Our History

Find out how it all started...

F

irst Covenant Church currently has an average worship attendance of around 200 under Tammy Swanson-Draheim, who has served as senior pastor since December 2003. It was founded as an Evangelical Covenant Church in 1947 through the strength of a thriving Sunday school begun years earlier in town. The church's initial worship service occurred on March 16, 1947 (a Sunday afternoon) amidst unusual circumstances. The guest preacher that was scheduled to give the sermon for the new congregation died hours earlier while preaching at his home church. Fortunately, a lay person was secured and the service was held. Three months later, an intern pastor, Norris M. Peterson, was called to Mason City and the church was dedicated in the fall.

Roy E. Olson was First Covenant Church's initial full-time pastor, serving from 1948-50. Other full-time pastors serving the congregation in the early years were Theodore Clemens (1951-53), Wallace Carlson (1954-61) and Robert Christiansen (1961-63). After the arrival of David Carlson as senior pastor in 1963, the church embarked on an extensive building campaign, purchasing property in 1966 and finishing the facility in February 1967. E. Neil Peterson served First Covenant from 1968-74, helping the congregation increase attendance to 110 by the time it had celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1972. Alfred Ulner then served from 1974-83 and Frank Ashley was pastor from 1984-88.

From 1989-95, Dan Pietrzyk served as senior pastor at First Covenant. The church was aided in its ministry by the work of youth and family pastor Mark Anderson. Rich Murray was senior pastor from the end of 1995 until 2003.

First Covenant has supported mission works for many years, beginning with Kathy Pearson, a missionary child whose parents served in Africa. Most recently, a 12-person contingent of men traveled to Ecuador for short-term work at Covenant churches. A group of high school students trekked to Juarez, Mexico, during the summer for a project sponsored through Covenant Merge Ministries. Children of the church involved in Covenant pastoral ministry at some point include Kirk Johnson and, most recently, Dan Boehlje, an associate pastor in Bellingham, Washington. And Eldon "Bud" and Pauline Johnson served as the first-time directors of Covenant-sponsored Twin Lakes Christian Center, a camping facility now nearing 50 years of ministry to Covenant churches in Iowa.

But first Covenant is full of ministers serving in a number of ways out in the community. Doctors, truck drivers, teachers, newspaper reporters, civil servants, politicians, bus drivers, real estate agents and farmers are now among those spreading the gospel message to Christ, Expanding our Witness - means that we do more than come to church and worship. We're called to put hands and feet to our beliefs, we're called to do more outside the church walls than inside them. And it is our desire that our mission field in Mason City knows that we're available to minister in any way God chooses to lead us.