With some 170 people in attendance from as far as Banning, Pasadena and South Los Angeles, the New Covenant Fellowship of Glendora joyfully marked its 40th year as a congregation on June 14 at the Glendora Friends Church.
New Covenant Fellowship is a branch of Grace Communion International (GCI) formerly known as Worldwide Church of God. Coincidentally, GCI also has its world headquarters here in Glendora at Financial Way. The local Glendora congregation started in June, 1972 as an offshoot of the old El Monte church.
Both founding members and newly invited guests, family and friends were in attendance. Over its 40 years New Covenant Fellowship has been a family-oriented Biblically-based church with a strong commitment to youth ministry. Young people from the congregation have gone on to study at Claremont, APU, Citrus College, Claremont and Yale as well as serving in the Marine Corps and the USAF.
The day’s guest speaker, Dr. Jeb Egbert, Provost at West Coast University, was typical of the many coaches and counselors who helped motivate teens and pre-teens in the 1980s when the church met at the Masonic Hall on Valley Center. Since 2001 the congregation has rented space from the Glendora Friends Church every Saturday morning. Co-Pastor Judy Shoemaker of Glendora Friends gave the opening prayer for the service and Curtis May of the inter-racial Office of Reconciliation and Mediation ended off with a benediction.
GCI’s Superintendent of Ministers, Dan Rogers, and his wife, Barbara, visited from Fontana and District Pastors Eric and Pat Shaw from Altadena brought special denominational greetings. Senior Pastor Neil Earle read official greetings form Glendora Mayor Gene Murabito saying “we appreciate the service and ministry of the New Covenant church [as] part of making Glendora a great place to live, work and play.”
As slide-show narrator Rose Neumann mentioned, New Covenant Fellowship has hosted a Black History Month and Cinco de Mayo service every year since 1997 as a reflection of its ethnic and cultural diversity. “Glendora has always been a welcoming and warm-hearted church,” said Assistant Pastor Roger Lippross from Beaumont. “One has only to look around to see the blend of races and cultures that has given the church a special composition.” The church also is involved in National Day of Prayer and other civic events planned by the Glendora Ministerial Association. Special outreach activities of the church include active support for the Pomona Valley Shelter, Bengali Evangelistic Association in Bangladesh and Amigos Sin Fronteras, a medical mission to the poorest mountain tribes of Mexico.
Dr. Egbert covered the subject “We’re Getting Older – Now What.” He brought out several points on facing the senior years joyfully, including enjoying the journey, taking care of yourself, doing something meaningful for others, and finding one samll area of ministry and making it special.
Filipina culinary expert Maryann Baylosis led the ladies in serving a catered meal of braised beef and chicken. Margaret Villanova from Valinda, CA was happy to say that but for one son, three generations were there. “So good to see lots of old friends,” she added. “You can’t bet that.”