Fairmont Covenant marks 40 years

FAIRMONT — Fairmont Evangelical Covenant Church is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2019 and is inviting the community to join them.

“I remember the thrill of joining with others that first Easter Sunday as we had a sense that God had led us to that moment,” wrote Dennis and Jeannine Sternke in 1994 about the church’s beginnings. “The church grew out of a caring, sharing group that met to pray for one another’s needs, expecting God to answer in supernatural and compassionate ways.”

Now, as the church celebrates 40 years of ministry, some things have changed — such as building a physical church, an expansion of the building and the paying off of the $1 million mortgage, though some things have stayed the same, such as the reliance on God and caring for one another.

“FECC has its foundation in the Bible and strives to live according to those teachings in all that it does,” said Cathy Meyer, one of the church members helping plan the celebration for the occasion.

She initially began attending the church because “my husband and I wanted a church that preached the Bible as the Word of God, where the gifts of the Spirit were taught, where we could grow deeper in our faith, and raise our children to know Jesus and the calling that He has on our lives.”   

Church members initially met in a classroom at Central School, later moved to a makeshift church on Lake Avenue, and then finally shifted to the building at 901 Woodland Ave. in Fairmont.

The anniversary get-together will be held beginning 9:30 a.m. June 30 with worship at the church and then a lunch at 11:30 a.m., with a sharing time. Family-friendly activities will be offered, including games and an inflatable bouncy house.

Uber driver rescues shooting victim

STILLWATER (AP) — Authorities say an Uber driver rescued a woman who had been shot and left to die along a road in Washington County.

A 23-year-old St. Paul man, suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, is charged with attempted murder and kidnapping. A criminal complaint says the Uber driver found the woman bleeding from the chest along a road near Stillwater in the early morning hours of June 9.

The Star Tribune reports the man says he tried to call 911 but couldn’t get a signal, so he put a blanket around her, placed her in his vehicle and headed to Stillwater where he met law enforcement officers.

Authorities say the defendant and an accomplice, who’s still at large, are Surenos 13 gang members. The 39-year-old St. Paul woman is hospitalized in critical condition.