Summer 2025
Co-Hosted Annual Meeting Conference Brings Churches, Leaders, Ministries Together Chugach Covenant Church and Mountain View Covenant and Rob Hall, Vice President of Real Estate Services for Church Congregations partnered with First Covenant National Covenant Properties lead learning sessions for the Church to host the annual meeting conference April 2-5, delegation. 2025. Approximately 80 delegates and general conferees Samson Weston, of Mekoryuk Covenant Church, was representing 17 of 18 churches awarded the Daniel Savetilik, and three conference ministries, Sr. Award for many years of as well as denominational faithful service as a lay-leader. leadership were in attendance. The Executive Board held “This was the first time that elections for new board multiple congregations worked members. Debbie Hamilton, together to shoulder the of Soldotna, was elected to a hosting responsibilities,” second term representing the explained Superintendent road-system. Drew Williams, Curtis Ivanoff. “It worked of Scammon Bay, was also rereally well and enabled our two elected for a second term smaller Anchorage representing the YK Delta. congregations to serve the James Ventress, of Nome conference in very significant Covenant Church, was elected ways in tandem with First to his first term as Norton Covenant Church, the host Sound representative. site.” On Friday night, the annual Evangelical Covenant Church Wilson & Minnie Gonongnan President Tammy Swansonoffering, which is designated Draheim, also in attendance, for the Village Pastor Fund, hosted an open Q & A session was taken. Rev. Mark Hill with attendees and preached issued a challenge to the the Friday night sermon calling congregation gathered to raise us to be a church marked by 10% of the $70,000 budgeted dependence on God through for the fund that evening. prayer. Pastor Criss Mitchell, of Indeed, more than $7,000 was First Covenant, Kristen generously given that night. Bierma, Exec. Director of Additionally, the Covenant Samson Weston, of Mekoryuk Covenant Church, is honored with the Daniel Beacon Hill, and Supt. Curtis Women’s craft sale raised Savetilik, Sr. Award for his dedicated service as a lay leader. President Ivanoff rounded out the more than $1,600 for retreat Tammy Swanson-Draheim shares a denominational report of mission and speaking team. Adam Legg, scholarships and village ministry with the Alaska Conference delegation. The Covenant High Alumni choir shares joyfully in special song during the worship service. Exec. Director of Love Alaska, parsonage needs.
From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16
The time we had together at Anchorage First Covenant Church for the annual meeting conference was significant and encouraging. We took time to have our eyes lifted up to the power and goodness of God—as we have a God who is able to move mountains. I trust, too, that our church is strenghened and the Holy Spirit is moving throughout our community of Covenant churches and ministries as those who attended returned home refreshed and spurred on to faith and love. Now as we move into the summer season—such an amazing and beautiful season—we engage in activities where we receive a You Belong generous and abundant Curtis Ivanoff, Superintendent outpouring of God’s blessings from the sea, rivers, skies and land. As well, I know that there are some places where there is great concern about the low return of fish, and I lament how that reality affects many. We exercise faith to trust that God provides in so many ways, and I hope you “taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8)” even in difficult circumstances. Recently, I had an opportunity to be in a presentation led by Jim Wilder and Michael Sullivant, authors and presenters with Life Model Works. One topic of conversation focused on this question: what does it take to thrive in life? I think any one of us would love to know the answer to that question and to experience a life that is fully alive. I’d like to share the first of five points discussed. To thrive, we need a secure place to belong. This belonging involves people as well as place. It makes me think of the verse from Acts 17:28, “In him we live and move and have our being.” Our ultimate place of belonging is in Christ. We were made for relationship and most deeply, knowing our Creator. In Christ we find that abundant life. We also find a people to belong to through Christ as we become members of his body, the church. Through Christ and his new Covenant with us, we can become a part of the people of God. This is powerful, especially during times of hardship. In our Alaska Covenant community, we have suffered a great deal of loss in these last months in a number of our communities. Finding belonging one to another in Christ offers us a powerful reality – we are not alone. Please know that if you are someone who is grieving, reach out, remembering that you are connected. Whether it is in hardship, or in the sharing of joy and participating in the mission that Jesus calls us to, look to one another. Walk together. Pray for one another. Laugh together. Sing together. Know that we are connected and belong to each other in Christ. It is one part of thriving—what Jesus calls “life abundantly” in John 10:10. I pray that your relationships will help you to thrive in this season. You belong to Christ, and to each other.
Meet Our Three Alaska Covenant Military Chaplains Alaska is currently home to three Covenant military chaplains. Two are serving in Fairbanks, and one is serving in Anchorage. Chaplaincy is a unique ministry that has similarities to pastoral ministry in a church, yet has its own unique challenges. This interview format article will introduce you to our Covenant chaplains as well as their ministry context .
