CADILLAC, MI (November 19, 2013) — National Football League teams wear “throwback” uniforms from decades at least one Sunday a season. First Covenant Church Pastor Gregory DuBois and his wife, Kathy, decided to wear their own throwback “Sunday best” when they greeted congregation members as part of the church building’s centennial anniversary.
“I just thought it would be fun,” DuBois said.
The Swedish Christian Mission Church was formed with 15 charter members in 1880. They constructed their first building and parsonage—the parsonage still is used today.
Evangelistic revivals helped increase the membership, and the congregation constructed its current building 30 years later in 1913. The work was completed at a cost of $23,619.70, and the mortgage was paid off just seven years later.
The building has stood in the same place for 100 years, but the style of worship inside has reflected the changing culture of the people. “Most significant, and probably most difficult for the pillars of the church, was the change that occurred between 1925 and 1928,” DuBois says. “They made a transition from holding services in Swedish and switched everything to English. Even the music changed from Swedish singing to Swedish songs in English translation and then to the addition of other popular English language hymns and music.”
In 1934 the congregation voted to change the name of the church from The Swedish Evangelical Church to First Covenant Church.
“We admire and celebrate the courage of our forebears to prayerfully and boldly make changes that served to bless the community they were trying to reach,” DuBois said. “As the people and culture around us continue to change, we can best honor the legacy of our founders and predecessors by seeking the Lord’s will to discern and using his ‘otherish’ love to care for our neighbors who need to hear the gospel and experience the love of Jesus as we express it in our ministry today.”
