using a classic thermometer pictograph displayed on a posterboard in the narthex. Shirley and the other Worship and Art Commission members worked hard to pick the right organ and collect estimates.

They finally settled on a Scarborough 750 model, which was made locally in Hillsboro by the Rogers Company. Soon thereafter enough money was collected to make the purchase, and the organ was installed in the late summer of 1979. The installation required some modifications to the structure and look of the sanctuary to accommodate the new instrument. The changes included adding an attic to accomodate the organ’s sound boxes, creating a load-bearing wall for the attic, and modifying the shape and size of the stage to make room for the organ keyboard and the concert piano.

The organ was first played during the Sunday morning service on September 2, 1979. The instrument was later dedicated to the memory of John and Zuby Fletcher at a separate service on October 7th, 1979. A plaque was placed on the organ as a commemoration of their donation and a recognition of the many years of tremendous service to both Minthorn and Milwaukie Covenant Churches.

Shirley Goley, another of the organists, remembers the delight of playing such a nice organ. Shirley Glivinski says the organ has been incredibly trouble free all of these years, requiring only minor repairs. Shirley Glivinski is now in her 90's (but don't tell her we said anything) and played the organ often accompanied by Bruce Gillespie on the piano until very recent years. Shirley also said that she tended to play the organ softly, because she didn’t want to deafen the congregation. It is that powerful of an instrument. Every once in a while Shirley would remind herself by playing a song or two during her practice with all of the stops out. It was quite an amazing experience - the building would pulsate with the sound. She said it was her version of “rock” music.

The 6” foot grand piano was also a donation of the estate of long-time member Emilie Pauli. Emilie and John Pauli were the parents of Marge Schellenberg, and one of the founding families of Milwaukie Covenant Church. Mrs. Pauli passed on into Glory in1983, and her estate generously donated the $10,500. needed to purchase the piano that replaced an older, much smaller model. The donation is noted by an affixed plaque. The piano has been an important part of the worship services, weddings, memorial services, and special events over the many years.

John P Fletcher

John Fletcher and his wife Zuby were long-time members of the Minthorn Church and were charter members of Milwaukie Covenant Church. Mr. Fletcher taught a very popular Adult Sunday School program for decades. Eventually, he retired and another teacher, Mr. Ralph Froman, took over the class; however, after a time it was clear that it was hard to fill the shoes of Mr. Fletcher, and Mr. Froman retired as the teacher. The Sunday School attendees, including Mr. Froman, drafted a petition to press Mr. Fletcher back into service, and he served again as the teacher until 1965 when he retired permanently. During a service at Milwaukie Covenant Church in the Spring of 1965, founding member and church administrator Tim Olsen thanked Mr. Fletcher for his many years of service, to the enthusiastic agreement of the congregation. After his passing, the Fletcher estate donated half of the money needed to purchase the beloved organ the church still uses to this day. Mr. Fletcher’s daughter also donated a table that belonged to her parents which is now prominently displayed in the library with the church’s “family Bible.”

Milwaukie Covenant Pastors

Cecil Stuurman was the last pastor of Minthorn Bible Church and the first pastor of Milwaukie Covenant Church. He served from 1963-1965. Rev. Frank Poole was called in 1965 and served the Church for about 5 years. He had a large personality, a ready smile, and was handy with a lasso and reportedly had amazing aim. He was known as the “cowboy” to most people he knew. Pastor Poole received a call in 1969 and left as the congregation was planning their new church building. He felt that the process was sufficiently far along and was confident that God would see it through. Howard Johnson was called in 1969 and started his pastorate in January of 1970. He served for almost 5 years and stewarded the building process and the dedication of the new building. He received a call and moved on to another church in 1975.

Roland Boyce was the next pastor of the church. He was involved with Youth for Christ and had also been acquainted with Bob Jones and a number of other families in the church. He was asked to candidate and was enthusiastically accepted by the congregation in 1975. During his tenure the church saw explosive growth and added more room to accommodate the needs of a growing congregation. Pastor Boyce left when he received a call in the summer of 1981. Fred Neth replaced him and served 3 years as the Pastor of the congregation. The church was in a rebuilding phase during Pastor Neth’s tenure, because so many people left to follow Pastor Boyce to his next church. Pastor Neth’s also focused on community outreach and service. After his departure, the church called Pastor Allan C. Johnson, who served 12 years before retiring because of health issues. Allan Johnson was known for his quiet demeanor, but fiery spirit. His sermons often left parishioners with growth opportunities. After his retirement, Pastor Johnson and his wife Carolyn were asked to stay on and be members of the congregation. The honorary title of Pastor Emeritus was bestowed upon Pastor Johnson by the congregation, and he was a faithful congregant for the rest of his life. He passed away in 2012, and his memorial service was a standing room only affair. Carolyn is still a cherished member of the congregation.

