VILLAGE BEAT (Continued from page 36) Honorable Mention: Beauty & the Beast family
Honorable Mention Ella Thayer
Honorable Mention Addia Sweeney and Amelia Lundgren
Honorable Mention Helen Twining Honorable Mention Sasha Drucker
Honorable Mention Alexander Murren
Beast family Dan, Lorie, Tatum, and Sawyer. Thank you to all who participated in the Costume Contest. Honorable Mention Pancer Hann
ball machine Ella Thayer, traveling tourists Addia Sweeney and Amelia Lundgren, sleeper Sasha Drucker, trash can guy Pancer Hann, cake and candle Helen Twining, haunted box Alexander Murren, and Beauty & the 3 – 10 November 2016
Don Johnson Leaves Montecito Covenant
After 11 years as Senior Pastor at Montecito Covenant Church on Cold Springs Road, pastor Don Johnson preached his final sermon last Sunday
before moving on to a Covenant Church in Rochester, Minnesota, where he’s been contracted as a transitional pastor. “I’m like an emergency room doctor for churches, and I’ve been called to their congregation. They need me,” Johnson told us during a visit to the church last week. Montecito Covenant was founded in 1885 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant denomination. The current church in Montecito was built in 1959, and in 2005 a new office and sanctuary building was built as part of the Church’s Master Plan. Pastor Johnson tells us the church is founded on five core principles, including a personal freedom in relationship with Christ. “We don’t have a long list of do’s and don’ts,” he explained. “It’s a great church for families with mixed religions, and we are multi-generational,” he added, saying the sermons are not “too edgy” for grandparents or “too formal” for young people. There are about 220 people in the current congregation, including a strong Westmont College presence including students, faculty, and staff. The church is situated on four acres of land, in a Ray Ketzel-designed building that is filled with families every afternoon for various programs. The goal of the church is to be easily accessible for the community, and the church hosted displaced evacuees during the Tea Fire. Church members helped organize food and clothing drives for those impacted by the fire, including some of their own congregation. Johnson, who lives with his wife, Martha, an artist, on church grounds, says one of his biggest accomplishments during his tenure is M4: the collaboration of the four churches in Montecito. Montecito Covenant, All Saints By-the-Sea, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and El Montecito Presbyterian have joined forces to bring together their congregations for both local and international service projects. “I think it’s been really great. It’s better to work in collaboration than opposition,” he said. Each year, the churches get about 250 people together for a non-profit outreach project. Whether it’s putting
Montecito Covenant Church senior pastor Don Johnson has left the congregation after 11 years
together comfort kits for palliative care patients to be sent to Africa, or putting together school backpacks for local at-risk youth, M4 seeks to unite churchgoers in Montecito. “I’m really proud to have been a part of it,” Johnson said. Johnson has also been a large presence in our local jail for the past eight years, providing weekly guidance to inmates at Santa Barbara County Jail. “Jail is a tremendous place to face yourself,” he explained, adding that his work in the jail system has been a gift. “I want the inmates to know that our church is a place of second chances, and that we want them to seek us out upon their release,” he added. Johnson said his calling is to work in collaboration with jails and churches, helping churches across the nation partner with local jails to provide spiritual guidance to inmates both during and after they serve time. “That is my ultimate goal,” he said. For now, Johnson and his wife will move to their new home in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and he will begin his one-year contract in Rochester, Minnesota, helping that church get back on its feet. His wife plans on getting deeply involved in the Black Mountain community, which has a strong art and creative presence. The couple also plans on spending more time with their three children and five grandkids. “In addition to missing the people of the congregation, I’ll miss the views of the mountains from my office, and walking along Butterfly Beach,” Johnson said. For more information about Montecito Covenant, visit www. mcchurch.org. •MJ MONTECITO JOURNAL
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