In the kingdom of God, greatness is never measured by how far one can rise above others. Rather, greatness is recognized by how deeply one can love and serve others. By kingdom-of-God standards, Curtis Peterson was a great man!
Curtis Dean Peterson was born to Harold and Lucille Peterson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 29, 1947. He was nurtured in faith through his childhood and teen years by his family and at Pasadena (California) Covenant Church. Through observing faithful Christ followers, Curt began a lifelong journey of learning to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5–6, NLT).
At summer camp in his late teens, Curt responded to God’s call into pastoral ministry. He earned his BA in philosophy from UCLA in 1969, a master of divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1972, and completed orientation studies at North Park Theological Seminary in 1973. He was ordained by the Covenant in 1974.
On December 19, 1970, Curt and Martie (née MacEachen) were married at Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena, California, with Dr. Ray Ortlund (Lake Avenue) and Dr. Paul Larsen (Pasadena Covenant) officiating. Their marriage was blessed with three wonderful sons, Erik, Nils, and Jonathan; their lovely daughters-in-law, Christina, Kate, and Stacy, and, as Martie says, “twelve adored grandchildren, eleven living on earth and one living in heaven, now with his Papa.” Those who know the Petersons well agree that Curt’s more visible ministry would not have been possible nor as effective without Martie as his partner. Over their nearly fifty-six years of marriage, scores of people experienced their warm hospitality, delicious meals, “white elephant” gift exchanges, laughter, games, deep conversations, prayer, and communion. They hosted family, friends, international guests, global personnel, and Covenant colleagues with ease and generosity.
From 1973 to 1980 Curt was a church planter in the St. Louis area, serving Christ Covenant Church in Florissant, Missouri, and Community Covenant Church in Kirkwood, Missouri. In 1980 he was called to Montecito Covenant Church in Santa Barbara, California, where he served as senior pastor until 2003. During Curt’s thirty years in pastoral ministry in the local church, his heart for the mission of God led him on learning and teaching trips to Alaska, Mexico, Colombia, Lithuania, Thailand, China, Spain, Germany, and the Czech Republic. During those trips, Curt’s passion and commitment to the mission of God shaped his missiology, which continued to be molded throughout his years of global leadership.
Byron and Judy Amundsen, who served as missionaries in Thailand (1979–1982) and as part of the Serve Globally leadership team (1989–2017), remember Curt relating how his trust in God’s sovereignty and loving-kindness grew through an unusual—in Curt’s words, “miraculous”—event in Santa Barbara. In recalling the story recently, Martie said, “It was during a difficult season in the church. It was Easter week, and Curt was seeking a way to tell the same story in a fresh way. Knowing that the new spring flowers that had been planted in large pots in front of the church needed watering, he walked to the back of the parsonage to get a hose. As he bent down to get the hose, a dove landed on his shoulder. It remained on his shoulder as he walked all the way to the front of the church. Then it took off, circled around, and flew away. Curt had a sudden warm rush through his body, and he heard the assurance that God was with him.” That mundane task of watering the flowers became a sacred moment for Curt. “It was as if God was saying, ‘Trust me and I will direct your path!’” Martie added, “We ended up staying at Montecito for 20 more years!”
Curt’s innate leadership skills were enhanced through his service as chair of the Covenant Executive Board, chair of the Pacific Southwest Conference Executive Board, chair of the Board of the Ordered Ministry, and member of the Covenant World Relief Commission. He was elected to the position of executive minister of world mission for the Evangelical Covenant Church in 2003.
Curt led Covenant World Mission (now Serve Globally) through a time of lasting reform by taking what had been a typical mid-century missionary endeavour and building on the changes begun under the leadership of his predecessor, Jim Gustafson. By the time Curt stepped into the role, the world of global service and mission was ripe for change. Curt recognized the need to build on the lived experience and valuable wisdom of the entire global Church and foster new ways of thinking and serving. Although his preparation and skills for the task were recognized by all who knew him, Curt was humbly aware that his trust in God would be tested as he engaged with people and cultures beyond his own.
David Husby, executive director of Covenant World Relief and Development (2009–2020), shared, “I had the privilege of traveling with Curt to several countries over the years, visiting people who were oppressed, discriminated against, and marginalized. Whether it was a child laborer, a woman trapped in the sex trade industry, Dalits in India, hill tribe people in Laos, struggling rural farmers in Thailand, internally displaced people in Laos, or refugees in Kenya, Curt treated every person he encountered with the utmost dignity and respect.”
Husby continued, “He listened intently to their stories and sought to learn more about their context and conditions. Curt also demonstrated dignity and respect for Serve Globally and Covenant World Relief and Development partner organization leaders and sought to stand alongside and support them as they pursued the transformation of individuals, families, and communities. Curt exuded compassion, kindness, humility, experience, and wisdom. For all of this he was deeply respected and warmly welcomed wherever he traveled.”
Over the course of his tenure with World Mission/Serve Globally, Curt led the administrative team through implementation of a staff reorganization. He guided the team to manage mission finances under budget each year, eliminate a reserve fund debt, send eight new long-term missionaries, and develop a revised missionary training program and an enhanced re-entry event for missionaries on home assignment. Seven missionaries were sent back to Congo, long-term missionary personnel were credentialed, and three world mission conferences for pastors and mission leaders were organized, along with two world mission think tanks in collaboration with local church mission leaders.
“Curt was a quiet and masterful listener. He asked careful questions and followed up with ‘How would you do this?’” said Dave and Wendy Mark, Latin America regional coordinators for Covenant World Mission (1999–2014). “Many of Curt’s gifts were consistent with relational and/or honor-based cultures. His gentle ways did not remove agency from global ministry staff living around the world. They were what we tried to emulate as we prayed for the humility of servanthood….In the constantly changing international environment, Curt worked respectfully and collaboratively.”