Where do you currently serve?
Air Force Chaplain (Maj. )Mark Hill: I have served for 10 years as a chaplain with the Air Force. I currently serve as the Deputy Wing Chaplain of EAFB / Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, AK. Previously, I served at Volkel Netherlands; Fort Benning, GA; and Eielson AFB, AK. I have been married to JoAnna for almost 27 years, and we have two adult daughters and two teen-age sons. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Amy Smith: I serve in the United States Army stationed at Ft. Wainwright, AK. I have served as an U.S. Army Chaplain for over ten years and have a total of Major Mark Hil, Capt. Amy twenty-five combined years of Smith, and Capt. Derek Vanderservice; serving in the United Molen, Covenant Chaplains, States Army Reserve, Army connected at the midwinter pastor conference in Denver. National Guard, and currently They are all currently stationed Active Army. I started my army in Alaska. career enlisting after high school, serving as a Food Service Specialist. Air Force Chaplain (Capt.) Derek VanderMolen: I’m an active-duty Air Force Chaplain endorsed by the Evangelical Covenant Church. I have been in the Air Force for nearly a decade and been stationed in Anchorage for three years. Before moving to Alaska, I spent four years in Glendale, AZ, at Luke Air Force Base and then three years at Fort Meade, MD, serving in the National Security Agency. Before joining the Air Force I served as a Children’s Pastor in the Twin Cities, MN and then as an Interim Pastor in a farming community in Chaplain (Capt.) Derek VanKansas. My wife Laura and I have derMolen stands at the chapbeen married for nearly 18 years. el at Wake Island, an atoll in We have four children: Molly, 13, Micronesia, before leading his first service there. Gabe 11, Levi 9, Sofia 5.
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Ministry & Training for Healing the Wounds from Trauma Lutheran Indian Ministries (LIM), in partnership with church congregations, facilitated healing groups and training in Norton Sound villages of Shaktoolik and Unalakleet in early May. Martha Craft and a team of four others lead group sessions designed by the Healing Trauma Institute and the American Bible Society. The training includes six sessions around topics such as how to help heart wounds heal and if God loves us, why do we still experience suffering. A leader training was added on the Unalakleet gathering in order to train group facilitators who can lead the groups ongoing. For more information about LIM healing groups, online groups, or hosting healing groups in your own community, check out www.limhope.org.
“Martha Craft and I first met at the Pastor & Leader
retreat last October. We connected on how the Gospel can help heal the wounds of trauma, and I learned about Lutheran Indian Ministries (LIM). The Lord knew how timely it would be, as our community suffered a series of tragedies over the next few months. We had initially planned a healing group to help with the old hurts that people struggle to let go of—the kind of hurts that bury themselves in our hearts, and we become accustomed to managing instead of seeking healing. However, with the recent events here in remote western Alaska, the arrival of LIM’s trauma ministry team was a Godsend. They brought with them a biblical healing program supported by best practices in mental health. This program outlined the promises of Scripture and brought healing by relying on the power of Christ. It resonated powerfully with many who participated and offered us a practical means to release our old and new hurts. It has been an encouragement to our church and a blessing to my family and me.
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—Pastor Abel Razzo, Unalakleet Covenant Church
Lauren Thurston Selected for Summer Ethics Fellowship Pastor Lauren Thurston, of Mekoryuk Covenant Church, is one of 14 Fellows chosen for the 2025 Clergy & Religious Leaders Program of the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE). Now in its fifteenth year of operation, FASPE annually grants 80-90 Fellowships to graduate students and earlyPastor Lauren Thurston career professionals in the fields of Clergy, Medicine, Law, Business, Design & Technology, and Journalism. Fellows participate in a two-week program in Germany and Poland, which uses the conduct of professionals in Nazi-occupied Europe as an initial framework for approaching ethical responsibility in the professions today. The FASPE curriculum takes advantage of the power of place with daily seminars and dialogue at sites of historic importance, often specific to their profession. The experience of the Clergy & Religious Leaders Fellows is enhanced by traveling alongside the Medical and Journalism fellows, who — in formal and informal settings—consider together how ethical constructs and norms in their respective professions align and differ. “By educating students about the causes of the Holocaust and the power of their chosen professions, FASPE seeks to instill a sense of professional responsibility for the ethical and moral choices that the Fellows will make in their careers and in their professional relationships,” said David Goldman, FASPE’s Chairman. The 2025 fellowship will take place in Germany and Poland over the course of two weeks this summer. Lauren recently completed her Master of Divinity at North Park Theological Seminary and is also a proud alumna of Whitworth University. She is pursuing Ordination to Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Covenant Church. Thinking ahead to the upcoming fellowship trip, Thurston says, “FASPE is an incredible opportunity to connect with fellow clergy and be empowered to ethical leadership. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will prepare me for a faithful career in ministry.” Thurston joins a diverse group of over 80 FASPE fellows across all six programs who were chosen through a competitive process that drew applicants from across the U.S. and the world.
