A two-year search for church property ended in April 1984 with the purchase of 5.5 acres of prime real estate at Ackman and Randall Roads. This purchase was made with our own funds, a loan from National Covenant Properties and a grant from Frontier Friends, both of which are outreach ministries of The Evangelical Covenant Church of America.
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| Reverend Sheldon and Anna Anderson |
Reverend Train retired in December 1984 and Reverend Sheldon Anderson became interim pastor in January 1985. We began house to house visitation and bulk mail advertising in the Canterbury School neighborhood and more people began attending.
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| Reverend Ken Moore |
Reverend Ken Moore became our second senior pastor in August 1985. Hope Covenant rented space in the Citicorp Bank building at 1 E. Crystal Lake Avenue when Crystal Lake School District 47 stopped renting space to churches in 1985 (This building later became the offices of the C. L. Park District.) Attendance and membership grew steadily for a year, and then space became too cramped.
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| 'The Pit' at South High School |
Then Citicorp Bank informed Hope Covenant that it could no longer rent
space because of an impending move. In September 1986 we rented space at
Crystal Lake South High School. Our worship area was in a circular tiered
area called "The Pit" where classroom hallways came together. We were
permitted to use classrooms for Sunday school and a private room for
storage.
As our ministries continued to grow Reverend Rolland Mossberg became full-time Pastor of Outreach and Discipleship in September 1987. Covenant seminarian Phil Staurseth was named Youth Ministries Intern in 1987 until he and his wife went to Zaire as missionaries. In June 1988 Covenant seminarian Steve Carlson was named Youth Ministries Coordinator. Reverend Sheldon Anderson became Visitation Pastor in November 1989.