DENVER, CO (December 22, 2017) – When Inversion Community Covenant Church accepted their first 16 members last Sunday, they also made sure the service was extra special for Steve Thulson, pastor of Centennial Covenant Church, the congregation that planted Inversion.
Receiving the new members was a “major milestone” in the life of the young church, said Inversion’s pastor, Casey Franklin, who had asked Thulson to preach. He didn’t tell him what else was planned, however.
Franklin was ordained at the Covenant Annual Meeting this past June and received a stole at the ceremony. When Thulson was ordained years earlier, it was not the custom at the time for the denomination to “vest” the ordinands with stoles.
So Franklin secretly commissioned Vicki Twigg, who designed and sews all of the Covenant’s stoles, to handcraft a Word and Sacrament stole for Thulson.
At the end of the ceremony, Franklin gave each of the new members a gift but then had Thulson come forward. Franklin explained to the congregation that Thulson had never received a stole but that “he deserved one.”
He also joked, “Now that he is nearing retirement, it’s about time.”
Thulson teared up as he was presented the gift. One of the church’s leadership team vested Thulson with the stole as is done at the Annual Meeting.
“It was a very moving moment,” said Thulson, who wanted to emphasize that the church’s milestone was the most important event of the evening. “They have been reaching people who have been far away from attending any church, and it is a slow, long go. But they are doing great work.”
For a previous story on the church, see “The South Denver Social Club Meets Jesus.”