Moving Mo April 2-5, 2025 First Covenant Church
ountains
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Chaplains Interview continued...
Share a bit about how the Lord shepherded you into chaplaincy. Maj. Mark Hill: After years of service in the nonprofit sector and a couple years as a lead pastor, I began to explore the range of chaplain possibilities. I wanted a position that would offer complexity, autonomy, and a reasonable return on investment of my time and energy. I never could have imagined that an organization that required us all to wear the same uniform every day would also provide an incredible degree of autonomy. I tell airmen all the time that I have the very best job in all of the Air Force. Capt. Amy Smith: From the very beginnings of my Army career as a cook, God was planting seeds for ministry, specifically chaplaincy. I never imagined that I would be preaching, ministering to, and shepherding Soldiers. But here I am today, and I cannot imagine doing anything else. My favorite part of my job is that I get to serve those who serve. America asks a lot of its military members, sacrificing time away from families, risking their lives for the sake of the country’s ideals, and staying alert ready to go to war. Providing a message of hope to those who serve is one of the greatest honors. Capt. Derek VanderMolen: I processed my call to full-time ministry during my college years, and initially I wanted to be a Youth Pastor. When I graduated college and enrolled in seminary, I started working part-time in churches in order to gain some experience. After about a year, I was burnt out and decided to enlist in the Navy and put ministry on hold. The recruiter asked if I knew about Navy Chaplaincy, and I had no idea such a thing Chaplain (Maj.) Mark Hill leads an annual squadron existed. Going through basic military training and then doing “On the Job Training” as a memorial for a fallen teammate who had been killed during training. Mark currently serves at Navy Chaplain Candidate, I fell in love with being a part of a team, with serving my EAFB / Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in country and fellow service-members, and being a part of something bigger than myself. Fairbanks, AK. After seminary, I applied for active duty in the Navy and wasn’t selected. Eight months later, a dear friend and mentor serving as a Covenant Chaplain in the Air Force asked me if I would consider joining the Air Force. I could absolutely feel the Holy Spirit’s leading in that direction, and it was a chance at my dream of being an active-duty chaplain. Ten years later, I can say with absolute confidence that God’s ways are higher and better than ours.
What are your favorite aspects of this ministry? Maj. Mark Hill: It is such an incredible opportunity when military members and their families invite me in to walk alongside them during some of the most painful and difficult parts of their life’s journey. We often get to experience the best and worst days of their life with them. I often talk to airmen about the weight of life they are carrying as a heavy backpack. By sharing what is on their heart it is like taking some of the weight out of their pack and letting me carry a little of the load for them along the journey. Capt. Amy Smith: I did not always serve as a U.S. Army Chaplain. During and after seminary, I served as youth pastor. Youth Ministry taught me the importance of journeying alongside people as they explore, wonder, and stress over what life throws at them. Often middle schoolers and high schoolers are seeking guidance and answers. They want to know “Where is God in all of this?” Soldiers are no different. Soldiers need a safe trustworthy person they can talk with and ask tough questions, such as “Chaplain, where is God in all of this?” I do not have the answers, but God does. And together the Soldier and I seek God asking and looking for answers. Capt. Derek VanderMolen: I love being an Air Force chaplain because I get to serve those who are serving our nation. As a chaplain, it’s my job to be where my people are—we call it unit engagement. My top priority as a chaplain is to be there, work alongside them in order to develop a relationship so that when challenges arise in their lives, they already know me and trust me to walk alongside them through life’s tough moments. Another important role I have is to advise commanders on religious, moral, and ethical issues and the climate of their unit. It is a sacred privilege to have access to our military’s senior leaders to both care for them and to help them lead well.
T R A N S I T I O N S Rev. Mike Zabel of Nome Covenant Church will be retiring after 44 years of pastoral ministry. His first pastorate was serving as pastor of Unalakleet Covenant Church. The last five years have been served in Nome. They will be residing in Washington, enjoying family and grandchildren.
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Lynnette Boyer, AC Office Manager, is now serving as Director of Equipping & Ministry Services for the conference. Mike Alverts, CYAK, has joined the conference team to serve part-time as Western Alaska Ministry Associate while continuing with CYAK.
Rev. Brian Nanninga, former Assoc. Superintendent has been called to serve as Lead Pastor for Community Covenant Church in Eagle River, beginning later this summer. Brian previously served the church as youth pastor early in his career. He most recently served the ECC.
