OMAHA, NEB. (June 28, 2019)—Keith Turnquist, a member of First Covenant Church of St. Paul, Minn., was honored posthumously Thursday evening with the T.W. Anderson Award, which is given to laypersons for outstanding leadership and service to the church body.
His wife, Marcy, accepted a plaque in his honor during the opening dinner of the 134th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church being held here June 27-29.
Fellow Covenanters who nominated him noted his generosity of spirit, servant heart, welcoming presence, positive and gracious leadership and deep commitment to God and his Kingdom.
Attuned to the ever-changing East Side neighborhood of St. Paul, Turnquist explored new ways for the church to minister to the needs of its increasingly diverse surroundings. He helped create The St. Paul Covenant (TSPC), a nonprofit corporation that became a neighborhood ministry outreach, offering multiple services for children and seniors, including preschool, after- school care and block nursing programs.
Turnquist also helped launch the Payne-Phalen Block Nursing Program, which organized in-home health care for scores of seniors in the church’s neighborhood. He provided board leadership and recruited qualified, committed full-time and volunteer staff.
He was involved for many years with Family Values for Life, a nonprofit serving countless children and families in the East Side neighborhood.
Among his other activities, Turnquist visited the homebound, served on the leadership team and as church chair, filled backpacks for students at the nearby elementary school, delivered donations to the local agencies, and volunteered at the local food pantry.
Despite the onset of Parkinson’s disease, which limited his activities, he always was looking for opportunities to share God’s love.
