By Alena Logan
DETROIT, MI (June 24, 2017)—Doug Lunde, active member of Thornapple Evangelical Covenant Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was honored today for his dedicated involvement in the church for the past thirty-five years. He was granted the T.W. Anderson Award this morning at the 132nd Annual Meeting of The Evangelical Covenant Church, an award that has been handed out since 1985 to laypersons for outstanding leadership in the church body.
Since 1982, Lunde has actively served Thornapple Evangelical Covenant Church. The congregation was only three years old when he became a member. Lunde’s willingness to put the interests of others first and to serve behind the scenes became characteristic of his attitude in the years to follow.
He has served in many different capacities—he helped form the church’s first youth group, served as a Sunday school teacher for twenty years, led classes on marriage enrichment, and served on the Elder Board for multiple terms. Rob Peterson, pastor of Thornapple, calls Lunde’s service a “willing and humble posture to life and involvement.”
In addition, Lunde has served as an usher and greeter and has been a dedicated member of the choir for thirty years and counting. He regularly cares for the church facility and vehicles, arriving early and staying long after everyone else has left to help prepare coffee and refreshments and to clean. And his service extends beyond the congregation to the community—he drives the church bus for Bhutanese refugees and visits the elderly.
His “contribution to the health and vitality of Thornapple Covenant Church has been critical to the development and growth of the church from the beginning,” says Garth McGrath, superintendent of the Great Lakes Conference.
Lunde has given countless hours of his life to serving God and the church faithfully and consistently. He has served in multiple capacities simultaneously and maintained a posture of humility throughout every role. He is known for his tendency to work without calling attention to himself and for his care for people.
Lunde joked that his wife received the call to let him know he had been named the recipient. She called him to the phone, but he thought it was a call for money and he would talk with them another time. But his wife told him he had to come to the phone.
But Lunde said the award was a wonderful surprise and he was humbled by the honor. But he had one more quip for the audience: “I have a surprise for you – you gave this award to a Norwegian, and I’m not giving it back.”
Alena Logan is an editorial intern with Covenant Communications.
