Saturday night’s ordination service that concluded the 131st Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church included several historic family firsts – Five married couples finalized their ordination at the same time, one family became the first ever to have both parents and all their children ordained, and one family had three members ordained at the same time.
The five couples ordained at the same time were:
- Paul and Britta Burger
- Carla and Matt Dyment
- Brad and Jenna Frost
- Julio and Katie Isaza
- Carolyn and Michael Rose
A total of seven families were represented on stage because Adrienne Satterberg and Paula Frost were joined by their spouses, Ken Satterberg and Herb Frost, who already are ordained.
When Paul and Britta Burger were ordained, it became the first time that both parents and all of their children have served as ordained ministers at the same time. Paul is the son of Steve and Marti Burger and the brother of Melissa Wall. Steve is the director of director of children, family, and intergenerational ministry for the denomination, and Marti is the director of Covenant Events. Melissa is pastor of DeerGrove Covenant Church in Palatine, Illinois.
“It’s a privilege to be part of this legacy,” Paul said.
Britta’s mother, Sharon Anderson, was ordained two years ago, and on Saturday night, she stood behind her kneeling daughter and blessed her during the service. Anderson serves as pastor of Adult Christian Formation at Pine Lake Covenant Church in Sammamish, Washington.
Herb Frost, pastor of Rochester Covenant Church in Rochester, Minnesota, laid hands on his wife Paula to bless her as she finalized her ordination. She serves as the Rochester church’s pastor of children’s ministries. Moment’s later he laid hands on his son Brad, while his daughter-in-law, Jenna, knelt next to her husband as her former pastor Dave Kersten blessed her.
Jenna, Paula, and Britta all said being ordained this year was especially significant to them because this is the fortieth anniversary of the Covenant’s decision to ordain women. Paula said she had felt the call to ministry while she was still single but it was years before she could embrace it.
“I didn’t grow up with any role models,” Paula said. “To be ordained on the fortieth anniversary is a crescendo.”
There also were other family connections on stage Saturday night as parents who are ordained ministers laid hands on their children and in-laws.
- Brian Johnson and son, Tyler Johnson
- James Bruckner and son, Nick Bruckner
- Mark Godshall and son-in-law of Matt Aalseth
- Gregg Oliver and son Luke Oliver
- Scot Gillan and daughter-in-law Jen Gillan
- Leslie Sanders, Sr. and son Leslie Sanders, Jr.
