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Scott Peterson, Children's Pastor

I was born in the small town of Buffalo, Minnesota, the first and most “unusual” of 5 children (this also explains my distinguished accent). My parents attended Buffalo Covenant Church and I was always involved in the Sunday School, large youth group and youth choir there. Both my mom and dad raised me to be committed to God and to live for him.

Throughout my childhood, teenage, and young adult years, my spiritual touchstone, or Holy Ground, were the summers I spent at Lake Beauty Covenant Bible Camp in northern Minnesota. The camp’s philosophy of teaching Scripture in the most creative and enjoyable ways possible taught me to think outside the box and to never settle for “but we’ve always done it this way”-especially when ministering to kids. I will never forget when Daisy Hepburn, my ministry role model and hero, arranged for helicopters from a nearby military base to land on the baseball field at camp. She was demonstrating that ministry was more than just sitting in a pew on Sunday mornings.

In 1983, I lost my forty year old dad suddenly to cancer, but I kept my promise to him to attend college and get a degree for a future in the ministry. My dreams of missionary aviation changed to the hope of teaching children in full time camping ministries. I met wonderful friends at Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota and loved my experiences in musical theatre. My job as a security officer on campus provided plenty of opportunities for pranks on campus and no one was the wiser. Never give all the campus keys to a guy with a warped sense of humor!

I met my future wife, Sheri, who came to work for a summer at Lake Beauty, later in 1983. She was about to graduate from North Park University (the Covenant denomination’s college) and after a school year of daily letters and high long-distance bills, and finally, Sheri’s commencement, we became engaged. She then moved to Minneapolis and began her career as a social worker. We were married at Buffalo Covenant Church in 1985. Two years later we were blessed with precious twin girls.

I received my undergraduate degree in Bible and Theology, Christian Education, and Camp Programming and Administration in 1989, and began my MACE (Master’s in Christian Education) at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, that year. After two years there, we felt God’s leading back to Lake Beauty where I was the Program Director for three years. Our good friends Joel and Laurie Rude had just vacated the position to accept a call to Twin Lakes Christian Center in Iowa. It was a real dream come true for me! I was also commissioned (the ordination for Christian education folks) in the Covenant while at Lake Beauty.

In 1994, we received and accepted the call to Redwood Covenant, where Sheri and I have spent the happiest years of our lives and in ministry. The freedom I’ve been given to minister to children here has been quite remarkable and energizing. I thank God daily for this wonderful place and the opportunity to minister and be ministered to in this unique, warm and loving community.