Curt cared deeply about the physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual health of those serving the Covenant outside their homelands. To that end he built on the work of his predecessors by establishing clear guidelines and budgets for a team of health care professionals. The care given to Serve Globally personnel throughout the world continues to be of the highest caliber and a model for other organizations, much to the credit of Curt’s heart for others.
“Curt was an exemplary servant leader,” Baxter Swenson, co-director of missionary personnel (2007–2017), said. “He came to meetings and gatherings with leaders of sister churches from around the world with a desire to learn from them. He modeled what it meant to put others first.”
Under Curt’s leadership, Covenant Kids sponsorship for vulnerable children expanded from Colombia to include Sudan, Congo, and India; the Center for World Christian Studies at North Park Theological Seminary was created; and extensive mission collaborations with Covenant World Relief, the Paul Carlson Partnership, and the International Federation of Evangelical Free Churches (IFFEC) were started or strengthened.
IFFEC was established in 1948 in Bern, Switzerland, and is composed of national church organizations who share historical, theological and spiritual roots. In 2006 Curt was elected to IFFEC’s Mission Committee and participated in mission and church planting conferences in Europe for 120 IFFEC pastors. John and Letha Kerl, Europe regional coordinators (2007–2026), worked extensively with IFFEC, and Curt served as general secretary of IFFEC from 2018 to 2022. On Curt’s passing, a joint statement issued by Øyvind Haraldseid as general secretary and John Nielsen as president said, “The IFFEC family gives thanks to God for Curt’s life and ministry, and remembers him as a warm, knowledgeable, and capable leader. Curt led our fellowship through the demanding years of the pandemic. His steady, wise, and warm leadership was a gift to the entire IFFEC community.”
Curt’s trust in the unfailing love of God was mightily tested in 2007 when he and Dr. Roger Thorpe were caught in crossfire between the military police and an armed rebel militia in Kinshasa, the capital of DR Congo. Through their harrowing ordeal, they clung to their trust in God, helping others run for cover and praying. At one point, in the dead of night, as they anticipated their deaths and said their goodbyes to one another, they were sustained by the knowledge that “neither death nor life…will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39). God led their steps to safety, and their lives were spared that day. Curt continued his journey of trusting God as he faced the hard work of recovery from trauma.
In my own experience serving with Curt, I knew him to be a man of utmost integrity, a lifelong learner who did not hide from his own foibles but who willingly talked about his strengths and weaknesses as instruments God used to bring him into deeper alignment with his eternal purpose as an image bearer. His example of trust in the love and faithfulness of God, even in the most difficult seasons of life, has encouraged me in my own times of joy and sorrow.
One of the highlights of Curt’s life and ministry was in 2010 when he envisioned and led the Global Dialogue that brought together 25 international partners and 35 Evangelical Covenant Church missional pastors and leaders. Those of us who were present will never forget the compassionate, tender way Curt guided that gathering of church leaders from around the world. He had just attended a reconciliation event at a Duke University Summer Institute and shared with us, “I was challenged to slow down and enter into the pain, the brokenness, the victimization of others—to lament….I learned that the journey is a constant weaving of ‘new creation, lament, hope, and leadership’ and that we don’t arrive at maturity but continue a journey of growth that embraces others and changes our lives one day at a time.”
At the end of the Global Dialogue, we gathered for communion. Curt led that time with a deeply Spirit-filled sensitivity to the pain and suffering represented by our global sisters and brothers. He gave us time to weep together and to symbolize our lament by placing small glass “tears” in a jar. After a long season of lament, we were ready for the table, which Curt explained was not a table we Covenant leaders had prepared for our international guests. Rather, it was the table prepared for all of us by the One who makes no distinction by race, ethnicity, gender, social status, or education.
In the years after Curt officially retired from his role as the executive minister of Serve Globally he was asked to step into other key roles at Covenant Offices in the areas of advancement (with Donn Engebretson), the ordered ministry (filling in for Mark Novak for a brief time), and as the interim executive minister of Serve Globally between Al Tizon’s and Grace Shim’s tenures. Curt loved to serve others.
On August 16, 2022, Curt was diagnosed with stage 4 renal carcinoma. Though much of his energy and time since that diagnosis was focused on his own health issues, Curt and Martie attended the 80th anniversary celebration for CWRD on January 25, 2026, and traveled to Peru with a group of church friends, April 6–19, 2026. Martie reflects, “The trip to Peru was a physically difficult trip. Curt was diagnosed with the return of his cancer a couple of days after we got home.” Curt died in Santa Barbara, California, on August 20, 2026, surrounded by his family.
Curt is remembered today—from Bangkok to Berlin, from Stockholm to Santa Barbara, from Medellín to Manila, from Gemena to Geneva—as a friend, mentor, and ministry colleague. John and Letha Kerl summed up the way so many remember him: as “authentic, humble, wise, pastoral, inclusive, empowering, warm, and compassionate.” Though the extent of his legacy will never be fully known on earth, Curt has already heard the words “well done, good and faithful servant,” the greatest recognition he ever hoped for. His legacy will be reflected through his own children and grandchildren and through generations of individuals around the globe because he trusted in the faithful love of God.
Peace be to his memory.
Memorial Service
A memorial service will be held at Montecito Covenant Church on Saturday, September 12, at 2:00 p.m. PDT. It will be livestreamed here.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent either to Serve Globally at The Evangelical Covenant Church, Mission Advancement, PO Box 773420, Chicago, IL 60677-3420; or to The Drake William Peterson Foundation, 210 Calle Palo Colorado, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Please inclue a note indicating that the gift is in memory of Curt Peterson.
