As part of METE (Missionary Equiping and Training Event), we had a mini-cultural immersion experience on Devon Avenue in Chicago. This area of town is known as “Little India.” As the name insinuates, the area is mostly made up of Indian Americans. The local grocery store is called “Patel Brothers,” the clothing shops sell saris, almost every restaurant specializes in vegetarian cuisine, the book store has children’s tales about Krishna, and the music store features “The Ultimate Bollywood Soundtrack.” We felt like we were in another country! At one point, we were about to cross the street and I said to the girl next to me, “In this culture, you probably don’t wait for the cars to stop, you just push your way through” (like I have done before in Africa). To this she responded, “We’re still in Chicago!” Oh yeah, I almost forgot!
As part of the experience, we had to bring something back to share with the group. I decided to get a temporary henna tattoo and I wanted to “contextualize” (see previous post) the tattoo and decided to get the Evangelical Covenant Church logo at the center. Maybe it was the two weeks of getting “covenant-anized,” but I think the logo and its meaning is really cool.
If you live outside of the Chicago area or are not Swedish, you probably do not know too much about the Evangelical Covenant Church. We didn’t either until we started going to Paradise Valley Community Church and we researched the denomination to make sure it wasn’t a crazy cult. The more we have learned about it, the more we love it! I think the meaning of its logo gives a good taste of what makes the Covenant unique. Here is a short description…
The unique character of the Evangelical Covenant Church is expressed in the design of the Covenant logo. People united in Christ, people serving people in God's name, and people bringing people to Christ.
The basis of the design is symbolic of four people facing north, south, east, and west. Notice that each one's arms are outstretched, indicating the church's outreach in mission and service to the world. The four are part of the whole, yet their hands do not touch, symbolizing their unity in the freedom and evangelical warmth that characterizes the Covenant.
The geometric arrangement of the four figures results in a cross like pattern, representative of the center of our faith.
The circle symbolizes the unity and bond of fellowship which we call "the Covenant."
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