When Pastor Johnson stepped down, he suggested the Church seek out Pastor William E. Nylund, the former intern who worked under Pastor Johnson at Milwaukie Covenant in 1990. Pastor Nylund was called and served 22 years as Senior Pastor. He was the longest serving Pastor of Milwaukie Covenant Church. During his time the church expanded the preschool, celebrated a 50th anniversary, took trips to the Holy Land, remodeled the building, and produced many plays, children’s events, and community outreach opportunities. He saw the church through some difficult years of shrinking membership, controversy, and eventual rebirth in 2007 through the denomination’s Veritas vitality program to help individual church bodies work through challenges and become more focused on being healthy and missional in outlook. Pastor Nylund was also helped guide the church through the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021, working tirelessly to keep the congregation together online when they could not meet in person. His efforts brought hope to his congregants during a dark time. He retired in May of 2021.

Veritas

In 2007, one of the elders, Bob Smith, suggested the idea that Milwaukie Covenant Church should consider joining the initial Veritas process, that at the time was a new pilot program of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Veritas translates as “truth” from the Latin, and the program was created as a means of revitalizing member churches, by helping them be missional. The ultimate goal was to bring vital health to the congregation so they could proclaim the Gospel message to their own members and to the world at large.

The program was started by the former "revitalization" pastor of First Covenant Church of Portland and current President of the denomination, Dr. John Wenrich. Dr. Wenrich was well acquainted with Milwaukie Covenant Church, and he was very open to this church being a part of the inagural group of churches in the Veritas process. Gordon Nyberg, who was the Chairman of Milwaukie Covenant Church at the time, put forth a plan to create a Veritas Committee at the 2008 Annual Meeting. The plan was endorsed by a group of past Chairpersons and the Church Leadership Council of that time. The motion was introduced, voted upon, and passed by the Congregation.

Soon thereafter, the church was also the host to the first Veritas teaching event in Portland, and completed the first stage of the process within the year. After that, the congregation was a part of the next phase of the Veritas program called EPIC. The experience eventually culminated in the church being a part of the first Navigate conference in Kansas City. The entire Veritas process lasted 5 years, and helped the Church's members and leadership to identify where they were located on the spectrum of vitality. This gave the congregation the tools to work toward becoming missional and healthy. Some of these tools included how to handle and accept conflict as normal and natural, and how to resolve the conflict in a Christ-honoring manner by observing a set of behavioral covenants. The process also helped the Church figure out what its passions were, and how to plan together for the future. The result was a body that was for a time more Christ-centered, friendly, forgiving, and gracious to one another. It was in this healthy atmosphere that the church experienced a welcomed growth of attendance and new members.

For some time, Dr. Wenrich used the experiences and lessons learned at Milwaukie Covenant Church in his classes taught at North Park Seminary as instruction for future pastors and church leadership to spread the truth of the reconciliation within the healing love of Jesus Christ.

50th Anniversary

In 2013, the Leadership of the church established the 50th Anniversary Committee to oversee the efforts at organizing a celebration worthy of reaching the golden milestone. That year, the Committee, led by John Moore, went into full swing with planning and logistics. The first event of the season was the Kick-off Sunday celebration on October 6th 2013. The overall theme of “Praise for the Past, Promise for the Future” was established. The service included photos and graphics representing the 5 decades of the Church’s history. The sermon from the service focused on 1 Peter and was used as an illustration of desire to meet the goal to complete at least 50 service projects during the year. The idea was to show Christ’s love in the community under the title of “50 Ways to Serve Your Savior.”

