We’re Celebrating 60 years!

The Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant Church was formed in Chicago. It is now the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Rev. Nils Nilsen, Pastor of the Swedish Congregational Church of Cromwell, and Anders Pierson, founder of what is now Cromwell Growers, agreed on the need to care for orphaned Swedish children. Mr. Pierson donated a vacant sixteen-room house on West Street he owned for that ministry. Named the Swedish Christian Orphanage, it was able to care for thirty children.

Because the need for the care of orphaned children became so great, 25 acres of farmland in Cromwell were purchased and a three-story brick building was built and dedicated as the Children’s Home of Cromwell: 40 boys, 32 girls, and staff moved in. It was situated on top of a hill at the end of a new road given the name Missionary Road.

The Director of the Children’s Home began holding Sunday worship services on the grounds. These brought Swedish people together from near and far, and became known as “Big Sundays.”

The ministry to the elderly was started on the East Coast in the parsonage of the Swedish Pilgrim Church in Brooklyn caring for six people. The Old People’s Home moved to a 23-room building in the Bronx in 1922. A 17- room addition was built in 1929.

Youth camps and family conferences began to be held on the hilltop in large tents. Hundreds of people of Swedish heritage gathered for worship, programs, friendships, and socializing.

The Hilltop in Cromwell was chosen as the permanent site for camp and conference activities. A 2,500-seat Tabernacle, dormitory housing 200, dining hall seating 300, small cottages, tennis courts, and a baseball diamond were constructed.

After 35 years, the conferences and camps moved to a larger lake-front facility in New Hampshire called Pilgrim Pines. The buildings on the Hilltop were dismantled with the exception of the dining hall which still stands.

Because the Old People’s Home in the Bronx needed extensive renovation and up-dating, it was decided to build a new facility on the Hilltop in Cromwell. Pilgrim Manor was dedicated to the caring ministry to the elderly. It had rooms for 55 residents, 25 of whom moved from the Bronx to their new home in Cromwell.

The Children’s Home relocated to new buildings on the west side of the hill and continues its ministry to children and youth. It is now Ädelbrook Behavioral and Developmental Services.

Covenant Village of Cromwell, now Covenant Living of Cromwell, began the expansion of its accommodations, amenities, engaging activities, and wellness opportunities which continues to this day.