Church History
Planting of the Church
Simi Covenant began with regular believers dreaming of planting a church in the rapidly growing area of Simi Valley in the 1960’s. We have written correspondence dated as early as 1961 from these regular believers communicating their vision for a church to regional denominational leaders (in one such letter they tell the denomination that they had even already put out an advertisement in the paper).
A small group of people began meeting as a house church. They met around kitchen tables and in family rooms, calling themselves the Simi Valley Covenant Fellowship and set out to organize Simi Valley Covenant Church. They began having regular services starting April 21, 1963. Their first Sunday, thirty-seven people met in the Simi Valley Woman’s Clubhouse for worship. In August 1963, the church was able to call its first pastor, Alton Peterson.
Charter opening and official organization of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Simi Valley was held in the White Oak Covenant Church in Northridge on March 3, 1964. Twenty-five people signed the charter.
In April 1964 the congregation purchased three acres of land on Alamo Street for $62,500, which included a house that was used as a place to gather for worship. Today that building is our church office. After a year and a half of meeting in this house, ground was broken on October 31, 1965 for a new sanctuary (dedicated June 5, 1966). Generous gifts of money and other items from Frontier Friends and other Covenant churches supported the vision of these pioneering Christians. Those first buildings provided a place for worship and education for the young and growing fellowship. The first sanctuary with its distinctive “ski jump slope” became the Fellowship Hall and is today the Youth Center and a multi-purpose space.
The church purchased another acre, the Adam Rd. property in October 1976.
New worship center: ground breaking in 1989 and completed in 1991.
Church Planting Efforts
Marie Wiebe (d.2008), served as an intern and later became an associate pastor from 1980-1986. She was ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1983. In 1984, she became the Covenant’s first ordained female church planter when she started a congregation in Camarillo, California.
In 1999 Simi Covenant, in partnership with the Pacific Southwest Conference, helped to plant a Spanish language congregation, Nueva Esperanza, to minister to Spanish speakers in the community. Roberto Ghione was the church planter and remains as pastor of this congregation.
Senior Pastors
Alton Peterson - Aug 1963-Oct 1970. In October 1970, Pastor Peterson left Simi Valley to take up ministry at Trinity Covenant Church in Salem, Oregon..
Chester “Chet” Larson - July 1971-1978. Chet Larson went on to a pastorate in San Diego and eventually to be the Superintendent of the Southeast Region of the Covenant.
David Smith 1978-1983
(Interim Pastor: Worth Hodgins)
Kurt Fredrickson (associate pastor 1979-1985) June 1985-2003
Bruce Bruns 2003-2010
(Interim Pastor: Fred Carter)
Mark Almlie 2011-2014
(Interim Pastor: Ross Browning)
Chad McDaniel 2016-2018
(Interim Pastor: Dan Huang)
Kurt Morrill January 2020-Present