That fall, the Committee decorated the church with banners inside and outside, began collecting photos and other historical artifacts, and then started contacting former members to invite them to be a part of the celebration. For the rest of the fall, Pastor Bill Nylund prepared the congregation with a series on Lessons in the Desert, on spiritual gifts by preaching from I Peter 4:10-11, and putting our gifts into practice. The anniversary celebration started off with former Pastor Fred Neth, as the guest speaker on March 30, 2014, He preached from I Corinthians 1:18-25, with the theme of “Are You Still Dancing?”.

There was an open house event the following week, on April 5th, for former and current members and friends. It was a great celebration with the air of a family reunion. Hundreds of people passed through the bulidng that night. No Covenant event would be complete without food, so the options for the event were beautifully presented and abundant. No one left hungry.

For those interested in the history of the church, there were photos and other artifacts displayed in the hallways and the Library. A movie presentation on the history of Minthorn and Milwaukie Covenant Churches was played in the Sanctuary several times during the evening.

On Sunday, April 6th, former Pastor Roland Boyce preached to a well packed house, and there was a group photo taken outside afterward of everyone who attended that day. The photo was continuing the tradition that was started during the 25th and 30th Anniversaries.

Throughout the summer, the church was also blessed with guest preaching from former youth pastor Brian Stegner, then and current Conference Superintendent Greg Yee, then Associate Superintendent Don Robinson, and finally wrapping up the celebration in September was Dr. John Wenrich, an old friend of the church who was at the time the director of the denomination’s church vitality efforts and is currently the President of the Evangelical Covenant Church. The church also had a visitation with brief remarks and prayer from former Pastor Howard Johnson. The sermon that week revisited elements from Pastor Johnson’s building dedication sermon from 1972. Pastor Johnson was brought to the podium for his remarks before the sermon time with a reading from an excerpt of his original sermon, delivered by one of the church’s members standing in the exact spot Pastor Johnson had stood all of those years ago. That act of rememberance did not escape the notice of Pastor Johnson. He was very enthused despite his advanced years.

All of the pastors involved during that spring and summer of celebration said they were moved by the enthusiasm of this church for Christ and the vitality and health of the body. Throughout the time, short video clips from a historical presentation created by the Anniversary Committe were shown to the congregation during Sunday services. The celebration was an amazing success and really highlighted the work God had done in the body of Milwaukie Covenant Church over the years.

The Future

Almsot 60 years have come and gone in the life of Milwaukie Covenant Church, and 90+ years have passed since the founding of Minthorn Bible Church, but the question now is what will become of this place and its people? Only God knows the answer to that question, but we can all be sure that whatever His plan is, it will be in keeping with His spirit of love and truth. May God bless this Church and its body and may we, the people, never forget our focus on our everlasting Savior. The church is not a building but a body of believers that must be led by the life-bearing breath of the Holy Spirit Here’s to the future, one day at a time. It becomes the story of our past for the coming generations. May we be as faithful to our future as we have been to our past.

References

This is admittedly brief refenence list, but it tries to faithfully capture a general overview of documents and sources used for the the writing of this history. Many of the documents are held in the Milwaukie Covenant Church archive, but are not fully cataloged and tagged as of yet.

The Milwaukie Covenant Church Charter, April 1964.

The Minthorn Communinty and later Bible Church meeting minutes, 1929-1963.

The Milwaukie Prayer Fellowship initial meeting notes from 1962.

Documents pertaining to the negotiations and evental merger of the Milwaukie Prayer
Fellowship and the Minthorn Bible Church.

Milwaukie Covenant Church Annual Reports, 1965-2013.

A precious collection of documents copied from the Herbert Hoover Presidental Library and Museum, and specifically from the collection of the President’s papers during his single term in office. In addition, also from the collection of his Presidential Secretary, Lawrence Richey, which is held at the Hoover Library. The collection includes all of the original documents sent by Emma Hansen to the President in 1929. It is a truly an astonishing collection of precious information about the early years of Minthorn Community Church. That collection was thought to have been lost for more 70 years. The Library could not find the documents when originally cataloging the collection; only the existence of the cache was known because a copy of the letter sent back to Mrs. Hansen survived. One of the researchers mentioned to me (Adam Wunn) that Lawrence Richey’s colletion was also held by the Library. I then suggested that they check his records, and the cache of original documents were found, but uncataloged. Both the researchers and myself were elated to find the documents. They were scanned and preserved; a copy was sent to the Milwaukie Covenant Church archive.

