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Church welcomes new pastor
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Left to right, the Rev. Philip Rohler, Pastor of Prairie Lake Covenant Church, the Rev. Jim Fretheim, superintendent of the Northwest Covenant Conference, and Gary Anderson, chairperson of Prairie Lake Covenant Church.
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During the Sunday morning service, the Rev. Jim Fretheim, superintendent of the Northwest Covenant Conference, led the installation service for the Rev. Philip Rohler as pastor of Prairie Lake Covenant Church.
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After the Rev. Everett Wilson announced his retirement at the end of 2008, the Board of the Prairie Lake Covenant Church called Rohler to be the interim pastor beginning Feb. 1. Prior to coming to Prairie Lake, Rohler and wife Pam served two other Covenant churches in interim ministry: one church in Wausa, Neb., and a church in Lyndhurst, Ohio.
Because both the congregation and Rohler had been encouraged by the superintendent to consider turning the interim call into a permanent call, in April the church search committee invited Rohler to interview with them. The committee then recommended him to the church board, who then recommended him to the congregation at their semi-annual meeting May 3. That day the call to be the permanent pastor was extended and accepted.
Rohler was ordained by the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1986 and served Covenant churches in Brooklyn Park, Minn., Boulder Junction, Eden Prairie, Minn., Pender, Neb., Sioux City, Iowa, and Aberdeen, Wash., before doing interim ministry for two years. Prior to his work as a pastor, Rohler was a speech communication instructor at colleges in Oregon and Minnesota, completing his teaching at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn.
Following the service and potluck lunch, Rohler provided Fretheim a tour of the church property that is being developed into a park with areas for picnics, a playground, walking trails and other activities such as volleyball and horseshoes. The congregation anticipates that the first stage of the parks development will be completed for the 10th annual Know Your Neighbor Corn Fest. The fest is Aug. 29 from 2-5 p.m.
For information, contact Rohler at 458-2636 or philiprohler@gmail.com.
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©The Chetek Alert 2010
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