What are unique challenges you face as a military chaplain? Maj. Mark Hill: We serve in a formal chain of command that includes requirements and obligations that are unlike anything other pastors will ever experience (grooming requirements, physical fitness standards, necessity to increase in rank or be removed from service and moving of our household roughly every 3 years). Our opportunities for ‘care for the caregiver’ activities are quite unique in that we have rigid structures for time off and requirements for mission accomplishment. Capt. Amy Smith: In the military one will relocate often due to missions, promotions, and assignments. I enjoy being stationed all around the world. Before Alaska I was stationed in South Carolina, Italy, and New York working as a chaplain. Moving every two to three years is challenging to rebuild community and reestablish the family. My husband and I have discovered how easy Alaska creates opportunities to build community. We are thankful for the Alaska Covenant Conference and Community Covenant Church, Fairbanks, as they warmly embraced us. Capt. Derek VanderMolen: “Do more with less.” It seems like it’s always a challenge to have enough people to accomplish the mission. During my assignment in Alaska, I’ve had the unique privilege of being solely focused on a relatively small unit. That has enabled me to go deeper with people than I ever have before. In previous assignments, if we lost an airmen (often to suicide), one of the base chaplains informed the senior leader of the unit, who informed the unit that we’d lost a teammate. It was always a unique tension for me being in those painful moments, but not feeling deep connection only seeing them a few times a month because there’s not enough chaplains around. In my current assignment, when a senior member of our joint staff passed away in an off-duty plane crash, it was a whole different world being a shepherd when I was deeply grieving as well; that experience stretched me to the max.
How has your experience in Alaska been unique or rewarding? Maj. Mark Hill: It was painful to spend the summer of 2016 in Afghanistan instead of hiking the Chugach Mountains, dip netting on the Kenai, and enjoying the bountiful hours of sunshine we can get in only a few months of the year. This summer I will also miss some of the prime fishing dates due to participating in an exercise in the South Pacific. On the positive side, we love being stationed here as it puts us in proximity to our best friends and the myriad experiences Alaska offers. Capt. Amy Smith: Alaska is a beautiful state with extremely cold temperatures. During a field training exercise in the month of January I was presented with a challenge. I offered a worship service to Soldiers which included communion. When setting up for communion I realized the grape juice froze! Because there was no way to unfreeze the grape juice in time for the service, I served communion with only the wafers and put the frozen bottle of grape juice on the table. This experience was a great example for everyone who attend the worship service that Jesus is the only who can really save us even when we are stuck and “frozen.” Only Jesus can soften our hearts and melt all that is frozen. After all, we are here to serve God’s kingdom and share the good news of Jesus Christ. Capt. Derek VanderMolen: There’s been two things in my life that I had skyhigh expectations for, and the lived experience lived up to or exceeded my Chaplain Capt. Amy Smith poses in front of a Joint Light Tactical expectations. The first has been Air Force Chaplaincy, the second is living in Vehicle after finishing field training. Alaska. I had visited a few times before being stationed here, so I knew the immense natural beauty of Alaska and the wildness of this place. However, living here, experiencing daily the grandeur of the mountains, forests, ocean and wildlife…I can’t find words to describe it. I have a very unique assignment in that I get to visit some remote locations where most people don’t get to see where we have our radar sites. We also have two remote detachments: one at the end of the Aleutian Islands, Shemya Island and Wake Island, about halfway between Hawaii and Guam. Living in Anchorage but getting to visit those amazing places has been incredible, I’m thankful for my dear friend and fellow Covenant Air Force Chaplain, Mark Hill for recommending this hidden gem to me.
UPCOMING EVENTS June 25-28 July 21-25 August 21-24 September 19-21 September 26-28 October 7-10 October 18-19
ECC Gather & Annual Meeting Fishing Friendzy—Ministry Leaders ACC Orientation & Registration Statewide Covenant Women’s Retreat CYAK Young Adult Retreat Pastor & Leader Retreat ACC 25th anniversary celebration & reunion
Orlando, FL Soldotna, AK Soldotna, AK Willow, AK Big Lake, AK Big Lake, AK Anchorage, AK the Sinew // 7
Spring Norton Sound Get-Togethers in Shaktoolik, White Mountain, and Golovin Encourage Many
NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID ANCHORAGE, AK PERMIT NO. 537
Lower Yukon Conference at Scammon Bay Covenant Church
Consider partnering with us by giving. Donations to the Alaska Conference are tax-deductible and may be made online or mailed to the office directly. The QR code will take you to the giving page on our website. The Sinew is a periodic publication of
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the Alaska Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Our offices are located at 405 W. 36th Avenue, Ste. 106 Anchorage, AK. Mailing address: P.O. Box 200446, Anchorage, AK 99520
www.alaskacovenant.org
mail: info@alaskacovenant.org
phone: 907-222-6348