An article about the history of the Milwaukie Covenant Preschool, written by Lea Nyberg.

At least 4 different histories written about Minthorn Bible Church and Milwaukie Covenant Church written over the years by various members, most of which are anonymous. One of the well-documented histories of Minthorn Bible Church was written by Enid Briggs in 1955.

Oral history recordings of founding members including Mike and Barb Gibson, Don and Shirley Glivinski, Enid Briggs and her sister Adele Wilder, Linda Fields, Marcine Richmond, Don and Maxine Nutbrock, and finally, casual conversations with several other members including Ben Schellenberg, and later Bev Olsen (Tim had passed awaysome years back).

Newspaper articles from Milwaukie Review and other local newspaper. Microfilm exists at the Ledding Library of Milwaukie and the Oregon City Library. No known, online source exists for these articles beyond some occasional, partial indexes of articles.

A bevy of historic photos, and a motley collection of surviving church documents including bulletins, memorandum, letters, ledgers, programs, hand written notes, receipts, and other documents.

Other documents and sources that are not mentioned here that might be added later.

Acknowledgements

My apologies and many thanks to my long-suffering wife Juliane and my daughter Lydia for being patient during my absence for research trips, many nights of research a home, and that distant, far-off stare when “Daddy” was researching.

My eternal gratitude for the help of my fellow contributors. This document is only possible in its completeness and accuracy because of the signifigant help of long-time members Juliane Goley-Wunn, John Moore, Spike Davis, Enid Briggs, Adele Wilder, Lea Nyberg, and Marcine Richmond.

Special thanks to the Milwaukie Museum for preserving a vast array of information pertaining to the churches of Milwaukie and Oak Grove.

Also, research done by the City of Milwaukie Archive department on the early years of Minthorn family invovlement in Milwaukie. In return, Milwaukie Covenant Church was able to reciprocate and provide more indepth documentation and research to improve the accuracy of the City’s website history page.

Many thanks to the researchers at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum for their patience and collaboration. It was a win-win for everyone. Photos of the Herbert Hover stained glass window were provided to the Herbert Hoover Library to help them enhance their collection.

My deepest gratitude to all of the church members who endured my long interviews and very passionate desire to capture all of the history that still remained. Without their help, this history would have been very sparse indeed.

Thank you to everyone who contributed historical documents, photos, and artifacts to the archive collection. The call for items went out in 2013, at the beginning of the process, and people continued to donate all the way until the beginning of 2020.

I would also like to thank everyone else, not specifically mentioned here for their help and support. This project came at a time when much of the history of the church was being forgotten with the passing of so many old friends. Praise be to God for making this project a priority to capture the story just in the nick of time.

The History of this Project

This project was originally borne out of a script that was created for narrators for the video history used in snippets at each service during the fall of 2013 and spring of 2014. The full 30+ minute video was shown 6 times on the evening of April 6, 2013, and in several subsequent opportunies at the request of members and friends. After that time, the script was updated and improved many times and the narration parts were subsequently re-recorded by the original narrator, Spike Davis, and added Marcine Richmond. Another round of edits in 2014-2017 and in 2021 produced this updated written narrative. A subsequent video version with the updates prior to this year will be placed on the website on a history page as a part of the permanent record of Milwaukie Covenant Church. In addition, some research materials, copies of sources, and this written history will be presented to the Milwaukie Museum for their collection.

About the Author

Adam Wunn has been a member of Milwaukie Covenant Church since March of 1997, having been Saved in Grace during an alter call by then Pastor Allen C. Johnson. He also serves as the current Milwaukie Covenant Church historian and archivist. He attended Portland Community College and Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachussets, studying history with a focus on the geo-politics of Eastern Europe in the 20th century. A former newspaper reporter who loves a good story, Adam is an avid genealogy researcher, and a local amateur historian. He is a sucker for the history of just about anything. There is always a story to be found and learned. Adam served as an Apologetics teacher in the Adult Sunday School at MCC for 15 years, and participated in many ministries, including serving on the church leadership for four years, working on the 50th Anniversary Committe, the church Veritas Committee, and many youth group activities over the years culminating with the leading the VBS program. He lives in Milwaukie with his wife Juliane and daughter Lydia.